On March 29, 2025, Norbert Link will present “Comments on News and Prophecy, March 29, 2025,” and the sermon, titled, “The Coming False Prophet.”

The live services are available, over video and audio, at http://eternalgod.org/live-services/ (12:30 pm Pacific Time; 1:30 pm Mountain Time; 2:30 pm Central Time; 3:30 pm Eastern Time; 8:30 pm Greenwich Mean Time; 9:30 pm Central European Time). Just click on Connect to Live Stream.

Sometimes we may go for a medical checkup to examine our current state of health to find out if we need to make changes in our lives to improve or maintain our health.

At this time of the year, we are to go through a spiritual checkup to see how we are doing spiritually. We need to know what we need to do to remain spiritually healthy or to become spiritually healthy. We are told to examine ourselves before taking part in the Passover service. Not to have someone else examine us, but to examine ourselves.

Remember at our baptism, we had repented and after being baptized, our sins were forgiven, and we were counted as clean. However, time has passed, and we have tended to sin from time to time. So annually, we come to Passover time when our feet are washed to cleanse them after travelling for the year since last Passover.

We gather dirt, or commit sin during the year, and we must recognize this and be symbolically cleaned up.

What are some of the areas we should consider?  We are told to glorify God in our bodies (1 Corinthians 6:19-20), so let’s look at the various parts of our bodies and think how we can use each part to glorify God. Consider our eyes, ears, mouth, mind, heart, hands and feet.

Starting with our eyes, how do we use them? Up to 80% of our knowledge comes through our eyes, and they are a method by which Truth enters us. In this world, Satan has blinded the vast majority so they cannot see Truth. And when we look at what is available in the world, violent and pornographic entertainment is very common.

Advertising is used to appeal to the lust of the eyes, as John mentioned in 1 John 2:16. Things or activities are advertised in such a way as to encourage our wanting them. Things we may not be able to afford or need are made very appealing.

David mentioned in the Psalms that he would set nothing wicked before his eyes. And that his eyes were ever toward the Lord.

I’m sure you remember the expression if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you. While this is a figure of speech, it means not to look at things that cause you to sin.

We can look at many right things, look upon others with compassion, look in the Word of God for instruction in living righteously, and look at events signifying the end of this world and the coming Kingdom of God. These are all positive things to look at.

What about our ears? Do we freely listen to gossip, someone destroying another’s reputation? When we hear something, we must carefully evaluate it to see if it is really true. Much of what we hear today is propaganda to get us to believe falsehoods as if they were Truth.

And yet there are many things we should hear. We certainly should listen to God’s instruction and correction, which can be personal or given generally in sermons.

A bit lower down from the eyes and ears is the mouth. Through our mouths we are nourished and can communicate with others, both important and enjoyable activities. While the Kingdom of God is more than meat or drink, we still need to care for our bodies in what we eat and drink.

There is a warning in Isaiah 55:2 that reads, “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. And let your soul delight itself in abundance.” Listening to God’s Truth is spiritual food to last forever.

We should also learn to use our tongues correctly. We can use it to uplift and encourage others. We can console those who are suffering. There are many right and true things to say, but with our mouth it is very easy to say negative things about others, to be the originator of gossip, or to pass on rumors. Even just talking too much can easily cause sin. Remember what King Solomon said in Proverbs 10:19: “In the multitude of words sin is not lacking, But he who restrains his lips is wise.”

We should seek God’s help to use our tongues to inform and encourage and sometimes even correct in a right manner. There is a right time and a right way to speak. A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver.

The next part to consider is our mind. It is what determines our actions, and it should be molded, by studying and applying God’s Truth and laws, to reflect God’s mind in our lives.  This is mentioned in Philippians 2:5: “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.”

What about our heart? In the Bible, the heart represents the source of our attitudes. Christ said we could be defiled by what comes out of our heart. Mark 7:20-23 states: “And He said, ‘What comes out of a man, that defiles a man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within and defile a man.’”

You probably remember where it says, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart. We are also told to love one another fervently with a pure heart (1 Peter 1:22). In Ephesians 4:32 we read, “And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.” So, our heart must be right before God.

What about our hands and feet? Our hands can be used for many purposes and there is an interesting proverb that gives us advice. Proverbs 10:4 states, “He who has a slack hand becomes poor, But the hand of the diligent makes rich.” As the fourth commandment says, six days we are to labor and do all our work. So, God intends us to work and not be lazy.

As for our feet, they are the means by which we walk on the path of life. We can walk on the broad and easy way which leads to destruction, or we can walk on the narrow way which leads to life. We must be of the few who walk on this narrow path leading to eternal life.

With Passover in only a few weeks, as we examine ourselves, as we do a full body periodic checkup, think of all the parts of our body, and what each part performs. Consider the sin each part can get us into and examine where we should change how we use each part of our body.

Unfortunately, as we travel through life, we sometimes use parts of our body in a way not appropriate, and need another Passover to be reminded to be washed clean from sin again, but remember, we are to glorify God in our bodies. And that includes every part, not just some parts. And when we have gone through this examination, we can take the Passover in a worthy manner, pleasing to God.

by Norbert Link

We devote much of this issue to deeply disturbing developments in Trump’s immigration world, including alarming attacks on tourists, legal aliens and even green card holders, which many legal scholars deem to be lawless. We also address the controversy surrounding the antique “Alien Enemies Act” from 1798, which Trump wants to apply to certain immigrants, but which has only been used three times in the past during times of war.

We address speculation that Trump might want to run again for a third term; and report on the possibility that the USA may become a member of the British Commonwealth.

We speak on the “terminally ill” British Empire; Germany’s desire to spend money on the military like candy; Europe’s desire to take over NATO; and Putin’s demand that Ukrainians become Russian citizens.

Throughout this section, we have underlined pertinent statements in the quoted articles, for the convenience and quick overview of the reader. 

America’s Immigration Policy 

Politico wrote on March 20: 

“The French government said Thursday that a French academic was refused entry onto U.S. soil over comments he had expressed against policies enacted by U.S. President Donald Trump. 

“France’s Higher Education Minister Philippe Baptiste said that ‘he had learned with concern that a French academic who was going to a conference in Houston was denied entry before being deported’ back to Europe, according to a ministry statement seen by POLITICO. ‘This measure was apparently taken by the American authorities because the researcher’s phone contained conversations with colleagues and friends in which he expressed a personal opinion on the Trump administration’s research policy,’ he said…

“The news comes as the Trump administration has recently accused Europe of curtailing free speech, with Vice President JD Vance launching a blistering attack against the continent last month, saying in Munich: ‘I believe deeply that there is no security if you are afraid of the voices, the opinions and the conscience that guide your very own people.’… This week, Germany updated its travel advice to the U.S. warning that tougher immigration enforcement could land travelers in detention or see them face deportation.” 

Immigration Abuses? 

The Associated Press wrote on March 21: 

“Lennon Tyler and her German fiancé often took road trips to Mexico when he vacationed in the United States since it was only a day’s drive from her home in Las Vegas, one of the perks of their long-distance relationship. But things went terribly wrong when they drove back from Tijuana last month. U.S. border agents handcuffed Tyler, a U.S. citizen, and chained her to a bench, while her fiancé, Lucas Sielaff, was accused of violating the rules of his 90-day U.S. tourist permit, the couple said. Authorities later handcuffed and shackled Sielaff and sent him to a crowded U.S. immigration detention center. He spent 16 days locked up before being allowed to fly home to Germany… there have been other incidents of tourists like Sielaff being stopped at U.S. border crossings and held for weeks at U.S. immigration detention facilities before being allowed to fly home at their own expense. 

“They include another German tourist who was stopped at the Tijuana crossing on Jan. 25. Jessica Brösche spent over six weeks locked up, including over a week in solitary confinement, a friend said. On the Canadian border, a backpacker from Wales spent nearly three weeks at a detention center before flying home this week. And a Canadian woman on a work visa detained at the Tijuana border spent 12 days in detention before returning home last weekend… 

“Pedro Rios, director of the American Friends Service Committee’s US-Mexico border program, a nonprofit that aids migrants, said in the 22 years he has worked on the border he’s never seen travelers from Western Europe and Canada, longtime U.S. allies, locked up like this…. Sielaff… was finally told to get a direct flight to Germany… In a frantic call from Sielaff, Tyler bought it for $2,744. He flew back March 5… ‘Nobody is safe there anymore to come to America as a tourist,’ he said.” 

The Street added on March 19: 

“German national Fabian Schmidt is currently being held at a Rhode Island detention center since being stopped at Boston Logan International Airport on March 7… Schmidt had a valid green card and has been living in the U.S. since 2008…  he was ‘violently interrogated’ for hours, stripped naked and put in a cold shower by two officials questioning his intentions upon entering the U.S.” 

This is unheard of. And great cause for concern! Note the next article.

Green Card Holders Concerned 

CNN wrote on March 22: 

“About 12.8 million green card holders live in the United States…  ‘Who’s next?’ David Leopold, an immigration attorney in Ohio and former president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association… told reporters… ‘Is it a climate activist? It is a gender-rights activist? Is it trans activists? Is it somebody who is concerned about health care? Is it somebody who just simply opposes Donald Trump?’… 

“For immigration attorney Charles Kuck, it’s a telling sign of the times. The last time he received so many calls from concerned legal residents, he says, was after the September 11, 2001, terror attacks… green card holders [are] not to stay outside the US longer than six months. If they do… it’s possible for the US government ‘to allege that they have abandoned their residency.’… anybody who’s got blemishes on their record, a conviction, even misdemeanor convictions… should not travel unless they’ve talked to counsel.’…” 

Despite what Trump might be saying, his attacks on “aliens” are clearly NOT limited to “illegal” aliens. Sadly, this development was to be expected. 

More Aggressive Tactics 

The New York Times reported on March 21: 

“U.S. border officials are using more aggressive tactics at ports of entry as the administration scrutinizes green card and visa holders who have expressed opposition to its policies… The Trump administration has opened a new phase in its immigration agenda, one that goes well beyond the mass deportation of undocumented immigrants… 

“Customs agents have wide latitude to search cellphones or computers of travelers crossing into the United States..” 

Also note the next provocative article. 

“Perilous Times for Personal Liberty” 

Judge Andrew P. Napolitano [frequent commentator on Fox News and Newsmax] wrote the following on March 20 in the Ron Paul Institute: 

“The history of human freedom is long, tortuous, and not gratifying. It consists essentially in governments trampling the laws enacted to restrain them… Thomas Jefferson argued that in the long march of history, personal liberty shrinks and state power grows… 

“All of this history and theory came into sharp focus in the past two weeks when the feds arrested a Syrian graduate student in his student housing at Columbia University in New York City and shipped him to an immigration jail in Louisiana. He is married to a native-born American, they are expecting a child in April, and he is a permanent resident alien. 

“Last week, the federal government arrested a Lebanese physician at Logan Airport in Boston. She is a professor of medicine at Brown University, and she, too, is a permanent resident alien. The student was charged with immigration violations. The physician was summarily deported to Paris and then to her native Lebanon. 

“The charging documents filed against the student allege no crime or personal misbehavior, point to no statutory violations, and offer no evidence of the student’s danger to persons or property or the government. The papers claim that Secretary of State Marco Rubio believes that this student’s presence on the Columbia campus — given his outspoken support for a Palestinian state, the existence of which has been the public policy of the U.S. for generations — is a material impediment to the execution of American foreign policy…. 

“In the case of the physician (no charges were filed either). The feds shipped her to Paris before the hearing could be held. In the case of the Columbia student, the feds shipped him to Louisiana, in defiance of the constitutional requirement that all persons be tried in the judicial district — in this case, New York City — in which the facts in their case took place… 

“In the government’s zealous enforcement of the nation’s immigration laws, it has become lawless. Every person who works for the government has taken an oath of fidelity to the Constitution. It is obvious that the feds do not take their oaths seriously. It is also obvious that the feds are breaking the laws we have hired them to enforce. When government becomes the lawbreaker, it becomes a law unto itself — and human freedom is trampled by brute force…” 

New Allegations Against Khalil 

The New York Post wrote on March 24: 

“Lawyers for the Department of Justice lodged new accusations against the anti-Israel campus protest leader [Mahmoud Khalil] in court papers over the weekend, arguing that they should be grounds for his deportation. Khalil — a green-card holder… allegedly fraudulently applied to change his immigration status without disclosing his ‘membership in certain organizations,’ the feds said. 

“Among those organizations was the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, known as UNRWA, a relief agency that was infamously stripped of tens of millions of dollars in federal funding after an explosive report that some of its members took part in Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel. Khalil was a political affairs officer with UNRWA from June through November 2023. 

“The DOJ also alleges that Khalil did not reveal he was working at the Syria Office in the British Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, when he applied for his visa, or that he was a member of Columbia University Apartheid Divest — an anti-Israel group that set off protests at the Ivy League school… the feds said in the filing from Sunday that the fact he allegedly lied on his application provided an ‘independent basis’ to deport him, overriding free speech rights… 

“Khalil was initially charged under an obscure law that allows the secretary of state to launch a deportation case against someone who is considered a threat to US foreign policy goals. That charge still stands, along with the new allegations made against him last week…” 

The question is, why are these “additional” grounds only stated now? 

Why the AEA Is Deemed to Be Unlawful 

The National Immigration Law Center wrote on March 17, 2025: 

“The Trump administration over the weekend unlawfully deported over 100 Venezuelans with zero due process under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 (AEA)… the AEA is a wartime authority that only allows the executive branch to detain and deport immigrants that are citizens of foreign nations or governments the United States is at war with, and the United States is not currently at war with Venezuela or any other country… 

“[The AEA was] not only to justify the internment of [US citizens] of Japanese descent [during World War II], but also for detentions and deportations of Japanese, Austro-Hungarian, German, and Italian immigrants without due process. The law has only been used three times in U.S. history—the War of 1812, World War I, and World War II…” 

The problems with this law should be obvious. 

Unquestioned Authority? 

Fox News wrote on March 24: 

“Fox News legal analyst Gregg Jarrett [stated that the] Judge halting Trump’s use of [the] Alien Enemies Act is ‘brazenly ignoring’ Supreme Court precedent.”

It is Jarrett’s position that Trump‘s decision to apply the AEA is within his sole power and cannot be reviewed by the courts. The rebuttal that the USA is not at war with another government and that therefore the AEA is not applicable is answered by the White House, saying that the USA is at war with Venezuelan gangs. But this is not what the law provides. Note the next article. 

What the Alien Enemies Act Really Says 

Breitbart wrote on March 24: 

“Judge James Boasberg’s decision did not challenge the 1798 law itself but argued that migrants can claim they are not covered by the president’s application of the Alien Enemies Act to Venezuelan members of the Tren de Aragua criminal gang: ‘… Because the named Plaintiffs dispute that they are members of Tren de Aragua, they may not be deported until a court has been able to decide the merits of their challenge… 

“The 1798 law is one of the many sections in U.S. immigration law that have fallen into disuse because their original purposes were no longer relevant… The law says… ‘Whenever there is a declared war between the United States and any foreign nation or government, or any invasion or predatory incursion is perpetrated, attempted, or threatened against the territory of the United States by any foreign nation or government, and the President makes public proclamation of the event, all natives, citizens, denizens, or subjects of the hostile nation or government, being of the age of fourteen years and upward, who shall be within the United States and not actually naturalized, shall be liable to be apprehended, restrained, secured, and removed as alien enemies. 

“The President is authorized in any such event, by his proclamation thereof, or other public act, to direct the conduct to be observed on the part of the United States, toward the aliens who become so liable; the manner and degree of the restraint to which they shall be subject and in what cases, and upon what security their residence shall be permitted, and to provide for the removal of those who, not being permitted to reside within the United States, refuse or neglect to depart therefrom; and to establish any other regulations which are found necessary in the premises and for the public safety.’” 

No war against Venezuela (a foreign nation or government) has been declared. 

Collateral Damage? 

Newsweek wrote on March 20: 

“One of the Venezuelan migrants deported to El Salvador last weekend was mistakenly identified as a gang member because of his tattoos, including one closely resembling the Real Madrid  soccer club logo, his attorney has said… Linette Tobin said her client, Jerce Reyes Barrios, 36, had fled his home country after he was tortured for taking part in anti-regime demonstrations last year… 

“Agents also searched his social media profile, finding him making a hand gesture which they allege is proof of gang membership, Tobin said. ‘In fact, the gesture is a common one that means “I Love You” in sign language and is commonly used as a rock-and-roll symbol,’ the attorney said… 

“‘Counsel and family have lost all contact with him and have no information regarding his whereabouts or condition,’ Tobin’s court filing says… Lee Gelernt, lead counsel at the American Civil Liberties Union, [wrote] in a statement…  ‘The Trump administration’s intent to use a wartime authority for immigration enforcement [the AEA, see below] is as unprecedented as it is lawless…’ 

A Lie or Illegal Action? 

The Hill wrote on March 22: 

“Trump on Friday deflected when asked if he signed the order to invoke the Alien Enemies Act… to deport Venezuelan migrants… ‘I don’t know when it was signed, because I didn’t sign it,’ Trump told reporters before departing the White House on Friday. ‘Other people handled it.’ 

“… The 4-page proclamation to invoke the 1789 law appears to have been signed by the president, according to a copy filed in the Federal Register… 

“Hours after Trump’s remarks to reporters, the White House released a statement to CNN, saying that the president ‘was obviously referring to the original Alien Enemies Act that was signed back in 1798.’ ‘The recent Executive Order was personally signed by President Trump invoking the Alien Enemies Act that designated Tren de Aragua as a Foreign Terrorist Organization in order to apprehend and deport these heinous criminals,’ they wrote. 

“The White House statement, however, seems to contradict what Trump told journalists earlier…” 

It clearly did. The White House’s “explanation” is ludicrous and juvenile. But why is this important? Read the next article. 

Mediaite wrote on March 21:

“CNN Senior Legal Analyst Elie Honig found the explanation to be ‘ridiculous.’… ‘if Donald Trump did not actually sign that proclamation, it’s a big problem because the law specifically requires a proclamation by the president. The law says… the president has to make a public proclamation of the event. So, if he was telling the truth, if in fact, he did not sign this thing, everything that followed – the deportation of these individuals – was all illegal, was all null and void. That’s why they’re trying to walk it back…’” 

What the Court of Appeals Thinks 

Newsmax wrote on March 24: 

“President Donald Trump sent two planeloads of Venezuelan migrants to a prison in El Salvador on March 15 after invoking an obscure wartime law known as the 1798 Alien Enemies Act (AEA). James Boasberg, chief judge of the US District Court in Washington, issued a restraining order that same day temporarily barring the Trump administration from carrying out any further deportation flights under the AEA. The Justice Department is seeking to have the order lifted and a three-judge US Court of Appeals panel heard oral arguments in the closely watched case on Monday… 

“Judge Patricia Millett… said the lower court judge was not disputing Trump’s presidential authority only the denial of individual court hearings to the deportees… Judge Justin Walker, a Trump appointee, also suggested that court hearings were warranted but appeared more receptive to the arguments that the judge’s order impinged on presidential powers. The third judge on the panel is an appointee of former Republican president George H.W. Bush….” 

