Archive for the ‘Doctrine’ Category

Sermon: Is Heaven the Goal?

Saturday, December 28th, 2024

(Pixabay photo)

COGwriter

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

1:14:59

Protestant ministers, Roman Catholic priests, and Pope Francis have all claimed that heaven is the goal for Christians. But is that what early Christians believed according to scholars? What does the Bible teach? What is the plain truth about what Christians, heirs to the promises to Abraham, are to inherit? Did Egyptian, Greek, and Gnostic pagans teach that heaven was the reward of the saved? What was the goal of Mithraism? Could Emperor Constantine’s sun-god religion have affected the Greco-Roman Catholics and later the Protestants? What about the ‘Beatific vision’ that Thomas Aquinas and others have promoted? Is God so egotistical that He made humans just to praise Him? Does God have a plan for everyone that involves giving love? What about keeping the Commandments? Did early Christians teach God is reproducing Himself and that we are to be born as sons and daughters in His kingdom after the resurrection? Was the kingdom of God the goal for early Christians? Why will the kingdom of God be so wonderful? If our reward is in heaven, does the Bible teach it will come down to the earth? Are the meek to inherit the earth as Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount? Will eternity be boring or exciting? Is your purpose to give love in a unique way in order to make eternity better for yourself and everyone else? Will multiple billions of resurrected and converted humans each be able to make your eternity better?

Here is a link to our sermon: Is Heaven the Goal?

Some items of related interest may include the following:

Did Early Christians Teach They Were Going to Heaven? What do the Bible and scholars teach? What about ‘near-death experiences’? Here are links to related sermons: The Plain Truth About Heaven, Heaven and Christianity and It’s not heaven.
Did The Early Church Teach Millenarianism? Was the millennium (sometimes called chiliasm) taught by early Christians? Who condemned it? Will Jesus literally reign for 1000 years on the earth? Is this time near? Three related sermons are available Let’s Talk About the Earthly Millennium, Millennial Utopia, and The Millennium.
The Ten Commandments: The Decalogue, Christianity, and the Beast This is a free pdf book explaining the what the Ten Commandments are, where they came from, how early professors of Christ viewed them, and how various ones, including the Beast of Revelation, will oppose them. A related sermon is titled: The Ten Commandments and the Beast of Revelation.
About Baptism Should you be baptized? Could baptism be necessary for salvation? Who should baptize and how should it be done? Here is a link to a related sermon: Let’s Talk About Baptism and Baptism, Infants, Fire, & the Second Death.
Christians: Ambassadors for the Kingdom of God, Biblical instructions on living as a Christian This is a scripture-filled booklet for those wishing to live as a real Christian.Two related sermons are also available:  Living as a Christian and Christians are Ambassadors for the Kingdom of God. Here is a video in Spanish: ¿Qué es un verdadero cristiano?
Proof Jesus is the Messiah This free book has over 200 Hebrew prophecies were fulfilled by Jesus. Plus, His arrival was consistent with specific prophecies and even Jewish interpretations of prophecy. Here are links to seven related sermons: Proof Jesus is the MessiahProphecies of Jesus’ birth, timing, and deathJesus’ prophesied divinity200+ OT prophecies Jesus filled; Plus prophecies He madeWhy Don’t Jews Accept Jesus?Daniel 9, Jews, and Jesus, and Facts and Atheists’ Delusions About Jesus. Plus the links to two sermonettes: Luke’s census: Any historical evidence? and Muslims believe Jesus is the Messiah, but …
Is God’s Existence Logical? Is it really logical to believe in God? Yes! Would you like Christian answers to give atheists? This is a free online booklet that deal with improper theories and musings called science related to the origin of the origin of the universe, the origin of life, and evolution. Here is a link to a related sermon: Evolution is NOT the Origin of Life. Two animated videos of related interest are also available: Big Bang: Nothing or Creator? and A Lifegiver or Spontaneous Evolution?
Christians: Ambassadors for the Kingdom of God, Biblical instructions on living as a Christian This is a scripture-filled booklet for those wishing to live as a real Christian. A related sermon is also available: Christians are Ambassadors for the Kingdom of God.
Beliefs of the Original Catholic Church: Could a remnant group have continuing apostolic succession? Did the original “catholic church” have doctrines held by the Continuing Church of God? Did Church of God leaders uses the term “catholic church” to ever describe the church they were part of? Here are links to related sermons: Original Catholic Church of God?Original Catholic Doctrine: Creed, Liturgy, Baptism, PassoverWhat Type of Catholic was Polycarp of Smyrna?Tradition, Holy Days, Salvation, Dress, & CelibacyEarly Heresies and HereticsDoctrines: 3 Days, Abortion, Ecumenism, MeatsTithes, Crosses, Destiny, and moreSaturday or Sunday?The GodheadApostolic Laying on of Hands SuccessionChurch in the Wilderness Apostolic Succession ListHoly Mother Church and Heresies, and Lying Wonders and Original Beliefs. Here is a link to that book in the Spanish language: Creencias de la iglesia Católica original.
Hope of Salvation: How the Continuing Church of God Differs from Protestantism The CCOG is NOT Protestant. This free online book explains how the real Church of God differs from mainstream/traditional Protestants. Several sermons related to the free book are also available: Protestant, Baptist, and CCOG HistoryThe First Protestant, God’s Command, Grace, & CharacterThe New Testament, Martin Luther, and the CanonEucharist, Passover, and EasterViews of Jews, Lost Tribes, Warfare, & BaptismScripture vs. Tradition, Sabbath vs. SundayChurch Services, Sunday, Heaven, and God’s PlanSeventh Day Baptists/Adventists/Messianics: Protestant or COG?Millennial Kingdom of God and God’s Plan of SalvationCrosses, Trees, Tithes, and Unclean MeatsThe Godhead and the TrinityFleeing 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 PlanMysteries of Truth, Sin, Rest, Suffering, and God’s PlanMystery of Race, and The Mystery of YOU. Here is a link to a video in Spanish: El Misterio del Plan de Dios.
Universal OFFER of Salvation, Apokatastasis: Can God save the lost in an age to come? Hundreds of scriptures reveal God’s plan of salvation Will all get a fair chance at salvation? This free book is packed with scriptures showing that God does intend to offer salvation to all who ever lived–the elect in this age, and the rest in the age to come. Here is a link to a related sermon series: Universal Offer of Salvation 1: ApocatastasisUniversal Offer of Salvation 2: Jesus Desires All to be SavedMysteries of the Great White Throne Judgment (Universal Offer of Salvation part 3)Is God FairWill God Pardon the Ignorant?Can God Save Your Relatives?Babies, Limbo, Purgatory and God’s Plan, and ‘By the Mouth of All His Holy Prophets’.
The Gospel of the Kingdom of God This free online pdf booklet has answers many questions people have about the Gospel of the Kingdom of God and explains why it is the solution to the issues the world is facing. It is available in hundreds of languages at ccog.org. Here are links to four kingdom-related sermons:  The Fantastic Gospel of the Kingdom of God!The World’s False GospelThe Gospel of the Kingdom: From the New and Old Testaments, and The Kingdom of God is the Solution.
Where is the True Christian Church Today? This free online pdf booklet answers that question and includes 18 proofs, clues, and signs to identify the true vs. false Christian church. Plus 7 proofs, clues, and signs to help identify Laodicean churches. A related sermon is also available: Where is the True Christian Church? Here is a link to the booklet in the Spanish language: ¿Dónde está la verdadera Iglesia cristiana de hoy? Here is a link in the German language: WO IST DIE WAHRE CHRISTLICHE KIRCHE HEUTE? Here is a link in the French language: Où est la vraie Église Chrétienne aujourd’hui?
Continuing History of the Church of God This pdf booklet is a historical overview of the true Church of God and some of its main opponents from Acts 2 to the 21st century. Related sermon links include Continuing History of the Church of God: c. 31 to c. 300 A.D. and Continuing History of the Church of God: 4th-16th Centuries and Continuing History of the Church of God: 17th-20th Centuries. The booklet is available in Spanish: Continuación de la Historia de la Iglesia de Dios, German: Kontinuierliche Geschichte der Kirche Gottes, and Ekegusii Omogano Bw’ekanisa Ya Nyasae Egendererete.
CCOG.ORG Continuing Church of God The group striving to be most faithful amongst all real Christian groups to the word of God. There are links to literature is about 100 different languages there.
Congregations of the Continuing Church of God This is a listing of congregations and groups of the Continuing Church of God around the world.
Continuing Church of God Facebook page This has news and prophetic information.
Continuing Church of God, Africa, Facebook page This has news and prophetic information.
Continuing Church of God, Canada, Facebook page This has news and prophetic information.
Continuing Church of God, Europe, Facebook page This has news and prophetic information.
CCOG.ASIA We in the Continuing Church of God also have the url www.ccog.asia which has a focus on Asia and has various articles in Mandarin Chinese as well as some in English, plus some items in other Asian languages. 我们在继续神的教会也提供此网址 www.ccog.asia, 关注于亚洲并且有各种各样的中英文文章,其中一些用菲律宾语翻译的文章也正在进行中,准备添加到这个网站中。 Here is a link to our Statement of Beliefs in Mandarin Chinese 继续神的教会的信仰声明.
CCOG.IN This is a website targeted towards those of Indian heritage. It has a link to an edited Hindi translation of The Mystery of the Ages and is expected to have more non-English language materials in the future.
CCOG.EU This is a website targeted toward Europe. It has materials in more than one language (currently it has English, Dutch, and Serbian, with links also to Spanish) and it is intended to have additional language materials added.
CCOG.NZ This is a website targeted towards New Zealand and others with a British-descended background.
CCOGAFRICA.ORG This is a website targeted towards those in Africa.
CCOGCANADA.CA This is a website targeted towards those in Canada.
CDLIDD.ES La Continuación de la Iglesia de Dios. This is the Spanish language website for the Continuing Church of God.
CG7.ORG This is a website for those interested in the Sabbath and churches that observe the seventh day Sabbath.
PNIND.PH Patuloy na Iglesya ng Diyos. This is the Philippines website Continuing Church of God. It has information in English and Tagalog.
CCOG Animations YouTube channel. The Continuing Church of God has some animations to teach aspects of Christian beliefs. Also available at BitChute COGAnimations https://www.bitchute.com/channel/coganimations/
Bible News Prophecy channel. Dr. Thiel has produced hundreds of videos for the BibleNewsProphecy channel. You can find them at them on YouTube at BibleNewsProphecy https://www.youtube.com/user/BibleNewsProphecy, plus also on Vimeo at Bible News Prophecy https://vimeo.com/channels/biblenewsprophecy as well as on Brighteon Bible News Prophecy https://www.brighteon.com/channel/ccogbnp and Bitchute Prophecy https://www.bitchute.com/channel/prophecy/
CCOGAfrica channel. This has messages from African pastors in African languages such as Kalenjin, Kiswahili, Embu, and Dholuo. Also available at BitChute COGAfrica https://www.bitchute.com/channel/cogafrica/
CDLIDDSermones channel. This contains messages in the Spanish language
BibleNewsProphecy Podcast. This has audio-visual podcasts of the Bible News Prophecy channgel. It plays on i-Phones, i-Pads, and Windows devices that can play i-Tunes.
Bible News Prophecy online radio. This is an audio version of the Bible News Prophecy videos. It is also available as a mobile app.
ContinuingCOG channel. Dr. Thiel has produced scores of YouTube video sermons for this channel. Note: Since these are sermon-length, they can take a little longer to load than other YouTube videos. Also available at BitChute COGTube https://www.bitchute.com/channel/cogtube/
Statement of Beliefs of the Continuing Church of God “Contend earnestly for the faith once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3, NKJV), “Let brotherly love (Philadelphia) continue” (Hebrews 13:1) ” & continuing stedfastly in the teaching of the apostles” (Acts 2:42 YLT). So, what does that really mean in terms of specific beliefs–the Statement gives answers? Here is a related link in Spanish/españolDeclaración de las Doctrinas de la Continuación de la Iglesia de Dios. Here is a related link in Tagalog: Paglalahad ng Mga Paniniwala ng Patuloy na Iglesya ng Diyos. Here is a related link in Mandarin Chinese ~ç~íy^v„eYOv„OáNðXðf. Here is a related link in Kiswahili: KATIKA LUGHA YA KISWAHILI. Here is a related link in Dutch: Verklaring van geloofspunten van de Continuing Church of God. Here is a related link in Deutsche (German): Glaubenserklärung der Continuing Church of God. Here is a related link in Italiano: Dichiarazione del Credo della Continuing Church of God. Here is related link in the French language: Déclaration des croyances de L’Église Continue de Dieu. Here is a related link in the Chichewa language: ZIKHULUPIRIRO ZA MPINGO WA CONTINUING CHURCH OF GOD. Here is a link in Romanian: Declarația de credințe a continuării Bisericii lui Dumnezeu. Here is a link in Portuguese: Declaração de Crenças da Continuação da Igreja de Deus. Here is a link in Russian: Утверждение верований о продолжении Церкви Божьей. Here is a link to a related English-language sermon: Beliefs of the Continuing Church of God. Here is a link to a booklet titled: Statement of Beliefs of the Continuing Church of God.

PRION-CONTAMINATED PORK ALERT: All across the United States

Friday, December 27th, 2024

 
(Wikipedia photo)

COGwriter

Natural News reported about another problem with pork:

PRION-CONTAMINATED PORK ALERT: All across the United States, pigs can be “vaccinated” with millions of deadly prions via mRNA clot shots – UNLABELED

December 26, 2024

  • Pork producers in America have been administering mRNA-based gene therapy to pigs secretly, contaminating pork with self-assembling nanoparticles.
  • Harrisvaccines pioneered RNA-based livestock vaccines, acquired by Merck Animal Health in 2016, leading to the prevalence of unregulated gene therapy in the livestock sector.
  • Merck introduced Sequivity, a swine vaccine platform in collaboration with Moderna, without safety testing, raising concerns about consumer health risks.
  • Companies plan to expand mRNA “vaccines” to avian influenza, cows, and cattle, prompting the need for transparent labeling and stringent regulations to protect public health.
  • Consumers are advised to avoid pork products possibly tainted with mRNA vaccines, highlighting the urgent need for transparency and accountability in the food industry.

There’s never been a more tell-tale sign that the medical industry in America wants to kill Americans than the injection of mRNA “technology” into farm animals we consume. … It has come to light that pork producers in America have been quietly administering customizable mRNA-based gene therapy to animals, particularly pigs, for several years now. This practice, shrouded in secrecy, involves injecting mRNA clot shots into pigs without any disclosure on food labels. The implications of this clandestine operation are alarming, as consumers unknowingly ingest pork contaminated with millions of self-assembling nanoparticles that pose serious health risks, including heart problems, immune dysfunction, and dementia. https://www.naturalnews.com/2024-12-26-prion-contaminated-pork-alert-pigs-vaccinated.html

Prions are what is behind what is called ‘Mad Cow Disease,’ which supposedly hit the US because of a sick pig being ground up and fed to cattle.

Throughout history, however, Church of God Christians have avoided eating pork (see The New Testament Church, History, and Unclean Meats).

That said, mRNA shots are not truly vaccines. Nor do scientists really know all the possible negative health ramifications of them.

Now, there are many diseases and health issues associated with eating pork. Here are links to some:

Pigs May Spread Deadly Ebola Virus

Californians Getting Brain-infecting Parasites from Pigs

CDC: Beware of Pigs as More Catch Swine Flu

CBS: New swine flu in China could morph to cause human pandemic, study warns

‘Bird flu’ seemingly infected pig in US–why is that a concern for scientists?

The following from Dr. Mercola may be of interest:

Are There Deadly Superbugs in Your Pork?

Scientists have detected antibiotic-resistant bacteria in pork, pigs and some veterinarians. It is possible that these so-called superbugs could infect farmworkers or even people who eat pork.

Antibiotic-resistant bugs were found in more than 7 percent of over 100 swine veterinarians tested. The same bacterial strains were found in nearly 50 percent of 300 tested pigs.

Perhaps of greatest concern, the bacteria were also found in 10 percent of more than 200 samples of ground pork and pork chops collected from four Canadian provinces.

An estimated 18,650 deaths a year in the U.S. are estimated to be caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria. http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2008/07/12/are-there-deadly-superbugs-in-your-pork.aspx?source=nl

The same site also had the following from Dr. Mercola:

Scientific Backing for the Avoidance of Pork

Bacon, perhaps one of America’s favorite breakfast staples, is in fact one of the worst type of processed meats you could eat for your health. According to a 2006 study, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, eating bacon five or more times a week was linked to increasing your risk of bladder cancer by 59 percent. Aside from the processing of the meat, another likely cause for bacon’s negative influence on your health is the heterocyclic amines that form when meat is cooked at high temperatures.

If you cook meat that is loaded with pesticides and hormones at high temperatures, you’re simply asking for trouble. That’s why I limit my meat choices as much as possible to grass-fed and organic meats.

You also need to beware of eating undercooked pork, as it can cause trichinosis. Fortunately, trichinosis affects only 11 people per year in the U.S. and less than 2 percent of those infected actually die from the disease, which means there is one death every five years in the U.S. from this.

As far as MRSA is concerned, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have previously warned consumers about the risks inherent in the ever-popular holiday ham in their Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. Turns out the high salt and sugar content of pre-cooked canned hams provides an ideal growth medium for the Staphylococcus aureus bacteria.

Additionally, if you’re a diabetic or if you have a weakened immune system, you may also do well to steer clear of chitterlings, a dish consisting of boiled pig intestines that are served up as traditional holiday fare in the Southern U.S.

It’s possible for people with poorly controlled diabetes to become seriously ill with enteritis necroticans, a potentially life-threatening intestinal infection. The rare disease causes severe stomach pain, vomiting of blood and low blood pressure. The culprit is the chitterlings-contaminating bacterium known as Clostridium perfringens type C, which produces a toxin that is lethal to tissue in your digestive tract. Even cooking the chitterlings might not rid them of the bacteria.

But wait, there’s more!

The Unsavory Side of Pork

The pork and swine industry has been continually plagued, and continues to be so to this day, by a wide variety of hazardous and deadly infections and diseases, including:

PRRS — A horrendous disease, which I first reported on in 2001, but which had been a nightmare for many nations since the mid-1980s, is still alive and kicking today.

At one point referred to as “swine mystery disease,” “blue abortion,” and “swine infertility,” the disease was finally named “Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome” (PRRS), and may afflict about 75 percent of American pig herds.

The PRRS virus primarily attacks the pig’s immune system, leaving its body open to a host of infections, particularly in the lungs. Initial research revealed that the virus was transmitted via semen, saliva and blood, leaving pigs herded closely together and transported in close quarters by trucks more susceptible to infection.

However, according to new research presented at the 2007 International PRRS Symposium shows that the disease is now airborne, making eradication efforts very difficult. According to the PRRS Coordinated Agricultural Project (CAP) and the National Pork Board, it is still the most economically significant disease of swine in the U.S.

The Nipah Virus – Discovered in 1999, the Nipah virus has caused disease in both animals and humans, through contact with infected animals. In humans, the virus can lead to deadly encephalitis (an acute inflammation of your brain). I originally reported on this virus in 2000, but according to CDC data, the Nipah virus reemerged again in 2004.

Hepatitis E (HEV)– According to the Mayo Clinic and an article in the Journal of Clinical Biology, pork may be the reservoir responsible for sporadic, locally acquired cases of acute hepatitis reported in regions with relatively mild climates as HEV has been found to transmit between swine and humans.

