World of Signs

Evangelical Leaders Uniting for Spiritual Warfare

 

CP Aug 28, 2018

About 100 evangelical leaders were invited to dinner at the White House Monday night for what was a prayer-filled event that's been compared to a church camp meeting and a campaign rally.

Dubbed a "state dinner" for evangelical leaders, the event was held specifically in the "honor of evangelical leadership." The dinner was attended by dozens of evangelical pastors, evangelists and activists who've been involved in informally advising the administration including well-known figures like Franklin Graham, James Dobson, and Greg Laurie.

The dinner was also attended by Vice President Mike Pence, Secretary of Homeland Security Ben Carson, Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services Alex Azar and Ambassador at-Large for International Religious Freedom Sam Brownback. The event was officially hosted by first lady Melania Trump.

"We are here today to celebrate America's heritage of faith, family and freedom," Trump told the crowd. "As you know in recent years, the government tried to undermine religious freedom but the attacks on communities of faith are over. We've ended it."

Chase ATMs go cardless

Fox  August 02, 2018

Forgot your bank card? No worries. Chase has you covered.

The New York City-based bank announced that it has expanded its cardless access to nearly all of its 16,000 ATMs nationwide.

The new technology will allow customers to get cash through their phone’s mobile wallet without needing a physical debit card or an access code for authentication.

Users can simple “tap” their smartphone on the ATM to “easily and securely access money on the go.”

“Cardless no longer means cashless,” Sol Gindi, chief administrative officer of consumer banking at Chase, said in a statement. “As more of our customers are using digital wallets to pay, we’re pleased to be able to provide them with the same experience at the ATM.”

Adventists leaders sounding like Rome

Adventist Jul 10, 2018

Seventh-day Adventist religious liberty leaders were invited by the Colombian government to help celebrate the country’s third annual National Religious Freedom Day, held July 4. During a morning meeting at Casa La Giralda, headquarters of Colombia’s Ministry of the Interior, Dr. Ganoune Diop, director of Public Affairs and Religious Liberty for the Adventist world church, addressed more than 100 religious and political leaders who had gathered to mark the occasion. 

“You have the opportunity to make a historic contribution to peace by recognizing human dignity as the essential foundation for building a peaceful coexistence,” Dr. Diop told the group, which included Evangelicals, Protestants, Catholics, Muslims, Jews, Buddhists, and representatives of other faiths. 

A group of strict Protestants who believe Sunday should be a day of rest are going to court on Friday to have a festival in the centre of Alkmaar banned

Dutch News July 20, 2018

A group of strict Protestants who believe Sunday should be a day of rest are going to court on Friday to have a festival in the centre of Alkmaar banned. 

The Vereniging Zondagsrust is using legislation dating from 1815 to make its case to halt the outdoor dance party, due to be held on Sunday August 26. 

The legislation, which was amended in 1953, states that there must be no noise nuisance close to churches before 13.00 on Sunday or any public entertainment nearby, unless local councils rule otherwise. 

But it also stops local councils in strict Protestant communities from banning sports events on Sundays. 

Councils are allowed to deviate from the rules, but must properly support their arguments, association lawyer Laus Vogelaar told local paper Noordhollands Dagblad. 

And, he says, the town council has failed to mention the legislation when granting the licence for the event. Sunday as a day of rest is being increasingly undermined, he says, adding ‘it is right that the courts take a look at it’. 

The Alkmaar resident who initiated the legal action told local website Alkmaar Centraal he hoped the courts would realise the importance of having a day of rest to city centre residents. 

The previous coalition government had planned to remove the law from the statute books but the new coalition, which includes two Christian parties, decided to leave it unchallenged.

A group of strict Protestants who believe Sunday should be a day of rest are going to court on Friday to have a festival in the centre of Alkmaar banned. The Vereniging Zondagsrust is using legislation dating from 1815 to make its case to halt the outdoor dance party, due to be held on Sunday August 26. The legislation, which was amended in 1953, states that there must be no noise nuisance close to churches before 13.00 on Sunday or any public entertainment nearby, unless local councils rule otherwise. But it also stops local councils in strict Protestant communities from banning sports events on Sundays. Councils are allowed to deviate from the rules, but must properly support their arguments, association lawyer Laus Vogelaar told local paper Noordhollands Dagblad. And, he says, the town council has failed to mention the legislation when granting the licence for the event. Sunday as a day of rest is being increasingly undermined, he says, adding ‘it is right that the courts take a look at it’. The Alkmaar resident who initiated the legal action told local website Alkmaar Centraal he hoped the courts would realise the importance of having a day of rest to city centre residents. The previous coalition government had planned to remove the law from the statute books but the new coalition, which includes two Christian parties, decided to leave it unchallenged.

Read more at DutchNews.nl:

A group of strict Protestants who believe Sunday should be a day of rest are going to court on Friday to have a festival in the centre of Alkmaar banned. The Vereniging Zondagsrust is using legislation dating from 1815 to make its case to halt the outdoor dance party, due to be held on Sunday August 26. The legislation, which was amended in 1953, states that there must be no noise nuisance close to churches before 13.00 on Sunday or any public entertainment nearby, unless local councils rule otherwise. But it also stops local councils in strict Protestant communities from banning sports events on Sundays.