Subsequently, the Court of Appeals decided against Trump. The vote was 2:1.

Britain Issues Warning for Tourist Traveling to the USA 

The Daily Mail wrote on March 24: 

“Tourists planning trips to the US are being warned [by the Britain’s foreign office] of increasingly tough questioning at border control that could see them barred from entry or even detained…

US border officials have been using more aggressive methods with holidaymakers and legal immigrants, with the Trump administration calling it ‘enhanced vetting’… 

“There has been suspicion in some cases that people have been turned away for expressing anti-Trump views… Germany’s travel advisory warns that false information, past criminal records, or even minor overstays on previous trips could lead to arrest, deportation, or detention – with no legal recourse….  

“The rise in tourists being detained was green-lighted by President Trump as part of his ‘Securing Our Borders’ executive order…

“Hilton Beckham, Assistant Commissioner of Public Affairs for the US Customs and Border Protection, told MailOnline: ‘If individuals violate the terms of a lawful immigration status and attempt to re-enter the country, officers will take appropriate action… ‘If an individual has material discovered on their electronic media that raises flags during an inspection, it can result in further analysis. Claims that such decisions are politically motivated are completely unfounded.’” 

Really? 

And Now Cubans in Florida 

Miami Herald wrote on March 21: 

“Federal authorities in South Florida have recently detained at least 18 Cubans during scheduled immigration appointments…  It’s Cubans with I-220As… whom ICE has detained at regular check-ins in the agency’s field office in Miramar… 

“Wilfredo Allen, a Miami-based immigration attorney, represents an asylum seeker who was among the recently detained Cubans. The cases he’s learned of are mostly women. He said it’s the first time he’s seeing Cubans with I-220As with pending immigration cases or green card applications and no criminal histories end up in ICE custody… 

“Lawyers note that for South Florida’s Cuban community, many of whom supported Trump’s presidential campaign, the rapid immigration enforcement changes may come as a surprise….” 

Trump complained that people under the “catch-and-release” program did not follow through and “disappeared.” Now we have people who show up for their scheduled immigration appointments and are being detained. Why don’t we hear from the likes of Rubio and Cruz, American-Cuban politicians, in support of these Cuban detainees? 

Further Restrictions?

MSNBC wrote on March 24: 

“Donald Trump’s administration wants to review the social media accounts of immigrants seeking long-term residency in the United States, potentially allowing the White House to bar critics from making the country their home… This new proposal would expand that policy to people who apply for naturalization, permanent residency or asylum,” 

Welt Online added on March 24 that this new policy would affect annually 3.5 million people, most of whom have been living legally in the USA for years or decades. It is feared that it would target those who have been critical of Trump. 

Hegseth, Vance and Miller Attack Europe 

ntv wrote on March 25: 

“In a chat group, elements of the Trump administration are discussing attacks on the Houthis. Several of those involved, however, see the responsibility for defending the Houthis’ sea routes as lying with the Europeans – and want to demand something in return. Leading figures in the US administration have also expressed their criticism of European states in their debates surrounding attacks on Houthis’ positions in Yemen. ‘I just hate bailing Europe out again,’ wrote US Vice President J.D. Vance in a Signal group… Vance stated that he considered the attacks a mistake, saying that 3 percent of U.S. trade moves through the Suez Canal, while 40 percent of European trade moves through the canal. ‘There is a real risk that the public doesn’t understand this or why it’s necessary.’ 

“Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth agreed with Vance. ‘I fully share your loathing of European free-loading. It’s pathetic,’ said the former Fox News host in the chat group with a total of 18 members. Among them were Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, and US National Security Advisor Michael Waltz. The US government has repeatedly argued in the past that Europeans benefit excessively from the US Navy’s protection of international shipping routes. 

“Presidential Advisor Stephen Miller also called for consideration of what Europeans are to provide in return for US deployment in Yemen. ‘We need to make it clear to Egypt and Europe soon what we expect in return,’ said Miller. ‘We also need to figure out how to enforce such a requirement. For example, if Europe doesn’t renumerate, then what? If the US successfully restores freedom of navigation at great cost there needs to be some further economic gain extracted in return,’ the presidential adviser wrote.” 

Trump added to the criticism, stating that the EU “have been ‘freeloading’ and have been ‘terrible’ to the US on trade… ‘They have abused us.’” (Express, dated March 25). 

None of this will make the USA more popular in Europe. Also, note the next article about the terrible events during the chat group, alluded to in the article. 

The Chat-Group Fiasco 

The Editorial Board of the New York Post wrote on March 25: 

“It looks like Team Trump has decided to try to whistle right past the ‘Operation Overshare’ fiasco, and may well pull it off — but not cost-free. President Donald Trump is standing up for national security adviser Mike Waltz after he (or maybe his staff) mistakenly added Atlantic editor Jeffrey Goldberg to a group chat on Signal into which Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth later dropped sensitive details of the anti-Houthi bombing campaign. The stunning security breach had ‘no impact at all,’ [Trump] announced Tuesday morning, and ‘Michael Waltz has learned a lesson.’ 

“… what lesson is that? Hegseth, meanwhile opted for denial: ‘Nobody was texting war plans.’ Actually… Goldberg has the screenshots to prove they were, and the National Security Council has authenticated them.  Never mind the desperate efforts of social media warriors to pretend they’re fake (in a pathetic echo of how the left defended Hunter Biden on his laptop), or the even sadder ‘seven-dimensional chess’ fans who argue that the leak was somehow deliberate.   

“The White House, and Waltz especially, handed the left a loaded bazooka. Now of all times, as the admin faces major fights on everything from the border to campus Jew-hate to the economy… But you can only play the ‘diminish, deny and delay’ game so many times before it becomes your new brand… Trump was elected in good part because Americans were sick to death of the last administration’s endless cavalcade of lame, easily disproved lies… Yes, we get that stepping up to own failures is hard. But it just got that much harder for Americans to trust the administration on national security issues going forward. 

“At the very least, we pray (Trump) is privately knocking hard on every head involved in this mess — and warning that heads will roll if there’s anything like a next time. The American people need to know Trump is still fighting for them, not lying to them.” 

Can you imagine what the reaction of conservatives would have been if something like that would have happened under Biden? But now, there is deafening silence from many of them—with a few notable exceptions.

Stephen Miller Out of Control 

Daily Beast wrote on March 17: 

“During [a Fox News] interview with The Story host Martha MacCallum on Monday, [Stephen] Miller was asked about MSNBC pundit Andrew Weissmann’s argument that the president should not be allowed to invoke an 18th-century law to deport migrants because it was intended for wartime use. Instead of addressing the point, Miller launched into a tirade. ‘First of all, Andrew Weissmann is an absolute moron,’ Miller fumed. ‘… and he is a fool, and he’s a degenerate. Andrew Weissmann has devoted his career to putting innocent Americans in jail, taking away their civil liberties.’… 

“Forgetting the original question, Miller fixated on Weissmann’s record as a former prosecutor who worked on Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election… As MacCallum attempted to regain control of the conversation, Miller—a key architect of Trump’s hardline immigration policies—continued railing against Weissmann and defending Trump’s legally questionable use of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to deport Venezuelan migrants over the weekend. 

“‘You can call Weissmann names, and he can call you names, and that’s what’s great about living in America,’ MacCallum interjected with an exasperated smirk, only for Miller to cut her off again. ‘This is a tip for Weissmann!’ Miller yelled. ‘I will defend American lives working for President Trump, and Andrew Weissmann can defend illegal alien rapists, terrorists, and predators! I’ve chosen my side!’ 

“It’s the second time in a month that a TV anchor has grappled with an out-of-control Miller. Last month, CNN host Brianna Keilar had to ask a hysterical Miller to ‘calm down’ in a live interview after he blew up while trying to defend Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).” 

Miller has been described as “one of the most powerful people in government” (Wikipedia). On April 1, 2024, The Guardian described Miller as an “anti-immigration extremist” and “white nationalist.” He was the “chief architect of the Muslim Ban” and “cruel family separation policies,” according to Sylviagarcia.house.gov, dated November 15, 2019. David Glosser, a retired neuropsychologist and Miller’s uncle on his mother’s side, wrote that Miller, “a product of chain migration,” “has become the architect of immigration policies that repudiate the very foundation of our family’s life in this country” (compare Vox, dated August 13, 2018), 

Laura Ingraham Challenges Trump Over Canada 

National Post wrote on March 19, 2025: 

“In a wide-ranging interview Tuesday evening on the Fox program The Ingraham Angle, U.S. President Donald Trump told host Laura Ingraham what he thought about Canada and some of its politicians. It wasn’t good. ‘Here’s my problem with Canada,’ he said at one point. ‘Canada was meant to be the 51st state, because we subsidized Canada by $200 billion a year…’ 

‘When Ingraham interjected that it seemed he was being tougher on Canada than on some of America’s biggest adversaries, he replied: ‘Only because it’s meant to be our 51st state.’… 

“Trump then brought up what he called ‘a very big deficit with Canada,’ and he and Ingraham sparred over whether it was $60 billion (her take) or ‘much more’ (his) before she muttered: ‘I don’t think so.’” 

It has been reported that some moderators on Fox News have become more and more critical of Trump’s actions. Others are 100% supportive, whatever the actions may be, as is virtually the entire Newsmax network or certain outlets like Breitbart. 

“Trump Hangs Sword of Damocles Over the American Legal System” 

Politico wrote on March 22: 

“President Donald Trump is doubling down on his threats against the American legal system, directing Attorney General Pam Bondi to take action against lawyers and law firms that go against him. Trump’s administration has taken an increasingly adversarial stance toward the legal system, including both judges who have ruled against his policies and lawyers and firms that he has viewed as wronging him… 

“The memo circulated late Friday… marks an escalation of Trump’s crackdown on law firms he believes have crossed him, now threatening the full power of the Department of Justice to punish them. ‘Lawyers and law firms that engage in actions that violate the laws of the United States or rules governing attorney conduct must be efficiently and effectively held accountable,’ the memo reads. In it, Trump directs Bondi to seek sanctions against lawyers and law firms that ‘engage in frivolous, unreasonable, and vexatious litigation against the United States.’… 

“This enforcement will also be retroactive, as the memo instructs Bondi to look back at the conduct of lawyers or law firms over the last eight years for misconduct. Trump has already attacked federal judges who have ruled against him on key cases like deportations of migrants. He called for the impeachment of U.S. District Judge James Boasberg — the chief judge of the federal district court of Washington, D.C. — after he issued a halt on deportations of immigrants to El Salvador.” 

US Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts rejected Trump’s “suggestion” and responded by saying: “For more than two centuries, it has been established that impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision. The normal appellate review process exists for that purpose.” 

Boasberg had been appointed in 2014 by Roberts for a seven-year term on the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. He had been appointed by George W. Bush to the Superior Court of the District of Columbia and served from 2002 to 2011, and was later nominated by Barack Obama for the US District Court for the District of Columbia. He ordered the release of over 14,000 emails from Hillary Clinton, and he rejected the release of Donald Trump’s personal tax returns. He is hardly a “troublemaker and agitator” and a “radical left lunatic of a judge,” as he was defamed by Trump.   

When it comes to frivolous lawsuits or unethical conduct, these are to be handled within the court system and by the respective Bar Associations. The Executive has no business getting involved. 

Third Term for Trump? 

Bild Online wrote on March 21: 

“Donald Trump (78) is currently transforming America and the world in a crash course. And already speculation is rife about an even longer future in the White House. The US President could attempt a third term. At least, that’s what former advisor Steve Bannon (71) believes. ‘I firmly believe that President Trump will run again in 2028 and win,’ the ultra-conservative activist told US broadcaster Newsnation. He added: ‘A man like this only comes along once in a century, and we are lucky to have him!’ 

“According to the Constitution, only a maximum of two four-year terms are permitted in the US – and Trump already led the country from 2017 to 2021. According to the law, he must therefore step down at the end of his second presidency on January 20, 2029. That doesn’t stop him or some of his fans and mouthpieces from adding fuel to the fire to pour forth rising speculation. When Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin (64) visited him for Saint Patrick’s Day on Monday, Trump again hinted in the Oval Office: ‘We’ll do this three more times,’ he said, referring to the traditional annual visits to the White House.

“And then, with a grin: ‘At least…’ That sounded as if he would like to stay longer. Then the Republican teased the journalists in the room: ‘They always go crazy when I say something like that,’ he explained the punchline to the guest.

“It wasn’t Trump’s first ambiguous remark on this topic. There’s already unrest in his MAGA movement as well. They are already working on possible solutions, said [Bannen] cryptically. ‘We’re working on it! Let’s find out what term-limit really means,’ he said… They want to examine whether the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution, ratified in 1952, also applies in the case of two non-consecutive terms. But not when they are interrupted, as in Trump’s case. 

“World War II President Franklin D. Roosevelt served for 12 years (1933–1945), even serving a fourth term before his death. After that, however, limits were added to the Constitution. Debates about a possible even longer Trump era are a red flag for America’s Democrats and liberals. Bannon, however, is convinced that Trump would easily win the next election again. Trump, of course, would be 82 at the time of his inauguration – and 86 when he leaves office. However, that’s the same age constellation as with his predecessor Joe Biden (82), who then threw in the towel.” 

The way things are going, will the USA even survive the next FOUR years, let alone eight years? 

Greenland Had It 

The New York Post wrote on March 24: 

“Greenland’s Prime Minister Mute B. Egede… has slammed the planned US visit to the island as ‘very aggressive’ as the international crisis over President Trump’s desire to annex the territory continues to bubble over. ‘The very aggressive American pressure against Greenlandic society is now so serious that the level cannot be raised any higher,’ [he said]… ‘Until recently, we could trust the Americans, who were our allies and friends, and with whom we enjoyed working closely … But that time is over.’… 

“Egede, the left-wing leader of the island, who has expressed a desire for his territory to declare independence from Denmark, took aim at the planned visit led by second lady Usha Vance along with White House national security adviser Mike Waltz and Energy Secretary Chris Wright. The delegation plans to visit from Thursday to Saturday, visit a US military base and watch a dogsled race.” 

Subsequently, Deutsche Welle wrote on March 26: 

“Denmark on Wednesday welcomed a White House decision to limit the scope of a planned visit to Greenland by the United States Vice President JD Vance and his wife, Second Lady Usha Vance. JD Vance said Tuesday that he would be accompanying his wife on her three-day trip to the autonomous Danish territory… Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenland’s outgoing Prime Minister Mute Egede… slammed the US delegation’s plans to visit the Arctic island without being invited… 

“The US Second Lady had been due to view historical sites, learn about Greenland’s heritage, and watch the Avannaata Qimussersu, the Arctic territory’s national dogsled race. ‘I think it’s very positive that the Americans have cancelled their visit among Greenlandic society. They will only visit their own base, Pituffik, and we have nothing against that,’ Denmark’s Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen told Danish public broadcaster DR. ‘The cars (from the US advance security detail) that were delivered a few days ago are in the process of being sent back home…” 

Erdogan’s Dictatorship Continues 

Deutsche Welle wrote on March 24: 

“Protesters have demonstrated for five consecutive nights after authorities arrested leading opposition figure Ekrem Imamoglu. Turkey’s Interior Ministry have said at least 1,100 people have been detained so far in connection with the demonstrations.  

“Amid the unrest, the opposition CHP party held a symbolic primary to select Imamoglu as its presidential candidate in the next elections set for 2028. Meanwhile, around a dozen journalists were reportedly detained for covering protests across the country. 

“Imamoglu has been seen as the main threat to… Erdogan’s two decades of rule as president and, earlier, prime minister… 

“[He has been the] mayor of Istanbul since 2019… on March 19, Imamoglu was arrested on corruption charges and suspicion of terrorism. The terrorism charges have since been dismissed, but a court has ruled he must remain in pre-trial detention… 

“Germany is following the events in Turkey with ‘great concern,’ the outgoing government said on Monday. ‘The arrest and suspension of the mayor of Istanbul is totally unacceptable,’ said Steffen Hebestreit, a spokesperson for outgoing chancellor Olaf Scholz… Hebestreit added that ‘the latest developments are a bad sign for democracy in Turkey,’ as well as for the development of relations between Turkey and the EU.” 

What “democracy” in Turkey? It was also reported that the foreign policy spokesman of the Union parliamentary group, Jürgen Hardt (CDU), and the Green Party politician Max Lucks have sharply criticized the Turkish government’s measures and called for consequences in German-Turkish relations. 

USA to Become Member of Commonwealth? 

Daily Mail wrote on March 21: 

“President Donald Trump on Friday indicated he would accept an offer from King Charles to join the British Commonwealth, strengthening America’s ties to the United Kingdom. ‘I Love King Charles. Sounds good to me!’ Trump wrote on his Truth Social account. Trump was responding to [a report] that the King would make a ‘secret’ offer to the president for the U.S. to become the next ‘associate member’ of the Commonwealth. 

“The Commonwealth, whose nations have a total population of more than 2.7billion, is one of the world’s oldest political associations of states. [The Commonwealth dates back to the first half of the 20th century.] It is made up of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire. They are connected through their use of the English language and historical-cultural ties. Membership is voluntary and the group is mostly ceremonial. King Charles III is the head of the commonwealth.  

“The move will be widely seen as a huge boost for the ‘special relationship’ between the US and UK. It comes at a time when America’s relationship with the European Union has plummeted to an all-time low… The Commonwealth proposal was originally floated in Trump’s first term, during the reign [and with the blessing] of Queen Elizabeth… [When the Royal Commonwealth Society (RCS) first wrote to Trump in 2017, the letter was delivered by current Reform leader Nigel Farage. This was during the tumultuous time when the UK was making plans to leave the EU. ] 

“The invitation to join the Commonwealth could also cool the tension around Canada. Trump has repeatedly said he wants to make Canada the 51st state. The country is part of the Commonwealth. The talk of turning has created enormous tensions and put the King in an awkward position. Canada is one of the 15 countries of which he is head of state… Canada is looking to the King as their head of state, and head of the Commonwealth, to speak up for them and ward off Trump.” 

Terminally Ill 

The Sun wrote on March 21: 

“Our economy is on its knees, last ­summer’s G7-leading growth wiped out, our debt soaring far beyond forecasts, public services collapsing and even our roads crumbling beneath our wheels, apparently never to be fixed. Ever-increasing numbers of illegal immigrants pour off small boats and saunter in unchecked. 

“And now our No1 airport, Europe’s busiest, is shut down by an explosion and fire at an ageing substation. Some 1,350 flights are axed and 200,000 ­passengers stranded worldwide. It may not have been sabotage by Putin, at whom Keir Starmer has been rattling his sabre. But the Kremlin certainly now knows how easily a few agents could bring our once-mighty country to a shuddering halt and inflict untold further damage on our economy… Whatever its cause, yesterday’s mayhem is a sign of a country in deep trouble….” 

Embarrassing and sad indeed. The Daily Mail reported on March 21 that an “experienced electrical engineer today blamed the catastrophic failure of a [very old] ‘oil-filled transformer’.” 