Porcine Endogenous Retrovirus (PERV)– According to a study in the journal Lancet, this virus can spread to people receiving pig organ transplants, and according to test tube studies, PERV strains does have the ability to infect human cells. PERV genes are scattered throughout pigs’ genetic material, and researchers have found that pig heart, spleen and kidney cells release various strains of the virus.

Menangle Virus – In 1998, the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases reported that a new virus infecting pigs was able to jump to humans. The menangle virus was discovered in August 1997 when sows at an Australian piggery began giving birth to deformed and mummified piglets.

What About Pasture-Raised Pork?

In a slightly ironic twist, I can’t even safely recommend consuming pasture-raised pork, because while researching this article I stumbled across a study in the current issue of Emerging Infectious Diseases citing concerns about pastured pigs being vulnerable to Trichinella spiralis infection, due to their exposure to wild hosts that carry the disease.

Pasture-raised pig farming has expanded with increased demand from health conscious consumers, and currently there are 28 U.S. farms located within 50 kilometers of a previously infected site.

Pork parasites can cause brain problems:

California’s Unspoken Health Problem: Brain Parasites

…it is the major cause for epilepsy worldwide. The CDC estimates that there are 1,900 diagnosed cases every year, 386 annual cases in California alone which can cost upwards of $66,000. Often it is paid through Medicare – costing taxpayers thousands. Tapeworms enter the body, normally ingested through pork or beef. The larvae use hook-like teeth to tear tiny holes in the intestines and sometimes travel to the brain.

http://www.medicaldaily.com/articles/11962/20120906/californias-unspoken-health-problem-brain-parasites.htm

Brain Parasite ‘Neurocysticercosis’ Cases Increasing In California…

According to the CDC, neurocysticercosis is preventable, but happens with larval cysts of the pork tapeworm enter the brain.

It is the most severe form of cyticercosis.http://www.ksee24.com/news/local/Brain-Parasite-Neurocysticercosis-Cases-Increasing-In-California-169038376.html

California Has A Problem With Brain-Infecting Parasites
Sept 7, 2012 excerpt…

The diagnosis, officially called Neurocysticercosis, is common in the third world (about 50 million people are infected globally). But American doctors often don’t know the symptoms of the 1,900 cases that show up in American hospitals every year.

The worms are originally tiny: about the size of peas. They come from eating contaminated pork, and fight their way into the small intestines and cling to the flesh there while draining nutrients from their host. They can grow to be 20 feet long and can make tens of thousands of eggs a day, which ride through the bloodstream through the whole body.

http://www.businessinsider.com/california-has-a-problem-with-brain-infecting-parasites-2012-9

Perhaps I should add that a decade or two ago, there was a small news item in The Townsend Letter for Doctors that claimed that 2% of the neurological appointments made in the State of California were related to pork consumption. I found that both shocking and astounding. It probably should be noted that because cattle are not always proper raised, parasites can come from them, but the neurological parasitic problems are much more closely associated with pork.

Notice also the following:

January 20, 2015

Vicious tapeworm infestations growing worldwide

CNN Once you consume them, they can move throughout your body — your eyes, your tissues and most commonly your brain. They leave doctors puzzled in their wake as they migrate and settle to feed on the body they’re invading; a classic parasite, but this one can get into your head.

“It had moved from one side of the brain to the other … very few things move in the brain,” says Dr. Effrossyni Gkrania-Klotsas about a British man found to have a tapeworm moving inside his brain in 2013. This form of tapeworm had never been seen before in the United Kingdom. …

Pork tapeworms

There are many forms of tapeworm, three of which can readily infect the brain. From a public health perspective, there’s one in particular to watch out for. “It’s mainly the pork tapeworm that’s the main brain one,” says Helena Helmby from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

The pork species, known as Taenia Solium, can infect humans in two forms. The first is by eating undercooked pork from infected pigs, resulting in taeniasis — an adult worm residing in the intestine. The second, in the larval form, through contact with the feces of an infected pig or human, which can go on to infect many tissues. If the larval worm enters the nervous system, including the brain, it can result in a condition known as neurocysticercosis. Infection of this kind can often cause epilepsy once inside the brain. Almost a third of epilepsy cases in countries where the disease is native are people who have previously had neurocysticercosis, according to the World Health Organization.

Neurocysticercosis infection arises from poor sanitation and hygiene. “You can actually infect yourself,” says Helmby, as poor hygiene, such as failing to wash your hands, could result in you eating the eggs of an adult worm living in your intestine. “Self-infection is common.”

The global distribution of pork tapeworms is widespread with high numbers across Latin America, Africa and Asia, according to the World Health Organization. As a result of its higher prevalence and due to increased international travel, Gkrania-Klotsas has three patients in her care in Cambridge who have previously experienced neurocysticercosis.

Cause for concern?

Infections with pork tapeworms are common…Â

“I’m confident there will be more of this in the future,” agrees Gkrania-Klotsas, who has seen patients infected without having traveled abroad. “People are getting infections without going anywhere.”

Those who do travel, however, also need greater awareness when visiting regions where infections are commonplace.  http://www.news8000.com/health/the-worms-that-invade-your-brain/30809498

Since pork is a major item that many who eat unclean animals consume, let’s specifically look at some scriptural admonitions against eating it:

7 and the swine, though it divides the hoof, having cloven hooves, yet does not chew the cud, is unclean to you. 8 Their flesh you shall not eat, and their carcasses you shall not touch. They are unclean to you. (Leviticus 11:7-8)

8 Also the swine is unclean for you, because it has cloven hooves, yet does not chew the cud; you shall not eat their flesh or touch their dead carcasses. (Deuteronomy 14:8)

3 “He who kills a bull is as if he slays a man; He who sacrifices a lamb, as if he breaks a dog’s neck; He who offers a grain offering, as if he offers swine’s blood; He who burns incense, as if he blesses an idol. Just as they have chosen their own ways, And their soul delights in their abominations, 4 So will I choose their delusions, And bring their fears on them; Because, when I called, no one answered, When I spoke they did not hear; But they did evil before My eyes, And chose that in which I do not delight.” (Isaiah 66:3-4)

3 A people who provoke Me to anger continually to My face; Who sacrifice in gardens, And burn incense on altars of brick; 4 Who sit among the graves, And spend the night in the tombs; Who eat swine’s flesh, And the broth of abominable things is in their vessels; (Isaiah 65:3-4)

17 “Those who sanctify themselves and purify themselves, To go to the gardens After an idol in the midst, Eating swine’s flesh and the abomination and the mouse, Shall be consumed together,” says the Lord. (Isaiah 66:17)

So, in at least three books of the Bible, eating the flesh of pigs is prohibited–and the last two-three references above were prophetic–and still are to be fulfilled. Thus, the prohibitions against pork were NOT “nailed to the cross” or otherwise done away with (see also Which Laws were Superceded? Which Remain?). Jesus’ death did NOT change the flesh of pork or reduce its ability to pass on health problems.

It may also be of interest to note that the New Testament also makes negative comments towards pigs/swine. Notice:

6 “Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces. (Matthew 7:6)

It should also be understood that the carcasses of unclean animals were specifically prohibited from being touched in Leviticus 11:24-31 (though touching live ones, like camels, was not prohibited, nor was wearing items from their hair/fur; cf. Matthew 3:4).

Let me also add that: Pigs are Flu Factories.

The way that many flu shots are developed is to look at what virus is developing in pigs raised very closely with birds in South-east Asia. Based on that, pharmaceutical companies  guess what strain of the flu will hit humans and then they develop vaccines based on that.

Yes, biblically unclean animals are associated with the development of diseases (including COVID-19).

Relatively soon, serious pestilences are prophesied as they are part of what Jesus called “the beginning of sorrows”:

7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of sorrows. (Matthew 24:7-8)

If humans quit eating pigs, there would be less disease.  But since many still do, it is possible that something more serious may happen.

Some articles of possibly related interest may include:

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.
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.
Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse What do each of the four horseman of the Apocalypse represent? Have they began their ride? Did Jesus discuss the any of this? Might their rides coincide with the “beginning of sorrows? Do they start their ride prior to the Great Tribulation? Did Nostradamus or any other ‘private prophets’ write predictions that may mislead people so that they may not understand the truth of one or more of the four horseman? There is also a related YouTube video titled Sorrows and the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Here is a link to a shorter video: These Signs of the 4 Horsemen Have Begun.
Biological Warfare and Prophecy Is biological warfare possible? Was it prophesied? Scientists have long warned that pathogenic organisms like the coronavirus could be weaponized. Furthermore, back in 2017, there were concerns that the biological research facility being constructed in Wuhan, China was risky and that a coronavirus from it could be released. On January 25, 2020, China’s President Xi Jinping publicly stated that the situation with the Wuhan-related strain of the coronavirus was grave. Did Church of God writers like the late evangelist Raymond McNair warn that engineered viruses (the “Doomsday bug”) were consistent with prophecies from Jesus? Did a warning from CCOG leader Bob Thiel warn about risks of genetically-modified (GMO) mosquitoes come to pass? Could human research and/or the consumption of biblically-unclean animals such as bats and snakes be a factor in current outbreaks or coming future pestilences? What about famines? How devastating have pestilences been? How devastating are the prophesied ones going to be? Dr. Thiel addresses these issues and more in this video.

More Fake Meat = More Depression

Wednesday, December 25th, 2024


Lab-grown ‘hamburger’ (WEF via Wikipedia)

COGwriter

Now that more people have consumed lab-grown meat and ultra-processed substitutes, a study has come forth showing that eating much of it seems to result in increased depression:

Should You Eat Fake Meat? Exploring Plant-Based Alternatives and Depression Risk

Plant-based meat alternatives (PBMAs) have surged in popularity, often marketed as the ethical, sustainable solution to traditional meat. But are these ultra-processed foods (UPFs) as harmless as they seem? A new study published in Food Frontiers reveals a troubling connection between PBMAs and mental health, raising important questions about their role in a vegetarian diet.

The Alarming Depression Link

In the first study of its kind, researchers from the University of Surrey examined the health implications of PBMAs. The findings were striking: vegetarians who consumed these products experienced a 42% higher risk of depression compared to those who avoided them. Lead researcher Hana Navratilova highlighted the significance of this discovery, emphasizing the need for deeper exploration into how PBMAs may influence mood.

What sets this research apart is its focus on vegetarians—a group often assumed to have healthier diets. The study utilized data from the UK Biobank, comparing vegetarians who consumed PBMAs to those who didn’t. While no significant differences were noted in sodium, sugar, or saturated fat intake, the vegetarians consuming PBMAs exhibited other concerning markers. https://wakeup-world.com/2024/12/24/should-you-eat-fake-meat-exploring-plant-based-alternatives-and-depression-risk/

Eating ultra-processed plant-based alternatives to meat, such as vegetarian burgers, sausages and nuggets, is linked with a higher risk of depression, a study has found.

Health scientists at the U.K.’s University of Surrey analyzed the diets of more than 3,300 vegetarians—including fish eaters but not meat eaters—and samples of their blood. They found that vegetarians who ate ultra-processed plant-based meat alternatives were 42 percent more likely to have depression, compared with vegetarians who stuck to whole food proteins, such as chickpeas, eggs, beans, lentils and quinoa.

Ultra-processed food has been linked with a number of negative health outcomes, such as obesity, diabetes, inflammation, heart disease, skin conditions and cancer. As a category of food, it is the subject of some debate, but it is generally defined as foods that are industrially manufactured, using processing techniques and chemical ingredients that are usually unavailable to individuals cooking at home. …

The scientists also found that, on average, the meat-alternative eaters had higher blood pressure, as well as higher levels of an inflammatory marker called C-reactive protein in their blood. However, the vegetarians who ate meat alternative proteins were 40 percent less likely to have irritable bowel syndrome.

Vegetarians who ate plant-based meat alternatives were also slightly more likely to be overweight, younger, male, wealthier and white, compared with the whole-food group. 12/19/24 https://www.newsweek.com/fake-meat-plant-based-protein-depression-vegetarians-2003613

“Plant-based meats” were once held up as the “future of food,” a health-, animal- and planet-friendly alternative to traditional meat, but in recent years manufacturers like Beyond and Impossible have seen their sales and share prices slump.

Consumer enthusiasm for these ersatz products has dried up and research has undermined their claims to be good for consumers and the planet. Consumer research has shown that customers know plant-based alternatives are not better for them and that they don’t taste better than the real thing. 12/22/24 https://thepeoplesvoice.tv/bill-gates-fake-meat-linked-to-severe-depression/

The good news is that the sales of these fake meats has not met expectations.

McDonald’s realized that and reportedly stopped selling them last Summer (see McDonalds, Florida, and Alabama join Italy in dropping fake lab meat).

A Harvard professor, earlier this year, warned that avoiding actual meat could affect mental health and be a factor in depression:

14 March 2024

Meat is essential for warding off depression and anxiety, a top nutrition expert has revealed, sending a blow to veganism.

Dr Georgia Ede, a Harvard-trained nutritional and metabolic psychiatrist and author of Change Your Diet, Change Your Mind, studies the relationship between what we eat and our mental and physical health.

And despite the health halo that vegan diets have been given over the last few years, she claims that giving up meat could be detrimental for mental health.

‘The brain needs meat,’ she told KIRO News Radio.

‘We’re used to hearing that meat is dangerous for our total health, including our brain health, and plants are really the best way to nourish and protect our brains.’

‘But the truth of the matter is that it’s actually — that’s upside down and backward.’ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-13197267/americans-mental-health-eat-meat-veganism.html

While it allows for vegetarianism, the word of God tells people to eat meat (cf. Deuteronomy 14:23) and Jesus did (Luke 24:42-43).

That said, in addition to GMO-plant meat, there is another type of fake meat that has been on the market.

Here are some reports related to that:

As Florida’s ban on “lab-grown” meat is set to go into effect, one manufacturer hosted a last hurrah with a cultivated meat-tasting party in Miami. California-based Upside Foods hosted dozens of guests Thursday evening at a rooftop reception. CEO and founder Uma Valeti believes people should have a choice to choose what they want to put on their plate. The U.S. approved the sale of what’s now being called “cell-cultivated” or “cell-cultured” meat for the first time in June 2023. Earlier this year, both Florida and Alabama banned the sale of cultivated meat and seafood. Other states and federal lawmakers are also looking to restrict it. https://localnews8.com/news/2024/06/29/lab-grown-meat-maker-hosts-miami-tasting-party-as-florida-ban-goes-into-effect/

The U.S. approved the sale of what’s now being called “cell-cultivated” or “cell-cultured” meat for the first time in June 2023, allowing Upside Foods and another California company, Good Meat, to sell cultivated chicken.

Earlier this year, Florida and Alabama banned the sale of cultivated meat and seafood, which is grown from animal cells. Other states and federal lawmakers also are looking to restrict it, arguing the product could hurt farmers and pose a safety risk to the public. …

Cultivated products are grown in steel tanks using cells from a living animal, a fertilized egg or a storage bank. The cells are fed with special blends of water, sugar, fats and vitamins. Once they’ve grown, they’re formed into cutlets, nuggets and other shapes. …

Skyler Myers, agreed about the texture being different when eating a piece of meat by itself but said it just seemed like normal chicken when he ate the tostada.

“There’s no difference,” Myers said. “I mean, there’s no way you would ever know.” https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/lab-grown-meat-maker-hosts-miami-tasting-party-111552780

There are numerous differences between real meat and lab grown meat.

Furthermore, I have long warned that there simply have not been sufficient studies to prove proper safety and health impacts, nor is it practical to do them. In order to properly do this, millions of people would need to be involved. And the time period would need to be enough to cover 3-5 generations–it would probably need to take between 200-400 years to be able to have the data to come to a proper scientific conclusion about that. And, of course, that has not happened. Nor will that happen.

While many want to believe that fake meat is good, the fact is that no one on earth knows everything about health or nutrition, and going this way will have unintended consequences.

But at least some limited research has come out warning that there are problems associated with it.

And yes, increased rates of depression is an unintended consequence of some of the fake meats.

Regarding what looks to be another one of the unintended consequences, notice the following:

Bill Gates’ Fake Meat Linked to ‘Premature Death’, Study Finds

June 14, 2024

Bill Gates’ synthetic meat products can increase the risk of severe heart disease and premature death, according to a new study.

Researchers from the University of São Paulo and Imperial College London assessed the diets of more than 118,000 people living in the UK aged 40 to 69 years old. They found that those who ate Bill Gates’ fake meat products became severely sick and disease-ridden within a matter of months.

New York Post reports: Researchers found that for every 10% increase in plant-based foods, the risk of death from heart disease fell by 20%. Yet, when the increase in plant-based foods came from Bill Gates’ UPFs, it was linked to a 12% rise in heart disease-related deaths.

Lead study author Fernanda Rauber explained that the composition and processing methods of UPFs can lead to higher blood pressure and cholesterol.

“Food additives and industrial contaminants present in these foods might cause oxidative stress and inflammation, further aggravating the risks,” she said. “Those shifting towards plant-based foods should also think about the degree of processing involved before making their choices.”

Dr. Eszter Vamos, co-author of the study, noted the deceptive marketing and public perception of plant-based products as healthy. “While ultra-processed foods are often marketed as healthy foods, this large study suggests that plant-based ultra-processed foods do not seem to have protective health effects and are linked to poor health outcomes,” she said.

The study found that replacing plant-based UPFs with whole foods, known to have important health and environmental benefits, decreased deaths from heart disease by 15% and reduced the likelihood of developing cardiovascular disease by 7%.

Researchers claim that this study, published Monday in Lancet Regional Health, is the first to show that plant-based UPFs increase the risk of cardiovascular disease. https://thepeoplesvoice.tv/bill-gates-fake-meat-linked-to-premature-death-study-finds/

That said, the government of Italy wisely took steps to ban such ‘meat’ last year:

Italy Becomes First Nation To Ban Bill Gates’ Fake Meat Due To “Serious Health Concerns”

In a first for the developed world, the European nation of Italy has decided to ban all fake meat from the country, citing “serious health concerns.”

November 8, 2023

Numerous recent studies show that lab-grown synthetic meat of the kind being promoted by billionaire eugenicist Bill Gates is triggering the formation of turbo cancers in humans …

In contrast to a recent decision by the Biden regime to fast-track the approval of synthetic meat here in America, Italy is taking the opposite approach by banning the stuff outright before it gets the chance to harm the Italian people.

“Italy is the first nation to say no to synthetic food, to so-called ‘synthetic meat,’” announced Health Minister Orazio Schillaci. “It does so with a formal and official act.”

“The resolution calls for a commitment to ban the production, marketing, and import of synthetic foods within our territory.” …

Much of the push in favor of synthetic meat comes not only from Gates but also other globalists such as Klaus Schwab, the goon in charge of the World Economic Forum (WEF), who claim it is necessary to stop “global warming” and “climate change.”

Back in 2021 in promotion of his book “How to Avoid a Climate Disaster,” Gates told MIT Technology Review that “all rich countries should move to 100 percent synthetic beef.”

Gates’ dream for the world probably will not come to fruition, at least as he envisioned it, because science continues to show that synthetic meat consumption is linked to cancer via the immortalized cell lines that the body uses to manufacture cancer cells in the presence of a provoking substance, in this case fake meat. …

Joe Biden’s regime has so far indicated its full support for the unleashing of fake meat here in the U.S., where private corporate interests seem to control just about everything.