Read more at DutchNews.nl:

A group of strict Protestants who believe Sunday should be a day of rest are going to court on Friday to have a festival in the centre of Alkmaar banned. The Vereniging Zondagsrust is using legislation dating from 1815 to make its case to halt the outdoor dance party, due to be held on Sunday August 26. The legislation, which was amended in 1953, states that there must be no noise nuisance close to churches before 13.00 on Sunday or any public entertainment nearby, unless local councils rule otherwise. But it also stops local councils in strict Protestant communities from banning sports events on Sundays.

Read more at DutchNews.nl:

When a man of God becomes complacent

The Spirit of God came on Azariah son of Oded. ² He went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Listen to me, Asa and all Judah and Benjamin. The Lord is with you when you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you. ³ For a long time Israel was without the true God, without a priest to teach and without the law. ⁴ But in their distress they turned to the Lord, the God of Israel, and sought him, and he was found by them. ⁵ In those days it was not safe to travel about, for all the inhabitants of the lands were in great turmoil. ⁶ One nation was being crushed by another and one city by another, because God was troubling them with every kind of distress. ⁷ But as for you, be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded.”

 ⁸ When Asa heard these words and the prophecy of Azariah son of^[a] Oded the prophet, he took courage. He removed the detestable idols from the whole land of Judah and Benjamin and from the towns he had captured in the hills of Ephraim. He repaired the altar of the Lord that was in front of the portico of the Lord’s temple.

 In the thirty-sixth year of Asa’s reign Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah and fortified Ramah to prevent anyone from leaving or entering the territory of Asa king of Judah.

² Asa then took the silver and gold out of the treasuries of the Lord’s temple and of his own palace and sent it to Ben-Hadad king of Aram, who was ruling in Damascus. ³ “Let there be a treaty between me and you,” he said, “as there was between my father and your father. See, I am sending you silver and gold. Now break your treaty with Baasha king of Israel so he will withdraw from me.”

⁴ Ben-Hadad agreed with King Asa and sent the commanders of his forces against the towns of Israel. They conquered Ijon, Dan, Abel Maim^[a] and all the store cities of Naphtali. ⁵ When Baasha heard this, he stopped building Ramah and abandoned his work. ⁶ Then King Asa brought all the men of Judah, and they carried away from Ramah the stones and timber Baasha had been using. With them he built up Geba and Mizpah.

⁷ At that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah and said to him: “Because you relied on the king of Aram and not on the Lord your God, the army of the king of Aram has escaped from your hand. ⁸ Were not the Cushites^[b] and Libyans a mighty army with great numbers of chariots and horsemen^[c]? Yet when you relied on the Lord, he delivered them into your hand. ⁹ For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. You have done a foolish thing, and from now on you will be at war.”

¹⁰ Asa was angry with the seer because of this; he was so enraged that he put him in prison. At the same time Asa brutally oppressed some of the people.

¹¹ The events of Asa’s reign, from beginning to end, are written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel. ¹² In the thirty-ninth year of his reign Asa was afflicted with a disease in his feet. Though his disease was severe, even in his illness he did not seek help from the Lord, but only from the physicians. ¹³ Then in the forty-first year of his reign Asa died and rested with his ancestors. ¹⁴ They buried him in the tomb that he had cut out for himself in the City of David. They laid him on a bier covered with spices and various blended perfumes, and they made a huge fire in his honor.    2 Chronicles 15, 16

God's love letter

Top bank warns that earth is running out of resources to sustain life

RT 9 Aug, 2018

One of the world’s largest banks, HSBC, has highlighted research indicating that Earth is running out of resources to sustain life and that governments and corporations are failing to prepare for the effects of climate change.

The world has spent its entire budget of natural resources for the year after crossing the threshold on August 1. The date, dubbed ‘Earth Overshoot Day’, marks the earliest point the planet hit its annual resource limit.

HSBC highlighted the issue using research from the Global Footprint Network (GFN), an independent think tank that promotes conservation and sustainability. The bank blamed businesses and governments for not adequately preparing for climate change, and not using natural resources efficiently.

The bank noted extreme weather events, such as rising temperatures across Europe and wildfires in California, Greece and Scandinavia in its remarks about the research. "As scientists work on attribution analysis for specific events – the general consensus is that climate change is making these events more likely to occur and more severe,” HSBC said, according to Business Insider.

Scientists have discovered a supervolcano in eastern California

SFGate August 14, 2018 

Scientists have discovered 240 cubic miles of semi-molten magma below the Long Valley Caldera, a supervolcano in eastern California near Mammoth Mountain.

The long-dormant supervolcano is currently a 20-mile-long caldera, or a crater that forms after an eruption forces the mouth of a volcano to collapse. According to an August report published in the scientific journal Geology, the semi-molten magma found could lead to possible eruptions.

Get ready for a commuter doomsday

NY Post August 9, 2018 

It’s a good thing that New York is the city that never sleeps — since it takes all day to get anywhere.

