Current Events

Current Events – Animal Cruelty

by

“ ‘A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast: but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel’ (Proverbs 12:10).

Few realize as they should the sinfulness of abusing animals or leaving them to suffer from neglect. He who created man made the lower animals also, and ‘His tender mercies are over all His works’ (Psalm 145:9). The animals were created to serve man, but he has no right to cause them pain by harsh treatment or cruel exaction.

“It is because of man’s sin that ‘the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together’ (Romans 8:22). Suffering and death were thus entailed, not only upon the human race, but upon the animals. Surely, then, it becomes man to seek to lighten, instead of increasing, the weight of suffering which his transgression has brought upon God’s creatures. He who will abuse animals because he has them in his power is both a coward and a tyrant. A disposition to cause pain, whether to our fellow men or to the brute creation, is satanic. Many do not realize that their cruelty will ever be known, because the poor dumb animals cannot reveal it. But could the eyes of these men be opened … they would see an angel of God standing as a witness, to testify against them in the courts above. A record goes up to heaven, and a day is coming when judgment will be pronounced against those who abuse God’s creatures.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 443.

A Roswell, New Mexico, man is being accused of extreme cruelty to animals after his puppy was injured so badly that it had to be put down. Roswell police say [a] 27-year-old [man] allegedly beat the dog during an argument with his girlfriend Sunday, December 22, 2013. They say the puppy’s injuries were so severe that it had to be euthanized. www.thenewmexicochannel.com

Louisville [Kentucky] Metro Animal Services is investigating what they described as one of the worst animal abuse cases they have ever seen as another organization offers a reward for answers. Monday morning, December 30, 2013, a repair worker found a mutilated dog behind the Valero gas station. Whoever was responsible had removed multiple body parts and the dog was dead when officers arrived. “This is, by far, one of the worst cases we’ve ever had to deal with,” said a senior manager with Louisville Metro Animal Services. “The extent of the injuries and the type of injuries this animal sustained was absolutely gruesome. www.wave3.com

Animals destined for the pet trade are yanked from their homes in places such as Australia, Africa, and Brazil and are subjected to grueling transport. Parrots may have their beaks and feet taped and be stuffed into plastic tubes that can easily be hidden in luggage, and stolen bird and reptile eggs are concealed in special vests so that couriers can bypass X-ray machines at airports. Baby turtles have been trapped inside their shells with tape and shoved by the dozen into tube socks, and infant pythons have been shipped in CD cases. Many die before reaching their destinations. www.peta.org

Current Events – The Third Drug

by

The appetites of our animal natures ought to be kept in rigid subjection. These appetites were given us for important purposes, for good, and not to become the ministers of death by being perverted and becoming warring lusts. … An intemperate man cannot be a patient man. The almost imperceptible indulgence of the taste will create an appetite for stronger stimulants. … Call to your aid moral power, and abandon the use of tobacco [ and marijuana ] forever.” Testimonies, vol. 4, 244.

Colorado began allowing the sale of recreational marijuana on January 1, 2014, to anyone age 21 or older.

Residents can now buy marijuana like alcohol—except the cannabis purchase is limited to an ounce, which is substantial enough to cost about $200 or more.

It’s a big moment: Colorado became the first state in the nation to open recreational pot stores and became the first place in the world where marijuana will be regulated from seed to sale. Pot, by the way, is the third most popular recreational drug in America, after alcohol and tobacco, according to the marijuana reform group NORML.

www.cnn.com/2013/12/28

Amsterdam has long been known as the most weed-friendly place in the world, but with the passage of Colorado’s new law legalizing the sale of marijuana to adults 21 and over, Amsterdam will have to take a back seat to Colorado’s capital city.

Here are five ways Denver is more weed-friendly than Amsterdam.

  1. You can buy way more weed legally in Denver than you can in Amsterdam.
  2. You can legally grow weed in Denver. In Amsterdam and the rest of the Netherlands, that’s against the law.
  3. Denver city law lets you blaze on your front porch or in your backyard. In Amsterdam, that’s a no-no.
  4. You can legally buy weed brownies, magic cookies and cannabis lollipops in Denver. In Amsterdam, that’s illegal.
  5. You can gift your friends up to 1 ounce of weed in Denver, but not in Amsterdam. www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/08

Is Colorado’s newly-enacted cannabis law creating a new war between the states?