In an unprecedented move, Biden’s U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) approved the sale of Gates’ lab-grown “chicken meat” back in late June. This approval from regulators will allow fake meat companies everywhere to flood the U.S. food market with their toxic, deadly products. https://www.infowars.com/posts/italy-becomes-first-nation-to-ban-bill-gates-fake-meat-due-to-serious-health-concerns/

As far as why GMO meat and other foods have been pushed, besides financial greed, notice one view:

March 12, 2023

Fake Meat Is All About Controlling the Food Supply

Fake food — including lab-grown meat, animal-free dairy and plant-based meat — is the globalists’ latest attempt to control the food supply. Former U.S. Secretary of State and national security adviser Henry Kissinger once said, “Control oil and you control nations; control food and you control people.”2 Controlling people is their whole agenda.

“Nations, states, and central banks are quietly but rapidly shifting their money to precious metals. With bank runs, recession, CBDCs, and worse on the horizon, it’s easy to see why. NOW is the time to learn more about moving portions of your retirement or wealth to a self-directed gold and silver IRA through an America-First, Christian precious metals company.” – JD Rucker (not a financial advisor, just a guy who’s paying attention)

The globalists have long held a monopoly on the grain industry with their patented genetically modified organisms (GMOs). …

The globalists are trying to replace animal husbandry with lab-grown meat, which will allow private companies to effectively control the entire food supply.

Fake Meat Is Even Worse Than CAFOs

Many people are aware of the pitfalls of concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) — unnatural diets of GMO grains, crowded conditions, inhumane treatment, excessive pollution and rampant spread of disease. CAFOs are bad — but the new fake food era is going to be even worse. …

What Is Fake Meat?

Fake meat is marketed as a health food, but it’s nothing more than a highly ultraprocessed mixture of chemicals. Impossible Foods, for instance, uses genetic engineering to insert the DNA from soy plants into yeast, creating GE yeast with the gene for soy leghemoglobin.9

Impossible Foods refers to this compound as “heme,” but technically plants produce non-heme iron, and this is GE yeast-derived soy leghemoglobin.10 Heme iron only occurs in meat and seafood. Impossible Foods’ GE heme is used in their fake meat burgers as a color additive that makes the product appear to “bleed” like real meat.

The health effects of GE heme are unknown, but this didn’t stop the U.S. Food and Drug Administration from approving soy leghemoglobin in 2019. The Center for Food Safety (CFS) filed a lawsuit challenging the approval, which they called “unusually rapid”11 and risky for public health. …

Impossible Foods’ Fake Meat Is Loaded With Glyphosate, LA

Considering that many ingredients in fake meat products are made from GE soy,16 it’s not surprising that they’re also contaminated with the herbicide glyphosate. Consumer advocacy group Moms Across America (MAA) commissioned Health Research Institute Labs (HRI Labs), an independent laboratory that tests both micronutrients and toxins found in food, to determine how much glyphosate is in the Impossible Burger and its competitor, the Beyond Burger.

The total result of glyphosate and AMPA, the main metabolite of glyphosate, in the burgers was 11.3 parts per billion (ppb) in the Impossible Burger and 1 ppb in the Beyond Burger.17 …

The glyphosate in fake meat is one issue. The excess amounts of omega-6 fat in the form of linoleic acid (LA) are another. In my opinion, this metabolic poison is the primary contributor to rising rates of chronic disease.

When you shop for food, know your farmer and look for regenerative, biodynamic and/or grass fed farming methods, which are what we need to support a healthy, autonomous population. https://discernreport.com/fake-meat-dangers-with-dr-joseph-mercola/

GMOs are a risk to human health as well as the food supply. They are also dangerous for the environment (see also GMOs and Bible Prophecy).

There are many bad things that are being done related to meat. Here is a video we put out related to chicken:

15:06

Lab grown chicken?

In November 2022, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) gave its initial approval (with two almost-automatic approvals to come) for the sale and consumption of what is called ‘lab-grown chicken.’ The FDA said that this material was safe and part of what it termed a “food revolution.” Is what was approved actually a chicken? Is this consistent with those who are “inventors of evil things” (Romans 1:30)? Have lab-grown meat and genetically-modified organisms (GMOs) been proven to be safe in all ways and for sufficient lengths of time? Should human-animal chimeras be encouraged? Are there scriptures in the Bible that warn about love of money and that point to not eating something just because it may appear good to eat? Does the Bible mention that living organisms were to reproduce after their own kind? Does the Bible say to eat that which is good in Isaiah? Steve Dupuie and Dr. Thiel go over these matters.

Here is a link to our video: Lab grown chicken?

Humanity’s tinkering with viruses and the food supply look to be setting the world up for the ride of the fourth horseman of the Apocalypse:

7 When He opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, “Come and see.” 8 So I looked, and behold, a pale horse. And the name of him who sat on it was Death, and Hades followed with him. And power was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword, with hunger, with death, and by the beasts of the earth. (Revelation 6:7-8)

That said, there are also various unknown health risks with the ‘Frankenfoods’ that are being introduced into the food supply.

The Bible teaches:

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

Eat what is good.

The Continuing Church of God put out the following sermon on its ContinuingCOG channel related to food:

1:07:48

Evil is Affecting the Food Supply

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

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

Some items of possibly related interest may include:

Christian Health Matters Should Christians be concerned about their health? Does the Bible give any food and health guidelines? Here are links to three related sermons: Let’s Talk About FoodEvil 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; two short videos are also available: Did Jesus declare all animal flesh food? and COVID, Pandemics, and Unclean Meat.
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.

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!

After threatening Panama, Donald Trump floats buying Greenland. He also declared that two genders would be the official US policy

Monday, December 23rd, 2024


Greenland Icebergs (Pixabay)

COGwriter

US President-elect Donald Trump continues to make statements that are stirring up various ones around the world. A day after telling Panama to change or risk its canal operations being taken over (see Donald Trump threatens Panama and suggests the USA may need to take the canal back), he has again floated the idea of buying Greenland:

Greenland PM reiterates ‘we are not for sale’ after Trump suggests US ownership

US president-elect raises issue of control of Denmark territory five years after proposing to buy it during first term

23 December 2024

Greenland’s elected leader said the gigantic Arctic island is not for sale after Donald Trump once again raised the issue of “ownership and control” of the vast territory that has been part of Denmark for more than 600 years.

“Greenland is ours. We are not for sale and will never be for sale. We must not lose our long struggle for freedom,” Greenland’s prime minister, Múte Egede, said in a written comment.

The US president-elect on Sunday announced that he had picked Ken Howery, a former envoy to Sweden, as his ambassador to Copenhagen, and commented on the status of Greenland, a semi-autonomous part of Denmark.

“For purposes of National Security and Freedom throughout the World, the United States of America feels that the ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Trump, who takes office on 20 January, did not elaborate on the statement.

For many observers Trump’s comment triggered a sense of deja vu. During his first term Trump suggested in 2019 that the US should buy Greenland – which is home to the strategically important Pituffik US space base.

That idea was roundly rejected by Denmark as well as by the island’s own authorities before any formal discussions could take place. It also prompted widespread ridicule and became emblematic of the chaos that Trump brought to traditional global diplomacy – something now expected to happen again once Trump returns to the White House next month. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/dec/23/trump-buying-greenland-ownership

President-elect Trump indicated he wants Greenland under U.S. control as he named PayPal co-founder Ken Howery as his pick for United States ambassador to Denmark on Sunday.

The big picture: Trump said during his first administration that he was looking into the U.S. buying Greenland and canceled a state trip to Denmark after Danish officials said the autonomous territory that’s part of its kingdom was not for sale. …

Background: The U.S. has on several occasions since 1867 considered or attempted to buy Greenland — the world’s largest island that’s not a continent.

  • Greenland is part of the continent of North America, but it has close geopolitical ties to Europe and has received EU funding as it’s classed as an overseas territory associated with the bloc via Denmark.

Between the lines: The territory has access to the Arctic, where there’s been a race between nations for resources in a region that research shows is already feeling the impacts of climate change.

Panama was not pleased with Donald Trump’s threats about it, Denmark is not pleased with Donald Trump’s proposal, and Greenland is not pleased with Donald Trump’s proposal.

There will be many unintended consequences because of various of Donald Trump’s statements and actions.

Donald Trump is turning Latin America, Europe, and many others against him and the United States.

If course, not all that Donald Trump says is bad.

Notice the following:

Trump vows to stop ‘transgender lunacy’ and recognize only two genders as ‘official policy’

December 23, 2024

President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to immediately stop “transgender lunacy” and make it “official policy ” to only recognize two genders, male and female.

“With the stroke of my pen on day one, we’re going to stop the transgender lunacy,” Trump told supporters at AmericaFest 2024 in Phoenix, Arizona, on Sunday, according to a video shared by C-Span.

“I will sign executive orders to end child sexual mutilation, get transgender out of the military and out of our elementary schools and middle schools and high schools,” he said, drawing cheers from the crowd.

“Under the Trump administration, it will be the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders, male and female,” he continued as he also vowed to “keep men out of women’s sports.”

“Doesn’t sound too complicated, does it?” https://nypost.com/2024/12/23/us-news/trump-vows-to-stop-transgender-lunacy-only-recognize-two-genders/

23 December 2024

President-elect Donald Trump on Sunday pledged to “stop the transgender lunacy” on day one of his presidency, as Republicans — set to control both chambers of Congress and the White House — continue their push against LGBTQ rights. …

He also vowed to “keep men out of women’s sports,” adding that “it will be the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders, male and female.”

Speaking to the AmericaFest conference in a border state he easily carried in the November election, Trump further promised immediate measures against “migrant crime,” vowed to designate drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, and doubled down on his talk of restoring US control of the Panama Canal. https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20241223-trump-vows-to-stop-transgender-lunacy-as-a-top-priority

It is great that a major US political figure will publicly declare that there are two genders. This is something that Russian President Vladimir Putin did three years ago (see NP: President Putin: I Will Never Allow the ‘New World Order’ To Pervert Nature – There Are Only TWO Genders).

Jesus said:

4 … Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ 5 and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? 6 So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.” (Matthew 19:4-6)

Notice that God made humans male and female from the beginning.

Many, if not most, transgender people ‘cross-dress,’ yet that is condemned as an abomination in the Bible:

5 A woman shall not wear anything that pertains to a man, nor shall a man put on a woman’s garment, for all who do so are an abomination to the Lord your God. (Deuteronomy 22:5)

The Bible clearly condemns cross-dressing. 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)

Males are not to act like they are female.

The Bible warns against not only sexual immorality, but approving it:

20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, 21 because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Professing to be wise, they became fools, 23 and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man — and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.

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

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

28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; 29 being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, 30 backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, 31 undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; 32 who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them. (Romans 1:20-32)

The USA is not benefiting from homosexuality or the transgender agenda.

Earlier this year, we put out the following video:

14:49

Gender Confusion, Science, and Scripture

The British Medical Journal reports that there is an increase in “gender dysphoria” “in young people.” According to the Mayo Clinic, what is gender dysphoria? Is gender confusion physical or is there a psychological component associated with it? Does research suggest that most young people with it will to grow out of it? Is what are called “gender-affirming treatments” the right answer? Has it been reported that Sweden’s National Board of Health and Welfare determined that the risks of puberty blockers and treatment with hormones “currently outweigh the possible benefits” for minors? Did researchers at the University of Florida find that 81% of those who had undergone sex change surgeries in the past five years reported experiencing pain simply from normal movement in the weeks and months that followed? What about the effects of gender altering surgeries on fertility and libido? Have researchers concluded that there are often psychological comorbidities strongly associated with gender confusion? Do studies show that “gender-reassignment” treatments reduces suicides? Do males who undergo surgerical genitalia removal have a highly increased suicide rate according to a peer-reviewed study published in The Journal of Urology? What are some of the side effect associated with “gender-reassignment” treatments? Does the Bible condone or condemn cross dressing? What did Jesus say about God making males and females? Can gender be determined by looking at XX and XY chromosomes? Are there 6500 genetic differences between males and females? Are there also differences between male and female brains that surgical and hormonal treatments do not change? Dr. Thiel and Steve Dupuie address these points.

Here is a link to our video: Gender Confusion, Science, and Scripture.

But what about women’s sports?

Last year, we put together the following video:

15:27

Olympics and Biology

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) had a report published in the ‘British Medical Journal’ that claimed, ” No athlete should be precluded from competing or excluded from the competition on the exclusive ground of an unverified, alleged or perceived unfair competitive advantage due to their sex variations, physical appearance and/or transgender status.” Does that IOC position make biological sense? Do biological males have significant advantages in many sports? Why do we not hear of many females who want to compete against males? What are some of the biological advantages that males have compared to females when it comes to sports? Have Olympians objected to the inclusion of those asserting that they are transgendered? Does the Bible have comments that are relevant on these matters? Steve Dupuie and Dr. Thiel go over some of these issues.

Here is a link to our video: Olympics and Biology.

The transgender movement is destructive to society and that includes female sports.

Allow me to add that last year, YouTube temporarily suspended our account after we put together the following video on our Bible News Prophecy YouTube channel related to transgender surgeries:

14:35

New Transgender Study

A new study on the side effects of transgender sex change surgeries was conducted by researchers at the University of Florida and the health non-profit Brooks Rehabilitation. The study found that 81% of those who had undergone sex change surgeries in the past five years reported experiencing pain simply from normal movement in the weeks and months that followed — and that many other side effects are manifesting themselves as well. How do Russia and the USA handle the transgender issue? What does the Bible say? What does science show? Does the Bible warn about children being oppressors and leaders causing people to err? Are God’s people supposed to, “Tell My people their transgression, And the house of Jacob their sins” (Isaiah 58:1)? Dr. Thiel and Steve Dupuie go over these topics.

Here is a link to our video: New Transgender Study.

Upon appeal, YouTube restated our account and put the above video back on.

But because of YouTube, Google, some in the media, and other censors many do not realize the horrible truths of the destruction and misery that transgender agenda causes.

It is great, however, that Donald Trump has called out the truth about genders.

Some items of interest may include the following:

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 videos related to this, titled Transgender ‘Woe to those who call evil good’Cross dressing and Other Assaults Against Your ChildrenDisney’s abominable promotions!USA pushing gender confusion, and New Transgender Study.

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?

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.

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.

 

 

Make Obesity Great Again? Obesity promoters should be ashamed

Saturday, December 21st, 2024


Obese females (Pixabay)

COGwriter

The City of San Francisco has decided that taxpayers should pay for someone promoting obesity:

Fat-Shaming ‘Expert’ Goes To Work For San Francisco. Her Mission? Make Obesity Great Again

December 20, 2024

In the lovely cesspool of San Francisco, it’s time to Make Obesity Great Again.

Never mind the poop and dirty drug needles littering the streets; the San Francisco Department of Health seems to want fat citizens to feel comfortable in their own bodies, to feel accepted by society, to feel like they can live their truth without any fear of judgment. To do so, they apparently hired a fat-shaming expert to work as a consultant — two labels that should send chills down your spine — on “weight stigma” and “weight neutrality” — two buzz phrases as hollow as they are silly.

Virgie Tovar, a self-described “plus-size Latina” and “leading expert on weight-based discrimination,” announced Monday she will work with the city’s health department to achieve the aforementioned “weight neutrality,” which, in my estimation, entails yet another feckless waste of taxpayer dollars for some unbelievably stupid liberal theory.

“I’m UNBELIEVABLY proud to serve the city I’ve called home for almost 20 years in this way! This consultancy is an absolute dream come true, and it’s my biggest hope and belief that weight neutrality will be the future of public health,” Tovar wrote on Instagram.

With all due respect to my weight-challenged brothers and sisters in America, you have no business eating up taxpayer dollars working for the city health department to “make weight neutrality … the future of health.” On its face, it is an absurd notion. https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/other/fat-shaming-expert-goes-to-work-for-san-francisco-her-mission-make-obesity-great-again/ar-AA1w2W6k?ocid=up97dhp&apiversion=v2&noservercache=1&domshim=1&renderwebcomponents=1&wcseo=1&batchservertelemetry=1&noservertelemetry=1

Morbidly obese Latinx activist Virgie Tovar, outfitted with multiple redundant chins, explains that normal-sized people are repulsed by fats stuffing their face-holes with disgusting birthday cake at office parties because they hate women and don’t want them to enjoy themselves.  …

I don’t believe I’ve ever addressed head-on the elephant in the room, as it were, which is: why the curious combining of feminism and fat activism into the Social Justice™ Frankenstein that it is today? …

People are rightfully and naturally less generous with their sympathy to people who put themselves in whatever position they find themselves in, like eating irresponsibly for years on end until they’re morbidly obese. So, by tying the #bodypositivity cause to a more socially accepted cause like women’s rights, they earn, at least in theory, greater legitimacy. 12/19/24 https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2024-12-20/bodypositivity-roundup-cake-related-fatphobic-incidents

It is difficult for most in Western nations to maintain a healthy weight, without people lying and saying being obese is fine. Obesity promoters should be ashamed.

While we should not go around making fun of people who are obese, we also should never encourage obesity.

Furthermore many anti-fat shaming voices have died prematurely with obesity being a major cause of that.

Obesity is UNHEALTHY and should not be encouraged. Pressure against smokers, helped reduce smoking in the USA, and pressuring against obesity may help improve people’s health.

That said, the Bible tells people to eat what is good:

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

Do not overeat. Eat what is good.

Having more highly-overweight people is consistent, however, with the following prophecy for the last days:

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

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

ZeroHedge reported the following related to approving of obesity;

August 8, 2022

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Bible warns:

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

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

It is NOT good to tell people that it is fine to be obese–that is bearing false witness–a violation of the ninth commandment.

Although some falsely teach that Jesus taught “come as you are,” He really said:

15 … Repent, and believe (Mark 1:15)

He did not say be satisfied as you are but be willing to change and believe. And, yes, this can mean physically and not just spiritually, as other scriptures show. He also said that those who would not believe He is who He said He was would die in their sins (John 8:24).

Obesity is bad for the obese and bad for society.

Notice also the following related to obesity:

The Societal Cost of Obesity

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

No doubt that is a shocking statistic. …

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Bible opposes obesity.

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

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

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

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

Furthermore, the Bible warns about gluttony:

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

Many people consume too much overly-processed convenience foods, synthetic nutrients, chemical additives, and refined grains–that is NOT good (see also: ‘Ultra-Processed Foods Linked to 32 Illnesses’).

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

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

Many years ag0, the Continuing Church of God put out a video about concerns about eating to much on our YouTube channel called Bible New Prophecy. Here is a link to our video: Eating Right, Eating Too Much, and Prophecy.

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

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

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

The Bible teaches:

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

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

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

Do not let fear stop you from moving ahead.

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

Interested in a spiritual ‘five second’ rule?

Tell yourself and pray:

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

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

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

You can eat less–take it one day at a time consistent Jesus’ words in Matthew 6:34, which when you are trying to lose weight may also mean one meal or snack desire at a time.

We also have a related video on changing your life. Here is a link to the video: ‘How to Change Your Life in 5 Seconds’.

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

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

Related to food, we put out the following video: Let’s Talk About Food.

Related to Christian health, we put out the following video: Let’s Talk About Health.

We also have the following obesity related video:

14:55

Is Obesity OK with Scripture?