A perfect storm of subway repairs, highway construction, commuter rail woes and worsening gridlock is creating a commuter doomsday the likes of which the city has never seen before.

“It’s really bad out there, and it doesn’t seem like it’s going to get any better,” Robert Sinclair, spokesman for AAA Northeast, said of the amalgam of transit troubles. “For the next four or five years, every day will be like Thanksgiving.”

The cost of living in the U.S. is rising at its fastest rate in 10 years

The Hill 08/10/18
The cost of living in the U.S. is rising at its fastest rate in 10 years, according to new data from the Labor Department.
The data, released Friday, revealed that consumer prices increased 2.9 percent in July from the year before, meaning Americans may be earning less than they did at this time last year.
The consumer price index, meanwhile, rose 0.2 percent last month, which analysts largely attributed to rising housing costs, CNBC reported. Annual inflation remained unchanged from June's pace at 2.9 percent.
Energy, medical care and apparel costs dropped in July, while food prices ticked up.
"Rising rents remain the source of inflation. This is driven by shortages of housing in desirable markets," Dean Baker, senior economist at the Center for Economic and Policy Research, told CBS News.
"Unfortunately, the downward trend in housing construction means that these shortages are unlikely to be addressed on the supply side in the foreseeable future."
CBS reported that, when adjusted for inflation, average weekly earnings have dropped 0.1 percent in the past year.

Google tracks your location even when you ask it not to, says report

RT. 14 Aug, 2018 

If you’ve ever suspected that Google is watching your every move even when you explicitly tell it not to, a new investigation has vindicated your suspicions by proving just that.

An investigation carried out by the Associated Press has found that Google is in fact storing Android and iPhone users’ location data even when they have chosen privacy settings to prevent the company from doing so.

Google claims that if you turn off the ‘Location History’ setting on your device, the company will not be able to store information about where you have been. The company states on its support page, that you can turn off Location History “at any time” and that, with the setting turned off, “the places you go are no longer stored.”

But that’s not true, the AP report says, because some Google apps continue to store time-stamped location data even when the ‘Location History’ setting is switched off – without asking for permission.

Some of the examples given by the AP include the Google Maps app, which takes a snapshot of your location as soon as you open it and even completely unrelated searches like “chocolate chip cookies” which “pinpoint your precise latitude and longitude” and save it to your Google account.
The AP looked into the issue after K. Shankari, a graduate researcher at UC Berkeley, blogged about how her Android device had prompted her to rate a recent shopping trip to Kohl’s even though her location history had been turned off.

The deformed corporeality by algorithms in an artificial intelligence society.

Utopia

The backlash against the high tech mob is so obvious that no sane person can deny that their version of acceptable thinking requires banning Free Speech. The genie is out of the lamp and the only way to prevent these demons from repeating their censorship is to cork the bottle of any product offered by these companies. Utopia for the authoritarian collectivists necessitates that they conjure up twisted and absurd content targets as hate speech in a desperate attempt to rationalize the purging of counter opinions to their orthodox "PC" Communist Manifesto. In essence, the "so called" left has become the model of fascism by and under Silicon Valley's techno plutocrats. Merging Fabian ideals with state/corporatist absolutism produces a deformed corporeality by algorithms in an artificial intelligence society.

Algorithms function as filters to identify dangerous voices of reason and common sense. Eradicating any kind of dissent or historic cultural viewpoints is automated in the digital cloud of approved thinking. The canard that the masters of artificial truth are private companies and are not subject to Bill of Right protections is an insult to anyone who is committed to the building of a free society. Google, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram have emerged as monopolies that restrict speech and excel at censorship.

10 numbers that prove America’s current financial condition

The Economic Collapse 

America’s long-term “balance sheet numbers” just continue to get progressively worse.  Unfortunately, since the stock market has been soaring and the GDP numbers look okay, most Americans assume that the U.S. economy is doing just fine.  But the stock market was soaring and the GDP numbers looked okay just prior to the great financial crisis of 2008 as well, and we saw how that turned out.  The truth is that GDP is not the best measure for the health of the economy.  Judging the U.S. economy by GDP is basically like measuring the financial health of an individual by how much money he or she spends, and I will attempt to illustrate that in this article.

#1 U.S. consumer credit just hit another all-time record high.  In the second quarter of 2008, total consumer credit reached a grand total of 2.63 trillion dollars, and now ten years later that number has soared to 3.87 trillion dollars.  That is an increase of 48 percent in just one decade.

#2 Student loan debt has surpassed 1.5 trillion dollars for the first time ever.  Over the last 8 years, the total amount of student loan debt has shot up 79 percent in the United States.

#3 According to the Federal Reserve, the credit card default rate in the U.S. has risen for 7 quarters in a row.

#4 One recent survey found that 42 percent of American consumers paid their credit card bill late “at least once in the last year”, and 24 percent of Americans consumers paid their credit card bills late “more than once in the last year”.

#5 Real wage growth in the United States just declined by the most that we have seen in 6 years.