Germany Can Borrow as Much as It Wants for the Military 

Deutsche Welle wrote on March 21: 

“Germany’s second chamber of parliament, the Bundesrat, on Friday, voted in favor of a massive spending package that is set to pour billions of euros into defense, infrastructure and climate protection. Earlier this week, German lawmakers approved a historic amendment to the constitution [in effect abrogating the “debt brake”] that will allow unprecedented levels of government spending… 

“The amendment was backed in the Bundesrat with 53 out of 69 votes in favor, passing the 46-vote threshold. Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and Rhineland-Palatinate abstained, with abstentions counted as opposition votes… 

“Merz… [was] calling into question Washington’s commitment to European security. ‘My absolute priority will be to strengthen Europe as quickly as possible so that, step by step, we can really achieve independence from the USA,’ Merz said. 

“Bavaria’s conservative premier Markus Söder told the Bundesrat on Friday that ‘we must do everything we can to ensure that Germany once again becomes one of the strongest armies in Europe and can protect itself… The threat from the east, from Moscow, is still present, while the support from the West is no longer what we were once accustomed to,’ he said… ‘the relationship of trust in the United States of America has, at least for me and for many others, been deeply shaken. The Germans are worried,’ Söder added.” 

But the Germans are not happy with Merz and his coalition talks either, let alone his blatant misrepresentations during his campaign. 

Europe to Take Over NATO? 

The Financial Times wrote on March 21: 

“Europe’s biggest military powers are drawing up plans to take on greater responsibilities for the continent’s defence from the US, including a pitch to the Trump administration for a managed transfer over the next five to 10 years. The discussions are an attempt to avoid the chaos of a unilateral US withdrawal from Nato, a fear sparked by President Donald Trump’s repeated threats to weaken or walk away from the transatlantic alliance that has protected Europe for almost eight decades. 

“The UK, France, Germany and the Nordics are among the countries engaged in the informal but structured discussions… Their aim is to come up with a plan to shift the financial and military burden to European capitals and present it to the US ahead of Nato’s annual leaders’ summit in The Hague in June. The proposal would include firm commitments on increasing European defence spending and building up military capabilities, in an effort to convince Trump to agree to a gradual handover that would allow the US to focus more on Asia.” 

Germany among those to take over Nato? 

Putin Wants Ukrainians to Become Russians 

Atlantic Council wrote on March 20: 

“Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered Ukrainians living under Russian occupation to ‘legalize’ their status by September 10 or face deportation. In other words, those who have not yet done so must apply for Russian passports or risk being expelled from their homes as foreigners. This March 20 presidential decree is the latest step in a campaign to pressure Ukrainians into accepting Russian citizenship as the Kremlin seeks to strengthen its grip over areas of Ukraine currently under Russian control. 

“Kremlin officials say they have distributed around 3.5 million Russian passports in Russian-occupied regions of Ukraine since the onset of the full-scale invasion just over three years ago. Residents are reportedly being forced to apply for Russian passports in order to access basic services such as healthcare and state pensions, while those without Russian documentation face the possibility of harassment and detention… 

“Moscow’s efforts to erase Ukrainian identity begin in the classroom. In schools throughout the occupied regions, Ukrainian children are being taught a new Kremlin-approved curriculum that praises Russian imperialism and glorifies the ongoing invasion of Ukraine while demonizing the entire concept of a separate and independent Ukrainian state. Any parents who dare to resist risk losing custody of their children. 

“The Kremlin is also accused of kidnapping tens of thousands of Ukrainian children from occupied regions and deporting them to Russia, where they are subjected to ideological indoctrination to rob them of their Ukrainian roots and impose an imperial Russian identity…” 

Note the following comments which were already published by The Strategist on March 1, 2024: 

“Putin repeatedly states that there is no such country as Ukraine and that Ukrainians and Russians are one people sharing the same historical and spiritual space, speaking the same language, and believing in the same Orthodox faith. Before he died in 2008, Alexander Solzhenitsyn proclaimed that Russia (Great Russians), Belarus (White Russians) and Ukraine (Little Russians) should be recreated as a unified Slavic country.” 

Further proof that Putin will not turn over any of the occupied regions to Ukraine. Trump’s peace plan is evaporating with alarming speed. It had never been  a realistic chance for success. 

Ceasefire in the Black Sea? 

Daily Mail wrote on March 25: 

“Russia and Ukraine have agreed to an effective maritime ceasefire, as well as a halt on strikes on energy infrastructure… Both parties agreed separately to avoid military strikes on vessels, the issue touted by the Trump administration as being of primary importance to allow for unhindered commercial shipping in the region… Ukrainian president Zelensky, speaking to reporters in Kyiv, lamented the concession of helping restore Russia’s access to the world market, branding it a ‘weakening of the position and a weakening on sanctions’…” 

The Sun wrote on March 26:

“While Zelensky said the ceasefire is effective immediately, Putin appears to be delaying the truce until more sanctions are lifted… Moscow said the deal would ‘come into force’ after the ‘lifting of sanctions restrictions’ on the Russian Agricultural Bank and other ‘financial institutions involved in international trade of food’, and only after they are reconnected to the SWIFT international payment system… 

“Human rights campaigner Sir Bill Browder warned against easing sanctions on Russia following the announcement of a ceasefire in the Black Sea. He said: ‘This is missing the point completely. Russia can continue to pound civilian targets like hospitals, schools and apartment buildings… And by getting this concession, it saves Russia’s oil refineries which are one of the key engines of funding for their war… There’s absolutely nothing to celebrate here.’” 

Putin Is Ripping Trump Off 

Bild Online wrote on March 26: 

“Moscow continues to block the 30-day ceasefire demanded by US President Donald Trump. Instead, Kremlin dictator Vladimir Putin conceded to two minor agreements: a halt to attacks on energy facilities and in the Black Sea… Both agreements could primarily benefit the Russians without bringing peace any closer. 

“For years, Russia has been unable to defend its oil refineries and depots from Ukrainian drone attacks. The Russian attacks on Ukrainian power plants were painful, but not as effective as hoped… ‘Russia had already been defeated in the western Black Sea, and Ukraine had fought its way back to re-opening the trade routes from Odessa,’ writes defense expert Nico Lange… 

“The fact is: The sanctions against the Kremlin regime are to be eased. The Black Sea deal is a ‘victory for Putin,’ analyzes the British newspaper ‘The Times.’ What’s more: ‘It appears that Russia will benefit far more than Ukraine from the announcement of a maritime ceasefire and a possible ban on attacks on energy facilities.’ This is why the Russian propaganda press is also celebrating. The newspaper ‘Moskovski Komsomolez’ states: ‘The bottom line is: (…) Ukraine has not received a respite – there will be no ceasefire; attacks on energy infrastructure will be suspended for 30 days. (…) So, for now, it looks like this: Russia remains steadfast, and the military special operation (Russian term for the war, ed.) continues.’ 

“At least Trump also seems to realize that Russia’s peace intentions may not be entirely sincere. In an interview with ‘Newsmax,’ he said that the Kremlin may be delaying the negotiations…” 

Acknowledgement and Disclaimer:

These Current Events are compiled and commented on by Norbert Link. We gratefully acknowledge the many contributions of news articles from our readership. The publication of articles in this section is not to be viewed as an endorsement or approval as to contents or accuracy of the selected articles, but they are published for the purpose of pointing at worldwide developments in the light of biblical end-time prophecy and godly instruction. Our own comments are provided in italics.

As true Christians, we know that people cannot self-select to become a follower of Jesus Christ. Some may church-hop and browse the services to see if it fits their lifestyle. However, as we read in John 6:44: “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.” God the Father initiates the spark that draws a person to His Son. It is as wondrously simple and as complex as that. The 71 verses that comprise John 6 are packed with fundamental elements of our faith in Jesus Christ as our Savior and coming King. Once I began my study of this particular chapter, I realized that I wanted to devote this entire Q&A to an examination of John 6 and the context of two questions shared in a conversation between Jesus and His apostle, Peter.

Let’s begin with those two fundamental questions: In John 6:67Jesus asks Peter a pivotal question: “Do you also want to go away?”In verses 68 and 69, Peter responds as follows:“Then Simon Peter answered Him, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.  Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’”

In order to properly consider these questions and the interaction between Jesus and Peter, we must first understand the context within which these words were spoken.

Consider this moment in time for Jesus and His many followers presented in John 6. So much transpires in this chapter that would serve to create a strong and enduring bond for Jesus with 11 of His 12 apostles. They had been traveling with Jesus and had come into Galilee and were preparing for the Passover that would soon arrive. Many thousands of people had followed Jesus to try to catch a glimpse of a healing or some other miracle as they considered whether He truly was the Messiah. The apostles assisted Jesus as He divinely dealt with the matter of feeding thousands with the few loaves of bread and the fish they had. Later on, His apostles witnessed the Son of God walking on the Sea of Galilee as they sat frightened in their boat. These actions alone were staggering, even for His closest followers, but soon Jesus would share even more miraculous and challenging ideas that would leave no doubt as to His lineage and the promise of His coming Kingdom.

In John 6:48. we join the scene as Jesus addresses the apostles and other followers. Here He begins to set the stage for later verses and the Passover supper itself whereby Jesus established the literal sharing of His body and blood so that those whom the Father calls may share in everlasting life with Him and the Father. Consider the words of verses 48-51 that He spoke to the many followers who had assembled:

^”I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.”

Many who had been following Jesus to this point found His words troubling, to say the least. In John 6:60 we read: “Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this, said, ‘This is a hard saying; who can understand it?’” Indeed, many were perplexed and could not fathom His meaning. In a sense, Jesus was culling the followers to the point where those whom the Father had called would be challenged to remain by His side and be prepared for what was to come. We see this illustrated in verses 66 and 67: “From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more. Then Jesus said to the twelve, ‘Do you also want to go away?’” This was the catalyst for Peter’s response to Jesus, and it is interesting that he responded with a question of his own, rather than simply saying no!

Let’s consider verses 68 and 69 once again with the understanding explained above: “But Simon Peter answered Him, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’”Let’s read on in verses 70 and 71: “Jesus answered them, ‘Did I not choose you, the twelve, and one of you is a devil?’  He spoke of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, for it was he who would betray Him, being one of the twelve.” The response to this question and statement from Peter affords Jesus the opportunity to establish what was clearly building throughout the verses of John 6. He had selected His closest followers who had remained by His side as many walked away. Yet even this seemingly joyful moment would be tempered by the reality that one of the twelve would become a false accuser—a devil. This is also the choice that the Father and Jesus Christ put before those whom the Father calls. We have the opportunity to accept that which ultimately requires a leap of faith and a lifetime of study and devotion to His Truth. 

When the world around us seems so willing to cast their lot with imperfect and corrupt human individuals, the choice for true Christians harkening back to Peter’s question is clear, but let’s do all that we can to ensure that we are not among those who were so perplexed by the words of the Father and our Savior and left to seek a simpler and more worldly path. Let’s accept this offer of everlasting life with a resounding yes!

Lead Writer: Frank Bruno

compiled by Dave Harris

“Sieg über Niederlage” is the title of this Sabbath’s new German split sermon, presented by Michael Link. Title in English: “Victory over Defeat.”

“Widersprüche im Kontext,” last Sabbath’s German sermonette presented by Robert Indlekofer, is now posted. Title in English: “Contradictions in Context.”

“Dokimazo,” last Sabbath’s first split sermon, presented by Kalon Mitchell, is now posted.

“Victory over Defeat,” last Sabbath’s second split sermon, presented by Michael Link, is now posted. Here is the summary:

How can we overcome moments of defeat, as in the examples of those who have failed throughout history only to succeed, as well as individuals in the Bible who experienced failure but then overcame it through faith, leading them to success?

2025 SPRING HOLY DAYS:

Passover: April 12 (observed evening before)

Days of Unleavened Bread: April 13-19 (first and last days are Holy Days with live Services being broadcast).

On March 22, 2025, Kalon Mitchell will present the first split sermon, titled, “Dokimazo,” and Michael Link will present the second split sermon, titled, “Victory Over Defeat.”

The live services are available, over video and audio, at http://eternalgod.org/live-services/ (12:30 pm Pacific Time; 1:30 pm Mountain Time; 2:30 pm Central Time; 3:30 pm Eastern Time; 8:30 pm Greenwich Mean Time; 9:30 pm Central European Time). Just click on Connect to Live Stream.

The recent German federal election, held on February 23, proved to be a real thriller. The election campaign itself, in which all parties were involved, can only be described as a farce. With each party attacking the others, and candidates fighting for every vote, the campaigns of the long-established parties were full of lies and deceit. Election programs were copied and declared as their own; and in the TV shows, the questions were constructed in such a way as to defame others. Every politician fought for his own power, and many voters were ultimately cheated of what they wanted to obtain.

However, it was interesting to see that voter participation had not been as high in almost 40 years as it was on that day. At the end of February, I read the following article on zdf.de: “An extremely polarizing election campaign and overlapping domestic and foreign policy crises have pushed voter participation in Sunday’s federal election to its highest level in almost 40 years… According to the preliminary results published early Monday morning, it was 82.5 percent.”

That is indeed enormous. Therefore, about 48.84 million people, out of 59.2 million eligible voters, participated in the election. Needless to say, they did not all vote for the same candidate, but for different parties and people.

This shows how desperate people are in Germany and, of course, all over the world. For many decades, people have been taken for fools by politicians, cheated, lied to and robbed of their possessions through various forms of expropriation; they have been arbitrarily imprisoned, made ill and even killed as a result of vaccinations. TODAY, however, people are turning a blind eye to this and want the whole scenario to be quickly forgotten. But God will not forget anything unless there is sincere repentance.

We know that Satan is behind all of this, as we can read in the Book of Revelation, in the 12th chapter and in verse 9: “So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world…” And Paul explains in his letter to the Romans, in chapter 8 and verse 22: “For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now.”

Even back then, during the 430 years of the Israelites’ captivity in Egypt, the world was in a state of disorder, and when the Israelites wandered in the wilderness for 40 years, unfortunately their voter participation for God was not 82.5%. On the contrary, well over 90% voted against God. They constantly complained, murmured, and were not particularly blessed because of their disobedience. This, of course, increased the discontent of the Israelites until they finally decided to completely reject Jesus Christ as their Savior and King. Note 1 Samuel 8:1-22.

Yes, the world is still in a state of disorder today, but now at the beginning of sorrows. The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are riding ever faster, more violently and more corruptly, until it will ultimately come to a triumph when our Savior JESUS CHRIST returns to earth and puts an end to all this madness.

But before that happens, true Christians still have some time to dwell here, and as Paul so fittingly wrote, they live in the midst of a perverse and crooked generation. In this context, Paul warns us not to behave like the ancient Israelites, and that we should remain steadfast and be counted worthy.

He wrote the following in Philippians 2:14-16: “Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain.”

Of course, we don’t want any of God’s called elders and pastors to have run in vain or labored in vain for the gospel of Christ and the salvation of the brethren. Christ commanded Peter to tend His sheep, and this task is entrusted to the elders and pastors today. We must therefore all remain steadfast, today more than ever, because the time that remains for us until the return of Christ is indeed extremely short!

Let us therefore constantly strive to ensure that our voter participation for God the Father and Jesus Christ is 100%.

Initial translation from German: Daniel Blasinger

by Norbert Link

We begin with articles predicting that Putin will not accept a ceasefire with Ukraine, stating that Trump cannot do much to persuade him otherwise, and that Putin plays Trump like a fiddle, while Trump is repeating some of Putin’s lies. We also address the phone call between Trump and Putin.

Please view in this context our new StandingWatch program, titled, “Will Trump and Putin End the Russia-Ukraine War?”

We continue with Trump’s successful strikes on the Houthis and ISIS, while warning Iran.

We speak on Europe’s and especially Germany’s waking up to reality, with many voices demanding that Germany takes the lead in Europe, while Britain is being warned of becoming a useless ally.  

We speak on Trump’s revealed plans to acquire Canada, Greenland and the Panama Canal, which include military actions; the prospect of another travel ban for many countries; and the controversy surrounding the Khalil case and the rights and privileges of green card holders, and others.

We report on China’s preparations to invade Taiwan; and a Jewish push to return to the Temple Mount; as well as Israel’s attack on Gaza; and we conclude with a ludicrous decision against Starbucks and the question as to what happens to our brain when we die.

Throughout this section, we have underlined pertinent statements in the quoted articles, for the convenience and quick overview of the reader.

Putin Won’t Accept 

Fox News wrote on March 14: 

“Zelenskyy is correct – peace in Ukraine is a long way off. Putin is highly unlikely to accept President Trump’s current peace plan… 

“Trump demands that his staff accomplish things at record speeds, or ‘in Trump time’…  But with all due respect to President Trump and his accomplishments, the Russia-Ukraine situation is extremely complex. Russia has a very different strategic culture from Western culture. And Putin is an entirely different kind of animal from anyone Trump has dealt with before… [Putin] wants to end the war but only on his terms, which, if accepted by the U.S., would humiliate Washington.  

“On March 6th, Putin publicly ruled out making any concessions on Ukraine… Putin believes he can call the shots. Unconscionable Russian (and Ukrainian) losses notwithstanding, Russia is capable of dragging this war out for years. Indeed, Putin has been developing his strategy ever since he became president, a quarter of a century ago… This is why the Russians largely dismissed Trump’s threat of ‘large-scale’ sanctions. ‘To speak with Russia from the position of strength and to threaten with sanctions is a road to nowhere,’ said State Duma Representative from the Crimea Region Yuri Nesterenko. Additional sanctions are highly unlikely to change Putin’s decision calculus… 

“Putin has indicated multiple times that a temporary break in fighting was out of the question as he doesn’t want to give a strategic pause to Ukraine, Europe or the U.S., to rearm… Russia, being on a wartime footing, now produces more weapons in three months than the entire NATO alliance in one year… Putin also increased Russia’s armed forces above the constitutionally allowable size, to ensure that Russia can fight till the last Ukrainian… 

“Putin ruled out negotiating with Zelenskyy, having told state Rossiya 1 TV that ‘he [Zelenskyy] has no right to sign anything,’ having called the Ukrainian leader ‘illegitimate.’ Indeed, Zelenskyy’s presidential term expired in May. The Ukrainian parliament, at the end of February, rebuffed U.S. calls for elections by passing a resolution that ruled out elections during wartime, citing martial law, in compliance with the Ukrainian constitution…” 

Unstable From the Start 

The Mirror wrote on March 13: 

“Vladimir Putin has said Ukrainian troops involved in a counter-offensive will have to ‘surrender or die’ before he agrees to a ceasefire… Putin also recalled his visit to Kursk yesterday, where Russian troops are attempting to repel a Ukrainian counteroffensive in their own territory. He said ‘the situation is fully under our control, and the group that invaded our territory has been fully isolated’. The Russian leader added that Ukrainian troops can no longer leave the area, and they will have to ‘surrender or die’. He identified the fighting in the region as one of the issues preventing a deal being reached… 

“One defence and security analyst told the Mirror that he does not believe the US be able to persuade Russia to change its position – and that the West should prepare for war with Russia… Michael Clarke said: ‘… The Kremlin also has an agenda to weaken Europe in all ways possible and thinks it is on a roll now so there will be a sense of military momentum behind what Russia plans next.’ He said any ceasefire that is reached would be an ‘unstable truce from the start’…” 

“Putin Is Playing Trump (Again)” 

Politico wrote on March 14: 

“U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the ball was in Russian President Vladimir Putin’s court. But it was an easier ball for the Russian leader to play than many thought… It was classic Putin… There was no firm Russian nyet to stoke the U.S. leader’s anger, rather a teacher’s applause for Trump’s idea and effort. The temporary truce was ‘correct’ and ‘we support it,’ the Russian leader said, but, alas, there were many sticking points…

“It was all drawn from the playbook that he and his lugubrious Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov have used time and again: Obfuscate, delay, muddle, throw in some whataboutism, be sorrowfully unctuous, but make sure to dangle a carrot… so far, the play seems to be going as planned. For Trump, Putin’s response was ‘very promising.’… The carrot is working, and he can slow Trump’s eagerness for a deal… 

“Trump’s options for forcing Putin into doing anything aren’t great. Earlier this week, he threatened to apply economic pressure on Russia if Putin didn’t agree to a ceasefire… But Russia’s already been sanctioned every which way since it launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine three years ago…” 

Trump Repeats Putin’s Lie 

Bild Online wrote on March 14: 

“Ukrainians are threatened with a massacre in Kursk, Putin claims – and Trump is portraying himself online as their savior. But the whole story is nonsense… Putin claimed in Moscow: ‘A 30-day ceasefire is beneficial for Ukraine, as all its military personnel are blocked in the Kursk region.’ Putin added, verbatim: ‘It is becoming increasingly impossible for the Ukrainian military to escape the encirclement.’ 