In March 2024, the BBC reported that research was pointed to over a billion people being obese worldwide. Professor Majid Ezzati, of Imperial College London, said “In many of these island nations it comes down to the availability of healthy food versus unhealthy food. In some cases there have been aggressive marketing campaigns promoting unhealthy foods, while the cost and availability of healthier food can be more problematic.” Does the Bible teach to eat what is good? While millions are dying from hunger, over a billion are obese. What are diseases that the obese are more susceptible to? Since the obese tend to die sooner than others, should obesity be accepted or encouraged? What did Bill Maher state about the ‘body positive movement’? Does the Bible condemn gluttony (overeating) and obesity? Did Jesus say to ‘come as you are’ or to ‘repent and believe’? What are some ways to help lose weight? Is losing weight very difficult? Can Jesus help? If you fail, should you give up? What about the five second method of changing? Should the obese eat less? If that does not work, what should they do? What about exercise? Steve Dupuie and Dr. Thiel address these issues.

Here is a link to the video: Is Obesity OK with Scripture?

Remember that the word of God condemns gluttony and obesity.

If you are obese that is something, with God’s help, you need to work on.

Do not consider that it is fine to remain obese. No one should be promoting obesity as being fine.

While it is highly tempting for most people to overeat, we do want to watch that and obey the word of God.

Some items of possibly related interest may include:

Christian Health Matters Should Christians be concerned about their health? Does the Bible give any food and health guidelines? Here are links to three related sermons: Let’s Talk About Food, Evil is Affecting the Food Supply, and Let’s Talk About Health.
Obesity, processed foods, health risks, and the Bible Does the Bible warn about the consequences of being obese? Is overeating dangerous? Is gluttony condemned? What diseases are associated with eating too much refined foods? Two related video would be Is Obesity OK with Scripture? and Eating Right, Eating Too Much, and Prophecy.
Should Christians Exercise? What does the Bible teach? What are some of the benefits and risks of exercise? Here is a link to a related video: The Plain Truth About Exercise.
Ten Simple Rules that Lead to Health Herbert Armstrong gives his opinions on this.
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; a short video is also available: Did Jesus declare all animal flesh food?
Could God Have a 6,000 Year Plan? What Year Does the 6,000 Years End? Was a 6000 year time allowed for humans to rule followed by a literal thousand year reign of Christ on Earth taught by the early Christians? Does God have 7,000 year plan? What year may the six thousand years of human rule end? When will Jesus return? 2031 or ? There is also a video titled 6000 Years: When will God’s Kingdom Come? Here is a link to the article in Spanish: ¿Tiene Dios un plan de 6,000 años?
Is God Calling You? This booklet discusses topics including calling, election, and selection. If God is calling you, how will you respond? Here is are links to related sermons: Christian Election: Is God Calling YOU? and Predestination and Your Selection; here is a message in Spanish: Me Está Llamando Dios Hoy? A short animation is also available: Is God Calling You?
Christian Repentance Do you know what repentance is? Is it really necessary for salvation? Two related sermons about this are also available: Real Repentance and Real Christian Repentance.

Lost Tribes and Prophecies: What will happen to Australia, the British Isles, Canada, Europe, New Zealand and the United States of America? Where did those people come from? Can you totally rely on DNA? What about other peoples? Do you really know what will happen to Europe and the English-speaking peoples? What about Africa, Asia, South America, and the Islands? This free online book provides scriptural, scientific, historical references, and commentary to address those matters. Here are links to related sermons: Lost tribes, the Bible, and DNA; Lost tribes, prophecies, and identifications; 11 Tribes, 144,000, and Multitudes; Israel, Jeremiah, Tea Tephi, and British Royalty; Gentile European Beast; Royal Succession, Samaria, and Prophecies; Asia, Islands, Latin America, Africa, and Armageddon;  When Will the End of the Age Come?Rise of the Prophesied King of the North; Christian Persecution from the Beast; WWIII and the Coming New World Order; and Woes, WWIV, and the Good News of the Kingdom of God.

What is a Woman?

Saturday, December 14th, 2024


Movie poster

COGwriter

On June 1, 2022, a video titled What is a Woman was released. Here is some information about it:

June 2, 2022

Matt Walsh’s provocative documentary, What Is a Woman?, aired online at The Daily Wire on June 1, in what the political commentator and podcast host said was “an all-out assault on gender ideology.”

It’s an ideology that uses the language of “boys and girls” and “men and women,” but can’t define what any of those are.

Walsh used thoughtful questions and humor – there are some laugh-out-loud moments – to point out the fallacies behind “gender theory.”

But even the humor has a disturbing edge, when you realize how pervasive this post-modern belief system is, how far away from the truth, and how many are in its grip.

As one of my sons said, “It was funny until you realized how sad it was.”

What Is a Woman? is intense, with moments of deep pathos, as when it showed the devastating damage to individuals and families – the direct result of gender theories that are completely disconnected from reality and truth.

Ideas have consequences.

I’ve been researching and writing about transgender issues for a long time, and even though I was familiar with many of the stories told and the truths articulated, I found the film gut-wrenching at times and deeply thought provoking.

I’d written about some of these people, but it’s different watching them tell their stories onscreen. The documentary is not for the faint of heart.

One devastating testimony came from a Canadian father who “misgendered” his 13-year-old daughter. He was imprisoned for the offense. A Canadian court mandated male hormones for the young girl, over his objections.

Another poignant story was told by a woman who had hormones and surgeries to “transition into” a man. Scott Newgent’s body, health, finances and family have been devastated by surgeries and synthetic hormones.

Here are some other the highlights (and lowlights) that stood out to me.

  • “Truth” doesn’t exist for people who’ve bought into gender identity – except “your truth.”
  • When asked, “What is a woman?”, people can’t say, are afraid to say, or don’t know how to answer the question.
  • Many gender dogmatists are angry and defensive about being asked simple questions about their beliefs – even ones they’ve seen before the on-camera interview. …

Walsh demonstrated how widespread this dogma is – in schools, entertainment, social media and the medical world.

But Africans he interviewed are blissfully ignorant of all this and see it for the nonsense it is.

Thankfully, What Is a Woman? has some good folks who are speaking the truth about this false ideology, including Walsh, himself. https://dailycitizen.focusonthefamily.com/what-is-a-woman-matt-walsh-uses-humor-pathos-and-truth-to-expose-lies-and-harms-of-gender-ideology/

Many in modern society want to pretend that the LGBTQ+ agenda is good. It is not. It is based on many lies.

But the promoters of the LGBTQ+ agendas do not want the truth out.

YouTube censored and removed one of our videos warning against pushing the LGBTQ+ agenda on children.

Google and YouTube have shadow-banned the cogwriter.com website in order to reduce people from coming into contact with the biblically-based information it contains.

In the past we put together the following video on our Bible News Prophecy YouTube channel related to transgender surgeries:

14:35

New Transgender Study

A new study on the side effects of transgender sex change surgeries was conducted by researchers at the University of Florida and the health non-profit Brooks Rehabilitation. The study found that 81% of those who had undergone sex change surgeries in the past five years reported experiencing pain simply from normal movement in the weeks and months that followed — and that many other side effects are manifesting themselves as well. How do Russia and the USA handle the transgender issue? What does the Bible say? What does science show? Does the Bible warn about children being oppressors and leaders causing people to err? Are God’s people supposed to, “Tell My people their transgression, And the house of Jacob their sins” (Isaiah 58:1)? Dr. Thiel and Steve Dupuie go over these topics.

Here is a link to our video: New Transgender Study. It was original removed by YouTube, but I appealed and we won that time.

However, YouTube has also taken steps to prevent many of our videos from going viral.

But it is not just Big Tech that does not want people to know the truth about transgender matters. Notice the following:

December 10, 2024

The behavior of a researcher funded by the National of Institutes of Health, in hiding the results of a long-running study on the effects of puberty blockers on children, already has been called out by U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla.

In his recent letter to NIH Director Dr. Monica Bertagnolli, Rubio drew specific attention to an NIH-funded study by Dr. Johanna Olson-Kennedy, of the Center for Transyouth Health and Development at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.

Despite the Obama administration‘s decision to support Olson-Kennedy’s study more than nine years ago, the findings have yet to be released, allegedly out of fear of the political repercussions.

Rubio has charged that Olson-Kennedy was part of a group of researchers who received nearly $6 million from NIH to study physical and mental health outcomes for children who receive puberty blockers and cross-sex hormone treatments as part of “transitioning” to the opposite sex.

Olson-Kennedy outlined a few of her findings in a 2020 report that said approximately a quarter of the children in the study who received these transgender medical treatments were experiencing depression or suicidal ideation.

“According to [Olson-Kennedy], she fears the findings will be used to show that puberty blockers do not improve the mental health of youth,” Rubio warned. https://www.wnd.com/2024/12/the-walls-are-closing-in-researcher-who-hid-results-of-transgender-study-now-in-legal-crosshairs/

From what I have been able to tell, the Olson-Kennedy study helped show that puberty blockers, etc. did not help. But that, like a lot of other truths related to the LGBTQ agenda, has been suppressed.

Perhaps it should be pointed out that after the What is a Woman? video came out, its site was hit with a cyber attack:

Movie ‘What is a Woman?’ hit with major cyber attack

June 2, 2022

During the premiere Wednesday night of a movie that features scholars on the political left brazenly denying basic biology in their defense of transgender activism, The Daily Wire’s website was the target of a cyber attack.

A “significant and sustained DDoS attack” Wednesday night was “meant to disrupt the world premiere of “What is a Woman,” said Jeremy Boreing, The Daily Wire’s co-CEO.

A DDoS – distributed denial-of-service – attack is a malicious coordinated campaign that seeks to shut down a computer server by flooding it with extreme levels of traffic from bots.

“A million requests per minute at the peak flooded our system and created challenges for many viewers,” Boreing said in a statement.

“Someone doesn’t want you to see this movie,” he added.

The film features the Daily Wire’s Matt Walsh asking ordinary citizens, medical professionals and even African tribesmen to define “woman.”

“The left will do whatever they can to make sure no one sees this movie,” Walsh said. “They know their ideology is based on lies and their logic is hollow and premiering the movie to a massive online audience will not only be an utter embarrassment to them but will send a message that they will not win this battle.” …

The movie covers the gender-dysphoria confusion that activists use to encourage sex-change operations on children who are not old enough to vote or drink. It looks at biologically male athletes destroying records in women’s sports, the “pronoun police,” the left’s use of character assassination and censorship to advance its agenda as well as the language of “birthing persons” and the claim that “having a penis doesn’t make one male.  …

The film includes an interview with a scholar who became increasingly impatient as Walsh explained he was asking what is a woman simply because he wanted to get at the truth.

“You keep invoking the word truth, which is condescending and rude,” the academic said. https://www.wnd.com/2022/06/movie-woman-hit-major-cyber-attack/

Yes, many do not want to hear about truth, including many of the educated. The Apostle Paul prophesied that would be a feature in the last days:

1 But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: 2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, 4 traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away! 6 For of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts, 7 always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.  (2 Timothy 3:1-7)

Having said that, last weekend, my wife and I watched Matt Walsh’s documentary What is a Woman?

Matt Walsh asked various educated and less-educated American people what is a woman, and almost none of them would answer the question.

The females who did not appear highly educated seemed to hedge answers in what could be called “political correctness.”

Most of the highly educated got offended with Matt Walsh, considered his professing a desire for “truth” was offensive, etc.

Most of them displayed hate and vitriol that he would dare think knowing what a woman was had any importance as they sided with the idea that one can be any gender or gender combination they want.

Many of the so-called educated cut short their interviews with him.

The Bible is clear that men and women are different. God warned that there would be those “who suppress the truth in unrighteousness” (Romans 1:18). But the truth is still the truth.

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.

Of course, many ‘moderns’ want to act like there is no difference, but the Bible is clear that men and women are different. God warned that there would be those “who suppress the truth in unrighteousness” (Romans 1:18). But the truth is still the truth.

The Bible warns against the rise of despisers of good in the last days:

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)

Woe to those that do such things.

Matt Walsh repeatedly tried to get a professor of gender studies to define what a woman was without using the word woman, and he never did so.

That professor and others were highly offended that someone believed in truth and thought that males are males and females are females.

Later, Matt Walsh asked his wife, “What is a woman?” She said:

A woman is an adult female.

Of course, that is correct. It is also consistent with something that Jesus said:

4 … He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ (Matthew 19:14)

During the closing credits of What is a Woman?, there were clips of Ketanji Brown Jackson’s non-answers when she was asked “What is a woman?” during her confirmation hearings. Despite her non-answers, the US Senate confirmed her as Supreme Court justice.

Speaking of Ketanji Brown Jackson, notice the following:

Not Babylon Bee: Justice Ketanji Brown To Appear In Pro-Transgender Broadway Musical

December 10, 2024

Kentanji Brown Jackson may not know what a woman is, but she knows what it is to go to bed one night as just an ordinary Supreme Court justice and to wake up the next day as a Broadway star. Yup, she’s hitting the Great White Way (or, maybe, in her case, the Great Black Way) to fulfill a childhood dream: taking a turn in a Broadway musical.

Interestingly, the particular musical she’s chosen, “& Juliet,” is a tawdry pro-transgender show.  …

The Code of Conduct for United States Judges, which does not apply to Supreme Court judges, is nevertheless appropriate to quote here:

Canon 4: A Judge May Engage in Extrajudicial Activities that are Consistent with the Obligations of Judicial Office 

[snip]

However, a judge should not participate in extrajudicial activities that detract from the dignity of the judge’s office, interfere with the performance of the judge’s official duties, [or] reflect adversely on the judge’s impartiality…

Everything about Justice Jackson’s Broadway foray violates those principles. The debased plot “detract[s] from the dignity of the judge’s office,” while the fact that the musical is, in significant part, a celebration of so-called transgenderism, “reflect[s] adversely on the judge’s impartiality.” https://www.zerohedge.com/political/not-babylon-bee-justice-ketanji-brown-appear-pro-transgender-broadway-musical

Ketanji Brown Jackson keeps pushing the LGBTQ agenda–an agenda that is harmful to those who consider themselves such as well as for society according to the Bible (cf. Romans 1:18-32; 1 Corinthians 6:9).

She and many others perhaps are apparently not educated enough to 1) accept the truth or 2) realize the origin of the word woman.

The Old English words “womb” (womb, also known as a uterus) and “mann” (person or human) were combined to form “wīfmann,” which later changed into the Modern English word “woman.”

So, a woman is a person who naturally has a womb.

Despite how obvious that is, notice the following absurdity from someone at CNN:

“It’s not possible to know a person’s gender identity at birth, and there is no consensus criteria for assigning sex at birth,” CNN’s Devan Cole wrote. https://nypost.com/2021/04/01/cnn-ridiculed-for-saying-no-consensus-for-assigning-sex-at-birth/

Actually, yes it is possible. And there has been a consensus for thousands of years by billions of people to assign sex at birth based on genitalia.

Furthermore, with modern technology there is another way. Notice the following from LiveScience.com:

How sex is determined

Humans have an additional pair of sex chromosomes for a total of 46 chromosomes. The sex chromosomes are referred to as X and Y, and their combination determines a person’s sex. Typically, human females have two X chromosomes while males possess an XY pairing. This XY sex-determination system is found in most mammals as well as some reptiles and plants.

Whether a person has XX or XY chromosomes is determined when a sperm fertilizes an egg. Unlike the body’s other cells, the cells in the egg and sperm — called gametes or sex cells — possess only one chromosome. Gametes are produced by meiosis cell division, which results in the divided cells having half the number of chromosomes as the parent, or progenitor, cells. In the case of humans, this means that parent cells have two chromosomes and gametes have one.

All of the gametes in the mother’s eggs possess X chromosomes. The father’s sperm contains about half X and half Y chromosomes. The sperm are the variable factor in determining the sex of the baby. If the sperm carries an X chromosome, it will combine with the egg’s X chromosome to form a female zygote. If the sperm carries a Y chromosome, it will result in a male. accessed 04/30/21 https://www.livescience.com/27248-chromosomes.html

Those claiming to be ‘transgendered’ are confused and in scientific error as the overwhelming majority of them are not ‘transgendered’ biologically, but confused mentally and spiritually.

The LGBTQ crowd pushes not only transgenderism, but the idea that gender is fluid. The idea that you can be one gender on one day, then another gender another day.

Yet, men and women are different. While one of the differences is genitalia, there are more differences than that. But one’s chromosomes never change.

Notice also the following:

4 May 2017

Researchers have revealed a breakthrough is how the sexes really differ from each other.

A groundbreaking genetic study pinponted 6500 genes that differ between men and women.

Experts say it could have a profound effect in the way we identify and treat everything from disease to fertility. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-4475252/There-6-500-genetic-differences-men-women.html#ixzz4l2KCqvLW

May 7, 2017

A biological male can take hormones, surgically alter his body and identify as “female,” but the procedures still won’t make him a woman, according to new evidence found by Israeli researchers.

That’s because there are at least 6,500 genes that contain sex-specific instructions for males and females.

For the study by Israel’s Weizmann Institute of Science, professor Shmuel Pietrokovski and Dr. Moran Gershoni, both researchers from the institute’s Molecular Genetics Department, “looked closely at around 20,000 protein-coding genes, sorting them by sex and searching for differences in expression in each tissue. They eventually identified around 6,500 genes with activity that was biased toward one sex or the other in at least one tissue, adding to the already major biological differences between men and women.” …

The new findings are further evidence that biological males cannot simply “transition” into females and vice versa, argues Mat Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel.

“This recent study from Israel’s Weizmann Institute of Science further proves that you cannot fool Mother Nature,” Staver said. “The saying, ‘I think, therefore, I am’ is best left to philosophy and not science. Gender confusion is mental, not physical or biological. God made male and female, and no amount of protestation will change the natural created order.”

Staver called the idea that a person can choose his or her gender “fiction.”

“These Israeli scientists identified over 6,500 genes with activity that was biased toward one sex or the other in at least one tissue,” he said. “That clearly validates the genetic differences between men and women.” http://www.wnd.com/2017/05/study-more-proof-a-man-can-never-become-a-woman/

The promotion of transgenderism is not good. The truth is that males and females are different and no amount of surgery or hormone therapy changes that.

Interestingly, Matt Walsh interviewed a surgeon who mutilates genitalia, and although that doctor was highly supportive of mutilation, that doctor also called it a “Faustian bargain.”

What is that?

Here is what Encyclopedia Britannica says about that:

Faustian bargain, a pact whereby a person trades something of supreme moral or spiritual importance, such as personal values or the soul, for some worldly or material benefit, such as knowledge, power, or riches. The term refers to the legend of Faust (or Faustus, or Doctor Faustus), a character in German folklore and literature, who agrees to surrender his soul to an evil spirit (in some treatments, Mephistopheles, or Mephisto, a representative of Satan) after a certain period of time in exchange for otherwise unattainable knowledge and magical powers that give him access to all the world’s pleasures. A Faustian bargain is made with a power that the bargainer recognizes as evil or amoral. Faustian bargains are by their nature tragic or self-defeating for the person who makes them, because what is surrendered is ultimately far more valuable than what is obtained, whether or not the bargainer appreciates that fact. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Faustian-bargain accessed 12/08/24

Yes, what the one getting genitalia mutilating surgery gives up is more valuable than what that one ends up with.

Consider the truths in the following:

June 10, 2016

“War is Peace; Freedom is Slavery; Ignorance is Strength.”