#6 According to one recent study, the “rate of people 65 and older filing for bankruptcy is three times what it was in 1991”.

#7 We are in the midst of the greatest “retail apocalypse” in American history.  At this point, 57 major retailers have announced store closings so far in 2018.

#8 The size of the official U.S. budget deficit is up 21 percent under President Trump.

#9 It is being projected that interest on the national debt will surpass half a trillion dollars for the first time ever this year.

#10 Goldman Sachs is projecting that the yearly U.S. budget deficit will surpass 2 trillion dollars by 2028.

America's biggest weapons-sale in all of history.

UNZ   August 10, 2018

Donald Trump’s biggest success, thus far into his Presidency, has been his sale of $400 billion (originally $350 billion) of U.S.-made weapons to the Saudi Arabian Government, which is owned by its royal family, after whom that nation is named. This sale alone is big enough to be called Trump’s “jobs plan” for Americans. It is also the biggest weapons-sale in all of history. It’s 400 billion dollars, not 400 million dollars; it is gigantic, and, by far, unprecedented in world-history.

US Spending On Interest Hits All Time High

Zero Hedge   08/10/2018
The US' spending problem is starting to become a major issue.

According to the latest Monthly Treasury Statement, in June, the US collected $225BN in tax receipts - consisting of $110BN in individual income tax, $91BN in social security and payroll tax, $4BN in corporate tax and $20BN in other taxes and duties- a drop of 2.9% from the $232BN collected last July and a reversal from the recent increasing trend...

 ... and in July, the 12 month trailing receipt total was barely higher compared to a year ago, up just 0.4% Y/Y after rising as much as 3.1% at the end of 2017.

Meanwhile Federal spending rose, up 9.9% from $275BN last July to $302BN last month.

 ... where the money was spent on social security ($83BN), defense ($49BN), Medicare ($24BN), Interest on Debt ($35BN), and Other ($111BN).

This resulted in a July budget deficit of $77 billion, in line with expectations, and a signification deterioration from the $43 billion recorded in July of 2017.
The July deficit brought the cumulative 2018F budget deficit to over $684BN during the first 10 month of the fiscal year, up 28% over the past year.

MIT computer model predicts end date for civilisation by 2040

Express  Aug 13, 2018

A COMPUTER MODEL developed in 1973 by a team of MIT researchers has predicted the "end of civilised life as we know it" by 2040, with a major change coming in 2020 - just two years away from now.

An apocalyptic computer model, processed by one of the world's largest computers in 1973, has predicted the end of civilization  by 2040.

The prediction came from a programme nicknamed World One, which was developed by a team of MIT researchers and processed by Australia's largest computer. 

It was originally devised by computer pioneer Jay Forrester, after he was tasked by the Club of Rome to develop a model of global sustainability.

However, the shocking result of the computer calculations showed that the level of pollution and population would cause a global collapse by 2040.

This shows that the world cannot sustain the current level of population and industrial growth for more than two decades.

Australian broadcaster ABC has republished its original report from the 1970s, since there is just two years until a major change is expected according to the computer model.

The model based its predictions on trends such as pollution levels, population growth, availability of natural resources and quality of life on earth.

The eerie calculation has been remarkably accurate in certain predictions, such as a stagnated quality of life and diminishing pool of natural resources.

Monsanto Guilty Verdict Is Only Beginning

Journal Neo. 15.08.2018

A jury trial in California has resulted in a guilty verdict against the agrichemical and GMO giant, Monsanto, now Bayer/Monsanto. The judge has ordered Monsanto to pay damages of USD 289 Million to former school groundskeeper Dewayne Johnson, who has non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. His lawyer argued it was caused by Monsanto’s glyphosate-based weed-killer Roundup. Not surprisingly Monsanto plans to appeal the verdict. The impact of the ruling, regardless the outcome of the appeal, will unleash worldwide consequences that spell huge problems for the entire GMO agrochemicals business model.

The Johnson trial, Dewayne Johnson v. Monsanto Co., CGC-16-550128, in California Superior Court in San Francisco,is the first of more than 5,000 such cases across the United States awaiting trial for claims that Roundup ingredients cause cancer.

Johnson, age 46, is a former pest control manager for a California county school system, where he applied Roundup and Monsanto’s Ranger Pro on school grounds across the county up to 30 times per year for more than two and a half years.

According to the magazine Insurance Journal, the guilty verdict could influence the outcome of thousands of similar cases against Monsanto glyphosate-based Roundup. Notably, the same law firm, California-based Baum, Hedlund, Aristei & Goldman, PC is involved as part of the legal team in many of the other cases awaiting trial.

French doctor treating homosexuality by homeopathy faces medical investigation

RT 16 Aug, 2018

A French doctor who claimed that homosexuality can be treated by alternative medicine is facing a Swiss government probe. The Geneva-based homeopath Jean-Yves Henry said homosexuality is “not a pathology but a special symptom.”

Henry published a paper saying that homosexuality is a symptom of illness, and can be treated with homeopathy and alternative medicine depending on the patient’s gender. Geneva regional health minister Mauro Poggia has urged the government body that oversees health professionals and patient rights in the Swiss canton to investigate the doctor’s practice.