“Complete nonsense! Except for small groups of Ukrainian soldiers (about 25 men in total), thousands of Ukrainians have managed to withdraw from Kursk toward the Ukrainian region of Sumy… Even the maps of Russian war bloggers clearly show that there are NO ‘encircled,’ ‘surrounded,’ ‘encircled,’ or ‘blockaded’ Ukrainian units in Kursk… 

“Hard to believe: The day after the baseless claim, US President Donald Trump repeated Putin’s propaganda. ‘Thousands of Ukrainian troops are completely surrounded by the Russian military,’ Trump said on the network ‘Truth Social.’ He asked Putin to ‘spare their lives’ to prevent a ‘horrific massacre.’ ‘This would be a horrific massacre, the likes of which hasn’t been seen since World War II,’ Trump wrote – completely beside the point.”

Putin, a mass murderer, liar and former KGB agent and spy, knows how to play his cards to his advantage. 

Trump-Putin Phone Call 

Deutsche Welle wrote on March 18 and March 19: 

“Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President  Donald Trump agreed in a phone call that Russia and Ukraine stop attacking each other’s energy infrastructure for 30 days…  ‘It was emphasized that the key condition for preventing the escalation of the conflict and working towards its resolution by political and diplomatic means should be a complete cessation of foreign military assistance and the provision of intelligence information to Kyiv,’ the Kremlin said… 

“‘We’ve seen that attacks on civilian infrastructure have not eased at all in the first night after this supposedly ground-breaking, great phone call’ between Putin and US President Donald Trump, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said in a TV interview, adding that ‘Putin is playing a game.’ The German minister also described as ‘unacceptable’ the Kremlin’s insistence that a ‘key condition’ for peace would be a complete halt to Western military and intelligence support for Ukraine’s embattled military…. 

“Germany is set to deliver additional military supplies to Ukraine this year… The package includes €3 billion ($3.3 billion) in aid for 2025 and a further €8.3 billion for the years 2026 to 2029.  A spokesman for Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said the equipment would consist of Iris-T air defense systems, guided missiles, surveillance radars, drones, combat vehicles and light weapons.” 

The Sun wrote on March 18 and 19: 

“Putin’s red lines remain intact and he has not shifted from his original goals of a Nato rollback in Eastern Europe or a demilitarised Ukraine… The Russian said… that he would not agree to a full ceasefire until all military aid to Ukraine from the US and its allies stopped… 

“German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron have vowed to keep arming Ukraine, directly pushing back against Vladimir Putin’s demand for a ‘complete cessation’ of Western military support… 

“IT is a sign of how badly Donald Trump has been played that Putin’s only concession to Kyiv was not to murder prisoners of war. [Putin] rejected calls for full 30-day ceasefire. He rejected calls to end all air strikes and attacks in the Black Sea…” 

The New York Post Editorial Board wrote on March 19: 

“Putin’s publicly ruling out a ceasefire unless he first gets a total halt on all foreign military aid and intelligence-sharing to Ukraine… 

“46% of Americans think Washington isn’t doing enough to help Ukraine, the highest level of support Ukraine’s enjoyed here since the war began — up 16 points since December and 21 since October. Meanwhile, the share who think we’re doing too much has plunged from 37% in December to 30%. And a majority, 53%, actually want to help Ukraine reclaim territory it’s lost to Russia, even if it prolongs the conflict — vs. 45% who want to end it quickly and let Russia keep land it’s stolen. 

“Trump is right to try to end the war, but getting to peace will require strength — including, if Putin keeps playing games, strengthening Ukraine. Remember, Russia itself is running out of manpower and materiel.” 

Trump Strikes Houthi Terrorists, Warns Iran 

The Associated Press wrote on March 14: 

“President Donald Trump said he ordered a series of airstrikes on the Houthi-held areas in Yemen on Saturday, promising to use ‘overwhelming lethal force’ until the Iran-backed rebels cease their attacks on shipping along a vital maritime corridor… He also warned Iran to stop supporting the rebel group, promising to hold the country ‘fully accountable’ for the actions of its proxy… 

“A U.S. official said this was the beginning of air strikes on Houthi targets that are expected to continue.” 

Trump and Sudani Kill ISIS Terrorists 

Politico wrote on March 15: 

“A joint Iraq-U.S. operation killed a leader of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, according to Washington and Baghdad. Abdallah Makki Muslih al-Rufay’i, also known as Abu Khadija, was responsible for Islamic State operations, logistics and planning and directed ‘a significant portion of finance for the group’s global organization,’ the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said… Friday. He was killed alongside one other IS operative in a ‘precision airstrike’ in Iraq’s western Al Anbar province, CENTCOM said. 

“Iraq’s Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani said Khadija was considered ‘one of the most dangerous terrorists in Iraq and the world.’… 

“Islamic State seized large swathes Syria and northern Iraq in 2014… [It] has remained active… U.S. commander General Michael Erik Kurilla said Khadija was ‘one of the most important ISIS members in the entire global ISIS organization.’” 

America First—An Impossibility 

Focus wrote on March 12: 

“Perhaps Trump has fallen so in love with the idea of a Fortress America that fends off foreign people (migrants) and goods (imports) alike that he is willing to test the robustness of the financial and labor markets in his first year in office… 

“Perhaps later, when historians, rather than psychologists, have passed judgment, we will realize: America First was not an option in an interconnected world, but an impossibility.” 

Needed—a European Army 

Indianetwork News wrote on March 14: 

“The European rearmament is ‘a first necessary step’ [towards a European Army]… the former president of the European Commission, Romano Prodi, [said]… 

“‘When Russia attacked Ukraine I told myself if we had had a common army, it would not have done it ‘… [We need] one in which ‘there is a common [only or single] command in which everyone participates.’” 

Europe WILL have a common army, and IT will attack Russia and other Far Eastern nations, but they will retaliate. 

Germany War-Ready? 

Deutsche Welle reported on March 14: 

“The conservative CDU/CSU bloc… and the SPD have agreed in principle with the Greens on plans for a massive increase in state borrowing ahead of a parliamentary vote next week. The debt reform plan, put forward jointly by the conservatives and the SPD, would exempt defense spending from the country’s constitutionally enshrined debt brake… ‘It is a clear message to our partners and friends, but also to our opponents, to the enemies of our freedom: we are capable of defending ourselves and we are now fully prepared to defend ourselves,’ [Merz] said… ‘There will be no shortage of financial resources to defend freedom and peace on our continent… Germany is making its major contribution to the defense of freedom and peace in Europe.’ 

“Meanwhile, Social Democrat co-leader Lars Klingbeil said a major government borrowing and investment push was a ‘powerful boost’ for Europe’s largest economy. ‘We have laid the foundation for Germany to get back on its feet and protect itself,’ Klingbeil said…” 

Suddenly, all leading politicians are united in their view that Germany must become war-ready. Note the following articles. 

Guttenberg Paints a Bleak Picture of German Foreign Policy 

Die Deutsche Handwerkszeitung (“The German Crafts Newspaper”) wrote on March 14:

“Former Federal Minister of Economics Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg has… sharply criticized German foreign policy over the past decades. ‘We have settled into a state of dependence,’ he said. The country has been in a ‘deep sleep.’ The dependence on the US for defense, previously on Russia for energy supplies, and on China for trade is worrying. These interdependencies have put Germany in a dangerous situation. ‘The law of the strongest prevails again,’ Guttenberg emphasized, referring to Washington, Moscow, and Beijing. 

“He made it clear that Europe can no longer rely on US protection. ‘The world after Donald Trump’s reign will never be the same.'” 

In this context, please view our recent StandingWatch program, titled, “Politicians Demand What We Have Told You For Decades!” 

Schulz: America No Longer Wants to Be a Partner! 

Forum wrote on March 14: 

“The formation of a new federal government is under enormous pressure. The Trump administration’s policies demand swift and decisive reactions from Europeans. They, in turn, expect a strong role from Germany. Martin Schulz, [former President of the European Parliament], demands: We should accept the fight… 

“‘The Federal Republic of Germany must assume a leading role in the European Union… I believe we must soberly acknowledge that the United States of America, under the leadership of this President, no longer wants to be a partner of the Europeans. The US views Europe as enemy territory… The 450 million people on this continent, even if we are not all rich, represent the richest region in the world with the greatest purchasing power. We don’t need to hide from the United States of America, quite the opposite…” 

Germany Must Lead! 

Vorwaerts wrote on March 13: 

“[European Council President] António Costa… made it clear: ‘We need Germany with its determined investments in our common defense…’ Because the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine has shown how urgently it is necessary to build a European defense… 

“SPD Chairman Lars Klingbeil [said:] ‘The West as we knew it is finished, at the latest with the re-election of Donald Trump’… This is also why Europe is needed more than ever… ‘This can only succeed if we finally make Europe strong,’ Klingbeil demanded. At the same time, Europe is more fragile than it has been for a long time. ‘Europe is at a crossroads; either we pull ourselves together and move forward together, or Europe dies… Peace in Europe is in danger today,’ Klingbeil said. To defend it, Germany has a leadership role to play. ‘We must be prepared to take on this leadership role,’ he demanded.” 

“Germany’s Bundestag Votes in Favor of Reforming ‘Debt Brake’” 

Deutsche Welle wrote on March 18: 

“The multibillion-euro package loosens borrowing limits and allows new investments in defense, infrastructure and climate… The legislation now goes to the upper house of parliament, the Bundesrat, where a vote is scheduled for Friday… 

“DW’s political correspondent Michaela Kuefner has said a vote in favor of the changes would give chancellor-in-waiting Friedrich Merz a free hand when it comes to defense spending. ‘It means he would have the money to do what he says he wants to do, which is for Germany to take more of a leading role in Europe… spending more on European defense… He effectively has a blank check when it comes to defense spending which is fully exempt from the debt brake… 

“AFD co-leader Tino Chrupalla has accused the conservative CDU/CSU and center-left Social Democrats of a ‘spectacle’ in bringing the vote on the debt brake before the outgoing Bundestag. The package has been brought to the old parliament rather than the newly elected one, due to hold its first session on March 25, because parties that were unlikely to agree to the change have just over one-third of the seats in the new chamber….”

NPR added on March 18: 

“The package will exempt from the debt rules spending on defense and security, including intelligence agencies and assistance to Ukraine, worth more than 1% of GDP. It also foresees a 500 billion-euro ($544 billion) fund, financed by borrowing, to pour funding into Germany’s infrastructure over the next 12 years and help restore the stagnant economy — Europe’s biggest — to growth. At the Greens’ insistence, 100 billion euros from the investment fund will go into climate-related spending.” 

The French-German Engine Is Running Again… Thanks to Trump 

Politico wrote on March 19: 

“French President Emmanuel Macron has finally found the kindred German spirit he’s spent years looking for — and he has Donald Trump to thank… France is delighting at the prospect of a German leader [Merz] who, even before taking office, is moving with urgency to clear a path for his country to invest billions of euros in infrastructure and arms… 

“Merz and Macron were probably always going to get along well. Both are former creatures of the corporate world, though Merz’s career in the private sector — which included stints at white shoe law firm Mayer Brown and on the board of investment firm BlackRock — was much longer than Macron’s time as a banker at Rothschild & Co.. But without Trump, it’s not clear that the two leaders would’ve gotten off on such good footing.” 

Britain to Become a “Second-Tier” European Nation? 

Daily Mail wrote on March 13: 

“Britain is on course to becoming a ‘second tier’ European nation like Spain or Italy due to economic decline and a weak military that undermines its usefulness to allies, an expert has warned.

“Research professor Dr Azeem Ibrahim OBE concluded in a damning new report that the U.K. has been paralysed by low investment, high tax and misguided policies that could see it lose its standing as a top-tier middle power at current growth rates… ‘Britain no longer has the industrial base to logistically sustain a war with a near-peer like Russia for more than two months,’ he wrote in The Henry Jackson Society’s latest report, Strategic Prosperity: The Case for Economic Growth as a National Security Priority. 

“The report assesses… that [Poland’s] military will soon surpass the U.K.’s along lines of both manpower and equipment on the current trajectory… Britain’s usefulness to its allies is now ‘falling behind even second-tier European powers’, [Ibrahim] warned… 

“The former advisor to the 2021 Integrated Defence and Security Review noted in the report that in spite of the ‘weakening’ of the institutions once ‘secured’ by the U.S., Britain is responding by harming the last vestiges of its military might and economic power. The U.K., he said, ‘seems to be making increasingly expensive gestures’ like the £9bn handover of the strategic Chagos Islands and opening talks on reparations for Caribbean Slavery….”

The former glory of the British Empire has long passed, but the Bible says that Britain (Ephraim) does not realize it. 

Portugal Rejects F-35 Jets Due to U.S. Unpredictability 

BulgarianMilitary.com wrote on March 14: 

“Portugal has slammed the lid on any flicker of hope that it might one day strap into [America’s] Lockheed Martin’s F-35 Lightning II… Defense Minister Nuno Melo laid down the law: the fifth-generation jet isn’t in Portugal’s future, and Donald Trump’s fresh stint in the White House is a glaring reason why… it’s a blaring alarm about how a NATO ally is weighing U.S. trustworthiness in an era that’s starting to feel like a geopolitical rollercoaster… 

“As of March 2025, 14 NATO nations are either flying or waiting on F-35s, locking it in as the alliance’s top bird. For Lockheed Martin, every potential customer is a lifeline. Foreign sales keep the factory humming in Fort Worth, Texas… Portugal was never a sure bet, but it’s hard ‘no’ prick the bubble of F-35 inevitability just the same… The White House has sold the F-35 as a unifier, a way to stitch NATO together with shared tech and tight-knit ops. Portugal’s rejection, even of a what-if buy, frays that story at the edges… 

“European rigs like the Eurofighter Typhoon or Dassault Rafale keep popping up in the rumor mill, offering a clean break from U.S. strings. The Typhoon, flown by Germany, Spain, and the UK, packs a multirole punch and slots into NATO’s playbook, though its price tag rivals the F-35’s… The stakes reach way beyond Portugal’s hangars. Its Atlantic perch makes it a keystone in NATO’s western wall, especially as Russian subs and surface ships poke around more often, testing the edges of allied waters. 

“The F-35’s stealth cloak and sensor suite would’ve handed Lisbon a razor-sharp edge in that cat-and-mouse game—something its aging F-16s can’t even fake… If other small NATO players—say, Slovakia or Romania—start sniffing around non-American kit, the ripples could swell into a tide…” 

Another American ally turning against the USA.

Acquiring Greenland?

The Hill wrote on March 13: 

“President Trump on Thursday expressed confidence the United States would annex Greenland, even suggesting the head of the NATO alliance could be a key player in facilitating the acquisition. ‘I think it will happen,’ Trump told reporters in the Oval Office during a meeting with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte… ‘You know, Mark, we need that for international security,’ Trump said, gesturing to Rutte. 

“Rutte agreed that Greenland and the Arctic Circle are critical for security reasons, noting that China and Russia have a growing presence in the region. But he said any discussion about Trump’s attempts to acquire Greenland were outside of his purview. ‘I don’t want to drag NATO in that,’ Rutte said.” 

Daily Mail wrote on March 14: 

“Greenland’s Prime Minister has declared ‘enough is enough’ in response to President Donald Trump’s threat to dispatch soldiers to annex the island… [Trump said:] ‘We have a couple of bases on Greenland already and we have quite a few soldiers. May be you will see more and more soldiers go there,’ he threatened… 

“In early January, after he was elected but before inauguration, Trump indicated he was willing to use force on both Greenland and Panama…”

Reclaiming the Panama Canal? 

Express wrote on March 13: 

“Donald Trump has reportedly ordered the US military to come up with plans to increase the number of troops in Panama as part of his mission to ‘reclaim’ the canal. US Southern Command, responsible for security cooperation and operations in Central America, has drafted ideas such as working with the Panamanian military and US troops taking the canal by force…  The likelihood of military force depends on the level of partnership agreed upon by the Panamanian military… 

“The US president said last week that ‘to further enhance our national security, my administration will be reclaiming the Panama Canal, and we’ve already started doing it’. While it remains unclear what ‘reclaiming’ means,… US Southern Command chief Admiral Alvin Holsey sent draft strategies to Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth this week ahead of his visit to Panama next month. [It was] stressed that military action in Panama would only be considered if the country does not allow Mr Trump to ‘reclaim’ the canal.” 

Conquering Canada?

NBC News wrote on March 14: 

“Speaking with reporters in the Oval Office, Trump… riffed about how Canada shouldn’t exist as a sovereign country before getting to what has increasingly become a fixation: wholesale annexation of Canada as a U.S. state… ‘If you look at a map, they drew an artificial line right through it, between Canada and the U.S. Just a straight, artificial line. Somebody did it a long time ago, many many decades ago. Makes no sense… why should we subsidize another country for $200 billion?… we don’t need their lumber, we don’t need their energy. We have more than they do. We don’t need anything. We don’t need their cars. I’d much rather make the cars here. And there’s not a thing that we need. Now, there will be a little disruption, but it won’t be very long. But they need us. We really don’t need them. And we have to do this. I’m sorry.’ 