This was the slogan of George Orwell’s fictional English Socialist Party (INGSOC) of Oceania, from his timeless dystopian novel “1984.”

Orwell depicted a mind-control technique employed by INGSOC called “doublethink,” which “describes the act of simultaneously accepting two mutually contradictory beliefs as correct, often in distinct social contexts.”

If the malleable masses could be made to believe self-contradictory, patently absurd and empirically impossible concepts as true, went Orwell’s thesis, they could then be made to believe, or do, anything.

We have entered an age that George Orwell might never have imagined. Today’s “American Socialist Party” (the secular left) has applied the doublethink mind-control technique on a grand scale.

Its slogan?

“Male is Female; Female is Male; Evil is good.”

Indeed, not only do secular leftists like Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton stubbornly maintain that objective morality be treated as relative – that evil is good and good evil; they now demand that the immutable laws of physics and biology be similarly repealed.

There are things true and things untrue. It is true, for instance, that water is composed of two parts hydrogen and one part oxygen (H20). No amount of wishful thinking, angry foot-stomping, or even a tyrannical presidential edict issued to America’s public school chemistry classes can change this unchangeable reality.

It is likewise true that a person born with XX chromosomes is, and shall always be, female, while a person born with distinct X and Y chromosomes is forever male. Again, no amount of self-delusion, gnashing of teeth, cross-dressing, genital mutilation surgery, or utterly bizarre presidential doublethink dictates can alter this unalterable fact.

While we would call a person who subjectively insists that water is comprised of pure hydrogen either ignorant or insane, we incongruously call the person who similarly insists that a man can somehow “transition” to a woman, “progressive.” http://www.wnd.com/2016/06/indecent-exposure-the-gender-identity-agenda/#1AERBIIbR7R1WYZV.99

Yet, the LGBTQ promoters care not for the truth on these matters, but rather to push an agenda that is evil.

Now, consider that Jesus taught:

4 “Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ 5 and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? 6 So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.” (Matthew 19:4-6)

Jesus clearly is teaching against transgenderism and homosexual marriage.

Despite biblical warnings, many modern leaders are endorsing so-called homosexual and transgender “rights” and “same-sex marriage.” The Bible, however, warns about such leaders:

12…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).

So, leaders that ignore what the Bible teaches are leading others toward destruction.

Sadly, a lot of people Matt Walsh spoke to accepted the nonsense that being a woman is a social construct, not a biological fact.

Interestingly, when he went to Africa asked African men and women about this, they did know what a man was as well as what a woman was. The Africans acted like Westerners who did not know were loony.

Sadly, many of the ‘educated’ that Matt Walsh spoke to falsely claimed that hormone therapy was safe and completely reversible (not true) and that males who claim to be females do not have a biological advantage against real females in sports (also not true), etc.

They also pushed the false notion that if parents do not allow their children with gender dysphoria to get mutilated that they would likely kill themselves–that is also not true.

The Continuing Church of God (CCOG)put out the following video on our Bible News Prophecy YouTube channel which deals with the science, reality, suicide, and scriptures related to that the so-called transgendered:

14:49

Gender Confusion, Science, and Scripture

The British Medical Journal reports that there is an increase in “gender dysphoria in young people.” According to the Mayo Clinic, what is gender dysphoria? Is gender confusion physical or is there a psychological component associated with it? Does research suggest that most young people with it will grow out of it? Is what are called “gender-affirming treatments” the right answer? Has it been reported that Sweden’s National Board of Health and Welfare determined that the risks of puberty blockers and treatment with hormones “currently outweigh the possible benefits” for minors? Did researchers at the University of Florida find that 81% of those who had undergone sex change surgeries in the past five years reported experiencing pain simply from normal movement in the weeks and months that followed? What about the effects of gender altering surgeries on fertility and libido? Have researchers concluded that there are often psychological comorbidities strongly associated with gender confusion? Do studies show that “gender-reassignment” treatments reduces suicides? Do males who undergo surgerical genitalia removal have a highly increased suicide rate according to a peer-reviewed study published in The Journal of Urology? What are some of the side effect associated with “gender-reassignment” treatments? Does the Bible condone or condemn cross dressing? What did Jesus say about God making males and females? Can gender be determined by looking at XX and XY chromosomes? Are there 6500 genetic differences between males and females? Are there also differences between male and female brains that surgical and hormonal treatments do not change? Dr. Thiel and Steve Dupuie address these points.

Here is a link to our video: Gender Confusion, Science, and Scripture.

One of the people that Matt Walsh spoke with was one who had the mutilating surgery and regretted it. Matt Walsh asked him to say what he tells parents of children with gender dysphoria. He said 1) children with this are more suicidal (particularly 6-7 years after they have the surgery, if they do) and should not undergo such horrible experimental procedures such as hormone blockers and surgery and 2) that parents do not have the right to change their children’s sex organs–essentially because this is wrong and irreversible in various ways.

The truth is that transgender movement opposes both science and scripture.

We should pray for those who have gender confusion.

Most will grow out of it if they do not allow themselves to be drugged or mutilated.

Now, to more fully answer Matt Walsh’s question. “What is a Woman?”

  • A woman is a person with a womb who is an adult female.
  • A woman has xx chromosomes.
  • Being a woman is not simply a social construct, but a biological fact.

Yet, in these days, sadly many of the elite cannot accept the obvious, but “suppress the truth in unrighteousness” (Romans 1:18).

But the truth is still the truth.

Some items of possibly related interest may include:

The Bible Condemns Homosexuality “Same-sex marriage” for “gays” and lesbians is becoming more acceptable to many. What does the Bible teach about homosexuality? Can homosexuals change? A related video sermon is titled What Does the Bible Really Teach about Homosexuality?
Dating: A Key to Success in Marriage, a practical dating guide for Christians This is a scripture-filled dating guide. It discusses many aspects of dating, as well as who to not consider for marriage. Two related sermons are available: The Art of Christian Dating. and No One to Date? Teen Q&A? Engagement? 2nd Marriage? A short animation is also available: First Date: Worldly vs. Christian.
Love, Marriage, and Sex It is important to get them in the right order.
Making Your Marriage Work Marriage is not always easy, but it pictures a divine relationship. How can you make your marriage work? Here is a link to the video sermon: You Can Make YOUR Marriage Work.
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.
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?
What Did Jesus Teach About the Ten Commandments? This article quotes what Jesus actually said about them (His words are in red).
The Ten Commandments Reflect Love, Breaking them is Evil Some feel that the ten commandments are a burden. Is that what Jesus, Paul, Peter, James, and John taught? For a more detailed discussion of the first four commandments, please see the video The Ten Commandments: Loving God. For a more detailed discussion of the last six commandments, please see: The Ten Commandments: Loving Your Neighbor. Here is a link to a related article in Mandarin Chinese 十条诫命显示爱,违反诫命的就是邪恶的
The Ten Commandments and the Early Church Did Jesus and the Early Church keep the ten commandments? What order were they in? Here are quotes from the Bible and early writings. A related sermon is titled: Christians and the Ten Commandments.
Anglo – America in Prophecy & the Lost Tribes of Israel Are the Americans, Canadians, English, Scottish, Welsh, Australians, Anglo-Saxon (non-Dutch) Southern Africans, and New Zealanders descendants of Joseph? Where are the lost ten-tribes of Israel? Who are the lost tribes of Israel? What will happen to Jerusalem and the Jews in Israel? Will God punish the U.S.A., Canada, United Kingdom, and other Anglo-Saxon nations? Why might God allow them to be punished first? Here is a link to the Spanish version of this article: Anglo-América & las Tribus Perdidas de Israel. Information is also in the YouTube sermons titled Where are the Ten Lost Tribes? Why does it matter? and British are the Covenant People. A short YouTube of prophetic interest may be: Are Chinese threats against Australia for real?
Will the Anglo-Saxon-Celtic Nations be Divided and Have People Taken as Slaves? Will the lands of the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand be divided? What about Jerusalem? What does Bible prophecy teach? Are there non-biblical prophecies that support this idea? Who will divide those lands? Who will end up with the lands and the people? Here is a link to a video titled Will the USA and other Anglo-nations be Divided and Their People Made Slaves? Here is a related item in the Spanish language ¿Serán divididas las naciones anglosajonas?
British are the Covenant People What do ‘British’ and ‘Britain’ mean in Hebrew? Are the descendants of the Anglo-Saxons people of the covenant? Does the British royal family connect to the throne of David? What does the Bible teach? What does history show us? Is there any DNA evidence related to British-Israelism? When did Christianity make it to the British Isles? Could Jeremiah have made it to the British Isles? What type of Christians made it to the British Isles? Did the last King of England believe in British Israelism?
Canada in Prophecy: What Does Bible Prophecy, Catholic Prophecy, and other Predictions Suggest About the Future of Canada? There are prophecies that suggest involvement with Canada. And many are not positive about its future. A sermon of related interest is also available: Canada in Prophecy.
Australia and New Zealand in Prophecy Do biblical prophecies help explain the wealth blessings for Australia and New Zealand? Might cursings from disobedience come in the 21st century? Here is a link to a related sermon: Australia and New Zealand: Origins and Prophecy.
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 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.
Does 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? 2028 or or 2031 or 20xx? There is also a video titled 6000 Years: When will God’s Kingdom Come? Here is a link to the article in Spanish: ¿Tiene Dios un plan de 6,000 años?
Might the U.S.A. Be Gone by 2028? Are there prophetic reasons to believe that the USA will not last two complete presidential terms? Yes. 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?
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.

People are increasingly killing themselves with government approval as euthanasia accounts for 4.7% of deaths in Canada

Thursday, December 12th, 2024


Anti-euthanasia poster (Unsplash photo)

COGwriter

Lots of Canadians are being killed by doctors:

Canada euthanasia now accounts for nearly one in 20 deaths

12 December 2024

The rate of medical assistance in dying – also known as euthanasia – has grown in Canada for the fifth straight year, albeit at a slower pace.

The country released its fifth annual report since legalising assisted dying in 2016, which for the first time included data on the ethnicity of those seeking euthanasia.

Around 15,300 people underwent assisted dying last year, accounting for 4.7% of deaths in the country. Canada lawmakers are currently seeking to expand access to euthanasia to cover people with mental illnesses by 2027.

Canada is among a few countries that have introduced assisted dying laws in the past decade. Others include Australia, New Zealand, Spain, Austria.

The figures released on Wednesday by Health Canada show that the rate of assisted dying in Canada increased by nearly 16% in 2023. …

While the number of assisted deaths in Canada is growing, the country still falls behind the Netherlands, where euthanasia accounted for around 5% of total deaths last year.

UK MPs voted late last month to pass a similar bill that gives terminally ill adults in England and Wales the right to have an assisted death, though it will face months of further scrutiny before it could become law. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0j1z14p57po

This is horrible. The rate of death this way keeps rising in Canada. And notice that the rate in the Netherlands is even higher.

What is happening in Canada and other lands that allows euthanasia brought to mind the 1973 science-fiction movie Soylent Green. In that film, humans ended up in the food supply, as that was considered to be more beneficial for the government than to have people live longer. Although the modern euthanized do not end up in the food supply, it would not surprise me if Canadian government officials believe that by having physically and/or mentally ill people killed, this will reduce costs for Health Canada.

A reader from Canada sent me a link to the following a couple of years ago:

KILLING THE HELPLESS: Canada set to legalize euthanasia for mentally ill patients

November 1, 2022

Canada’s euthanasia laws have reached a “new and more terrifying low,” according to Fox News host Tucker Carlson.

He noted during a recent edition of “Tucker Carlson Tonight” there had been a “very big change in Western civilization” as Canada is set to legalize new standards for euthanasia in March 2023, and is set to extend medical assistance in dying (MAiD) to those with mental illness after a temporary exclusion expires.

Prior to the passage of the bill, MAiD eligibility was based only on having a “grievous and irremediable medical condition.

In 2021, data showed that 10,064 people in Canada died with medical aid, which is a massive 32 percent increase compared to 2020. The report said that 3.3 percent of all deaths in Canada in 2021 were assisted deaths. On a provincial level, British Columbia has the highest rate at 4.8 percent, while Quebec comes second at 4.7 percent.

However, advocates say that it isn’t surprising because Canadians are growing more comfortable with MAiD, although many expect the rising rates to level off soon. …

There are states in the U.S. that already approved medical-assisted suicide, namely Oregon, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, New Jersey, New Mexico, Vermont, Washington state, and Washington, D.C. Montana’s Supreme Court has also ruled that state laws do not prohibit medical aid in dying.

Watch the video below to listen to the discussion on whether euthanasia is mercy killing or murder.

This video is from the Bible News Prophecy channel on Brighteon.com.

It’s wrong and it’s a dangerous path for people to kill other people. Governments should not be promoting this.

Here is more on the Canadian bill from back in 2022:

Canada Moves to Exterminate Mentally Ill

November 1, 2022

Canada moves to expand medical assistance in dying (MAID):

Bill C-7 would allow individuals seeking MAID to apply solely on the basis of a mental disorder. Prior to the bill’s passage, MAID eligibility was based on having a “grievous and irremediable medical condition,” according to a report from the Canadian government on the practice.

Likewise, the Third Reich’s preferred treatment for those with debilitating mental problems was the final solution.

The mentally ill aren’t the only problematic people who can be nudged out of existence:

Creighton School of Medicine professor Charles Camosy said Wednesday on “Tucker Carlson Tonight” the bill would allow “mature minors” to be euthanized by state doctors without the consent of their parents.

If you would surgically disfigure children on behalf of the LGBT agenda, you probably won’t have moral qualms about killing them outright. https://moonbattery.com/canada-moves-to-exterminate-mentally-ill/

This is terrible. And minors should not be able to decide to do this.

That said, proponents say this type of killing is good and that there are (in their opinions) proper safeguards. But notice the following about Belgium:

Euthanasia study finds model law is failing

‘Ethically and legally problematic’ widening of assisted suicide

A new study on euthanasia in Belgium warns that the 2002 law allowing assisted suicide is broken beyond repair because it lacks safeguards.

The study by Kasper Raus, Bert Vanderhaegen and Sigrid Sterckx of Ghent University in Belgium is called “Euthanasia in Belgium: Shortcomings of the law and its application and of the monitoring of practice.”

“In 2002 with the passing of the Euthanasia Law, Belgium became one of the few countries worldwide to legalize euthanasia. In the 18 years since the passing of the law, much has changed. We argue that in Belgium a widening of the use of euthanasia is occurring and that this can be ethically and legally problematic,” the researchers wrote.

“This is in part related to the fact that several legal requirements intended to operate as safeguards and procedural guarantees in reality often fail to operate as such.” 03/13/21 https://www.wnd.com/2021/03/euthanasia-study-finds-model-law-failing/

Here is some information about euthanasia:

Active euthanasia involves “the direct administration of a lethal substance to the patient by another party with merciful intent”… Physician-assisted suicide refers to a medical professional aiding a patient in terminating their life upon the patient’s request. (Med Princ Pract. 2019 Jun; 28(3): 199–207)

Basically, euthanasia is a form of intentional poisoning. It cannot be done right, because it is morally wrong.

The late American Dr. Jack Kevorkian (nicknamed “Dr. Death”) pushed for physician-assisted suicide during his life. And sadly, it has been approved in 8 states in the USA, plus the District of Columbia.


“Dr. Death”

Here is some information about him:

3 June 2011

Jack Kevorkian, the controversial American doctor who claimed to have assisted more than 100 suicides, has died aged 83.

To his critics, he was Dr Death. To other detractors, Jack the Dripper.

Kevorkian was given plenty of nicknames after receiving international attention in the 1990s, throughout which he waged a defiant campaign to help people end their lives. …

His career ignited in 1989 when he demonstrated his “suicide machine” on television and even had business cards printed advertising his services …

Wesley J Smith, author and leading campaigner against assisted suicide, says the media fawned over him and failed to see the damage he wrought.

“I think his more important place in contemporary history was as a dark mirror that reflected how powerful the avoidance of suffering has become as a driving force in society, and indeed, how that excuse seems to justify nearly any excess.”

Kevorkian was prophetic in calling for the creation of euthanasia clinics, which now exist in Switzerland, says Smith. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-13649381

As far as media acceptance, notice something from decades ago:

The abortion attitude is already being extended to newborn infants. Pro-abortionists themselves are becoming bolder in admitting the connection. Thus Dr. Robert Crist, testifying before the Louisiana state legislature, said that he was just as comfortable killing a newborn child. a week old as a week before birth, and that only lawyers haggle over this point of birth as having any special significance (“A New Conscience of the Pro-Life Movement,” Conservative Digest, December, 1979, p. 19).

The liberal, pro-abortion New Republic reflects the same attitude. The following words were taken from its July 2; 1977, editorial on abortion. The words accurately reflect the magazine’s position. They also reflect just where the abortion attitude leads:

“Metaphysical arguments about the beginning of life are fruitless. But there is clearly no logical or moral distinction between a fetus and a young baby; free availability of abortion cannot be reasonably distinguished from euthanasia. Nevertheless we are for it. It is too facile to say that human life is always sacred; obviously it is not…” (Calkins K. The Silent Holocaust. Plain Truth, September 1980)

The atheistic media is all about its own wants and desires. They do not understand God’s plan, so they see no value in allowing suffering as they view it. They are among those who believe they “have no hope” (1 Thessalonians 4:13). But you do not have to be in ignorance like the media is. To learn more about God’s plan, check out the free online book: The MYSTERY of GOD’s PLAN: Why Did God Create Anything? Why Did God Make You?

As far as suicides go, they are up in places other than just Canada. Earlier this year, the Continuing Church of God (CCOG) put together the following video on our Bible News Prophecy YouTube channel related to that topic for the United States:

14:07

Suicides Up! Why?

A new report shows that the number of suicides in the USA broke a record in 2022 that was surpassed with a new record in 2023. Many ‘experts’ have no answers for why this is occurring. Suicides have gone up since the FCC approved ‘988’ as the national suicide prevention telephone number. What are factors that seem to contribute to increased suicides? Do 52% of Americans report loneliness? Are more Americans depressed than before? Do more despair of death? What about the influence of religion, marriage, and family? Does money make success? What is truth? Does the Bible speak about how to be happy? What about reliance on God? What about the LGBTQ influence? Has social media increased suicide rates among young men and women? Why? Should you talk with people who say they are considering suicide? What, according to the International Association for Suicide Prevention, are tips to help you assist those who are suicidal? Does suicide end existence according to the Bible? Why did God create anything? Why did God make you? What is your purpose? What about the purpose of everyone else? Dr. Thiel and Steve Dupuie discuss these topics.

Here is a link to our video: Suicides Up! Why?

Suicide is never the answer.

Related to infanticide, the Continuing Church of God (CCOG) put out the following video on our Bible News Prophecy YouTube channel:

12:55

February 23, 2019 was declared a ‘day of mourning’ by some concerned about infanticide and other ramifications of the State of New York’s “Reproductive Health Act.” The American College of Pediatricians reported they were grieved by efforts by several states to allow infanticide. Statements from disgraced Virginia Governor Ralph Northam, as well as proposed laws in Illinois, Rhode Island, and Vermont have gotten more to be concerned about infanticide in the United States of America. Nebraska Senator Ben Sasse proposed S. 311 the ‘Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act failed in a voice vote–and 17 “public health organizations’ denounced S. 311 as “a dangerous government intrustion.” Is the destruction of humans wrong. Does human life begin at conception? Is there a light flash at conception? Has there been infanticide throughout human history? What does God say about the shedding of “innocent blood’? What about Judaism and Molech?