“For him, it would seem that homosexuality is an illness to cure. This element is enough to justify opening an investigation,” Poggia told Le Courrier daily. The case was brought to Poggia’s attention following significant backlash on social media, with Twitter users dubbing the French doctor a “clown,” an “insult to science,” and a “charlatan.”

Militarizing Space

Counter Punch  August 10, 2018

This week Vice President Pence announced that the Department of Defense is beginning a planning process to establish a sixth military branch, known as the Space Force.  Pence’s statement was a public reassurance that Trump’s sudden announcement of the Space Force was not just another of the president’s frequent sudden announcements that have no connection to reality.  Pence claimed that this new Space Force military division will be in place by 2020, and while many in the media are reacting as if the militarization of space were a sudden departure from American policy, as with much of the Trump presidency, this policy shift is only a minor, more grotesque version of what our government has long routinely undertaken.

The Secret Battle for Africa

Corbett Report 08/12/2018

In October 2017 United States African Command confirmed that three Green Berets had been killed and two more had been wounded when their patrol was ambushed in Niger. Reaction to this news from the non-Corbett Report audience was: “What? There’s a United States African Command?” followed swiftly by “What are Green Berets doing conducting patrols in Niger, anyway?”

First things first: As my long-time viewers will be aware, there is indeed a United States African Command (AFRICOM). It was established in 2007 and has been the spearhead of Uncle Sam’s attempts to gain a military foothold on the African continent. My viewers will likewise be aware that the whole Kony 2012 psyop was similarly used as a cynical ploy to increase American military intervention in Africa.

But the extent of US Special Forces penetration in Africa (also reported on in these pages in recent years) is a reality that is still only gradually being revealed to the public. A recent congressional review of the incident in Niger has again cast a spotlight on the use of Special Forces around the world, with the Pentagon now floating the possibility that they will cut back on commandos in Africa to concentrate on the “real” enemies: Russia and China.

How drug companies sell treatments by inventing diseases

Yahoo June 8, 2018

The pharmaceutical industry’s image has been significantly damaged in recent years as the public discovered the role its aggressive marketing played in fueling the opioid epidemic. But the American people are still largely in the dark about what may be pharma’s most effective tactic for pushing drugs — marketing diseases.

There’s a substantial body of medical literature dating back to the early ’90s about the practice known as “disease mongering.” Pharmaceutical companies regularly pathologize everyday experiences, convince doctors that they are serious problems, tell a hypochondriacal public it needs help and offers the cure: a new drug. Against the onslaught of billions of dollars in marketing campaigns each year, however, researchers’ warnings about these tactics have gone largely unheeded.

To be clear: Pharmacology has helped countless people recover from illness or lead more productive lives. But the number of patients receiving any given drug is often greater than those who would benefit from it, and often includes people it could harm.

The United States was still the largest single pharmaceutical market in 2017, generating more than $450 billion of revenue. In contrast, all of Europe accounted for roughly $214 billion. U.S. pharmaceutical spending alone is double the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development average. According to the Mayo Clinic, nearly 70 percent of Americans take at least one prescription drug.

What if food was seen as a mechanism to prevent joint pain?

Collective Evolution  10 Jun 2018

A quick look at the average western diet presents an obvious truth when it comes to the state of wellness in the west; for the most part, we are eating ourselves sick.

Interestingly, how we combat the reality of our sick state is often disconnected from the reasons why we got sick in the first place; our diets. What if doctors prescribed dietary changes first before even looking at medication, especially if it's not needed? What if food was seen as a mechanism to prevent illness? I believe there is a growing body of people looking at our diets in this manner, but for the most part we're blind to the fact that our diet is likely one of the biggest contributors to why we are sick.

Of course emotions and our state of being is another huge factor, but let's start here for now.

A recent study found that a diet rich in acidic foods increases uric acid levels in the body, leading to conditions such as gout (form of arthritis), joint pain, and uric acid crystallization.

Could wifi be giving our children cancer?

Dailymail  21 June 2018

Plenty of children these days are so obsessed with having internet access that they will virtually refuse to go on holiday unless the hotel or villa has wifi.

They're certainly used to being fully 'connected' at school, where millions of youngsters who were once taught with chalk on a blackboard now sit in circles on the floor surfing the web on their tablets or phones.

The trouble is that though smartphones are used as educational tools in some lessons, they can also be a dangerous distraction during the day for pupils. In fact, youngsters taking phones into schools has become such a contentious issue that now a minister has called for them to be banned.

Hacksaw Ridge - Channeling Desmond Doss

Satan is constantly endeavoring to attract attention to man in the place of God

Great Controversy p. 595 

But God will have a people upon the earth to maintain the Bible, and the Bible only, as the standard of all doctrines and the basis of all reforms. The opinions of learned men, the deductions of science, the creeds or decisions of ecclesiastical councils, as numerous and discordant as are the churches which they represent, the voice of the majority--not one nor all of these should be regarded as evidence for or against any point of religious faith. Before accepting any doctrine or precept, we should demand a plain "Thus saith the Lord" in its support.