“Trump has been unapologetic in his quest to conquer the Canadians… Few think he’s joking…, and the Canadians have stopped laughing. A source with direct knowledge of the discussions told NBC News that Trump is heavily focused on Canada in conversations with aides, who believe he is completely serious about making the country the 51st state — even with Trudeau out of power and a new prime minister in place… 

“The president made clear in a phone call with Trudeau last month that he wants to revise the boundary between the two nations set by a 1908 border treaty… The president has also mentioned renegotiating agreements that dictate how the Great Lakes and Columbia River are governed… Trump wants to control the Northwest Passage, a maritime path that begins west of Greenland and cuts through Northern Canada to the Arctic Ocean…” 

All of this causes America’s “friends” to become extremely alarmed. 

A New Travel Ban?

Newsmax wrote on March 14: 

“The Trump administration is considering a three-tiered travel ban targeting 43 countries, including 11 that would be hit with an outright ban on all travel to the United States, The New York Times reported Friday. 

“Iran, Libya, North Korea, and Venezuela are among the ‘red’ list countries whose citizens would be barred from entering the U.S., according to the Times. 

“Another 10 countries on the ‘orange’ list, including Russia and Pakistan, would be slapped with sharp restrictions on visas; the rest of the countries, the ‘yellow’ list, would require 60 days to address concerns, according to the report. 

“The restrictions being considered are broader than the travel ban Trump implemented in January 2017 on seven majority-Muslim countries, all of which are on the ‘red’ list this time around save for Iraq, which is not targeted for any ban or restriction, according to the Times. 

“The State Department compiled the list of 43 countries several weeks ago and changes by the White House are likely, the Times reported. Those likely to be banned on the ‘orange’ list include people on tourist visas while business travelers might be allowed in, according to the report. Regardless, any person on the ‘orange’ list would be subjected to a mandatory, in-person interview to receive a visa, the Times reported. 

“Other ‘red’ list countries include Afghanistan, Bhutan, Cuba, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen, according to the report. 

“The other ‘orange’ list countries include Belarus, Eritrea, Haiti, Laos, Myanmar, Sierra Leone, South Sudan and Turkmenistan, the Times reported. 

“The ‘yellow’ list is composed of Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Chad, the Republic of Congo, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Dominica, Equatorial Guinea, Gambia, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, São Tomé and Príncipe, Vanuatu, and Zimbabwe, according to the report.” 

Although not yet final, these preparations create further animosity towards the USA. 

Deporting Green Card Holders? 

ABC News wrote on March 13: 

“The detaining of Mahmoud Khali, the Columbia University student and Palestinian activist who possessed a green card, has raised questions about the deportation risks faced by lawful permanent residents amid the Trump administration’s escalating crackdown on immigration. President Donald Trump’s administration, which has alleged that Khalil was a supporter of Hamas,  has said it has the authority to deport Khalil under the Immigration and Nationality Act. ‘Secretary [Marco] Rubio reserves the right to revoke the visa of Mahmoud Khalil under the Immigration and Nationality Act, the Secretary of State has the right to revoke a green card or a visa for individuals who are adversarial to the foreign policy and national security interests of the United States of America,’ White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said during a press conference this week. Khalil… is married to an American citizen who is eight months pregnant… 

“Under the Immigration Nationality Act,… the government can charge a green card holder as being deportable without being convicted of a crime if there are reasonable grounds to believe they engaged in certain criminal or terrorist activities… But experts and immigration attorneys… said the statute does not give the secretary of state the power to deport green card holders like Khalil without going through a procedure… After the federal government invokes the statute, individuals like Khalil are entitled to argue their case before an immigration judge. Khalil is set to appear before an immigration judge later this month in Louisiana… 

“Experts told ABC News there are a number of reasons why an individual could lose their green card, including marriage fraud, immigration fraud, violent crimes and other offenses. Andrew Nietor, an immigration attorney, told ABC News said that while there are cases where the government invokes the Immigration and Nationality Act for certain green card holders with criminal convictions, he said he has never seen a case like Khalil’s…” 

Voice of America added on March 13: 

“In immigration court, the burden of proof is on the government; it must show the person violated immigration laws. In a case like Khalil’s, ICE attorneys will ask for deportation, but they will have to prove he is a threat to national security.” 

Unconstitutional? 

Zeteo added on March 13: 

“Yes, a green card holder (or lawful permanent resident) can be deported. The most common way is if they committed a crime. But in Khalil’s case, he has not been charged with any crime. Instead, Secretary of State Marco Rubio personally signed off on targeting Khalil using a narrow, little-used authority from the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), Under the provision – section 237(a)(4)(C)(i) – an immigrant who is not a citizen or US national, but ‘whose presence or activities in the United States the Secretary of State has reasonable ground to believe would have potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States is deportable.’ 

“While the provision has an exception for conduct deemed ‘lawful’ in the US (such as free speech), the exception has an exception: if the secretary of state ‘personally determines that the alien’s admission would compromise a compelling United States foreign policy interest.’ That personal determination seems to be driving Rubio’s insistence that the Trump administration can deport legal permanent residents whom it deems to be ‘pro-Hamas.’… 

“It’s worth mentioning that the Jewish publication Forward called the INA a ‘McCarthy-era antisemitic law’ that was widely viewed at the time of its passage in 1952 as a way to target ‘Eastern European Jewish Holocaust survivors suspected of being Soviet agents.’… 

“The Department of Homeland Security on Saturday accused Khalil of leading ‘activities aligned to Hamas’ and said authorities detained Khalil ‘in support of President Trump’s executive orders prohibiting anti-Semitism.’ The Trump administration has not provided any specific evidence on which it is basing its determination. Khalil’s legal team has rejected the Trump administration’s claim that Khalil supported a terrorist organization… 

“It’s worth noting, however, that a district court in 1996 did find that the provision was ‘unconstitutionally vague,’ said Lindsay Nash, an associate professor at Cardozo School of Law and co-director of the Kathryn O. Greenberg Immigration Justice Clinic. According to Nash, the judge, who was none other than Donald Trump’s sister, Maryanne Trump Barry, essentially said that ‘providing the secretary of state [the ability] to determine deportability’ deprives the court of the role it would ‘normally have in reviewing these types of determinations.’ The law, the court said, also doesn’t give non-citizens a way to know what is prohibited, and it violated procedural due process because ‘it provides no opportunity to be heard on the charges against you before you’re determined to be deportable,’ Nash told Zeteo. Ultimately, the court found the provision was an ‘unconstitutional delegation of legislative power to the executive.’ However, that ruling was thrown out by an appeals court, which did not comment on the constitutionality of the provision but rather said the district court did not have jurisdiction in the case. 

“Courts have previously found that green card holders, who are lawful permanent residents, are protected by the Constitution, including First Amendment rights. ‘Technically, the text of the First Amendment does not distinguish between citizens and non-citizens – so all persons in the US should be entitled to First Amendment protections,’ [attorney] McKanders told Zeteo. 

“For now, Khalil remains detained in an ICE facility in Louisiana. A federal judge in New York has ordered the government not to deport Khalil while a challenge to his detention is pending… Separately, Khalil is scheduled to appear before an immigration judge in Louisiana on March 27…”

We most certainly do not condone the—at times violent—antisemitic activities and anti-Israel protests of the students at Columbia University. But this case has much broader application than just the person of Khalil. It does already have a chilling effect on green card holders and creates an uncertainty as to their rights and privileges. In this regard, the following [incorrect] comments by JD Vance are of great concern. 

JD Vance Off-Base… Again! 

India Today wrote on March 13: 

“US Vice President JD Vance has said that green card holders in the United States do not have an indefinite right to stay in the country and can be deported at the administration’s discretion… Vance said that the decision is ultimately about whom the American public wants to include in the national community… Vance stressed that if the US President or the Secretary of State decides that a person should not be in the country, ‘they have no legal right to stay here. It is as simple as that’. 

“When asked about more deportations similar to that of … Khalil,  Vance said the US would certainly see some people get deported if the country determines that it is not in the best interest to have them.”

In light of the foregoing articles, the issue is not that simple. Vance, who is also an attorney, is clearly off base, legally, with his comments. 

Germany Monitors USA 

Deutsche Welle wrote on March 17: 

“Germany is ‘monitoring’ how its citizens are treated when traveling to the United States, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Monday. The announcement comes after the recent detention of three Germans in separate incidents. Two have been deported, but one person is still being detained. Foreign Ministry spokesman Sebastian Fischer said Germany was trying to assess ‘whether this represents a change in American immigration policy or whether these are isolated cases.’… 

“Fabian Schmidt, the German still in detention, was arrested at Logan Airport in Boston last week after returning from Luxembourg. He is being held at the Donald W. Wyatt Detention Facility in Rhode Island. Schmidt is an electrical engineer who has been living in the US since 2007. It’s unclear why Schmidt, a US Green Card holder, was detained… 

“Tourists from EU countries such as Germany typically have visa-free access to the United States for up to 90 days. Two German tourists said they tried to enter the US legally but were detained and eventually sent back home. 

“Lucas Sielaff, a 25-year-old German, was detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials on February 18 as he and his US fiancée were crossing the border from Mexico, according to Der Spiegel. He spent two weeks in detention after his entry permit was canceled at the Mexican border. 

“Jessica Brösche, a 29-year-old tattoo artist from Berlin, was also taken into custody at the Mexican border as she tried to cross with a US friend in late January, the magazine said. Brösche originally planned to stay in LA until mid-February, according to her Instagram profile. She was also returned to Germany last week. Both were held at the Otay Mesa Detention Center, a prison in San Diego, California, before being sent back to Germany… 

“Tourists from other Western countries have reportedly also been detained by US immigration authorities recently. It appears to be a result of the strict immigration policies implemented by President Donald Trump.” 

Subsequently, a fourth case involving a German citizen, as well as cases involving British citizens, have been reported. These are hardly isolated cases. A Canadian actress was also detained after she tried to enter the USA from Mexico legally with filled-out documentation.  All those detained report on the inhumane, horrible and filthy conditions in those detention centers. 

Musk in Trouble Again 

Indy100.com wrote on March 14: 

“Elon Musk has sparked backlash after the billionaire reposted on his social media platform X… a post which declared that Hitler ‘didn’t murder millions of people,’ but rather it was public sector employees. 

“The post in full read, ‘Stalin, Mao, and Hitler didn’t murder millions of people. Their public sector workers did.’ It appears Musk has since taken down the repost…” 

What a ridiculous post. Utter appalling nonsense. 

The Daily Beast added on March 14: 

“Six million Jews were systematically killed as a result of Hitler’s maniacal quest for what he saw as racial purity during his reign as Germany’s Führer between 1933 and 1945… Stalin, who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953, had nearly a million of his own citizens murdered and millions more are thought to have perished in forced labor camps, famine, and massacres under his regime. ‘Chairman’ Mao Zedong founded the People’s Republic of China and led the country from 1949 until his death in 1976. During that time, tens of millions died as a result of maltreatment, starvation, and Communist Party purges.” 

China Preparing for Taiwan Invasion? 

The New York Post wrote on March 14: 

“Photos emerged Friday that apparently show China’s newly constructed and behemoth naval vessels that experts have reportedly suggested would fit right into a strategy for an invasion of the coveted island of Taiwan. Naval News first reported months ago that China was building at least five unique, massive barges outfitted with a long road-bridge extending 393-feet from their bow that could be used to land tanks on a shore… vessels fitting that description [are pictured] in Guangzhou Shipyard in southern China upriver of the coastal Hong Kong. 

“‘Any invasion of Taiwan from the mainland would require a large number of ships to transport personnel and equipment across the Strait quickly, particularly land assets like armored vehicles,’ Dr. Emma Salisbury, Sea Power Research Fellow at the Council of Geostrategy, told Naval News. This extended reach capability of the ships means that China could choose from a wider range of targets for landing their ships than previously considered and would no longer be reliant on Taiwanese ports for landing military vehicles, according to Naval News.” 

Naval News had already written on January 10: 

“The traditional view is that there are only a small number of beaches on the main island of Taiwan which are suitable for amphibious landings. And these could be heavily defended. [China] could seize fishing villages or a port for larger scale landings. But the view has been that any attempt to take the islands by force would mean landing in predictable places. These new barges change that. 

“The extreme reach of the Bailey Bridges means that [China] could land at sites previously considered unsuitable. They can land across rocky, or soft, beaches, delivering the tanks directly to firmer ground or a coastal road. This allows China to pick new landing sites and complicate attempts to organize defences. Instead of relying on Taiwanese ports, China can now sail its own mobile port across the straits.” 

The article referred to China as “PRC—the People’s Republic of China.” We replaced this with “China” in brackets. PRC is as much a misnomer as the reference to the former DDR—the “German Democratic Republic.” In both cases, we are or were speaking of total dictatorships. 

Return to the Temple Mount? 

Israel 365 News wrote on March 12: 

“Right-wing Ministers and MKs addressed a letter today (Monday) to members of the US Senate, calling on them to promote a declaration in Congress to ‘recognize the eternal and inalienable right of the Jewish people to the Temple Mount.’ The letter was signed by Minister of Communications Shlomo Karhi and Minister of Culture and Sports Miki Zohar from the Likud and several MKs from the Likud, Religious Zionism, and Otzma Yehudit factions. ‘This is the place where our Temples stood, which were destroyed by the Babylonian and Roman empires about 2,500 and 1,900 years ago,’ it said. 

“The initiative is being led by a group of temple activists led by Beyadenu – Returning to the Temple, following the victory of Donald Trump and the Republicans in the US elections… Yosef Rabin, Chairman of Shofar in Zion, said, ‘With Trump’s return to power, we have a historic opportunity to correct the international narrative on the Temple Mount and rectify the grave injustice perpetrated against the Jewish people. The denial of the Jewish people’s religious and national rights to the Temple Mount must end… We are facing a modern-day Cyrus moment, and it is our duty to seize it. We must declare loudly: there is no Zionism without Mount Zion—this is a fight for the soul of the land.’” 

“Tom Nissani, CEO of Beyadenu – Returning to the Temple Mount, one of the initiators of the letter, said, ‘This important letter calls for the adoption of an important and natural call that will come from our friend overseas that recognizes and confirms the exclusive right of the people of Israel to their holiest place, the Temple Mount… The American administration supports full Israeli sovereignty over the Temple Mount.’” 

The “modern-day Cyrus moment” is of course not limited to just having access to the Temple Mount. As we all know, Cyrus allowed the Jews to build the Second Temple. 

Israel Attacks Gaza 

Newsmax wrote on March 17: 

“Israel launched a wave of airstrikes across the Gaza Strip early Tuesday, saying it was striking dozens of Hamas targets in its heaviest assault in the territory since a ceasefire took effect in January… Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had ordered the strikes because of a lack of progress in ongoing talks to extend the ceasefire. Officials said the operation was open-ended and was expected to expand. ‘Israel will, from now on, act against Hamas with increasing military strength,’ Netanyahu’s office said… 

“The surprise overnight attack… raised questions about the fate of the roughly two dozen Israeli hostages held by Hamas who are believed to still be alive… Israel’s defense minister, Israel Katz, said the ‘gates of hell will open in Gaza’ if the hostages aren’t released. ‘We will not stop fighting until all of our hostages are home and we have achieved all of the war goals,’ he said.” 

Itamar Ben-Gvir Returns 

Newsmax wrote on March 19: 

“Itamar Ben-Gvir on Wednesday returned to Israel’s government as national security minister after it carried out a wave of heavy strikes that killed over 400 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. 

“Ben-Gvir had left Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition in January to protest the ceasefire with Hamas, which was shattered by Israel’s bombardment Tuesday… Ben-Gvir supports the full resumption of the war with the aim of annihilating Hamas, depopulating Gaza through what he refers to as the voluntary migration of Palestinians and rebuilding Jewish settlements there.” 

In August of 2024, Ben-Gvir famously proclaimed that “he would build a Jewish synagogue at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem if he could.” In this context, it was mentioned that “the campaign to build a ‘Third Temple’ on Al-Aqsa is growing in Israel” and that “Hamas… called on Arab and Islamic countries ‘to take responsibility for protecting the holy sites’” (Aljazeera, dated August 26, 2024).   

Ludicrous Decision Against Starbucks 

The New York Post wrote on March 15, 2025: 

“Starbucks will have to fork over $50 million to a man whose genitals were severely burned after a hot tea spilled in his lap at a California drive-through. Delivery driver Michael Garcia underwent skin grafts and other procedures after the fateful spill of the piping hot, venti-sized Starbucks beverage, which immediately fell onto his crotch area after he bought it on Feb. 8, 2020…  a Los Angeles County jury decided in his favor, finding an employee of the Seattle-based coffee chain had not wedged the scalding hot drink into a takeout tray well enough before handing it over to him… 

“In July of 2023, a South Florida jury awarded $800,000 in damages to the family of then-4-year-old Olivia Caraballo for the second-degree burns she suffered when a hot Happy Meal Chicken McNugget fell in her lap in 2019.” 

CNN reported on March 14 that “damages included physical pain, mental anguish, loss of enjoyment of life, humiliation, inconvenience, grief, disfigurement, physical impairment, anxiety and emotional distress… The lawsuit is reminiscent of a famous 1994 lawsuit against McDonald’s in which a woman spilled hot coffee on her lap and suffered third-degree burns. The plaintiff in that case… was originally awarded nearly $3 million.” 

This decision against Starbucks, as well as the previous decision against McDonald’s and, to a lesser degree, the Happy Meal Chicken McNugget, will go into the annals of history as some of the most ludicrous ones in the 20th and 21st centuries. Our legal system, based in part on a questionable and manipulative jury system with emotionally charged and quite biased jurors, is SO broken!!! 

“What Happens in Our Brain When We Die?” 

Die Welt wrote on March 13: 

“What do people experience in the last seconds of their lives? Current research shows: Shortly before death, there is a renewed surge of intense neuronal activity in the brain… 

“Neuropsychologist Dr. Christian Hoppe of the University Hospital of Bonn explains that medical death is defined by the irreversible loss of all brain functions. Nevertheless, studies show that the brain can once again be exceptionally active in the final moments. Experiments with dying patients have shown that some brain regions emit particularly intense electrical impulses—particularly those responsible for conscious experience. 

“This high-frequency activity could indicate that the brain is still processing experiences in the last seconds of life. It’s even possible that a form of consciousness could exist shortly before the final extinction. Many people report near-death experiences—such as seeing a light at the end of a tunnel or the feeling of leaving one’s own body. Researchers suspect that these phenomena are due to neurological processes. For example, stimulation of the visual cortex can cause people to perceive a point of light—a possible explanation for the often-described ‘light at the end of the tunnel.’ 

“The feeling of out-of-body experience—seeing oneself from above or being outside one’s own body—can also be artificially induced by targeted stimuli in the brain or through virtual reality. These experiments suggest that near-death experiences are not supernatural but have neurological causes.”

These are really interesting comments. We know, of course, that a person does not keep on living when he dies.

Acknowledgement and Disclaimer:

These Current Events are compiled and commented on by Norbert Link. We gratefully acknowledge the many contributions of news articles from our readership. The publication of articles in this section is not to be viewed as an endorsement or approval as to contents or accuracy of the selected articles, but they are published for the purpose of pointing at worldwide developments in the light of biblical end-time prophecy and godly instruction. Our own comments are provided in italics.

This is an age-old question, and to say it right from the start—the answer is difficult for us to comprehend and accept. Still, the Bible does give us numerous hints, leads towards and proofs for the correct understanding.