On January 1, 2014, Colorado legalized the recreational use of marijuana for adults. And while supporters of cannabis have hailed the move, there are signs the new law has created some ill will in the seven states bordering Colorado, and beyond.

Despite the new laws, and the growing number of states that have legalized marijuana for medical use, cannabis remains illegal under federal law. Federal law also governs all civil aviation, so Colorado airports are cracking down and prohibiting cannabis on their grounds. www.cbsnews.com

Current Events – Pope and Cope exchange Hope for Catholic/Charismatic Union

by

Pope Francis has now sent a video message to Word of Faith father Kenneth Copeland, urging reconciliation between Catholics and Charismatics.

“The Catholic and Charismatic renewal is the hope of the church,” exclaims Anglican Episcopal Bishop Tony Palmer, before a group of cheering followers at the Kenneth Copeland Ministries. Palmer said those words are from the Vatican. Before playing the video message from Pope Francis to Kenneth Copeland, Palmer told the crowd, “When my wife saw that she could be Catholic, and Charismatic, and Evangelical, and Pentecostal, and it was absolutely accepted in the Catholic Church, she said that she would like to reconnect her roots with the Catholic culture. So she did.”

The crowd cheered as he continued, “Brothers and sisters, Luther’s protest is over. Is yours?”

Kenneth Copeland noted the incredible nature of this development: Said Copeland, “Heaven is thrilled over this. … You know what is so thrilling to me? When we went into the ministry 47 years ago, this was impossible.”

The evangelicals to whom the message from Pope Francis was addressed received it with open arms.

Bishop Tony Palmer apparently has a personal relationship with the pope and is being sent as his envoy. He serves as a mediator in that he is an Anglican with his own ministry that is specifically focused on bringing unity to the churches. He is making the rounds to bring different denominations together.

Palmer says he understands that the spirit of Elijah is the spirit of reconciliation to turn hearts of the sons to the father and to each other. He very skillfully breaks down the distinctions between Protestants and Catholics.

It is crucial that all true Protestants understand the reasons for the protestant movement and the role of the Roman Catholic Church in Bible prophecy.

You can watch the presentation of Tony Palmer and the message from the pope at the following website: http://standupforthetruth.com/2014/02/pope-to-copeland-catholics-and-charismatics-must-spiritually-unite/

Watch Doug Batchelor’s commentary on the pope’s message at: http://youtu.be/IsF2q-8ez08

Please note that Steps to Life does not endorsed either of these commentaries. We simply wish for you to be aware of current events in the fulfillment of prophecy.

Inspired:

“Romanism is now regarded by Protestants with far greater favor than in former years. In those countries where Catholicism is not in the ascendancy, and the papists are taking a conciliatory course in order to gain influence, there is an increasing indifference concerning the doctrines that separate the reformed churches from the papal hierarchy; the opinion is gaining ground that, after all, we do not differ so widely upon vital points as has been supposed, and that a little concession on our part will bring us into a better understanding with Rome. The time was when Protestants placed a high value upon the liberty of conscience which had been so dearly purchased. They taught their children to abhor popery and held that to seek harmony with Rome would be disloyalty to God. But how widely different are the sentiments now expressed!” The Great Controversy, 563.

Current Events – Affordable Care Act

by

Christian organizations make a stand against the Federal Government on the moral issues hidden in the Affordable Care Act

“The banner of truth and religious liberty held aloft by the founders of the gospel church and by God’s witnesses during the centuries that have passed since then, has, in this last conflict, been committed to our hands. The responsibility for this great gift rests with those whom God has blessed with a knowledge of His word. We are to receive this word as supreme authority. We are to recognize human government as an ordinance of divine appointment, and teach obedience to it as a sacred duty, within its legitimate sphere. But when its claims conflict with the claims of God, we must obey God rather than men. God’s word must be recognized as above all human legislation.” The Acts of the Apostles, 68.