Here is a link to the sermonette video: American Infanticide.

The Continuing Church of God (CCOG) also put together the following video on our Bible News Prophecy YouTube channel (it is the same program that is also on Brighteon):

11:38 

On October 30, 2020, New Zealand voters approved a measure to allow euthanasia and physician assisted suicide. Is this the legalization of mercy killing or murder? Is poison used to end life with euthanasia? What other lands allow euthanasia? Why are some leaders and some in the media supportive of physician assisted suicide and abortion? Is suicide murder? Did the original Hippocratic Oath permit or prohibit euthanasia or abortion? What has been the Church of God position on mercy killing and abortion? Dr. Thiel addresses these issues and more.

Here is a link to the video: Euthanasia: Mercy killing or murder?

Notice what the Bible warns about following the wrong type of leadership that many are accepting:

12… 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).

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 1:32)

Perhaps I should add that the idea of physician-assisted suicide is also a violation of the Hippocratic oath that medical doctors used to take (and it originally prohibited assisting in causing abortion).

Notice something related to medical ethics and the Hippocratic oath:

Code of Ethics

The most current version of the American Medical Association‘s Code of Ethics states that physician-assisted suicide is prohibited. It prohibits physician-assisted suicide because it is “fundamentally incompatible with the physician’s role as healer” and because it would be “difficult or impossible to control, and would pose serious societal risks”. [18]

Hippocratic Oath

Some doctors[19] remind that physician-assisted suicide is contrary to the Hippocratic Oath, which is the oath historically taken by physicians. It states “I will give no deadly medicine to anyone if asked, nor suggest any such counsel”.[20][21] The original oath however has been modified many times and, contrary to popular belief, is not required by most modern medical schools, nor confers any legal obligations on individuals who choose to take it.[22] There are also procedures forbidden by the Hippocratic Oath which are in common practice today, such as abortion. (Assisted Suicide. Wikipedia, accessed 10/30/20)

Yes, both euthanasia and abortion are prohibited by the Hippocratic Oath. Physicians are not supposed to be involved with murder, but assisting healing.

The Bible teaches that one is not to murder (Exodus 20:13). And that includes murdering oneself, as well as one’s unborn baby. Notice also the following:

Is suicide a crime? …

God commands: “THOU SHALT NOT KILL” (the sixth commandment). Webster defines the word kill as “to deprive of life.” To commit suicide, then, is breaking one of the Ten Commandments -and is definitely condemned by God. Paul admonishes us saying, “Know you not that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?

If any man DESTROY (KJV margin) the temple of God, him shall God DESTROY; for the temple of God is holy, which temple you are” (1 Cor. 3 : 16, 17 ) . “What, know you not that your BODY is the temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you, which you have of God, and you are not your own?” (I Cor. 6: 19). No murderer-or suicide-has eternal life abiding in him (I John 3: 15). He has no hope unless and until in the general resurrection after the millennium he repents of his sin (Matthew 11 :20-24). (Plain Truth. January 1960, pp. 15-16)

What about mercy killings (euthanasia), capital punishment, killing in self-defense, taking revenge, “just” wars, abortions (killing of unborn infants) and suicide? God, the giver of life (Gen. 2:7, Deut. 32:39), has the right to take any life if and when He chooses. But man does not have that power, unless God grants it to him. (McNair R. Could You Be Guilty of Murder? Good News, January 1983)

Subtle forms of murder include abortion, euthanasia … (Crime can be stopped…here’s how! Ambassador College, 1975)

Both abortion and euthanasia are wrong.

Let me add that refusing extreme medical interventions is NOT wrong. But having someone poison someone else, which is what euthanasia via a physician pretty much always is, is wrong.

The Bible teaches:

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)

Euthanasia is one of those sins that we are denouncing.

The destruction of the USA and its British-descended allies including Australia, Canada, and New Zealand is coming and disobedience to various laws of God will be the reason.

Physician-assisted suicide, infanticide, and abortion are wrong.

Some items of possibly related concerns may include:

Canada in Prophecy: What Does Bible Prophecy, Catholic Prophecy, and other Predictions Suggest About the Future of Canada? There are prophecies that suggest involvement with Canada. And many are not positive about its future. A sermon of related interest is also available: Canada in Prophecy.

Australia and New Zealand in Prophecy Do biblical prophecies help explain the wealth blessings for Australia and New Zealand? Might cursings from disobedience come in the 21st century? Here is a link to a related sermon: Australia and New Zealand: Origins and Prophecy.

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.

Abortion, the Bible, and a Woman’s Right to Choose Do you know what the Bible teaches on this? Has the Roman Catholic Church allowed abortions? What about the real Church of God? Some may wish to view the YouTube videos: Abortion and Birth Control: History and Scriptures. Abortion, the Bible, and US Debt, American Infanticide, and Land of ‘Free’ Abortions and Debt.

The Ten Commandments Reflect Love, Breaking them is Evil Some feel that the ten commandments are a burden. Is that what Jesus, Paul, Peter, James, and John taught? Here is a link to a video The Ten Commandments: Loving God.

Crime can be stopped…here’s how! This was a booklet that was edited with some updates by Dr. Thiel. Here is a link to a related sermon: Crime and How it Will be Stopped!

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.

Temple Institute: Dreams from God, do come true. But, not always as we anticipate

Friday, December 6th, 2024

Artist’s representation of Jacob’s ladder dream (Genesis 28:10-17)

COGwriter

The Temple Institute reported the following in its newsletter today:

We are all familiar with the fabulous dream Yaakov dreamt as he stepped foot out of the land promised him through his fathers and into a foreign land. A ladder firmly placed on the earth and extending into heaven. Angels ascending and descending and HaShem appearing atop the ladder pledging to Yaakov the land upon which he slept and G-d’s protection over him and his children forever. Yaakov wakes in awe, lifts up the stone upon which he had placed his head, anoints it and declares it to be the foundation stone of a future House of G-d. “Surely HaShem is in this place” (Genesis 28:16) Yaakov declares, and, indeed, HaShem was not only in this place, HaShem was this place, and the stone that Yaakov lifted was none other than the Foundation Stone of all creation, the very point in reality through which G-d brought all creation into being. Just as G-d was in Yaakov’s dream of an eternal bond between heaven and earth, Yaakov was in G-d’s dream of an eternal bond between man and G-d. Their shared dream would one day be embodied in the Holy Temple.

But far less celebrated is Yaakov’s second dream of which we read in parashat Vayeitzei, the dream he had just before returning to the land promised him after twenty years of hardship in the house of the wily Lavan. With barely a moment of peace, Yaakov nevertheless prospered, establishing a large family and a large flock of goats and sheep. Despite his success, or because of his success, Yaakov detects a definite change in Lavan’s attitude toward him, a change not for the better. Troubled by the chill he was feeling, Yaakov lies down and has a second dream, this time sans the grandeur of a ladder reaching into heaven, but quite the contrary. In this dream Yaakov was surrounded by “he-goats mating with the flock that was streaked, speckled, and mottled.” (ibid 31:10) Hardly the vision of heaven in his first dream, and maybe the surest sign that it was time to return home. HaShem tells Yaakov “Return to the land of your fathers, your homeland, and I will be with you.” (ibid 31:3) HaShem continues, saying, “I am the G-d of Beit El, where you anointed a pillar and where you made a vow to Me. Now, arise and leave this land and return to your native land.’” (ibid 31;13) Twenty years later, and G-d still remembers the dream of Yaakov’s youth, and reminds Yaakov of his pledge to establish in his land a House of G-d –  a Holy Temple. The sublime trappings of the first dream have dissolved, washed away by the travails of twenty years in exile. But the dream itself, shared by Yaakov and G-d, remains.

Yes, Jacob had a second dream that fewer tend to remember.
When actual believers read about dreams in the Hebrew scriptures, they realize that God has actually used them.

But, some have commented that they do not care to know about dreams in this century.

Do dreams and prophets have any place in the Christian Church today?

Did any dreams precede the start of the old Radio Church of God? What about the Continuing Church of God (which did not officially form as a declared entity until December 28, 2012)?

Though many discount all dreams, many also forget that Herbert W. Armstrong believed that his wife Loma D. Armstrong had a dream from God, although it took him some years to accept the validity of it:

Within 30 or 60 days after our marriage God spoke to my wife in what might have been an intense unusual dream, or a vision — but it was years later before we came to realize that this really was a message from God. (Armstrong HW. Brethren and Co-worker letter, November 28, 1956)

One night my wife had a dream so vivid and impressive it overwhelmed and shook her tremendously. It was so realistic it seemed more like a vision. For two or three days afterward everything else seemed unreal — as if in a daze — and only this extraordinary dream seemed real.

In her dream she and I were crossing the wide intersection, only a block or two from our apartment, where Broadway diagonally crosses Sheridan Road. Suddenly there appeared an awesome sight in the sky above. It was a dazzling spectacle — the sky filled with a gigantic solid mass of brilliant stars, shaped like a huge banner. The stars began to quiver and separate, finally vanishing. She called my attention to the vanishing stars, when another huge grouping of flashing stars appeared, then quivering, separating, and vanishing like the first.

As she and I, in her dream, looked upward at the vanishing stars, three large white birds suddenly appeared in the sky between us and the vanishing stars. These great white birds flew directly toward us. As they descended nearer, she perceived that they were angels.

“Then,” my wife wrote a day or two after the dream, in a letter to my mother which I have just run across among old family pictures, “it dawned on me that Christ was coming, and I was so happy I was just crying for joy. Then suddenly I thought of Herbert and was rather worried.”

She knew I had evidenced very little religious interest, although we had attended a corner church two or three times.

Then it seemed that, from among these angels in her dream, that, “Christ descended from among them and stood directly in front of us.

At first I was a little doubtful and afraid of how He would receive us, because I remembered we had neglected our Bible study and had our minds too much on things apart from His interests. But as we went up to Him, He put His arms around both of us, and we were so happy! I thought people all over the world had seen Him come. As far as we could see, people were just swarming into the streets at this broad intersection. Some were glad and some were afraid.

“Then it seemed He had changed into an angel. I was terribly disappointed at first, until he told me Christ was really coming in a very short time.”

At that time, we had been going quite regularly to motion – picture theatres. She asked the angel if this were wrong. He replied Christ had important work for us to do, preparing for His coming — there would be no time for “movies .” (Those were the days of the “silent” pictures.) Then the angel and the whole spectacle seemed to vanish, and she awakened, shaken and wondering!

In the morning, she told me of her dream. I was embarrassed. I didn’t want to think about it, yet I was afraid to totally dismiss it. I thought of a logical way to evade it myself, and still solve it. …

Do not hastily ascribe a dream to God. True, the Bible shows that God has spoken to His own chosen servants by this means of communication — primarily in the Old Testament, and before the writing of the Bible was completed. But most dreams mean nothing. And false prophets have misled people by telling false dreams, representing their dreams to be the Word of God (Jeremiah 23, where God sa ys, “I am against prophets who recount lying dreams, leading my people astray with their lies and their empty pretensions, though I never sent them, never commissioned them” — verse 32, Moffatt translation).

Certainly I did not ascribe this dream to God. It made me feel a little uncomfortable at the time, and I was anxious to forget it — which I did for some years. I was twenty – five at the time. God left me to my own ways for five more years. But when I was age thirty, He began to deal with me in no uncertain terms… (The Autobiography of Herbert W. Armstrong, 1973, pp. 187,193-194).

Loma and Herbert W. Armstrong were married in 1917. They were specifically told that they would have a work to do. Furthermore, the bright lights in the dream may have had to do with doing a work (cf. Matthew 5:16)–a work that seemed to vanish and return (flash). Thus, there was a dream from God given to a woman in the 20th century that preceded the start of the old Radio Church of God that Herbert W. Armstrong led. The Radio Church of God represented the start of the Philadelphia era and the Philadelphian work–a work that is not finished (cf. Matthew 24:14-15)–and Herbert W. Armstrong claimed that a dream given to his wife was from God, prior to the start of the Philadelphia era.

Since the Philadelphia era was raised up years after that dream, a question to ponder is, would God do anything similar to point to the continuation of the end-time COG remnant of the Philadelphians? Consider that in Loma Armstrong’s dream that there were two sets of flashing stars–there were two parts to the dream. Herbert W. Armstrong is now dead and there was a pause between the work God had him to do and the completion of the final phase of the work to finally fulfill Matthew 24:14 (cf. Isaiah 29:14).

In the past, like in 2013 and 2014, I have called the time between his death and the formation of the Continuing Church of God the transitional phase (see also The Final Phase of the Work)–which is consistent with Loma Armstrong’s dream. God will cut that final work short (Romans 9:28) which results in the famine of the word (Amos 8:12; see also Preparing for the ‘Short Work’ and The Famine of the Word) which is consistent with the vanishing stars in Loma Armstrong’s dream (though there could be other interpretations–we in CCOG are continuing the Philadelphia work and expect to be the ones God will use on earth to help finish it).

Herbert W. Armstrong mentioned the dream from time to time publicly, here are two nearly identical accounts:

I’m usually pretty skeptical about God speaking to anyone today in visions or dreams. God speaks to us thru His Son, Jesus Christ — the WORD of God — and the Bible is the written Word. I didn’t really believe it then, 38 years ago, but subsequent events have verified that God did speak to my wife at that time, shortly after we were married, revealing thru an angel that He was calling us to the mission of WARNING the world of the fast-approaching END OF THIS WORLD, the Coming of Jesus Christ, and the world-ruling Kingdom of God. At the time I was unconverted, not bothering to attend church, interested only in business and making money. I was embarrassed — a little awed — but immediately tried to put it out of my mind. But at age 30 God took away my business, struck me down, took away my idol of money-making and business prestige. (Armstrong HW. Co-worker letter, November 25, 1955)

I’m usually pretty skeptical about God speaking to anyone today in visions or dreams. God speaks to us thru His Son, Jesus Christ — the WORD of God — and the Bible is the written Word. I didn’t really believe it then, 38 years ago, but subsequent events have verified that God did speak to my wife at that time, shortly after we were married, revealing thru an angel in a vision that He was calling us to the mission of WARNING the world of the fast- approaching END OF THIS WORLD, the coming of Jesus Christ, and the world-ruling Kingdom of God. At that time I was unconverted, not bothering to attend church, interested only in business and making money. I was embarrassed — a little awed — but immediately tried to put it out of my mind. But at age 30 God took away my business, struck me down, took away my idol of money-making and business prestige. (Armstrong HW. Co-worker letter, February 21, 1956)

Notice that the dream was to go until the end of the world and the coming of Jesus–since Herbert W. Armstrong has been dead since January 16, 1986–if the dream was from God then, does it not make sense that the second half of the dream would be fulfilled by another in the 21st century? We in the Continuing Church of God are fulfilling that second part of stars.

Perhaps it should be mentioned, Herbert W. Armstrong had more information about what I am referring to as the first set of stars in the dream. He wrote:

It was a dazzling spectacle … People by the hundreds came running into this broad intersection looking up to see the strange phenomena … A vast multitude of eyes were upon us … I have only come to believe that this dream was a bonafide call from God in the light of subsequent events. (Armstrong HW. The Autobiography of Herbert W. Armstrong, 9th installment. Plain Truth, August 1958, p. 18).

Eyes of a vast multitude suggest that the dream was saying that the work to be done was to have a witness to many. This happened with the old Radio and Worldwide Church of God under Herbert W. Armstrong’s leadership in the 20th century. The second set of stars in the dream, which he did not mention in the August 1958 Plain Truth, article, but did in his published Autobiography, may pertain to what I have called, for years, The Final Phase of the Work. But even if it had applicability to the ministry of Herbert W. Armstrong only, the dream, which shortly before his death he confirmed he believed was from God (per Aaron Dean, who I discussed this with on October 30, 2015), shows that one did precede the COG work he was involved in.

Consider that Herbert W. Armstrong considered that his wife Loma’s dream was from God. He also believed the first part of it had to do with the start of the Philadelphia era of the Church of God via the Radio Church of God. He did not discuss the fulfillment of the second part of the dream directly, however he taught another work would be done.

Dale Schurter, a former WCG minister, reported that Herbert W. Armstrong stated the following in 1984/1985 (shortly before he died in January 1986). Here are two accounts of this:

“A few months before Mr. Armstrong’s death, my wife and I had the opportunity to spend several hours with Mr. Armstrong in his home in Pasadena. He spoke freely of the mighty work God had commissioned him to accomplish, and related certain heartfelt comments: ‘I can say that I have finished the work God has given me to do, and am at peace about it. I have preached and taken the Gospel of the Kingdom of God into all the world as a witness to all nations.’

“Mr. Armstrong went on to say, ‘I have come to realize there will be an even greater work to follow—to go again, to “prophesy again” to all nations tongues and peoples (Rev. 10:11) before the work of the two witnesses—but with more power and with a stronger warning message. But that will be for others to do.’ He continued, ‘It will be a short work (Rom. 9:27-29), compared with the longer time to complete the work I was given, and it will be cut short. That’s when the Great Tribulation will begin, as will the work of the two witnesses. These will last for three and one-half years, at the end of which Christ will return in glory.’” (“The Greatest Work Lies JUST Ahead…” as stated in RCG letter of May 31, 2013)

When Mr. Armstrong was age 91 — about 1984 — Mona and I had opportunity to spend several hours with him in his home in Pasadena to visit and further report on work he had commissioned us to do. We were to report directly back to him. He talked freely of the mighty work God had given him to accomplish. He went on to tell us there was yet a bigger work still to be done, to go again and repeat what has been done, but with more power and with a stronger warning, just before the work of the two witnesses would begin. He said it would be a “short work” (Rom. 9:27-29) compared with the longer time to complete the work he had been given, and that it would be “cut short.” That’s when the great tribulation would begin, as would the work of the two witnesses. These would last for three and one-half years. (January 7, 2012 Dale Schurter Speaks Out: UCG Resignation Letter http://www.rcgtruth.com/2012/01/dale-l-schurter-resignation-letter_06.html)

Herbert W. Armstrong’s part of the work lasted over 50 years, and he seemingly felt that the “short work” would be much shorter than his work. And that is correct.

Here is what was in Herbert W. Armstrong’s last letter:

The greatest work lies ahead … Never before in the history of the Church has it been possible to reap so great a harvest. It has only been made possible through modern technology, beginning with the printing press, radio, television ... Each of you must commit yourself to support God’s Work … God’s work must push ahead as never before. God is opening up new doors in television (Letter, 1/10/86).

Consider that since Herbert W. Armstrong did not teach that the second part of his wife Loma’s dream was fulfilled and that he also taught a greater work was going to happen after his death. It is greater because it will fulfill Matthew 24:14, etc. That is the work that we in the Continuing Church of God are leading (see The Final Phase of the Work and Preparing for the ‘Short Work’ and The Famine of the Word). It appears that the second part of Loma D. Armstrong’s dream was pointing to the Continuing Church of God–the group that best represents the remnant of the Philadelphian portion of the Church of God. As far as news doors in television and other media, check out the CCOG Multimedia page.

Dreams are a sign that God has used to confirm ‘Philadelphia.’

The Bible teaches:

8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. (Hebrews 13:8)

So, does it not make sense that if God granted a dream to a woman prior to the formation of the Radio Church of God that God could have done that prior to the formation of the Continuing Church of God?