When someone were to ask where the Bible talks about the beginning of creation, many who know Scripture would turn to Genesis 1:1, where it says, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” This statement identifies God as the Creator, and “God” describes more than one Person—the Hebrew word “Elohim” is a plural word, followed here by a singular verb, revealing the fact that God is a Family, consisting of the Father and the Son. We read that God the Father created everything through Jesus Christ.

1 Corinthians 8:6 states:

“… for us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we for Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and through whom we live.”

Hebrews 1:1-2 confirms:

“God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds.”

In this last passage, the reference is to the physical creation, as it is also the case in Genesis 1:1. But in 1 Corinthians 8:6, quoted above, creation is expanded to the spiritual world, as God created “all things” through Jesus Christ.  This aspect is also revealed in Colossians 1:15-16:

“He [the Son, cp. verse 13] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.”

The next verse is very revealing:

“And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.”

So, Christ existed before anything was created (“all things”). And Christ is described as “being the brightness of His [God the Father’s] glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power.”

The fact that Christ is upholding “all things”—the universe included—by His great power is confirmed in Isaiah 40:26:

“Lift up your eyes on high, And see who has created these things, Who brings out their host by number; He calls them all by name, By the greatness of His might And the strength of His power; Not one is missing.”

As Christ was before all things, it follows that the Father was before all things as well. They created everything which is visible and invisible to the human eye. In addition, Philippians 2:5–7 explains that Christ was in the “form of God” and “equal with God” the Father, but that He took the “form of a bondservant,” and came “in the likeness of men.” We read in John 17:5 that Christ had glory before the world existed–showing that Christ existed as a glorious Being before the world was made. As Philippians 2:6 says, He existed as a divine Being—He was EQUAL with God and therefore God.

Some claim that Christ—the Son—is a created Being; that the Father created the Son, and then created everything else through the Son. But this is not what the Bible teaches. We read in Revelation 3:14 that Christ was “the Beginning of the creation of God.” A better rendition would be, “the Beginner.” Compare our Q&A https://www.eternalgod.org/q-a-1997/

We find this revelation about Christ, also known as Melchisedek, the king of righteousness and of peace, in Hebrews 7:3: “…without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like (better: “resembling,” compare RSV) the Son of God, remains a priest continually.” He is identified, not as a mortal man, but as one who lives (cp. verse 8).

We also read in Micah 5:2 about Christ:

“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Though you are little among the thousands of Judah, Yet out of you shall come forth to Me The One to be Ruler in Israel, Whose goings forth are from of old, From everlasting.”

Christ had no beginning; rather, He IS the “beginning and the end” (Revelation 22:13). God the Father had no beginning either. As we said earlier, this may be difficult for us to comprehend, as we are used to thinking in terms of a “beginning.” Things just don’t exist without a beginning, and this is very true when applying this to physical or even spiritual “things.” The existence of “things” demands the existence of someone who brought them into existence. In other words, creation demands a Creator.

The universe (the “heavens” in Genesis 1:1) must have had a beginning; somebody must have brought it into existence. The idea which has been propagated by the world’s leading ”scientist,” that the universe created itself is preposterous to us; still, even this concept requires the idea that the universe had a beginning when it “began” to create itself.

God, however, had no beginning. Whatever we might define as “beginning,” God existed “before” that.

We asked the question above where the Bible speaks about the beginning of creation and answered that most people would turn to Genesis 1:1. Actually, that is not the Scripture which reports the earliest time of God’s creation. Apart from the fact that it does not seem to refer to the spiritual realm, but just to the physical world (the heavens and the earth, having been created at approximately the same time, “in the beginning”), it still makes a reference to God’s existence at the beginning, whenever that was.

Another passage makes clear that whatever we might refer to as “the beginning,” God had already existed before then.

We read in John 1:1-3:

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.”

The “Word”—“Logos” in the Greek—describes the Spokesman—Jesus Christ, the Son of God. But He was also God—the Second Member in the God Family. “All things”—visible and invisible—were made through Him. And He—the Word—became flesh and dwelt among us (verse 14).  He was “Immanuel”—God with us (compare Matthew 1:23).

He had no beginning. He existed already when creation began.

Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible states the following:

“What he [John] saith of him [is] enough to prove beyond contradiction that he is God. He asserts… his existence in the beginning: In the beginning was the Word. This bespeaks his existence, not only before his incarnation, but before all time. The beginning of time, in which all creatures were produced and brought into being, found this eternal Word in being. The world was from the beginning, but the Word was in the beginning… the Word was God: a distinct person…”

In Genesis 1:1, we read that Elohim created heavens and earth in the beginning. But in John 1:1 we read that Elohim already existed “in the beginning”—before ANYTHING was created. We also read in Hebrews 11:3 how God created the physical world: “By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.” Another translation has here: “God created everything out of nothing” (Luther Bible 1984).

We need to have faith to believe this, as we need to have faith that God exists who created all things (verse 6: “… he who comes to God must believe that He is.”). But we are not talking about blind faith, but faith which can be understood and proven. Romans 1:19-20 explains:

“… what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. 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…”

Only foolish atheists deny the existence of God and believe instead in the fairy tale of evolution—the most juvenile and stupid “explanation” of the existence of the physical world. Psalm 14:1 says: “The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God.’” Many times, an “atheist” knows, deep down inside, that his belief is foolish, but he wants to avoid accepting any responsibility for his lifestyle. Psalm 10:4 explains: “The wicked in his proud countenance does not seek God; God is in none of his thoughts.” Psalm 53:1 adds to this: “The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God.’ They are corrupt, and have done abominable iniquity; There is none who does good.”

It is the Will of God to give us eternal life, through Jesus Christ. John 3:15 declares: “…whoever believes in Him [Jesus] should not perish but have eternal life.” Christ confirmed in John 6:58: “This is the bread which came down from heaven—not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever.” Also in John 8:51: “Most assuredly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he shall never see death.” In Romans 6:22-23, we are given the following assurance:

“But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

This is something our human mind may grasp… to an extent. Living forever—the dream of mankind! But not living forever in misery, pain and heartache, but in peace, joy and abundance. Not in the flesh, but as immortal Spirit Beings together with the Father and the Son where there is joy forever more. As we read in Revelation 21:4: “And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”

And Revelation 22:5 adds: “And they shall reign forever and ever.”

That we can live and reign forever and ever, without end, as God will live forever and ever, is something the human mind can appreciate. We can agree with what we read in Revelation 10:6 about God, that He “lives forever and ever.” Jesus said about Himself: “I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore” (Revelation 1:18). And we can believe that this will apply to us as well, if we make it into His Kingdom.

This is perhaps so as God has revealed this fact to mankind, and by faith we embrace this Truth. We read in Ecclesiastes 3:11: “He has put eternity in their hearts…” They can and do know in their hearts that everlasting life is something which God can, may and even wants to grant them.

When it comes to appreciating the fact that God has always existed “forever,” from all eternity, before there was any time or anything created, the human mind is somewhat at a loss. But why is that the case?

Maybe we cannot quite comprehend that eternity applies not only to the future, but also to the past. As we read in Deuteronomy 29:29: “The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.”

We may think that God has revealed to us that He and we will live forever, but not that God has lived forever. But the Truth is that God has revealed this to us as well.

We read in Revelation 21:6 about God the Father: “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End…” In Isaiah 48:12, we read: “Listen to Me, O Jacob, And Israel, My called: I am He, I am the First, I am also the Last.”

If He is the End and the Last, why then can we not comprehend that He is also the First and the Beginning? Nothing—no god or idol outside the God Family will come after Him; and nothing—no other god or idol was before Him. He existed before anything and everything else. In passing, the above-quoted Scriptures in the book of Isaiah have been rightly understood to refer to idols which cannot help; they do not say that there is only one God Being or that God—the God Family—is not reproducing Himself through man. Compare the discussion of Isaiah 45:5 in one of our Q&As.  https://www.eternalgod.org/q-a-9801/ . See also our Q&A on the God Family https://www.eternalgod.org/q-a-9824/

God had no beginning. As He will live forever and ever, so He HAS lived forever and ever. The Bible makes this fact very clear.

We read in Psalm 90:2:

“Before the mountains were brought forth, Or ever You had formed the earth and the world, Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.”

Also note Psalm 93:2: “Your throne is established from of old; You are from everlasting.” This applies to the Father and the Son (compare again Micah 5:2).

God has and will have everlasting life (as we will have), but He also had everlasting life in the past. This is also confirmed in Habakkuk 1:12: “Are You not from everlasting, O LORD my God, my Holy One?” The word for “everlasting” in this passage means, “what is before (in time or place).”

God is “from everlasting,” from eternity, without beginning of days or end of life. Hebrews 7:3, describing Jesus Christ or Melchizedek, is rendered in the Living Bible as follows: “He was never born and he never died…,” except of course for the three days and three nights in the grave, as Jesus Himself confirmed in Revelation 1:18, quoted above.

God the Father was not created by anyone, and the same is true for Jesus. Nobody was there to create God, and He did not create Himself either. This we understand “by faith.”

Lead Writer: Norbert Link

compiled by Dave Harris

“Will Trump and Putin End the Russia-Ukraine War?” is the title of a new StandingWatch program, presented by Evangelist Norbert Link. Here is the summary:

Will Putin agree to a ceasefire and perhaps even to the end of the war between Russia and Ukraine? Many doubt this. Still, the end of that war will come, but not now; not in ways most expect or anticipate; and not due to “negotiations” between Trump and Putin. What does this all mean for YOU? What does GOD tell us about war in general, and this war in particular?

“Werden Trump und Putin den Russland-Ukraine Krieg beenden?” is the title of a new AufPostenStehen program, presented by Norbert Link. This German program covers the same topic as described above.

“Noah and the Flood” is the latest video published in our Bible Stories series on YouTube.

“Der kommende falsche Prophet,” is the title of this Sabbath’s new German sermon, presented by Norbert Link. Title in English: “The Coming False Prophet.”

“Hat Christus ein Wohlfühl-Evangelium gepredigt?” last Sabbath’s German sermonette presented by Mike Richter, is now posted. Title in English: “Did Christ Preach a Feel-Good Gospel?”

“Alles eine Vertrauenssache,” last Sabbath’s German sermon presented by Thilo Hanstein, is now posted. Title in English: “It’s All a Matter of Trust.”

“Red Tape,” last Sabbath’s sermonette presented by Frank Bruno, is now posted. Here is the summary:

We’ve all had our experiences with bureaucracy at various levels of both government and the private sector. Whether one is attempting to get a permit to renovate one’s home or trying to deal with the family automobile insurance or one’s health insurance. In this Sermonette we will consider various scriptures that will illustrate that as true Christians we must strengthen, and lean into our relationship with God the Father to keep our spiritual home in order. All else pales in comparison.

“God Is Our Refuge,” last Sabbath’s sermon presented by Dave Harris, is now posted. Here is the summary:

Finding true refuge is an illusive dream for many downtrodden people. However, that opportunity is available for those whom God has and will call to be a part of His eternal Family. Can we say that God is also our refuge?

2025 SPRING HOLY DAYS:

Passover: April 12 (observed evening before)

Days of Unleavened Bread: April 13-19 (first and last days are Holy Days with live Services being broadcast).

On March 15, 2025, Frank Bruno will present the sermonette, titled, “Red Tape,” and Dave Harris will present the sermon, titled, “God Is Our Refuge.”

The live services are available, over video and audio, at http://eternalgod.org/live-services/ (12:30 pm Pacific Time; 1:30 pm Mountain Time; 2:30 pm Central Time; 3:30 pm Eastern Time; 8:30 pm Greenwich Mean Time; 9:30 pm Central European Time). Just click on Connect to Live Stream.

When playing a sport, focus is crucial, especially where a ball is involved.  When keeping your eye on the ball, all your attention and focus are fixed on that object.  The moment you look away, it becomes challenging to successfully achieve what you are trying to accomplish, whether it be kicking the ball or catching it, hitting it, etc, depending on the sport. 

Based on the fast-paced nature and need for precise ball control, table tennis is often considered the sport that requires the most focus when using a ball, as players must react quickly to the ball’s trajectory and spin while maintaining a high level of concentration.

Baseball is another sport that uses complex hand-eye coordination, requires rapid decision-making and a need to track a fast-moving ball with precision, where focus on the ball is vital.  Pitchers can throw a variety of pitches with different speeds and breaking motions, demanding intense focus from the hitter to track the ball’s trajectory while players in the field must react quickly to batted balls, often requiring them to anticipate where the ball will land and make split-second decisions.  It’s a mental game, and baseball heavily emphasizes the mental aspect, with players needing to manage pressure situations and stay focused even when facing adversity. 

There are of course several other sports where this is the case, as well as sports that don’t require a ball, but internal focus is a necessity and can be mentally challenging.

The world, in general, can be quite distracting, and it can be easy to get caught up in it to where our focus is affected.  Getting back on track and regaining our focus is a constant task that we must accomplish.  Our “ball” is the Kingdom of God; something that we must never lose sight of, and our mental and spiritual strengthening is through God in whom we must always look to when trials, struggles, doubts, worries, uncertainties, and need for ANY help are affecting us in some way.  

Keeping our eye on the prize is something that Paul famously depicted in Philippians 3:14, using the imagery of a race where the goal is the prize and the runner must concentrate on reaching the finish line, signifying the importance of staying focused on our ultimate goal, not giving up, despite challenges we encounter along the way. 

We are to continue running with determination, “to fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2; New International Version). This encourages us to focus on Christ at all times and not get distracted by other things, for Christ, the captain of our salvation, overcame every difficulty imaginable and was thus made perfect through sufferings (Hebrews 2:10). He expects us to do the same—to overcome all obstacles, to remain faithful and obedient, and to keep our eye on the ultimate prize.

by Norbert Link

We begin with reports on [predicted] renewed violence in unstable Syria; [unrealistic] proposals as to how to deal with Gaza; and continue with concentrating on Trump’s “whiplash” leadership which creates confusion and uncertainty, which might even be intentional, but which is also diminishing trust in the reliability of the USA.

We report on Canada’s new prime minister Mark Carney who is clearly no friend of Donald Trump and who has picked up the gauntlet; and report on the ongoing fight between the Trump administration and Zelensky, with Trump’s inconsistent and contradictory proposals and statements. We speak on the proposed “ceasefire” regarding Ukraine; and we point out additional animosity between the USA and Poland; Europe’s desire to become a nuclear power; and we discuss the possibility of America’s withdrawal from NATO, as we know it, with the proposal of Germany, as a rising military power, “taking on the leading role in the alliance.”

Please view our new StandingWatch program, titled, “Politicians Demand What We Have Told You For Decades!”

Throughout this section, we have underlined pertinent statements in the quoted articles, for the convenience and quick overview of the reader.

Renewed Violence in Syria 

npr wrote on March 9: 

“More than 1,300 people in Syria have been killed — many believed to be civilians — in the span of three days amid intense fighting between forces associated with Syria’s new government and those loyal to the deposed dictator Bashar al-Assad… The conflict is considered the country’s worst violence since… December. It’s also the biggest test for Syria’s new government since it has assumed power… the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights… characterized many of the killings as executions and massacres, carried out in revenge against the Alawite community, which made up Assad’s traditional base of support. The human rights group also reported burning of homes and forced displacement, worsened by the absence of international intervention. 

“The fighting broke out on Thursday near the coast after reports that Alawite gunmen ambushed and killed 16 government forces in the coastal province of Latakia. In response, the government sent reinforcements to and imposed curfews on Latakia and neighboring Tartus. At first, the casualties mainly involved those fighting on both sides… But as clashes went on, the civilian death toll skyrocketed, with many people shot at close range… Alawite leaders said their community around Latakia and Tartus have been the target of attacks for weeks, ever since the Assad regime was overthrown…” 

The Daily Mail wrote on March 8: 

“The violent clashes, which erupted Thursday, are some of the deadliest since Syria’s conflict began 14 years ago, and marked a major escalation in the challenge to the new government in Damascus, three months after insurgents took authority after removing Assad from power. Witnesses revealed how women were reportedly told to ‘walk naked’ before being shot dead [by the Syrian “security” forces] amid horrifying scenes in Syria… 

“Residents of Baniyas, one of the towns worst hit by the violence, said bodies were strewn on the streets or left unburied in homes and on the roofs of buildings, and nobody was able to collect them. One witness said that the gunmen prevented residents for hours from removing the bodies of five of their neighbors killed Friday at close range. 

“The leaders of Syria’s three main Christian churches issued a joint statement Saturday condemning ‘massacres targeting innocent civilians’…”

This was so predictable, and we DID predict it… 

Proposals and Counter Proposals for Gaza 

Deutsche Welle wrote on March 9: 

“France, Germany, Italy and the UK said on Saturday they supported an Arab-backed plan for the reconstruction of Gaza. The plan would cost $53 billion (€50.5 billion) and avoid displacing Palestinians from the territory… The Arab Summit in Cairo took place after US President Donald Trump floated a widely condemned proposal to turn the Gaza Strip into what he called the ‘Riviera of the Middle East’ and displace its residents.   

“Earlier this week, the Trump administration dismissed the… counter proposal after it was adopted. The White House said it stood by Trump’s vision, with National Security Council spokesperson Brian Hughes commenting late Tuesday that ‘the current proposal does not address the reality that Gaza is currently uninhabitable.’… 

“The phased reconstruction plan consists of three major stages over five years. An initial six-month recovery phase is aimed at removing debris, de-mining and building temporary housing. In the first phase, the plan calls for the building of 200,000 housing units in Gaza over the next two years. A second stage will see 200,000 more housing units. By 2030, the plan foresees hundreds of thousands of new homes housing up to 3 million people as well as an airport, industrial zones, hotels and parks. 

“Under [the new] proposal, Gaza would be governed by a reformed Palestinian Authority… France, Germany, Italy and the UK also supported the call for the removal of Hamas, which is recognized as a terrorist organization by several countries…” 

None of this seems to be realistic. 

Greenland Votes Against Trump 

gzeromedia wrote on March 12: 

“Greenland’s center-right parties trounced the ruling left-wing coalition in Tuesday’s election. In a blow to US President Donald Trump’s plans to annex the Arctic territory, a once-marginal party that favors a slow separation from Denmark is set to lead the next government… 

“Recent polling shows that 85% of Greenlanders oppose joining the US.” 

Trump’s Whiplash Leadership 

CNN wrote on March 6: 

“One day, President Donald Trump imposed a punishing tariff regime against Canada and Mexico. The next, he froze auto duties for a month after suddenly realizing that – as everyone had predicted – they could wreck a quintessential American industry. 

“Last week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky came to the Oval Office to sign a rare-earth minerals deal that Trump billed as a triumph for the US. But Zelensky was provoked by Vice President JD Vance and kicked out of the White House. European leaders have spent days trying to fix the debacle. 