Four Most Important Questions

The Supreme Court recently heard oral arguments in the Hobby Lobby contraception case. But which arguments will have the most influence on the justices? Which four arguments are most likely to be important?

Cutting through the politicized hype about the Hobby Lobby, the Justices during oral argument focused on four serious legal questions, which deserve a serious answer:

  1. Could Hobby Lobby avoid a substantial burden on its religious exercise by dropping health insurance and paying fines of $2,000 per employee?
  2. Does the government have a compelling interest in protecting the statutory rights of Hobby Lobby’s employees?
  3. Would a ruling in favor of Hobby Lobby give rise to a slippery slope of exemptions from vaccines, minimum wage laws, anti-discrimination laws, and the like?
  4. Has the government satisfied the least restrictive means test?

The answer to all four questions is “no.” http://blog.acton.org/March 24

Supreme Court seeks compromise in contraception case

March 25, 2014

WASHINGTON—The Obama administration struggled Tuesday to defend the so-called contraception mandate in its fledgling health care law before a Supreme Court clearly sympathetic to religious objections raised by employers.

While the justices were predictably divided along ideological lines, it appeared that a majority of them did not want to force for-profit corporations to offer health plans that include birth control methods they claim cause abortions.

The decision could have a psychological impact, however, on a law that has suffered more than its share of website glitches and administrative delays. And it could have a political impact for the White House. www.usatoday.com

Hobby Lobby case goes before Supreme Court

Mar. 26, 2014 – 2:55 – The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty’s Lori Windham on the Hobby Lobby’s case on employer’s religious rights when it comes to health insurance being heard by the Supreme Court. http://foxbusiness.com

Current Events – Climate Change

by

A new alarming report on climate change is expected to be released this week by the Federal government, the latest in a series of influential studies on the topic. A draft of the report includes a sobering forecast about how climate and weather conditions may change in the United States of America.

A recent street collapse after a heavy downpour in Baltimore is one example of extreme weather events that may be more common in the future according to a draft of the National Climate Assessment. The report says the warming is primarily driven by human activity and predicts temperatures in the United States could soar by as much as 10 degrees by the year 2100.

Snow and rain in the northeast could increase by nearly a third. Hurricanes in the southeast could be stronger with some areas called highly vulnerable to sea level rise. Wildfires in the southwest could increase with more intense drought conditions creating drier vegetation. The report also outlines the risk to our food supply. Activists who say that climate change threatens to completely alter the way that we live, the way we produce our food to where and how we live, have anticipated the findings of the draft report. The elderly, the sick, and the poor are the most vulnerable to the health impact according to the report and the future for our children is very unpredictable.

While policy makers debate climate change, the vast majority of climate scientists say it has already begun and is time for the country to prepare. NBC News, New York May 4, 2014.

Four years after the B.P. oil spill, the disaster is still causing death on the Mississippi delta. Twenty miles into the marsh the black tar has choked the life out of what was once a baby pelican nursery. As recently as a year ago there were pelicans seen but now there are just dead sticks. The tar is not the problem but the oily sheen that nobody has ever cleaned up. Tiny bacteria have absorbed the sheen and now wildlife officials worry it could be working its way into dolphins and other large predators. Increased numbers of dead dolphins are being seen coming ashore. It is true that there could be a number of things killing the dolphins along the Gulf coast. Scientists and lawyers are still trying to work out the oil’s exact environmental impact. B.P. has already spent more than $14 billion in cleanup efforts. Since the spill, many animal habitats have simply eroded away. Land bridges and islands that were once prevalent are now non-existent. But just one mile north there is some good news: the state bird of Louisiana is thriving. There are brown pelican eggs ready to hatch despite losing their old home to the oil slick. NBC News, Mississippi, May 4, 2014.

As I [Ellen White] hear of the terrible calamities that from week to week are taking place, I ask myself: What do these things mean? The most awful disasters are following one another in quick succession. How frequently we hear of earthquakes and tornadoes, of destruction by fire and flood, with great loss of life and property! Apparently these calamities are capricious outbreaks of seemingly disorganized, unregulated forces, but in them God’s purpose may be read. They are the means by which He seeks to arouse men and women to a sense of their danger.” Counsels for the Church, 355, 356.