The fact that there were also other dreams related to the Continuing Church of God that were confirmed is consistent with the fact that God has used dreams related to the Continuing Church of God.

Of course, many do not want to believe that God uses dreams or will discount the ones they hear about.

In its December 30, 2022 newsletter (see Temple Institute: God’s use of dreams comes true, but not always in a way most anticipate), the Temple Institute stated:

Dreams, it turns out, do come true. Not always as we anticipate …

Yes, dreams from God do come true, though most tend to discount them and not believe them.

Yet, the Bible shows that God often chooses to work with prophets through a dream:

6 “Hear now My words:
If there is a prophet among you,
I, the Lord, make Myself known to him in a vision;
I speak to him in a dream. (Numbers 12:6)

Notice that the above says that God will speak to His prophet in a dream. Notice also:

28 The prophet who has a dream, let him tell a dream (Jeremiah 23:28)

Many years ago I had a dream, which while I did not understand it at first, as it became more and more fulfilled over the years, I began to understand it and believe it was from God.

I was 50 at the time (which essentially makes me an ‘old man’ per Numbers 8:25; cf. John 8:57). In my dream, there seemed to be two parallel lines. Living Church of God (LCG) evangelist Roderick Meredith was on the top line and I was on the line much below. In the dream, I kept calling up to Dr. Meredith, but he never would respond. This lack of response made no sense to me during the dream. Then after what seemed to be a long time, the lines-crossed with his line dropping and my line going up.

One reason that I did not understand it at the time was that I was on relatively close speaking terms with Dr. Meredith then (he repeatedly told me he considered me to be his friend, plus he had appointed me an adviser to LCG on matters of doctrine and prophecy), so that aspect of the dream made no sense. Also, since I had no intentions of leaving Living Church of God then (and certainly no plans to start a separate church), it was not clear what the dream was saying. Another reason I was unsure about the dream then was that I had not had any anointing for the Holy Spirit beyond baptism when I had that dream.

But these matters changed eventually. For one, I was unexpectedly anointed for a ‘double-portion’ of God’s Spirit (cf. 2 Kings 2:9) on December 15, 2011 by an LCG minister named Gaylyn Bonjour.

Furthermore, over time, Dr. Meredith became more distant from me, would not keep various promises to me, and ultimately stopped speaking with me. And after I got a letter from him on 12/28/12, it was clear to me that there was no way that the Philadelphia mantle could be with him or any of his leaders. These subsequent events showed me that the dream was being fulfilled.

In late 2020, I had another dream that was fulfilled (for details, see Letter to the Brethren: December 31, 2020). In 2022, CCOG evangelist Evans Ochieng had another dream that was confirmed (Letter to the Brethren: May 19, 2022).

There have been numerous confirmed dreams associated with the Continuing Church of God (for details, check out Does the CCOG have the confirmed signs of Acts 2:17-18?).

Related to dreams, the Bible also teaches:

8 “And it shall come to pass afterward That I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your old men shall dream dreams, Your young men shall see visions. 29 And also on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days. (Joel 2:28-29)

14 But Peter, standing up with the eleven, raised his voice and said to them,

“Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and heed my words. 15 For these are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. 16 But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:

17 ‘And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your young men shall see visions, Your old men shall dream dreams. 18 And on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days; And they shall prophesy. (Acts 2:14-18)

28 And God has appointed these in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, varieties of tongues. 29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Are all workers of miracles? 30 Do all have gifts of healings? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? (1 Corinthians 12:28-30).

11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14 that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head–Christ– 16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love (Ephesians 4:11-16).

Despite what the Bible supports, most Church of God groups do not seemingly accept that there are any prophets today, nor do they seem to accept that God actually sometimes speaks in dreams in the 21st century–some, oddly, seem indignant of the very idea. Part of the reason for this is that those self-proclaimed ‘prophets’ outside of the Continuing Church of God have tended to be proven to be false (see also Why Be Concerned About False and Heretical Leaders?).

But that does not mean God doesn’t ever use dreams or have any in the office of prophet or ever pour out a ‘double-portion’ of His Spirit (cf. 2 Kings 2:9-15) as happened when an ordained minister so prayed and anointed me on December 15, 2011 (see also How To Determine If Someone is a True Prophet of God).

The Bible shows that the Apostle Peter and the prophet Joel mentioned that there would be some with prophetic dreams in the end times.

Fesilafai Fiso Leaana Had a Dream

In addition to my earlier dream (which seemed consistent with Number 12:6 and Acts 2:17), there also seems to have been at least one other dream related to the Continuing Church of God that I would like to mention in some detail here that someone else had.

Unbeknownst to me until late September 2013, a woman named Fesilafai Fiso Leaana of New Zealand had a dream after going to bed on December 8, 2012. Here is a report that Fesilafai Fiso Leaana wrote about her dream:

A few months before my dream, my husband and I noticed a contradiction in practice, regarding the sabbath commandment in LCG, from there we started to pray continuously for God to lead us to where the truth is. It seems God has answered our prayers through the dream.

The dream began with myself and approximately 70 New Zealand Living Church of God brethren, then suddenly LCG vanished (I was wondering where is LCG?) and I was left standing with approximately 10 people excluding myself, on a very high building. We were standing on the very top of the building, where I couldn’t see the bottom, there were no other buildings, just this building. I could not see the bottom of the building but just clouds below the building and clouds surrounding the building which led to a beautiful white mountain – a mountain that had no ends on either side. The building was pretty close to the mountain, I could see the top of the mountain. The mountain was all white and so beautiful. I remember that I began to be filled with joy and peace. But also wondering how we got up on this building and confused why there were no other buildings but the clouds seemed like it was hiding the building and I felt protected or it felt like a safe place. I looked around there were still only about ten people there, the only person I could clearly recognize was Shirley constantly working, the approximate ten others were just sitting and standing around. So I walked around the building looking for the large crowd from LCG, but all I kept returning to was that Shirley was working and doing different types of work alone while the others were still sitting and standing around the building with me. I wondered why she was working a lot. I could not find LCG.

Then suddenly a message came to my mind: “There is a secret in the mountain”. And I was so happy to know that, I was still feeling elated and could still see the beautiful white mountain and wondered about the secret. Then I asked: “What is the secret?” Then the message said, nobody knows the secret in the mountain but only you have received this message that there is a secret in the mountain. Then I asked ‘what is the secret in the mountain?’ I received a message to my mind that told me that “the secret in the mountain is the Ark of the Covenant”. Then the dream abruptly ended because I woke up. And immediately, I woke up my husband and recounted the dream to him, and I told my husband that it reminded me of when God gave Moses the Ten Commandments on the mountain and that the mountain was also covered with clouds.

On the same day after my dream, at church service Mr Penman warned us to be careful what we read from Bob Thiel’s Obama book, because they do not support everything he wrote in it. At the time I kept your name in my mind as I did not know who you were then.

Then 3 weeks later Shirley contacted me regarding your Chronology – the exit from LCG. Shirley had all of the Chronology and gave us all a print out of it and went over it with my husband and I. Shirley kept stressing the integrity of the LCG leadership and administration was compromised as proven by your Chronology account. Then my husband and I had to make a decision whether we would continue with LCG or go with Bob Thiel (you) since Shirley, John and Kayla had already decided to be with you 🙂

We decided to go with Bob Thiel and then left the meeting but a letter from Mr. Penman and a visit from the new New Zealand minister Paul attempted to obstruct our departure and tried to dissuade us from leaving LCG and coming with you. This forced us to carefully rethink our decision.

My husband and I were alone, that’s when my husband said to me, “remember your dream? This is what your dream means, that we need to leave this church and go with Shirley”. That’s when we knew what to do. And this dream is the reason most of us in the kiwi CCOG knew that we are in the right Church, God told us to come to this Church. We reaffirmed with Shirley and others that we were going to go with Bob Thiel and my husband told them the dream for the first time and that the dream is the reason my husband and I decided to come.

Not having all the details of the dream, Shirley then prayed about the dream. She asked God for more understanding on the dream. Then the next day she was reading the book of Psalm and Psalm 25:14 JUMPED out at her: “The secret of the Lord is with those who fear Him, And He will show them His covenant.” (email 9/29/13)

Within several weeks of the dream, ten people in New Zealand, including Shirley Gestro (the Shirley above) began to attend the newly formed Continuing Church of God.

Biblically, mountains can symbolize government (Psalm 30:7; Isaiah 11:9; Daniel 2:35; Zechariah 4:7) and white purity or cleanness (Isaiah 1:18; Revelation 7:14, 19:14). Clouds around a mountain (or at least the top of it) could show a separation—maybe a separation that keeps many from seeing all of the truth (cf. Job 22:14; Lamentations 3:44) or recognizing top leadership?

The dream seemed to be a signal to confirm that the Philadelphia mantle was not with the Living Church of God, but instead was associated with someone that had something to do with the ark of the covenant. Prior to the dream Fesilafai Fiso Leaana indicated that she had problems with how the leadership in LCG viewed the Sabbath, and that was one of the issues that I dealt with within weeks of the formation of the Continuing Church of God.

Now, I (Bob Thiel) never heard of, nor learned of, this dream until after the start of the Feast of Tabernacles in September 2013 in New Zealand (which is where my wife Joyce and I began keeping the Feast of Tabernacles in 2013).

Why is that potentially significant?

Back in 2006, when I was first asked to give a sermon at the Feast of Tabernacles, it occurred to me that never in WCG, GCG, nor LCG did I recall anyone actually fulfilling the requirement in Deuteronomy 31:10-13 about reading the “words of the law” in Deuteronomy every seven years at the Feast of Tabernacles (see also The Feast of Tabernacles: A Time to Learn the Law). So, when the opportunity to give a sermon came up (in Guatemala), I attempted to go through that book of the law. In 2012, it occurred to me that since this was to be done every seven years, that somehow I would need to do this in 2013 (seven years later), but I was not sure how this would be done. However, once the Continuing Church of God formed, I realized that this would be done at the Feast of Tabernacles in 2013 (sermons were given related to that, links to which are found in the article Feast of Tabernacles’ Sites for 2013–and seven years later,, it was also done in 2020).

After I began to cite Deuteronomy 31:10-13 and started reading the book of the law at the Feast of Tabernacles in New Zealand in 2013, Fesilafai Fiso Leaana came up to me and told me about her dream. We discussed some points about it and the ark of the covenant, etc. As it turns out, one of the items that was kept besides the ark of the covenant was the very same “Book of the Law” (Deuteronomy 31:26) that I was reading in its entirety publicly during that Feast of Tabernacles. This is a connection that, humanly speaking Fesilafai Leaana could not have known. (There are also other potential ramifications related to the ark of the covenant that I may attempt to publicly address in the future.)

Subsequent events, events that Fesilafai Leaana could not have known on December 8/9, 2012, confirmed her dream. She had no idea that the Continuing Church of God was going to form, and I had not made the decision to actually form it until after getting a letter on December 28, 2012. Fesilafai Leaana’s dream is another witness as to the proper start, etc. of the Continuing Church of God.

Frederick Ochieng Had a Dream

Evans Ochieng in Rift Valley, Kenya

This week, Continuing Church of God evangelist Evans Ochieng sent me the following report:

Pastor Dr Bob,

Greetings from kenya. …
       Church population
The church in Kenya has expanded especially in rift valley and kisii and Nyanza. The population has gone UpTo 4230. Excluding co-workers.
            Radio program
The radio program in Kenya is also doing better. And we are reaching many people around Nyanza province. It has done some good work since we started.
         Books and magazines.
This is what has helped the work in Kenya, Tanzania to grow highly. So many people are demanding our books and magazines. We have really appreciate the work which has been done through magazines. Always I’m printing 300 magazines almost every month because of the demand.
Now we are planning to build feast site at Ndhiwa. The fundraising is going to be conducted on 8th Dec 2024 to start the foundation and building.
Evans

What does that have to do with dreams?

Allow me to mention a dream that Evan’s son Frederick had back in 2014:

Dear pastor

Greetings pastor.  I believe you are doing good though you are having great thrust of fulfilling Matthew 28:19 of which we must do before the return of Christ. …

I had two dreams

1. Before our family joined CCOG my father was then working with voice in the Wilderness Church of God. When I was sleeping I had a dream and in my dream I saw a light and the light was not normal, the one who was standing by the was You pastor Bob according to my dream. Then I had voice shouting, “Arise you who are sleeping, for the Lord is near.” I again I heard another voice shouting, “Come up Evans and let us do the work we are called to do.” I then saw a man dressed in white clothes join hands with my father walking together towards a very big lake then I woke up.

2: In my second dream some weeks after my first dream and in my second dream I saw almost the same dream and now this was in New Zealand. I did not know about the CCOG group in New Zealand before I had the dream.

Fred

Related to the first dream, he had that in October 2013. The next month, his father telephoned me. He also knew my name from articles I wrote that were published in the Global Church News and the Living Church News. Eventually I arranged to meet with Evans Ochieng and leaders of various Church of God groups in Kenya in April 2014.

In early 2014, Frederick’s father Evans Ochieng came with the Continuing Church of God. When he came, he came with about 260 people from Kenya and Tanzania. His son Frederick’s dream showed that we would have much growth in Africa. He and his father listened to God.

In time leaders from other African countries, who did not know Evans Ochieng (nor about the dream), contacted me. We held a conference that many COG leaders from six African countries attended in 2017 (I had not heard of Frederick’s dreams until that time).

We have over thirty times as many in Africa than when Frederick Ochieng had his dream. So, the dream of working the lake was confirmed–Evans Ochieng, I, and others became a productive “fishers of men” (Matthew 4:19).

As far as New Zealand goes, the first congregation that came with the CCOG was the group in New Zealand.

When I asked Frederick Ochieng about New Zealand in 2017, he said he knew nothing about New Zealand and any connection with the CCOG prior to his dream. Those in New Zealand have been heavily involved in supporting the work to reach people around the world.

The New Zealanders have been the primary editors of our church publications, developed a website, put up and managed our Bible News Prophecy Flipboard page, greatly assisted with the Study the Bible Course, supported various aspects of message production, and produce our Bible News Prophecy online radio channel.

Frederick’s dream may have been telling him that I (Bob Thiel) was working with those in New Zealand to fulfill Matthew 24:14 and Matthew 28:19-20 to reach the world.

Plus, the full number of Gentiles are to come into the true Church of God PRIOR to the return of Jesus per Romans 11 (see What About Romans 11:25 and the Full Number of the Gentiles?).

The growth we have had in the Gentile nations of Africa show that we have the fruits for that.

Jesus said:

15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. 16 You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? 17 Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Therefore by their fruits you will know them. (Matthew 7:15-20)

The CCOG has the fruits of a true, not false, prophet.

Yet, many people will not accept that God would use dreams and prophets in these last days, even though that is prophesied to happen in Acts 2:17-18 (see also Does the CCOG have the confirmed signs of Acts 2:17-18?).

The Apostle Paul once asked people who supposedly believed the Bible, “Why should it be thought incredible by you that God raises the dead?” (Acts 26:8).

Well, he was suggesting that Jesus’ resurrection should not have been thought so unbelievable nearly 2,000 years ago.

Similarly, why should it be thought incredible by most end time Christians that God actually would use dreams to communicate in these last days as His word says?

Philadelphian remnant Christians truly believe the word of God (cf. Revelation 3:7-8), where as those of Sardis lost doctrine (Revelation 3:1-5) and those of the Laodicean churches wrongly believe that they are fine as they are without accepting various biblical revelations (Revelation 3:14-21).

Despite the truth, many say bad things about myself, other leaders, and the Continuing Church of God on the internet.

But should not that be expected?

Jesus said:

25 If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more will they call those of his household! (Matthew 10:25)

11 “Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. 12 Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. (Matthew 5:11-12)

The Continuing Church of God has confirmed dreams from God as well the fruits of a prophet, which Jesus said also came with people reviling and say all kinds of evil against us falsely.

The Work is Being Done

God still intervenes–Jacob and others listed in the Bible are not the only ones God has communicated with through dreams. Yet most who claim to believe Him and the Bible do not seem to really want to accept that.

The work (Matthew 24:14; 28:19-20; Galatians 2:10) is being done, and CCOG is a work that God has blessed with at least 3 or more dreams prior to its start and several since (see also Dreams, the Bible, the Radio Church of God, and the Continuing Church of God).

The CCOG has also been the fastest growing of the COG groups in the 21st century.

But many do not believe that God will work using dreams in the 21st century, despite the reality that most once part of the old WCG supposedly believed that God did in the 20th century and that the old WCG specifically taught God would again use dreams (see also Dreams, the Bible, the Radio Church of God, and the Continuing Church of God).

Of course, most will continue to discount dreams and their confirmation as proper proof of anything they do not wish to believe. Many want more dramatic signs (Matthew 12:38; 1 Kings 19:11-12), but God does not always do it that way (Matthew 12:39-42; 1 Kings 19:12-14).

Laodiceans seem to think that even though they claim to believe the Bible, that God really is not using dreams in the 21st century. According to Jesus, Laodiceans need to repent (Revelation 3:14-22)–yet, sadly, few will in time.

Satan and his allies do not want you to believe that God has actually been using dreams–he wants you to rationalize away the prophecy in Acts 2:17-18–otherwise you might take action he opposes.

Can you believe?

If so, are you willing to support the most faithful remnant of the Philadelphia portion of the Church of God?

Some items of possibly related interest may include:

Dreams, the Bible, the Radio Church of God, and the Continuing Church of God How has God used dreams in the past? Does God still use dreams? Did He use any involving those in the Continuing Church of God? A related sermon is also available: Dreams, COGs, and One Man Rule.
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.
The Final Phase of the Work What is the final phase of the work? Who will lead it? Do you have the courage to support it? Here are two related YouTube videos titled Final Phase of the Work: Need and Background and The Final Phase of the Work. The written article has been translated into Spanish La Fase Final de la Obra.
CCOG.ORG Continuing Church of God The Philadelphian organization striving to be most faithful amongst all real Christian groups to the word of God. This page has links to materials in over 200 languages. To see how CCOG has done so far, here are links to two sermons Continuing Church of God (CCOG) first year anniversary: What has been accomplished? and CCOG: 10 Unique Years. Here is a written link to a version of that first sermon in the Spanish language: Aniversario del primer año de la Continuación de la Iglesia de Dios: ¿Qué se ha cumplido?
Leading the Final Phase of the Work Matthew 24:14 will be fulfilled. Who is leading the final phase of the work? What did Herbert Armstrong and the old WCG teach about that and about prophets? Does Bob Thiel meet the criteria that the Bible and the old WCG set? What is the proof? What has the Continuing Church of God been doing? This is a sermonette length video.
Herbert W. Armstrong, the Philadelphia Church, & the Mantle Herbert Armstrong claims God had him raise the Philadelphia up. Are there reasons to believe that the Philadelphia mantle in now within the CCOG? Here is a link to a related sermon: Herbert W. Armstrong and the Philadelphia Mantle.
Does the CCOG have the confirmed signs of Acts 2:17-18? Does any church have the confirmed dream and prophetic signs of Acts 2:17-18? Should one? Here is a link in the Spanish language: ¿Tiene la CCOG confirmadas las señales de Hechos 2: 17-18? Here is a link in the French language: Est-ce que l’Église Continue de Dieu confirme les signes d’Actes 2:17-18?
Church of God Leaders on Prophets Have there been prophets throughout the church age? Are any supposed to be around in the last days? What have COG leaders stated or written about prophets? Here is a link to a related sermon: Church of God Leaders on Prophets.
The Elijah Heresies Does the Bible teach that there will be a future Elijah? Must it be Herbert W. Armstrong? Two related sermons are available Elijah: Prophecies and Heresies and Elijah, Herbert W. Armstrong, and CCOG.
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.Here are links to four 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.
Congregations of the Continuing Church of God This is a listing of congregations and groups of the Continuing Church of God around the world.
How To Determine If Someone is a True Prophet of God There are many false prophets. How can Christians determine who is a true prophet? There is also a sermon-length video titled How to determine if someone is a true prophet of God. Here is a related link in Spanish/español: ¿Cómo determinar si alguien es un verdadero profeta de Dios?
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 and Remnant Though the era was predominant circa 1933 A.D. to 1986 A.D., but a remnant has continued. The old Radio Church of God and old Worldwide Church of God were part of the era, and 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. Here is a link to a related sermon: Philadelphia Church Era: History & Teachings.
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?