“Elon Musk, meanwhile, is taking his chainsaw to the bureaucracy, indiscriminately firing workers… 

“At first, Trump’s early-term energy on multiple fronts was a bolt of energy as he… chased away the lethargy that marked President Joe Biden’s waning months in office. Six weeks in, however… a new realization is dawning. There doesn’t seem to be a plan… ‘There’s too much unpredictability and chaos coming out of the White House right now,’ Canadian Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly said Wednesday… 

“America’s friends are often left to puzzle over what exactly Trump is trying to do… 

“Still, the president can point to some successes with his threat-based foreign policy. For instance, his fury that a Hong Kong-based firm owned two ports at either end of the Panama Canal is precipitating  a purchase by US investment giant BlackRock… 

“The danger for the US therefore is that four more years of Trump’s antics could reshape the globe – in a way that does not comply with his vision of US dominance but leaves Americans looking in from the outside…”

And this is exactly what might happen… 

Tariffs an Act of War? 

archive.today wrote on March 3: 

“Warren Buffett (94) is one of the world’s most legendary investors. So, what does he think of tariffs and how they’ll affect the economy? The billionaire… says tariffs are ‘an act of war, to some degree.’ 

“‘Over time, they are a tax on goods. I mean, the Tooth Fairy doesn’t pay ’em!’ he said… when asked how tariffs would impact inflation. ‘And then what? You always have to ask that question in economics. You always say, ‘And then what?'” 

Good question! 

EU to Retaliate Against USA 

The Associated Press wrote on March 12: 

“The European Union on Wednesday announced retaliatory trade action with new duties on U.S. industrial and farm products, responding within hours to the Trump administration’s increase in tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports to 25%. The world’s biggest trading bloc was expecting the U.S. tariffs and prepared in advance, but the measures still place great strain on already tense trans-Atlantic relations… 

“The EU measures will cover goods from the United States worth around 26 billion euros ($28 billion), and not just steel and aluminum products, but also textiles, home appliances and agricultural goods. Motorcycles, bourbon, peanut butter and jeans will also be hit, as they were during U.S. President Donald Trump’s first term…” 

Canada’s New Prime Minister… No Friend of Trump 

The Sun wrote on March 9: 

“CANADA’S new prime minister [replacing Justin Trudeau who “tearfully” stepped down Sunday] has wasted no time in firing back at US President Donald Trump, vowing to fight the escalating trade war ‘until Trump shows us respect.’ Mark Carney – who was among the anti-Brexit campaign’s biggest voices during his time as Bank of England chief – called out Trump for attempting to ‘destroy the Canadian way of life’ with tariffs and trade threats. The former Bank of England governor and ‘Project Fear’ architect made it clear that Canada will not back down. 

“‘There is someone who is trying to weaken our economy. Donald Trump. Donald Trump has put unjustified tariffs on what we build, sell and how we make a living,’ Carney said in his acceptance speech. He went on to describe Trump’s tariffs and threats as the ‘greatest crisis of our lifetime’. The war of words intensified last week after the US imposed 25% tariffs on Canadian goods, prompting Canada to retaliate with its own tariffs on up to $155bn worth of US products.  The trade war has put a strain on the two nations’ relationship, and Carney said the US could no longer be trusted… 

“He became a popular choice for party members due to his wealth of experience after serving as governor of the Bank of Canada and the Bank of England between 2013 up until 2020… Carney’s firm stance comes amid mounting support for his leadership in a nation reeling from the threat of becoming the ‘51st state’ and Trump’s ongoing tariff war. His speech marks a sharp shift in the rhetoric of Western leaders standing up to the US president… ‘The Americans want our resources, our water, our land, our country.’… On Tuesday, the US slapped a brutal 25 per cent tariff on all goods imported from Canada, and despite a softening from Trump, the damage has been done….”

npr added on March 9: 

“Mark Carney, the former central banker-turned-centrist politician, triumphed over Chrystia Freeland in Sunday’s Liberal Party leadership race, paving the way for him to succeed Justin Trudeau as Canada’s next prime minister. He is expected to be sworn in early this week… President Donald Trump’s tariffs and controversial comments about Canada becoming the 51st state likely played a role in Carney’s win and could help his party — which was struggling against the conservatives in the polls just two months ago — hold onto power in the next general election. 

“‘Canadians are really feeling angry, hurt. Canada feels so disrespected in this relationship right now,’ Jamie Tronnes, the executive director of the Center for North American Prosperity and Security told NPR. ‘This has led to a resurgent nationalism, which is something that we haven’t seen the likes of in a long time in Canada, that has really benefited the Liberal Party.’ 

“Carney’s election makes him only the second prime minister in Canadian history without a seat in parliament. While there is no rule against this, precedent suggests Carney will call federal elections soon after being sworn in as prime minister where he will face off with conservative leader Pierre Poilievre. As the Liberal party’s popularity continues to surge in the polls, many Canadians see Carney as a steady, diplomatic globalist who knows how to navigate international challenges, particularly with the U.S. under Trump’s increasingly strongman negotiating tactics… Carney knows what it’s like to weather tough economic storms. He served as Governor of the Bank of Canada during the 2008 financial crisis and later became the first non-British person to be appointed as Governor of the Bank of England, where he oversaw the bank’s post-Brexit transition.” 

Tariffs Threat Against Canada Changing by the Hour 

Bloomberg wrote on March 11:

“President Donald Trump dialed back his latest trade-war threat against Canada hours after making it, while downplaying the risk of a tariff-led recession that’s sent US markets into a nosedive. Trump’s roller-coaster day saw him threaten to double duties on Canadian steel and aluminum to 50% after Ontario announced plans to place a surcharge on electricity sent to the US, only to retreat back to plans for his previously announced 25% rate after the provincial government backed down. (USA Today: “The abrupt shift was a response to Ontario Premier Doug Ford saying he would suspend a 25% electricity surcharge on about 1.5 million U.S. energy users in New York, Michigan and Minnesota… With Trump backtracking, the steel and aluminum tariff rate for Canadian imports will remain at 25%.”). 

“The episode rattled markets already bracing for the worldwide metal levies set to hit at midnight, and encapsulated the frantic and mercurial tariff barrage that has spooked investors and befuddled corporate leaders over the past six weeks. Major stock indexes were down some 10% off their peaks amid escalating concerns that the world’s biggest economy may be about to stall. Trump himself fueled the recession talk as recently as Sunday, declining to rule out the possibility in a Fox News interview.”

Trump vs. Zelensky

The Kyiv Independent wrote on March 9: 

“U.S. President Donald Trump has privately made it clear to his aides that he will not resume providing military aid and intelligence to Ukraine even if Kyiv and Washington sign a minerals deal, NBC News reported on March 9… Trump wants to see a change in President… Zelensky’s stance toward peace talks with Russia and a willingness to make concessions such as giving up occupied territories to Russia… The U.S. president also reportedly wants Zelensky to make some steps toward elections in Ukraine and possibly step down. 

“The news comes amid rising tensions between Ukraine and the U.S., as Trump escalates pressure on Zelensky to expedite a peace process. The tensions culminated in a confrontation during a meeting in the White House Oval Office on Feb. 28 after Zelensky had flown to the U.S. to sign a minerals agreement with the U.S. After being insulted by Trump and his Vice President JD Vance, Zelensky returned to Ukraine without signing the deal. Since that meeting, Washington has halted its military aid and intelligence sharing with Ukraine… 

“Politico reported that Trump’s team has been leading secret talks with former Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko and another opposition leader, Yuliia Tymoshenko. The two opposition leaders reportedly tried to position themselves as more flexible partners for the U.S. than Zelensky. Following the Oval Office clash, Zelensky’s approval rating has risen to 68%.” 

Is America trying to oust Zelensky? 

The Hill wrote on March 10: 

“Trump said Sunday the United States had ‘just about’ ended a suspension of intelligence sharing with Ukraine… Trump said he wanted Ukraine to ‘want to want peace… Right now, they haven’t shown it to the extent they should,’ he said.” 

Another switch in Trump’s ever-changing political world… and another example of Trump’s “whiplash leadership.” But the impression that he has no plan might be contradicted by a calculated method of unpredictability, thereby causing chaos and confusion.   

Ukrainska Pravda wrote on March 9: 

“US President Donald Trump has responded to concerns that Ukraine might not survive without American assistance by saying that Ukraine ‘may not survive anyway… ‘But you know, we have some weaknesses with Russia. You know, it takes two. It was not gonna happen, that war. And it happened. So now we’re stuck with this mess.’…” 

So, every war is caused by two sides? Where does this leave World War 2? 

“The interviewer then asked whether Ukraine really does have significant rare-earth mineral resources, to which Trump responded: ‘I do, I’ve had it checked’… Trump also claimed that under President Joe Biden, Zelenskyy had been taking money from the US as easily as ‘candy from a baby’.” 

The New York Post wrote on March 3: 

“On Sunday, Zelensky insisted that ‘an agreement to end the war is still very, very far away, and no one has started all these steps yet’ — a remark that further irked Trump.  ‘This is the worst statement that could have been made by Zelenskyy, and America will not put up with it for much longer!’ the president wrote on Truth Social. ‘It is what I was saying, this guy doesn’t want there to be Peace as long as he has America’s backing and Europe, in the meeting they had with Zelenskyy, stated flatly that they cannot do the job without the U.S.’ 

“‘Probably not a great statement to have been made in terms of a show of strength against Russia. What are they thinking?’” 

Ukraine Cease-Fire? 

Deutsche Welle wrote on March 11: 

“Ukraine says it is willing to accept an interim 30-day ceasefire in the war with Russia, a joint statement from Washington and Kyiv said. According to the statement, published following the meeting of Ukrainian and American teams in Saudi Arabia, the United States will communicate to Russia that reciprocity is key for future peace between the countries. The US said it would also resume the intelligence sharing with, and security assistance to, Ukraine.  

“US Secretary of State Marco Rubio says that it is now up to Russia to accept the proposal… Kyiv and Washington also agreed to sign an agreement for developing Ukraine’s critical mineral resources as soon as possible, the statement said.” 

Fox News wrote on March 12: 

“Russia is waiting for Washington to deliver details… before commenting on the proposal, the Kremlin said Wednesday… Russia has so far opposed anything short of a permanent end to the conflict and has not accepted any concessions.” 

Russia Will Never Relent 

The Telegraph wrote on March 11: 

“But suppose the Russians do not reciprocate? Now there is one vital question: how will America respond if… Putin simply rejects the Jeddah offer? He will be deeply reluctant to accept a ceasefire at the very moment when his forces are finally advancing against Ukraine’s salient in the Russian region of Kursk.  In Putin’s preferred sequence, a ceasefire would be the last step, when everything else has been settled, allowing the Russians to maintain every ounce of military pressure to wring concessions from Ukraine throughout any negotiations… 

“Perhaps more likely is that Russia will pretend to accept the Jeddah offer and do just enough to prevent America from renewing its backing for Ukraine while in fact breaking the ceasefire and finding a way of blaming Mr Zelensky…” 

Poland’s Walesa Blasts Trump 

AFP wrote on March 3, 2025: 

“Poland’s freedom icon Lech Walesa and dozens of other communist-era dissidents on Monday slammed Donald Trump over his clash with Volodymyr Zelenskyy, comparing the US president’s actions to ‘communist courtrooms.’ 

“In their Oval Office meeting on Friday, Trump berated Zelenskyy, telling him to be more ‘thankful’ for US support against the invading Russian army in the three-year war and that without US assistance, Ukraine would have been conquered by Moscow. In a letter addressed to the US president, Walesa and around 40 other Polish former dissidents said they had watched Trump’s conversation with Zelenskyy ‘with horror and disgust. The atmosphere in the Oval Office during this conversation reminded us of the hearings by the Security Service and in the communist courtrooms,’ former Polish president Walesa and fellow dissidents said in the letter. 

“‘We find your expectations of respect and gratitude for the material aid provided by the United States to Ukraine, which is fighting against Russia, offensive,’ they told Trump. Walesa is feted as an icon of freedom as he led a 1980 shipyard workers’ strike, forcing the then-authorities to recognise the communist bloc’s first and only free trade union, Solidarity. He and dozens of other top dissidents were arrested after martial law was imposed in 1981. He then won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1983. 

“After the fall of communism, Walesa in 1990 became Poland’s first democratically elected president since World War II. Poland is a staunch ally of its neighbour Ukraine and has advocated ramped up military aid to the war-torn country. On Friday, following the heated exchange in the White House, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, in a show of support to Zelenskyy, assured Ukrainians they were ‘not alone.’”

Even Poland and Poland’s icon Lech Walesa—once strong allies—are turning against the USA. 

What If Musk Cuts Off Starlink? 

Militarnyi wrote on March 3: 

“The European Commission is figuring out how it could help Ukraine secure satellite communication capacity in the wake of Elon Musk reportedly threatening to pull Kyiv’s access to his Starlink network. 

“Commission spokesperson Thomas Regnier said Ukraine had already ‘expressed interest’ in how it could use Govsatcom—a pooled network of the EU’s existing national government satellite capacity.” 

Rubio and Musk Follow Trump’s Backpedaling and Anger Poland 

Reuters wrote on March 10: 

“Poland’s prime minister on Monday called on ‘friends’ to respect their allies and not be arrogant, in a post on X which… came a day after an extraordinary social media spat between top U.S. and Polish officials over Starlink. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio accused Poland’s foreign minister Radoslaw Sikorski of ‘making things up’ and suggested on Sunday he was ungrateful, in a strong rebuke after Sikorski said Ukraine may need an alternative to Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite service if it becomes unreliable. 

“Poland pays for Ukraine to use the services of Starlink, which provides crucial internet connectivity to Kyiv and its military. ‘True leadership means respect for partners and allies. Even for the smaller and weaker ones,’ Prime Minister Donald Tusk wrote in English on X. ‘Never arrogance. Dear friends, think about it.’ 

“Rubio had also said that ‘no one has made any threats about cutting Ukraine off from Starlink’. (This statement is clearly untrue. Keep reading.) ‘And say thank you because without Starlink Ukraine would have lost this war long ago and Russians would be on the border with Poland right now,’ Rubio added… Sikorski had been told to ‘be quiet’ and labelled a ‘small man’ by Musk after he suggested Poland, which says it pays $50 million per year for Ukraine’s Starlink services, might need to find another provider if Musk’s service was unreliable… 

“The U.S. government has already revoked some access to satellite imagery for Ukraine and paused intelligence sharing, piling pressure on Kyiv as Trump seeks a swift end to the war, now in its fourth year after Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022. Shares in Franco-British satellite operator Eutelsat… soared as much as 650% last week due to speculation the company could replace Starlink in providing internet access to Ukraine.

“Musk, a high-profile figure in the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump, said in a post on X early on Sunday that Ukraine’s ‘entire front line would collapse if I turned it (Starlink) off’. (If this is not a threat, what is?) 

“In a series of posts on X on the subject, that lasted through the day, Musk said later he would not turn off Starlink in Ukraine. ‘To be extremely clear, no matter how much I disagree with the Ukraine policy, Starlink will never turn off its terminals … We would never do such a thing or use it as a bargaining chip.’” 

Rubio has become a disappointment for many by switching or abandoning his former positions and by now unequivocally supporting Trump, even when he is wrong, such as with his provocative clash with Zelensky in the Oval Office. 

Poland Wants Nuclear Weapons 

Politico wrote on March 7: 

“Poland will look at gaining access to nuclear weapons and also ensure that every man undergoes military training as part of an effort to build a 500,000-strong army to face off the threat from Russia, Prime Minister Donald Tusk told the parliament on Friday. Poland’s dramatic military expansion comes as fears grow across Europe that U.S. President Donald Trump is aligning with the Kremlin and turning his back on America’s traditional western alliances — a geopolitical shift that Warsaw regards as a potentially existential threat. 

“Tusk said that Poland ‘is talking seriously’ with France about being protected by the French nuclear umbrella… Tusk also stressed that Poland cannot restrict itself to conventional weapons… He pointed to the example of Ukraine, which gave up its nuclear arsenal and is now being attacked by Russia… 

“The Polish military is now about 200,000, which makes it the third-largest in NATO after the U.S. and Turkey and the largest among the alliance’s EU members. Tusk pointed out that Ukraine has an army of about 800,000 while Russia has 1.3 million men under arms… 

“The confusing signals coming out of the Trump administration are particularly worrying for Poland, which has built its security architecture around its close ties with the U.S. There are about 10,000 American soldiers stationed in Poland, and the country makes an effort to buy U.S. weapons systems — to the annoyance of other European countries.” 

“Time to Rearm” 

The Sun wrote on March 9: 

“THREE years on from the start of Vladimir Putin’s brutal invasion of Ukraine and the war has seen more than 1.3million killed or injured…. Zelensky’s offer to step down as Ukrainian president — in answer to Donald Trump’s bogus charge that he is a dictator— shows his commitment to peace. But he is not the problem. 

“Blood-soaked Putin has already sacrificed more than 860,000 of his own soldiers and is no more bothered by current losses of 1,500 a day than he is by the deaths of 12,000 Ukrainian civilians ruthlessly targeted by his forces. He is supported in this slaughter by the terrorists of Theran and North Korean  madman Kim Jong-un. Meanwhile, China watches on. The world is a very dangerous place right now and Europe cannot keep relying on America to fight its battles… increasing spending on defence is… about self-preservation. 

“[Britain may] raise defence spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP] by 2030 and offer 30,000 peace-keeping troops for Ukraine. But that is meaningless when we don’t have 30,000 troops to spare, when 2.5 per cent is not enough and 2030 is too far away. What are we waiting for?” 

Abandoning Nuclear Weapons? 

The Sun wrote on March 9: 

“DONALD Trump has warned ‘monster’ nuclear weapons could ‘end the world’ as he sounded the alarm over atomic armageddon. The President issued the stark warning in a TV interview on Sunday morning after he floated new arms controls with Russia and China… The US has the second largest nuclear weapons stockpile in the world with around 5,000 weapons. Russia has the most with nearly 6,000, with China a distant third with around 350. Nuclear weapons have only been used in anger twice – when the US bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki to end World War 2. 

“Speaking on Fox, Trump said: ‘We spend a lot of money [on] nuclear weapons – the level of destruction is beyond anything you can imagine. It’s just bad that you have to spend all this money on something that if it’s used, it’s probably the end of the world.’… It comes [as] France offered to use its nukes to protect Europe from Russia… Moscow said the speech was threatening towards Russia and had ‘notes of nuclear blackmail.’…” 

Europe will not abandon its nuclear weapons. Note the previous article about Poland. 

No More Trust in the USA 

Deutsche Welle wrote on March 7: 

“Two thirds of respondents in this latest ‘ARD Deutschlandtrend’ poll said they are in favor of a massive budget increase for the Bundeswehr, and eight out of ten are in favor of more money for infrastructure projects…. 

“Trump has been back in office for only six weeks and has already been calling into question core policies, which is having a massive impact on how Germans view Trump and the United States. One in two respondents to the infratest poll say their opinion of Trump has worsened since he took office. Just one in seven expresses a favorable opinion of the US president. The United States’ reputation is plummeting to new lows…. 

“This month only one in six voters described the US as a partner who Germany can trust. Three quarters believe that NATO members cannot currently rely on the United States for protection… there is growing support for greater European independence. One in two said they favor establishing a European military alliance… The US policy U-turn on Ukraine significantly contributed to the decline of American prestige in Germany.” 

