So many things are taking place here and abroad it’s hard to know where to start or when to stop. A massive headline this week told of Angela Merkel reneging on her pledge to our President to pay a percentage (2 % of GDP) toward NATO defense. You probably heard the howls of the President’s critics, saying that questioning the ongoing merit of NATO is proof that he’s mentally unstable. The Europeans mostly all pledged to increase the amount they contribute toward their military defense under NATO, which operates largely at the expense of American taxpayers. Europe better hope that Germany’s betrayal doesn’t catch on, or they may need that European army after all!

In better news, the President made good on a promise he made in a recent speech. Public universities will either allow FREE SPEECH (guaranteed by the 1st Amendment) on their campuses or they will be denied the lavish federal funding they currently enjoy. This should be fun. President Trump also recognized Israel’s sovereignty over the area known as the Golan Heights. Prime Minister Netanyahu was near tears of joy with gratitude over this long-promised, belated recognition. Syria has vowed to recover the Golan Heights. We can hardly wait.

The new monthly letter has gone to print, and covers some of what might have been in today’s Update. There is a description of where things stand regarding Britain’s longstanding attempt to break free of the European Union. The EU hates the idea of a British exit, and has done everything imaginable to make it difficult and impractical. Prime Minister Theresa May apparently intends to bring the rejected formula back to Parliament for a third time, if she thinks she can get it through. One of the authors we’ve published in TCW (Ted Malloch) called it “Unconditional Surrender” to the EU.

For those who think the Supreme Court is bullet proof, consider this development. The highest court has refused to hear an appeal by a bed and breakfast owner sued for denying a lesbian “couple” accommodations clear back in 2007. There will be punitive financial repercussions. Hawaii has some state law banning “discrimination” on the basis of all manner of nonsense. I remember signs that read, “We reserve the right to refuse service to anyone at any time for any reason.” The owner of the B&B also won’t rent to unmarried couples, so go figure.

There’s probably another million things to discuss, but we thought we’d share the contents of interesting calls to our office this week. One was from a man who said he was a Catholic Bishop. He’d requested our materials on the “trinity,” and called to say that we are absolutely right on the subject. The whole of the mainstream “Christian” world is deceived on this subject, but this guy said that he’d studied our materials and the Bible and came to the right conclusion.

We got another call from a man who’d just received our most recent issue of 21st Century WATCH. He called to say he loved it, and hadn’t seen any publication that tackled the subject matter we take on.  He can’t wait for the next one, so we’ll send him some back issues in the meantime. We’re now getting close to the Spring Holy Days. In Stan Roberts’ absence last week, we used the sermon by my Dad entitled A Footwashing Attitude. We sent it out, with the current Update for some of the congregations to see this Sabbath. We appreciated it immensely, and think you will too. It will make for a meaningful and enjoyable Sabbath. Have a great one,
 
Mark

Source: http://www.intercontinentalcog.org/fridayupdates.php

The post Weekly Update by Mark Armstrong – 22 March 2019 first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.