Jesus condemned both hypocritical ‘believers’ and lukewarm Christians

Friday, December 6th, 2024

COGwriter

The Catholic News Agency reported the following:

The pope offered Mass on Sunday morning with 11 of the new cardinals created at the ordinary public consistory this weekend.

In his homily, he warned of the dangers of mediocrity, lukewarmness, and indifference in the Christian life.

“Without making an effort to love God daily and awaiting the newness he constantly brings, we become mediocre, lukewarm, worldly. And this slowly eats away at our faith, for faith is the very opposite of mediocrity: it is ardent desire for God, a bold effort to change, the courage to love, constant progress,” he said.

“Faith is not water that extinguishes flames, it is fire that burns; it is not a tranquilizer for people under stress, it is a love story for people in love. That is why Jesus above all else detests lukewarmness.” 11/29/20 https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/pope-francis-advent-is-the-season-for-remembering-the-closeness-of-god-77281

As far as Jesus detesting lukewarmness, He does, as the following words from Jesus demonstrate:

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. 20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. 21 To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.

22 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”‘” (Revelation 3:14-22)

The reality is that most end time Christians are now lukewarm and do not recognize it. More about the Laodiceans and their churches can be found in the article: The Laodicean Church Era.

Jesus was telling actual Christians to repent, but most think they are fine where they are and that they do not need to.

They are wrong.

Speaking of being wrong, however, so is Pope Francis. The New Testament indicates that “Jesus above all else detests hypocrisy”. Hypocrisy received a greater condemnation from Jesus than lukewarmness.

The Church of Rome has that problem as it purports to be the continuation of the original apostolic church, but it is not.

Why?

Well, among other reasons, it does not truly “contend earnestly for the faith once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3). Details on the original beliefs of the early Christians can be found in the free online books: Beliefs of the Original Catholic Church: Could a remnant group have continuing apostolic succession? and Continuing History of the Church of God.

Now, let’s see some of what Jesus taught about hypocrisy:

1 … Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. (Luke 12:1)

1 Then the scribes and Pharisees who were from Jerusalem came to Jesus, saying, 2 “Why do Your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread.”

3 He answered and said to them, “Why do you also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition? 4 For God commanded, saying, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death.’ 5 But you say, ‘Whoever says to his father or mother, “Whatever profit you might have received from me is a gift to God” — 6 then he need not honor his father or mother.’ Thus you have made the commandment of God of no effect by your tradition. 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 15:1-9)

Like the Pharisees of old, the Church of Rome reasons around the Ten Commandments, while claiming to keep them all. See also the free online book: The Ten Commandments: The Decalogue, Christianity, and the Beast.

Jesus also taught:

13 “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in. 14 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. Therefore you will receive greater condemnation. (Matthew 23:13-14)

Is not the above what the Church of Rome does when it asks for money from widows to pray their deceased husbands from a non-existant place they call Purgatory? See also a related sermon titled: The Ten Commandments and the Beast of Revelation.
Did the Early Church Teach Purgatory?

Jesus also taught:

27 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. 28 Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. (Matthew 23:27-28)

The Church of Rome has many beautiful tombs full of dead men’s bones.

Of course it is NOT just the Church of Rome that engages in hypocrisy.

Notice also the following:

39 And Jesus said, “For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind.”

40 Then some of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these words, and said to Him, “Are we blind also?”

41 Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you say, ‘We see.’ Therefore your sin remains. (John 9:39-41)

The above reminds me of Protestants who claim to rely on sola Scriptura, but instead also rely on non-biblical traditions–yet they claim they see the scriptures and follow them. For details, check out the free online book: Hope of Salvation: How the Continuing Church of God Differs from Protestantism.

Now notice a prophecy for this time:

12 There is a generation that is pure in its own eyes,
Yet is not washed from its filthiness.
13 There is a generation — oh, how lofty are their eyes!
And their eyelids are lifted up. (Proverbs 30:12-13)

The above is referring to a hypocritical generation–the one we are now in.

Furthermore, as far as hypocrisy goes, Americans may wish to consider the following prophecy:

5 O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine indignation.

6 I will send him against an hypocritical nation, and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge, to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets. (Isaiah 10:5-6, KJV)

Yes, the USA is “an hypocritical nation” and will one day be no more (see Anglo – America in Prophecy & the Lost Tribes of Israel).

Anyway, while Pope Francis is correct that Jesus’ detests lukewarmness, the reality is that Jesus provided greater condemnation of hypocrisy.

We are in a more and more hypocritical age, both religiously and politically.

This will not end well (cf. Matthew 24:21-22).

Some items of possibly related interest may include:

Beliefs of the Original Catholic Church: Could a remnant group have continuing apostolic succession? Did the original “catholic church” have doctrines held by the Continuing Church of God? Did Church of God leaders uses the term “catholic church” to ever describe the church they were part of? Here are links to related sermons: Original Catholic Church of God?, Original Catholic Doctrine: Creed, Liturgy, Baptism, Passover, What Type of Catholic was Polycarp of Smyrna?, Tradition, Holy Days, Salvation, Dress, & Celibacy, Early Heresies and Heretics, Doctrines: 3 Days, Abortion, Ecumenism, Meats, Tithes, Crosses, Destiny, and more, Saturday or Sunday?, The Godhead, Apostolic Laying on of Hands Succession, Church in the Wilderness Apostolic Succession List, Holy Mother Church and Heresies, and Lying Wonders and Original Beliefs. Here is a link to that book in the Spanish language: Creencias de la iglesia Católica original.
The Ten Commandments: The Decalogue, Christianity, and the Beast This is a free pdf book explaining the what the Ten Commandments are, where they came from, how early professors of Christ viewed them, and how various ones, including the Beast of Revelation, will oppose them. A related sermon is titled: The Ten Commandments and the Beast of Revelation.
Did the Early Church Teach Purgatory? Is there a place called purgatory? Does God have a plan to help those who did not become saints in this life? Here is a link to a related sermon: Purgatory or Apocatastasis?
Which Is Faithful: The Roman Catholic Church or the Continuing Church of God? Do you know that both groups shared a lot of the earliest teachings? Do you know which church changed? Do you know which group is most faithful to the teachings of the apostolic church? Which group best represents true Christianity? This documented article answers those questions. [Português: Qual é fiel: A igreja católica romana ou a igreja do deus?]
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.
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?
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 Tri
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.
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.
Anglo – America in Prophecy & the Lost Tribes of Israel Are the Americans, Canadians, English, Scottish, Welsh, Australians, Anglo-Saxon (non-Dutch) Southern Africans, and New Zealanders descendants of Joseph? Where are the lost ten-tribes of Israel? Who are the lost tribes of Israel? What will happen to Jerusalem and the Jews in Israel? Will God punish the U.S.A., Canada, United Kingdom, and other Anglo-Saxon nations? Why might God allow them to be punished first? Here is a link to the Spanish version of this article: Anglo-América & las Tribus Perdidas de Israel. Information is also in the YouTube sermons titled Where are the Ten Lost Tribes? Why does it matter? and British are the Covenant People. A short YouTube of prophetic interest may be: Are Chinese threats against Australia for real?
Will the Anglo-Saxon-Celtic Nations be Divided and Have People Taken as Slaves? Will the lands of the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand be divided? What about Jerusalem? What does Bible prophecy teach? Are there non-biblical prophecies that support this idea? Who will divide those lands? Who will end up with the lands and the people? Here is a link to a video titled Will the USA and other Anglo-nations be Divided and Their People Made Slaves? Here is a related item in the Spanish language ¿Serán divididas las naciones anglosajonas?
The Philadelphia Church Era and Remnant Though the era was predominant circa 1933 A.D. to 1986 A.D., but a remnant has continued. The old Radio Church of God and old Worldwide Church of God were part of the era, and 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. Here is a link to a related sermon: Philadelphia Church Era: History & Teachings.
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?
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.

Could there have been humanoids before Adam and Eve?

Thursday, December 5th, 2024


Australopithecus sediba (Brett Eloff)

COGwriter

Did God make ‘prehistoric’ human-like beings prior to Adam?

Many have wondered about this as various scientists and others have made claims.

But notice a couple of observations:

Modern humans (Homo sapiens or Homo sapiens sapiens) are the only extant members of the hominin clade, a branch of great apes characterized by erect posture and bipedal locomotion; manual dexterity and increased tool use; and a general trend toward larger, more complex brains and societies.Early hominids, such as the australopithecines whose brains and anatomy are in many ways more similar to non-human apes, are less often thought of or referred to as “human” than hominids of the genus Homo (Human. Wikipedia, viewed 02/21/15)

Scientists admit that all humans have the same mother, though they often consider that mother was older than Eve of the Book of Genesis.

Now, as used by critical historians, “prehistoric time” is said to refer to earliest antiquity nowhere documented in written records. But the Bible records, “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). Here is a documented account reaching back to the beginning of the physical universe. “Prehistoric time,” in that sense, is therefore irreconcilable with Scripture. It should come as no surprise, therefore, to learn that biblical passages reveal occurrences prior to the time of man.

If however, we define prehistoric as the time before humans began to write, then we can speak of prehistoric creatures and events.

There were no prehistoric humans prior to Adam. Including others of the ‘genus Homo.’Adam and Eve were therefore the first true humans.

While there are fossil records of apes and other creatures that predate Adam, these creatures were not the same as modern humans as far as God is concerned.

But many scientists have tried to teach otherwise. The Bible reveals that they should know the truth, but do not:

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

24 Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, 25 who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. (Romans 1:18-25)

Many scientists have served the creature and would not accept the truth about life and humanity which they clearly should know (see also Is God’s Existence Logical? and Is Evolution Probable or Impossible or Is God’s Existence Logical? Part II).

Some scientists have a different view. Consider the following:

September 3, 2023

A study published last week in the journal Science reported that the population of human ancestors crashed between 800,000 and 900,000 years ago, dropping to about 1,280 breeding individuals during the early and middle Pleistocene era, … FitCoal helped the team calculate what this ancient loss of life and genetic diversity looked like utilizing present-day genome sequences from 10 African and 40 non-African populations. The ancient “bottleneck was directly found in all of the African populations, but only a weak signal of the existence of such was detected in all the non-African populations,” the authors write.  …

Dr. Gerald Schroeder, a scientist with over thirty years of experience in research and teaching, noted that this “bottleneck” in human history was also reflected in the Book of Genesis.

“The flood in the generation of Noah was a bottleneck,” Dr. Schroeder said. “In terms of genetics and human history, it limited our genetic diversity. Humans are very similar to each other. Other species have much more diversity. In terms of the Biblical narrative, we became a more condensed family of many, but lifespans dropped from 900 years to 90. Perhaps the flood selectively killed off only the people with a genetic predisposition to long life. Longevity is good for the individual but worse for the species. Shorter lifespans engender intellectual and spiritual diversity.”

“It should be emphasized that we are not talking about humans,” Dr. Schroeder emphasized. “The Biblical calendar of 6,000 years does not relate to the beginning of species. All animals have a nefesh …, but only Man has a neshama … Homo sapiens as a species did appear about 100,000 years ago, but they wouldn’t be recognized as a person in the same way that we are. They …. didn’t have a neshama. In scientific terms, people, as Homo sapiens, go back 100,000 years. But the Bible’s definition of a person is different. It includes a neshama. Science will not see the break, the change that occurred in man 6,000 years ago …” https://www.israel365news.com/375170/bottleneck-killed-off-98-7-of-humanity-900000-years-ago-study/

Let me add that the above is close, but not quite correct. The Bible teaches that humans have a nefesh (Genesis 2:7) and a ruach. A ruach is the “spirit in man” (Job 32:8), and that is what distinguishes modern humans

Here is something from our latest book Lost Tribes and Prophecies: What will happen to Australia, the British Isles, Canada, Europe, New Zealand and the United States of America?:

The Bible teaches:

45 “The first man Adam became a living being.” (1 Corinthians 15:45)

20 … Eve, … she was the mother of all living. (Genesis 3:20)

Despite some scientists accepting a mother ‘Eve’ and a possibly father ‘Adam’ for humanity, archeogeneticists tend to assert that there could have been multiple ‘Eves,’ Adam and Eve could not have been a couple, and/or Adam and Eve could not have lived when the Bible says they did.[i] Therefore, several of their conclusions are biblically in error.

That said, archeogeneticists assert that humanoids were in parts of Europe and Asia over one hundred thousand years ago, then essentially died out and/or moved down south before later repopulating Europe.[ii] Although the Bible generally differs on timing, the idea that there could have been human-like creatures that were no longer in existence prior to Adam and Eve may not be in contradiction with certain biblical passages.[iii]

Interestingly, archeogeneticists admit a “black hole” lack of human skeletons in Europe from around 5,500 to 4,800 years ago, and that this changed in a major way with the Bronze age, beginning about 5,000 to 4,200 more years ago.[iv] The Bible shows that humans were scattered around the earth after the biblical flood (Genesis 11:9), which was approximately 4,548 years ago. The Bible also tells of bronze being developed (though not necessarily widely used) around 5,000 years ago (cf. Genesis 4:22).

Irrespective of genetic similarities that archeogeneticists have found between pre-Adamic hominids and modern humans, any creature before Adam is not biblically the same as modern humans. Once God breathed into Adam (Genesis 2:7; Zechariah 12:1d), Adam became the first “man.” God gave Adam the “spirit in man” (which gives human understanding per Job 32:8; 1 Corinthians 2:11)—that spirit in man would not be present the same way in pre-Adamic life. Of course, this is not something that archeogeneticists can discover in the fossil records. Scripture does not accept that any humanoids prior to Adam and Eve could have an unbroken reproductive line through to modern humans (cf. Genesis 3:20; Roman 3:4; 1 Corinthians 15:45).

[i] Reich D. Who We Are and How We Got Here: Ancient DNA and the New Science of the Human Past. Oxford, 2018, pp. 2, 10-11; Krause, p. 27

[ii] Krause, e.g. pp. 35-53

[iii] E.g. comparing Genesis 1:2 to Isaiah 45:18 suggests a distance between Genesis 1:1 and verse 2. Also, in the oldest Masoretic scriptural texts there is a “gap” symbol between the first and second verse of Genesis 1, which further supports the view of a time gap between those verses. The idea of a time gap allows for the planet to be older than 6,000 years old as well as to possibly have pre-Adamic humanoids. That said, from the time Adam and Eve left the Garden of Eden to present time is slightly less than 6,000 years.

[iv] Krause, pp. 105, 169

Most scientists do not know what humans are. The Bible answers this. Here is one part of the answer:

5 For He has not put the world to come, of which we speak, in subjection to angels. 6 But one testified in a certain place, saying:

“What is man that You are mindful of him,
Or the son of man that You take care of him?
7 You have made him a little lower than the angels;
You have crowned him with glory and honor,
And set him over the works of Your hands.
8 You have put all things in subjection under his feet.”

For in that He put all in subjection under him, He left nothing that is not put under him. But now we do not yet see all things put under him. (Hebrews 2:5-8)

Pre-Adamic primates were not put on the earth to rule it later. Humans were.

It is NOT toolmaking nor manual dexterity that make humans different than non-human primates.

Humans have the spirit of man in them, whereas animals, including the other primates, do not. The reality that there is a spirit in humans is taught in both the Old and New Testaments:

8 But there is a spirit in man,
And the breath of the Almighty gives him understanding. (Job 32:8)

11 For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? (1 Corinthians 2:11)

God gave animals instinct, but not the type of understanding that He gave humans. Many scientists will not admit that there is a spirit in man that God gave.

Pre-Adamic primates, were, at best, like advanced chimpanzees. There were no true humans before Adam.

But what about dinosaurs?

Related to that, the Continuing Church of God (CCOG) put out the following video on our Bible News Prophecy YouTube channel:

20:41

Were Dinosaurs Prior to Adam & Eve?

When did dinosaurs live? The ‘National Catholic Register’ had an article by Stacy Trasancos titled ‘What Do You Say When Kids Ask About Dinosaurs?’ She brought up some dangers with the ‘young earth creationists’ and stated that dinosaurs were prior to Adam and Eve. Yet, she basically said that the first few verses of Genesis 1 should not be trusted. Yet, that is not the case. Does the Bible support any type of time gap between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2? Is there a gap symbol shown in the Masoretic text? Did the KJV and NKJV translator err in translating a disjunctive as a conjunctive? Must the earth only be about 6,000 years old? Is billions of years possible? Getting to dinosaurs themselves, do the fossil records support them being prior to a time of replenishment? Could dinosaurs have been destroyed by a ‘dark ice age’ or does the Great Flood of Noah’s time make the most sense? Did the old Worldwide Church of God bring up several facts that ‘young earth fundamentalists’ misunderstand and discount? Is the Bible scientifically reliable? Dr. Thiel addresses these issues and more.

Here is a link to our video: Were Dinosaurs Prior to Adam & Eve?

Anyway, scripture allows for life prior to Genesis 1:3. For details as to why, check out the article: How Old is the Earth and How Long Were the Days of Creation? Gap Theory?

Some items of possibly related interest may include:

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? Here is a link to a video in Spanish: La edad de la Tierra, la Biblia y Teoría de la Brecha.
Questions and Answers from Genesis Many wonder about certain early events that this article discusses.
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.
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.
Did Angels Marry Human Women? Many insist this is so and also that this mating caused giants to be born. Did this come from the ‘Book of Enoch’? What does Genesis 6:4 really mean? A related video is also available: Did Angels Marry Women and Produce Giants?
Lost Tribes and Prophecies: What will happen to Australia, the British Isles, Canada, Europe, New Zealand and the United States of America? Where did those people come from? Can you totally rely on DNA? What about other peoples? Do you really know what will happen to Europe and the English-speaking peoples? What about Africa, Asia, South America, and the Islands? This free online book provides scriptural, scientific, historical references, and commentary to address those matters. Here are links to related sermons: Lost tribes, the Bible, and DNA; Lost tribes, prophecies, and identifications; 11 Tribes, 144,000, and Multitudes; Israel, Jeremiah, Tea Tephi, and British Royalty; Gentile European Beast; Royal Succession, Samaria, and Prophecies; Asia, Islands, Latin America, Africa, and Armageddon;  When Will the End of the Age Come?Rise of the Prophesied King of the North; Christian Persecution from the Beast; WWIII and the Coming New World Order; and Woes, WWIV, and the Good News of the Kingdom of God.