Satan is constantly endeavoring to attract attention to man in the place of God. He leads the people to look to bishops, to pastors, to professors of theology, as their guides, instead of searching the Scriptures to learn their duty for themselves. Then, by controlling the minds of these leaders, he can influence the multitudes according to his will.

When Christ came to speak the words of life, the common people heard Him gladly; and many, even of the priests and rulers, believed on Him. But the chief of the priesthood and the leading men of the nation were determined to condemn and repudiate His teachings. Though they were baffled in all their efforts to find accusations against Him, though they could not but feel the influence of the divine power and wisdom attending His words, yet they incased themselves in prejudice; they rejected the clearest evidence of His Messiahship, lest they should be forced to become His disciples. These opponents of Jesus were men whom the people had been taught from infancy to reverence, to whose authority they had been accustomed implicitly to bow. "How is it," they asked, "that our rulers and learned scribes do not believe on Jesus? Would not these pious men receive Him if He were the Christ?" It was the influence of such teachers that led the Jewish nation to reject their Redeemer.

Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ?

¹⁸ Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.

¹⁹ They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.

²⁰ But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things.

²¹ I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it, and that no lie is of the truth.

²² Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.

²³ Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also.

²⁴ Let that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning. If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father.

²⁵ And this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life.

²⁶ These things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you.

²⁷ But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.

²⁸ And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.

²⁹ If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of him.      1 John 2:18-29

The Ship That's Going Through

The government's obsession with your face

The Week June 18, 2018

The government is obsessed with your face. Do not be flattered. This is more of a creepy stalker fixation.

From the federal Department of Homeland Security down to local police departments, governmental use of biometric facial recognition software has gained a startling amount of traction in recent years. And these agencies are getting help from big business, to boot.

For example, DHS is reportedly developing a massive new biometric and biographic database with extensive data on citizens and foreigners alike. The Homeland Advanced Recognition Technology (HART) database will reportedly include at least seven biometric identifiers, including face and voice data, tattoos, DNA, scars, and other "physical descriptors" on as many as 500 million people. The agency has been remarkably hush-hush on how HART will be utilized — but the possibilities are frightening.

DHS expects to launch the new database next fiscal year, according to internal documents. By the following year, they anticipate having iris and facial matching capabilities, and by fiscal year 2021, the database is expected to be functioning in its full capacity. This massive and intrusive initiative will grant a whole host of federal, state, and local agencies access to intimate details about hundreds of millions of Americans and foreigners.

The merging of Bayer and Monsanto

Corbettreport  06/23/2018

It is hardly surprising that the first thing Bayer did after completing their takeover of Monsanto earlier this month was to announce that they were dropping the Monsanto name, merging the two companies’ agrichemical divisions under the Bayer Crop Science name. After all, as everyone knows, Monsanto is one of the most hated corporations in the world. But Bayer itself has an equally atrocious history of death and destruction. Together they are a match made in hell.

No one can escape the wrath of Rodrigo Duterte

RT  24 Jun, 2018

No one can escape the wrath of Rodrigo Duterte, one of the toughest-talking world leaders today, be it a US president, UN chief, or even the Pope! The Philippines president has now gone a step further by calling God “stupid.”

This time the 72-year-old leader targeted the concept of original sin in the Bible. During a speech at the opening of the 2018 Information and Communications Technology Summit in Davao City on Friday, Duterte recalled the Bible creation story of Adam and Eve and how they ate the forbidden fruit.

“Adam ate it… then malice was born. Who is this stupid God? That son of a b*tch is stupid if that’s the case,” the outspoken leader said. “You created something perfect and then you think of an event that would tempt and destroy the quality of your work.” 

Notorious for his controversial statements, the president continued, saying that babies shouldn’t be responsible for original sin. “That was your mother and father’s deed, you weren’t born yet, but now you have original sin. What kind of religion is that? I can’t accept it.” Duterte, however, said he still believes in the existence of “a universal mind.”

Pope Francis calls for Christian unity

America Magazine June 21, 2018
“The Lord asks us for unity; our world, torn apart by all too many divisions that affect the most vulnerable, begs for unity,” Pope Francis told top representatives of the World Council of Churches during a prayer service at its headquarters in Geneva soon after his arrival on June 21.

This push for unity was the leitmotif of his visit for the 70th anniversary of the founding of the largest ecumenical movement in the world that today represents 348 churches and 560 million Christians from 110 countries. The Catholic Church works with the council in several ways, though not yet as a full member.

On the plane from Rome to Geneva, Francis told reporters that this “was a journey to unity” and “a desire for unity.” On arrival in this country of eight million people, Francis was given a particularly warm welcome by the president of the Swiss Federation and those gathered for a prayer service with which he began his visit.

Franklin Graham Praises Pope Francis

CBN 06-19-2018

The Rev. Franklin Graham is applauding Pope Francis for recent comments he made about abortion.

"I appreciate Pope Francis boldly speaking out for the unborn," Graham said in a recent Facebook post.  