Current Events – Vatican Peace Talks

by

Pope Francis Invites Israeli, Palestinian Leaders to Vatican Peace Talks

While laboring at Thessalonica, Paul had so fully covered the subject of the signs of the times, showing what events would occur prior to the revelation of the Son of man in the clouds of heaven, that he did not think it necessary to write at length regarding this subject. He, however, pointedly referred to his former teachings. ‘Of the times and the seasons,’ he said, ‘ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them’ (I Thessalonians 5:1–3).” The Acts of the Apostles, 258–260.

“The high point of Jimmy Carter’s [United States] presidency occurred on Monday, September 18, 1978. While Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin looked on from the balcony, Carter briefed a joint session of Congress on the success of their thirteen-day summit at Camp David, Maryland. Stopping twenty-five times for applause, he described the first peace treaty between Israel and one of its Arab neighbors, as well as a framework for further progress toward peace in the Middle East. ‘Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be the children of God’ (Matthew 5:9), an emotional Carter intoned, capping two weeks of high-risk diplomacy that ended in historic achievement.

“When Jimmy Carter entered the White House in 1977, the situation in the Middle East was highly unstable, the product of four wars since the establishment of Israel on May 14, 1948. A formal state of war still existed between Israel and its neighbors, including Egypt, bent on reclaiming the Sinai territory seized by the Israelis in 1967. Millions of Palestinian Arabs chafed under Israeli control in the West Bank and Gaza territories, also annexed during the Six Day War in 1967. www.pbs.org

Thirty-six years later:

Pope Francis extended an invitation Sunday [May 25, 2014] to the leaders of Israel and the Palestinian Authority to travel to the Vatican for a “peace initiative,” after earlier calling for a two-state solution to the intractable conflict. …

The Palestinian side has accepted the invitation and … the Israeli President’s office said that he welcomed the invitation. …

The Pope called on all sides to pursue a path to peace together and not take unilateral actions to disrupt it.

“I can only express my profound hope that all will refrain from initiatives and actions which contradict the stated desire to reach a true agreement, and that peace will be pursued with tireless determination and tenacity,” he said. www.cnn.com

Current Events – Spiritualism about to take world Captive

by

Various forms of Spiritualism are about to take the world captive.

Or have they already?

“Spiritualism is about to take the world captive. There are many who think that Spiritualism is upheld through trickery and imposture, but this is far from the truth. Superhuman power is working in a variety of ways, and few have any idea as to what will be the manifestations of Spiritualism in the future.”

Evangelism, 603.

  1. K. Rowling’s fictional wizard, Harry Potter, has been so successful that a commercial empire has been built on Ms Rowling’s creation. The masses are far more interested in fairy tales than reality. Toys, games and movies have been produced and now the “Wizarding World of Harry Potter” is about to get a little bigger with the second fun-park being built in Florida based on the book’s theme.

Some of the features of the new park are advertised in the following manner:

“Hang with animatronic goblins, purported to be not the friendliest of creatures. If you ring their bells, they look right at you. Creepy!”

“If hunger strikes you while wandering Diagon Alley, don’t fret. The Leaky Cauldron (an eatery) awaits you.”

“If the, ahem, ‘darker arts’ are more your thing, head over to Knockturn Alley and check out Borgin and Burkes and the creepy ‘Hand of Glory.’ “

Two wand shops are situated at the parks “so you can double up on all your wand-related needs to get your hands on an interactive wand and make some magic.”

This is described as “totally and completely magical.”

The Harry Potter books may be seen as a high-water mark in the industry but there have been fresh surprises since their publication. The books now being devoured on buses and trains concern a romance between a young woman and a vampire. Like the Harry Potter books, Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight first became popular in a place on the fringes of Hollywood’s consciousness: not Britain this time but America. The four-book series by Ms. Meyer has sold half as many copies in America as the Harry Potter series, according to Nielsen BookScan.

Sources:
www.universalorlando.com/Theme-Parks/Wizarding-World-Of-Harry-Potter.aspx; www.economist.com/node/15108711

Current Events – Nearly every Continent of this earth has been hit by climate and weather disasters

by

Zimbabwe—Hundreds of people have been killed due to the severe rains in the first few months of the year.