NATO and the EU Army 

DNA India wrote on March 7: 

“Hours after heads of state of 29 European nations met in the French capital of Paris and discussed the issue of supporting Ukraine…, US President Donald Trump dropped the bombshell. Trump said in the most undiplomatic way, for which he is known, that if the member states do not pay for NATO’s expenses, he will not defend them.  

“Emphasising that all members of the trans-Atlantic bloc, big or small, rich or poor, must pay for the common cause of security, he declared, ‘If they don’t pay, I’m not going to defend them. No, I’m not going to defend them.’ Trump raised this issue in the first term of his presidency also and forced small countries like the Baltic states of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia to pay. A day earlier, when a journalist asked him in the Oval Office of the White House whether France and a couple of other countries would defend the US, Trump said, ‘You think they’re going to come and protect us?…’ 

“Earlier, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in February that Washington would not participate in any peacekeeping force in Ukraine, which is not a NATO member and would not defend any country that participated in it if attacked by Russia… 

“The idea of a European Army is not new, however, it got a boost this week after EU Commissioner Ursula van der Leyen pointed out that the EU should raise EUR 800 billion for the development of the bloc, besides a separate corpus of EUR 160 billion for funding defence preparedness of the member states. Earlier the UK and France announced to increase… their defence budgets.  

“Political observers believe France, Poland, Germany, the UK, frontline states like Finland and the Nordic-Baltic states like Sweden, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia may serve as the backbone of the European Army as they have relatively strong and cohesive forces with substantial fire power. Analysts also believe the European Union may raise a common EU force or the EU Army. This force should not belong to any one nation but for the collective use of defending all members of the 27-member bloc like NATO,  

“All the European nations put together have more than 2 million men and women in uniform and they spend a whopping amount of $338 billion of their militaries. Coming back to Ukraine, if the US and Turkey oppose any move to send NATO forces to the war-torn country, the European nations may send their troops. It may lay the foundation stone of an EU Army or European Army.” 

An EU Army is clearly prophesied in the Bible.

NATO to Survive? 

Daily Mail wrote on March 3: 

“President Trump has launched his latest attack against Europe claiming that the United States should worry more about ‘migrant rape gangs and drug lords’ than Vladimir Putin or ‘end up like Europe’… The continent is also coming to terms with the brutal reality that it might not be able to rely on America for its security anymore… While Trump has so far avoided actively calling for the US to exit from NATO, he has consistently painted it as a one-sided relationship. 

“… Trump previously told reporters that he doubted the value of spending money on NATO – since the US was protecting NATO members but they were ‘not protecting us’ and has consistently called for the bloc to double its spending target.  During his first term Trump threatened to quit the alliance over his grievances about member’s defence spending.  

“Since Trump returned to the White House, the war in Ukraine has represented another growing rift between America and its European allies… 

“Trump’s advisor Elon Musk has outright called for the US to leave NATO in a post on X, formerly Twitter, over the weekend. Gunther Eagleman, a political commentator with 1.3 million followers, who describes himself as a ‘Proud America First MAGA Patriot’, wrote ‘It’s time to leave NATO and the UN’ in an X post on March 1. That message was reposted by Musk… who simply added ‘I agree’. 

“Musk also today reposted a tweet by Republican congressman Thomas Massie, the representative for Kentucky’s fourth congressional district since 2012, which called NATO ‘a Cold War relic that needs to be relegated to a talking kiosk at the Smithsonian’.” 

End of NATO? 

The Telegraph wrote on March 1: 

“End of Nato alliance could be ‘days away’, warns former commander… Wavering US support for the defence bloc may open the door to a new ‘European Treaty Organisation’, says Admiral James Stavridis…” 

“US ‘to Cease All Future Military Exercises in Europe’” 

The Telegraph wrote on March 8: 

“Nato countries could be forced to plan manoeuvres without US as Trump continues pivot away from bloc. 

“The United States has told its allies that it does not plan to participate in military exercises in Europe [beyond 2025], according to reports… It means that Nato countries will be forced to plan exercises without the participation of the US military, the largest in the alliance… 

“The Telegraph reported on Friday that Mr Trump is also considering pulling US troops out of Germany and redeploying them to Eastern Europe. He is understood to be weighing up withdrawing some 35,000 active personnel and moving them to Hungary.” 

Europe Angry With USA 

Financial Post wrote on March 1: 

“European leaders are confronting their worst-case scenario: maybe they really are going to be dealing with a bellicose Russia alone. When the United States lined up alongside Russia and North Korea earlier this week to oppose a UN motion condemning Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, some European officials knew that the transatlantic relationship was in deep trouble. Then they watched in horror as Donald Trump gave Volodymyr Zelenskiy a public dressing down in the Oval Office and something broke. 

“In interviews with Bloomberg, more than half a dozen officials who’ve maintained their composure through wars and financial crises reacted with visceral anger. For them, the scene showed the trust and values that have bound Europe and the U.S. together since the end of World War II are no longer shared. 

“‘President Trump and his administration raised a more fundamental challenge to the transatlantic alliance than it has faced in many decades,’ said Graham Allison, a professor of government at Harvard University, who studied with Henry Kissinger and served in both the Clinton and Reagan administrations. French President Emmanuel Macron, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen have all described this moment as a generational challenge for the continent… 

‘After Friday’s quarrel in the Oval Office, EU leaders lined up to voice their support for Zelenskiy and make clear whose side they were on. Trump is putting the Europeans into a position where they have to choose between the U.S. and Ukraine, several officials said, and most, if not all, will pick Ukraine. For Europe, it is existential.”

Within a little more than a month of Trump’s rule, the alliance between the USA and Europe is being broken up. And calls for an EU Army are getting louder.

AfD Politicians Call for Nuclear Weapons for Germany 

Die Welt wrote on March 7: 

“Several AfD politicians are calling for… Germany to be armed with nuclear weapons. Conscription is also essential… ‘Germany needs its own nuclear weapons and compulsory military service – also for women. To achieve this, the Basic Law [Grundgesetz] must be changed as soon as possible,’ said former Bundeswehr colonel [and] AfD defense politician Rüdiger Lucassen… ‘If the US nuclear umbrella is missing, Europe must act on its own. Germany must itself become capable of nuclear deterrence – within the framework of strategic European autonomy and a system of collective security with its own military and command structure.’… 

“AfD Bundestag member Hannes Gnauck, previously chairman of the AfD youth organization Junge Alternative (JA), which is disbanding, expressed similar views to Lucassen. ‘Germany needs its own nuclear umbrella…’ If the USA actually leaves NATO, Germany must take on the leading role in the alliance.” 

Compulsory Military Service in 2025? 

Die Tagesschau wrote on March 4:

“In view of the changing threat situation and the global alliance structures, CSU politician Florian Hahn is calling for more speed in the internal German debate about the reintroduction of compulsory military service… ‘The first conscripts will have to walk through the barracks gates in 2025…’ The chairman of the Bundeswehr Association, André Wüstner, is also in favor of starting compulsory military service this year… Approval for the reintroduction of compulsory military service also comes from the former Green Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer…

“The current Minister of Defense Boris Pistorius (SPD) presented a draft law for a new military service model in November. Shortly before the traffic light coalition collapsed, the federal government agreed on it – but there was no vote in the Bundestag and Bundesrat… 

“It is now up to the new federal government to decide on a new compulsory military service in peacetime. In times of conflict, the Military Service Act already stipulates that conscription for men is reinstated when the Bundestag declares a state of tension and defence.” 

Germany Must Become a Military Power 

Die Welt wrote on March 5: 

“Green politician Joschka Fischer describes the scandal in the White House as an ‘unbelievable event’. All trust in US President Donald Trump has been destroyed, Germany must now become a military power… 

“[He also calls for] talks on extending the French and British nuclear umbrella to the whole of Europe…”

Acknowledgement and Disclaimer:

These Current Events are compiled and commented on by Norbert Link. We gratefully acknowledge the many contributions of news articles from our readership. The publication of articles in this section is not to be viewed as an endorsement or approval as to contents or accuracy of the selected articles, but they are published for the purpose of pointing at worldwide developments in the light of biblical end-time prophecy and godly instruction. Our own comments are provided in italics.

In the first part of this Q&A, we looked at the biblical evidence that God the Father, Jesus Christ the Word, and innumerable angels are all in the third heaven.

But are there any human beings in heaven?  What about those who have died and have lived good lives?  Did they go to heaven and live there now in a conscious state?

In Ecclesiastes 9:5 we read: “For the living know that they shall die; But the dead know nothing, And they have no more reward, For the memory of them is forgotten.” 

Psalm 146:3-4 illustrates that the day one dies, his thoughts perish.

No human being has ascended to heaven, as Jesus revealed in John 3:13, and this is a telling piece of Scripture: “No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from, and it is heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven.”   

The NIV states “No one has ever gone into heaven.” The old Luther Bible says: “No one ascends to heaven.”

Acts 2:29 and 34 are also instructive on this matter:

“Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day… For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he says himself: ‘The LORD said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand…”

And Hebrews 11:39-40 speaks of the great men and women of old and shows that they are STILL awaiting their reward: “And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise, God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us.”

For much more on this subject, please see our Q&A:  https://www.eternalgod.org/question-and-answer-1066/ and our booklet “Do We Have an Immortal Soul?”    

Those who know the doctrines of the Church of the Eternal God and its international affiliates will be fully aware that our understanding from the Word of God is that we do not go to heaven at death.

For those who may want to study this more thoroughly, please see our Q&A’s:

“What are the biblical proofs that we do not go to heaven when we die?” https://www.eternalgod.org/q-a-11453/

“Do certain biblical passages tell us that we go to heaven when we die?”  https://www.eternalgod.org/q-a-11468/

“How do you explain certain passages in the Bible suggesting that we go to heaven when we die?”  https://www.eternalgod.org/q-a-11483/

“Doesn’t the Bible say that we will enter the kingdom of heaven? Doesn’t this show that we will go to heaven when we die?”  https://www.eternalgod.org/q-a-11501/

There are some commentators who say, incredibly, that there are human beings in heaven, and in their physical state, and they even make some other even more preposterous assertions.   We have no doubt about their sincerity, but such errors are something that we must avoid.  

What is in Heaven?

We read in Exodus 20:4 the following: “You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth…”

This verse reveals that there are things in heaven.

Revelation 3:5 speaks of a “Book of Life” which is in heaven.  In our booklet “Are You Predestined to be Saved?”, we read in the first chapter, page 3, the following description: 

“‘THE BOOK OF LIFE. The most important heavenly book, or scroll, that pertains to God’s true children is mentioned numerous times in Scripture. But many who have read these references have falsely assumed that this particular book is just a figurative expression, rather than a real, albeit spiritual book. The opposite is true. The book we are talking about is a VERY real book! It is called in Scripture, ‘the Book of Life.’ For example, we read in Revelation 3:5: ‘He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I [Jesus Christ] will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.’ On its face value, and without trying to ‘interpret’ this passage, we are plainly told that the names of true Christians are written down in a particular book—the Book of Life—and that they will not be erased from it as long as they continue to overcome. We can also understand from this that their names could be blotted out from the Book of Life.”

The information below is taken from Mr Norbert Link’s very revealing booklet, “Angels, Demons and the Spirit World” on pages 59-62:

“In Revelation 20:12 we read: ‘And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books.   Barnes Notes on the Bible states: ‘And the books were opened – That is, the books containing the record of human deeds.’ 

“Revelation 4:2 mentions a ‘throne set in heaven.’” 

We have seen, in part one of this Q&A that God the Father and Jesus Christ, both Spirit beings, reside in heaven.   In Psalm 47:8 we read: “God reigns over the nations; God is seated on His holy throne.”   And in Psalm 103:19: “The LORD has established His throne in heaven, and His kingdom rules over all.”

“Revelation 4:4 describes several thrones in heaven.”

The Scripture reads: “Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and on the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white robes; and they had crowns of gold on their heads.”

“Revelation 4:6 speaks of a ‘sea of glass’ before the throne in heaven.”

The Scripture reads: “Before the throne there was a sea of glass, like crystal. And in the midst of the throne, and around the throne, were four living creatures full of eyes in front and in back.”

“Revelation 5:1 mentions a spiritual scroll, sealed with seven spiritual seals.” 

The Scripture reads: “And I saw in the right hand of Him who sat on the throne a scroll written inside and on the back, sealed with seven seals.”

“Revelation 5:8 talks about a spiritual harp and golden bowls.”

The Scripture reads: “Now when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.”

These golden bowls housed the prayers of God’s people, the saints, which indicates how important they are.   Incense burned in the temple in the Old Testament gave off a pleasing aroma to God, and His people’s prayers are likened to this. 

“Revelation 8:2–5 reveals the existence of a spiritual golden censer, a spiritual golden altar, and even spiritual fire.”

The Scripture reads: “And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and to them were given seven trumpets. Then another angel, having a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, ascended before God from the angel’s hand. Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and threw it to the earth. And there were noises, thunderings, lightnings, and an earthquake.”

“We are informed in the book of Hebrews that all of these spiritual objects were used as a pattern for the creation of physical objects at the time of Moses. We read in Hebrews 9:23–24, in the Living Bible: ‘That is why the sacred tent down here on earth, and everything in it—all copied from things in heaven—all had to be made pure by Moses in this way…But the REAL things in heaven, of which these down here are copies, were made pure with far more precious offerings… It was not in the earthly place of worship that He did this, for that was merely a copy of the REAL TEMPLE IN HEAVEN.’ 

“So, there is a spiritual temple in heaven (Revelation 11:19; 15:5–6, 8). Further, we read about the temple of the tabernacle. God showed Moses exactly on the mountain how to build the earthly tabernacle. Time and again we read (Exodus 25:9; 25:40; 26:30; and 27:8) that God showed Moses a pattern as to how to build the tabernacle, the altar, the golden lamp stand and the sanctuary. God showed Moses what the real spiritual heavenly things look like. Moses was also instructed to form two cherubim, which were to cover the mercy seat. Again, God showed Moses, if he did not already know, what cherubim look like… 

“Isaiah 14:13 reports that Satan, formerly Lucifer, said: ‘I will ascend into heaven. I will exalt my throne above the stars of God. I will also sit on the mount of the congregation.’ Ezekiel 28:14 adds what God said about Lucifer: ‘You were the anointed cherub who covers…You were on the holy mountain of God.’ This spiritual mountain of God in heaven is also described in Hebrews 12:18–24. 

“We read about a city in heaven, the spiritual or heavenly Jerusalem (compare Hebrews 11:9–10; Revelation 3:12). It will come down to this earth in the future (Revelation 21:2–3, 10–21; 22:1–2). 

“Revelation 2:7 says that the tree of life is in the Paradise of God. Ezekiel 28:13–16 adds that Lucifer, who became Satan, was in the garden of God at the time of his creation, long before there ever was a physical world. So, we see that there is a spiritual garden of God, a Paradise, in heaven. 2 Corinthians 12:2–4 mentions that ‘Paradise,’ the spiritual garden, is in the third heaven where God dwells [and is] a heaven composed of spirit—the third heaven… where God lives (Psalm 11:4; Hebrews 9:24)]. The physical garden of Eden, which God later created for Adam and Eve, was patterned after the spiritual garden that exists in heaven, and in which is a spiritual tree of life. When the heavenly Jerusalem comes down to this earth, the heavenly garden, with the tree of life in it, will come down to this earth as well. 

“Revelation 21:1 tells us that the heavenly Jerusalem will come down from heaven to this earth, AFTER God has created a new heaven and a new earth. This will take place after all human beings have been changed into immortality or have been burned up and destroyed in the lake of fire. By that time, as we read in Revelation 20:14, death will no longer exist. We are told that death will have been cast into the lake of fire. Revelation 21:4–5 confirms that there will be NO MORE DEATH from that time on. 

“It is true that during the Millennium, certain of the things mentioned in Revelation 21 and 22 will be found on this earth as physical forerunners (Ezekiel 47:1, 7–8, 12). There are differences, however. Ezekiel 47 talks about the existence of a physical temple. When the heavenly Jerusalem comes down to this earth, after the Millennium, there will be no temple in it, ‘for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple’ (Revelation 21:22).”

In our booklet “Is That in the Bible? – The Mysteries of the Book of Revelation” page 145, we read:

“……John sees the ‘holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God’ (Revelation 21:2). This is a literal city—albeit not physical, but spiritual. (For more information on the spiritual nature of the new Jerusalem, please read our free booklet, ‘Angels, Demons and the Spirit World.’) That this city is literal and not just a symbolic reference to the Church, for example, can be seen from the very detailed and specific description in Revelation 21:10–22; 22:1–5. We are told in Revelation 21:2, in conjunction with other Scriptures, that God is presently ‘preparing’ this city in heaven (compare Revelation 3:12; Hebrews 11:9–10; 12:22; 13:14; Galatians 4:26). We also read that Jesus Christ is presently ‘preparing’ for us a place in the ‘Father’s house’—the new Jerusalem (John 14:1–3).”

What marvellous and thrilling information about who and what is in heaven—exciting and mind-blowing facts that we may not have previously fully understood or appreciated.

Lead Writer: Brian Gale (United Kingdom)

compiled by Dave Harris

“Politicians Demand What We Have Told You For Decades!” is the title of a new StandingWatch program presented by Evangelist Norbert Link. Here is the summary:

In this program, we describe a frightening development that we’ve been predicting for a long time. Until recently, most people weren’t willing to believe that something like this was possible, but today, for some, things are looking different.

“Politiker fordern, was wir Ihnen seit Jahrzehnten gesagt haben!” is the title of a new AufPostenStehen program presented by Norbert Link. This German program covers the same subjects as described above.

A new Member Letter (March 2025) has been posted and mailed to our subscribers. Pastor Brian Gale notes that the Church of God has faithfully sent monthly member letters with a focus on world events; especially, those which will lead to the return of Jesus Christ, and he stresses that many end-time prophecies are now being fulfilled.

“Cain and Abel – The First Murder” is the latest video published in our Bible Stories series on YouTube.

“Prophetisches Ereignis-OdS,” last Sabbath’s first split sermon in Germany was presented by Robert Muhr and is now posted. Title in English: “Prophetic Event – Place of Safety” (PoS).

“Try Harder,” last Sabbath’s sermonette presented by Dave Harris, is now posted. Here is the summary:

Is our Christianity a lazy or diligent one? Is there something we should be doing, or are we to just have faith and wait for what comes next?

“Why Do You Believe?” last Sabbath’s sermon presented by Eric Rank, is now posted. Here is the summary:

For those whom God calls in this age, He calls them uniquely. At the point of conversion, each one of us confirms our beliefs that set the direction for the rest of our lives. The reasons why we believe in the promise of God must be strong enough to guide us through our life’s journey. Are we working hard enough to strengthen our beliefs to lead us into salvation?

2025 SPRING HOLY DAYS:

Passover: April 12 (observed the evening before)

Days of Unleavened Bread: April 13-19 (first and last days are Holy Days with live Services being broadcast).