Speaking to a delegation of Italy's family association in Rome over the weekend, the pope said abortion to avoid birth defects is similar to the Holocaust.

"It is fashionable, or at least usual, that when in the first few months of a pregnancy doctors do studies to see if the child is healthy or has something, the first idea is: 'Let's send it away,'" the Pope said. "We do the same as the Nazis to maintain the purity of the race, but with white gloves on."

He has frequently lamented how the sick, the poor, the elderly and the unborn are considered unworthy of protection and dignity by a society that prizes individual efficiency instead, and he's urged families to accept children "as God gives them to us."

Graham continued in his post, "The Pope denounced abortion, calling it the 'white glove' equivalent of the Nazi-era eugenics program. He also encouraged families to accept children 'as God gives them to us.' He's right, and our society needs to hear this message now more than ever. God's Word says, 

'Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward' (Psalm 127:3). We can never stop praying for an end to abortion—will you pray that our nation would wake up and protect the most vulnerable among us?"

Escalating trade wars continue between America and China

RT 19 Jun, 2018

Global stocks crashed on Tuesday after US President Donald Trump threatened another 10-percent tariff on $200 billion of Chinese imports in response to Beijing’s retaliation for the previous package of levies imposed by the US.

China vowed to protect its interests, countering any US tariffs imposed on its goods with a mirror response.

“This practice of extreme pressure and blackmail” will be met with other comprehensive quantitative and qualitative measures, the country’s Commerce Ministry warned.

“The United States has initiated a trade war that violates market laws and is not in accordance with current global development trends,” it added.

Last week, Washington announced tariffs on 1,102 separate categories of Chinese products, to come into effect on July 6. Beijing immediately retaliated with a 25-percent tariff on 545 American products worth $50 billion, which will come into force on the same day. Chinese authorities also pledged to add another 114 product categories to the existing list.

The growing trade spat between Beijing and Washington has dragged global markets down as investors opt to get rid of riskier assets. China’s stock market dropped 2.7 percent, while Japan’s Nikkei ended down by 1.7 percent.

America’s Drive for World Domination

Global Reasearch June 08, 2018

The world is riven with class conflicts in Latin America, political conflicts between the Anglo-Americans and Russians, and economic conflicts between Washington against Europe and Asia.

The conflicts have called into question the capacity of ruling elites to promote growth, to secure international stability and to foster global as co-operation.

To understand the underlying source of conflicts it is essential to identify and unmask the underlying political and economic interests which spread and deepen class, regional and global confrontations.

Vatican Secretary of State, will take part in the Bilderberg Conference

CNA Jun 6, 2018

Vatican City, Jun 6, 2018 / 04:26 pm (CNA).- Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican Secretary of State, will take part in the Bilderberg Conference, an annual private gathering of global political, business and media leaders, set to take place this year in Turin, Italy, June 7 – 10.

Cardinal Parolin’s name is included in the list of 131 participants in this year’s Bilderberg meeting.

His participation in the meeting has not been officially announced by the Vatican, though sources within the Secretariat of State have confirmed that he is scheduled to take part in the meeting.

If his participation were confirmed, it would be the first time high-ranking Vatican official has taken part in the Bilderberg Conferences.

Started in 1954 the Hotel de Bilderberg in Oosterbeek, The Netherlands, and named after the same hotel, the Bilderberg Conference gathers each year some 120 – 150 participants, among them European and North American political élites, along with industrial, financial, academic and media figures.

The first meeting took place at the invitation of Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld. Co-founders of the meeting were Polish politician Jozef Retinger, former Belgian prime minister Paul van Zeeland and Paul Rijkens, who was then the head of Unilever.

The success of the first meeting brought the organizers to stage an annual meeting.

According to the groups' official website, about two-thirds of the participants come from Europe, and the rest from North America, and one-third are political figures or government officials.

Jews, Christians Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem

CBN 06-08-2018

JERUSALEM, Israel – Hundreds of Christians from around the world gathered in Jerusalem this week, together with Israeli Knesset members and Jewish leaders, to pray for the peace of Jerusalem at the Jerusalem Prayer Breakfast.

"I think about the fact that God is joining Jews and Christians together for such an event.  This is a wonder.  This is such a wonder happening in our day and age," said Sharon Daugherty, founding pastor of the Victory Christian Center.

"We are in the last days.  And we recognize that God is moving by his Holy Spirit around the world but particularly here in Israel," Daugherty told CBN News.

This is the second year that the gathering has taken place. Knesset Member Robert Ilatov initiated the breakfast that's co-chaired by former US Congresswoman Michele Bachmann. It's part of a global movement to encourage Jews and Christians to pray for the peace of Jerusalem.  This year representatives from 70 nations came up to Jerusalem. Some noted that there were 70 nations in Israel's 70th year.

A Virgin Mary statue appears to be crying.

US News 

HOBBS, N.M. (AP) — A Virgin Mary statue at a Hispanic Catholic church in southeastern New Mexico is drawing visitors from around the region because believers say it appears tears are flowing from the statue's face.

Visitors of the bronze statue located inside the auxiliary building of Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church said Tuesday the statue wept, like it did for several hours last Sunday, the Hobbs News-Sun reported .