China—1 million people were displaced and over 200 people killed due to severe flooding and other natural disasters in the first half of the year.

Peru—Flooding triggered by unusually warm Pacific waters off the coast killed 150 and affected more than 1 million.

Afghanistan—Avalanches caused by heavy snowfall caused deaths and loss of homes.

Democratic Republic of the Congo—A horrific landslide killed hundreds, leaving 280 children orphaned.

Sri Lanka—Heavy rainfall and strong monsoon winds left hundreds dead and affected another half million. Hundreds more have died from dengue fever since the disaster.

Mexico—A major 7.1 magnitude earthquake shook Mexico City on September 19, killing at least 225 people. The earthquake struck on the 32nd anniversary of a devastating 1985 quake that killed thousands in Mexico. Twelve days earlier, the even larger Chiapas earthquake struck 400 miles away, off the coast of the state of Chiapas, killing at least 96 people.

Colombia—A massive landslide in the southern city of Mocoa killed at least 300 and injured hundreds more. Two weeks later, 17 more people were killed and dozens more injured in another landslide set off by heavy rains.

South Asia—Flooding and landslides resulting from monsoon rains have affected at least 41 million people in Bangladesh, India and Nepal during the summer with a death toll of 1,200.

United States—Three hurricanes in quick succession have caused unprecedented havoc and devastation. Hurricane Harvey was an extremely destructive Atlantic hurricane which became the first major hurricane to make landfall in the U.S. since 2005. Harvey was the wettest tropical hurricane on record in the U.S., causing widespread flooding. At least 75 were confirmed dead from the flooding along its path of destruction. Hurricane Irma with its deadly storm surges and Maria with her catastrophic high winds that totally devastated Puerto Rico followed in quick succession leaving a trail of death and destruction.

Las Vegas, USA—October 1. Thirty thousand people were gathered on the Las Vegas Strip for a music festival when a lone shooter opened fire on them from the 32nd floor of a hotel building. Initial reports say 59 people are dead with more than 500 injured in the largest mass shooting in U.S. history.

Might this be what has been described “as the beginning of sorrows”? If ever there was a time to get on your knees and pray for the inhabitants of this world to turn to their Creator it is now. The devil is “enraged” and enlisting all in his power to destroy, for he knows that his time is short.

In the midst of all of this disaster was an amazing display of God’s creation when the moon eclipsed the sun.

August 21, 2017—Eclipse Day

The people of the United States looked in wonder as the lunar shadow entered the United States near Lincoln City, Oregon, at 9:05 a.m. before totally eclipsing the sun at 10:16 a.m. Many had travelled from abroad to see this phenomenon while others were transfixed to their televisions for the next couple of hours to follow the lunar shadow until it left the U.S. at 4:09 p.m. EDT.

Current events – Christian Families Flee Mosul

by

Jesus said, “Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath.” Matthew 24:20

Facing fines, conversion or death, Christian families flee Mosul

Baghdad, Iraq (CNN) – Just days after the militant group the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria said they killed hundreds of Syrians, dozens of Iraqi Christian families are now fleeing the ISIS-controlled city of Mosul, hoping to avoid a similar fate.

On Friday [July 18, 2014], the al Qaeda splinter group issued an ultimatum to Iraqi Christians living in Mosul – by Saturday at noon (5 a.m. ET), they must convert to Islam, pay a fine or face “death by the sword.”

A total of 52 Christian families left the city of Mosul early Saturday morning, with an armed group prohibiting some of them from taking anything but the clothes on their backs.

“They told us, ‘You to leave all of your money, gold, jewelry and go out with only the clothes on you,’ ” Wadie Salim told CNN.

Images obtained exclusively by CNN show that the phrase “property of ISIS” scrawled in black paint on a number of the homes that were abandoned.

Some of the families headed for Irbil – which is currently controlled by Kurdish forces – and others toward the Dohuk province. The majority went to Dohuk, which is 140 kilometers (87 miles) north of Mosul.

“We did not know how to act,” said another Mosul resident, Um Nazik. “Are we going to get killed?”

ISIS was able to take over large swaths of land due to the lack of centralized authority in both Iraq and war-torn Syria. The Sunni militants hope to establish an Islamic state throughout the region it currently controls.

Salman al-Farisi, the ISIS-appointed governor of Mosul, declared that any family that planned on staying in Mosul and not to converting to Islam would be required to pay 550,000 Iraqi dinar (about $470).

Letters distributed to Christians in Mosul in recent days said ISIS’s leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, agreed to allow those who didn’t embrace Islam or pay a special jizya tax to leave.

ISIS is notorious for its brutality – the group is so violent that al Qaeda has attempted to distance itself from its former affiliate.

On Thursday in Syria’s Homs province, the militant Sunni group killed 270 people after storming and seizing the Shaer gas field, the group said.

www.cnn.com/2014/07/19/world/meast/christians-flee-mosul-iraq/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

This event occurred in Iraq. Could it happen in the USA?

Imagine, less than 24 hours to prepare to leave, taking with you only the clothes on your back and leaving behind all the things that have been collected over a lifetime and have taken years of work to pay for them. There are no guarantees of safety, behind is the threat of being killed by a sword and ahead is just another hostile environment.

Nothing but the clothes on your back—no food, no blankets, no cell phone, no Ipad, no google, nothing!

No Bible, only you and the promises of God that you have stored in your memory. David said, “Your word I have hidden in my heart.” Psalm 119:11.

Current Events – Beginning of Sorrows

by

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

Indecisive end to Gaza conflict—Fifty days of fighting has left more than 2,200 people dead, most of them Palestinians and more than a quarter of Gaza’s population has been displaced by fighting. How long with this current ceasefire last? is the unanswered question. With the cleanup other problems arise–a health risk. With damaged pipelines and sewage floods the local water authority is now providing 50 percent less water and there are concerns about contamination. BBC News August 19, 2014.

Ebola Outbreak—‘It’s even worse than I’d feared,” Dr. Tom Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said of the Ebola outbreak rampaging through West Africa. “Every day this outbreak goes on, it increases the risk for another export to another country.” More than 2,600 people have been infected by Ebola in Liberia, Guinea, Sierra Leone and Nigeria since the outbreak began in December. Nearly 1,500 have died. CNN News, August 27, 2014.

Syria—Thousands of foreign fighters from 50 nations are engaged in Syria and who are affiliating themselves with extremist groups to take part in its bloody, messy civil war.

“More than a million Christians have fled their homes in Iraq alone, after being given the ultimatum by the group to convert to their radical form of Islam or be put to death. One report stated that Yazidis converted to Islam against their will in order to avoid death.”

“There are children who are only eating once every three days,” Dr. Ali Albayati, who lives in the town, told the BBC. “It is a humanitarian disaster – 20,000 people in Amerli are fighting off death.”

www.christianpost.com/news/isis-beyond-anything-we-have-seen-pentagon-states-as-persecution-continues-in-iraq-125213/

As terrible as these wars are, could they be the devil’s smoke screen to hide the ultimate enemy of Christianity?

Seoul, South Korea—Pope Francis ended his five-day visit to South Korea with the same message he delivered the moment he first stepped off his Alitalia flight August 14: a call for reconciliation on the Korean peninsula.

Between that first wish and his last public prayer August 18, Francis built on the theme of reconciliation coupling it with calls for forgiveness and inclusiveness, especially keeping in mind the poor and otherwise marginalized of society. …

Francis’ vision of international reconciliation goes beyond the Koreas. He made this clear several times during his visit. He encouraged a group of Catholic bishops and young people on the last day of the Asian youth gathering to evangelize their continent “through dialogue and openness, even with others suspicious or intolerant of the church.” …

Reconciliation requires a transformation of heart, attitude and lifestyle, Francis told every Korean he encountered, explaining such transformation requires payer, hard work and the grace of God.

http://ncronline.org/news/global/pope-francis-focus-south-korean-trip-call-reconciliation

“And I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed. And all the world marveled and followed the beast.” Revelation 13:3. “For when they say, ‘Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction comes upon them.” I Thessalonians 5:3.