"There were tears coming down her face again," said church manager Judy Ronquillo, who was in the building on Tuesday when it took place.

Ronquillo said the statue began crying as the group inside the church finished a Rosary.

"It's beautiful," she said. "The tears aren't watery, they are an oil-like substance and the tears smell like roses."

Evangelical Leaders: ‘We’re More Powerful When We Stand Together’

CBN News 

Rev. Samuel Rodriguez and Rev. Johnnie Moore are teaming up to form The Congress of Christian Leaders in hopes of fostering unity in the Body of Christ.

But don't let the word Congress confuse you. The men say the group is non-partisan and interdenominational.

"The CCL is the embodiment of our conviction that we are more powerful when we stand together for righteousness and justice," Rodriguez explained.

US Demands All Other Nations Bow to Its Will

Stephenlendman 

Post-WW II, a permanent US war economy was established to pursue unchallenged global dominance, wanting all sovereign independent governments eliminated – replaced by puppet regimes bowing to Washington’s will, a prescription for endless wars of aggression, risking eventual catastrophic nuclear war.

Permanent war shapes geopolitical policymaking in Washington – business allied with the warrior state for maximum profit-making.

Enterprise in America is built on a foundation of endless war-making, imperialism on an unprecedented scale – nothing like it before in world history.

Nothing earlier matched the recklessness and ruthlessness of US pursuit of absolute global rule – supported by major media, most people none the wiser or indifferent about what’s going on.

In his 9/11 1990 address to a joint congressional session, GW Bush announced a “New World Order,” a scheme for pursuing unchallenged US global dominance.

The address came months before launching naked aggression in Iraq, continuing intermittently in the country to today, followed the Balkan wars, culminating in the 1999 rape of Yugoslavia, and endless new millennium wars of aggression against nations threatening no one.

Half of evangelicals support Israel because they believe it is important for fulfilling end-times prophecy

WP   May 14, 2018

Well before he was asked to offer a prayer at Monday’s ceremony marking the U.S. Embassy’s move from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, earning the enmity of Mitt Romney, Pastor Robert Jeffress offered tangential insight into why he and many evangelicals think the move was so important.

“Jerusalem has been the object of the affection of both Jews and Christians down through history and the touchstone of prophecy,” Jeffress told CNN last year. “But, most importantly, God gave Jerusalem — and the rest of the Holy Land — to the Jewish people.”

The latter half of that quote hints at the deep religious meaning of the existence of Israel for Jeffress and other Christians. As University of North Texas professor Elizabeth Oldmixon told Vox last year, the issue of recognizing Jerusalem is inextricable from that belief.

“The tenet of Christian Zionism is that God’s promise of the Holy Land to the Jews is eternal. It’s not just something in antiquity,” Oldmixon said. “When we talk about the Holy Land, God’s promise of the Holy Land, we’re talking about real estate on both sides of the Jordan River. So the sense of a greater Israel and expansionism is really important to this community. Jerusalem is just central to that. It’s viewed as a historical and biblical capital.”

What is Eternal Life?

The track of truth lies close beside the track of error

The Lord will put new, vital force into His work as human agencies obey the command to go forth and proclaim the truth. He who declared that His truth would shine forever will proclaim this truth through faithful messengers, who will give the trumpet a certain sound. The truth will be criticized, scorned, and derided; but the closer it is examined and tested, the brighter it will shine.

As a people, we are to stand firm on the platform of eternal truth that has withstood test and trial. We are to hold to the sure pillars of our faith. The principles of truth that God has revealed to us are our only true foundation. They have made us what we are. The lapse of time has not lessened their value. It is the constant effort of the enemy to remove these truths from their setting, and to put in their place spurious theories. He will bring in everything that he possibly can to carry out his deceptive designs. But the Lord will raise up men of keen perception, who will give these truths their proper place in the plan of God.

I have been instructed by the heavenly messenger that some of the reasoning in the book Living Temple is unsound, and that this reasoning would lead astray the minds of those who are not thoroughly established on the foundation principles of present truth. It introduces that which is nought but speculation in regard to the personality of God and where His presence is. No one on this earth has a right to speculate on this question. The more fanciful theories are discussed, the less men will know of God and of the truth that sanctifies the soul. 

One and another come to me, asking me to explain the positions taken in Living Temple. I reply, “They are unexplainable.” The sentiments expressed do not give a true knowledge of God. All through the book are passages of Scripture. These scriptures are brought in in such a way that error is made to appear as truth. Erroneous theories are presented in so pleasing a way that unless care is taken, many will be misled. 

We need not the mysticism that is in this book. Those who entertain these sophistries will soon find themselves in a position where the enemy can talk with them, and lead them away from God. It is represented to me that the writer of this book is on a false track. He has lost sight of the distinguishing truths for this time. He knows not whither his steps are tending. The track of truth lies close beside the track of error, and both tracks may seem to be one to minds which are not worked by the Holy Spirit, and which, therefore, are not quick to discern the difference between truth and error.        1SM p. 202