There is very sad news to all of us in the Western world, Prince Phillip, Duke of Edinburgh and husband of Queen Elizabeth since 1947, died.  He was born of royalty, and we’ll undoubtedly be treated to numerous re-tellings of his life and times in the days ahead.  It is reported that he was responsible for the foundation of countless charities, and that his titles pass automatically to Prince Charles.  The Yahoo report couldn’t get through the first sentence of its story without wondering how coronavirus restrictions will affect funeral attendance.

Assuming one can go to England, they’re forced to quarantine for ten days, and the funeral traditionally is held within eight days.  What about Harry?  Do we care?  Yahoo thinks so.  The story of Prince Phillip’s death ends up being more about the coronavirus regulations and whether Harry can even manage to be at his grandfather’s funeral.  When you think about succession, you can’t help but hope the Queen outlasts us all.  Otherwise we’ll be subjected to the mindless ramblings of someone who swallowed nearly every woke philosophy, and we’ve got enough grief as it is.

We took a welcome hiatus from world events and U. S. news last week for obvious reasons.  The “news,” or what passes for it has become utterly unpalatable, particularly when we don’t need the distraction and don’t want the predictable reaction whether disgust or anger or both.

The New York Times threw us a bone this week, saying that religious liberty is secure with the current makeup of the Supreme Court.  The paper is interested in the breakdown of how justices appointed by liberal or conservative presidents ruled on various cases.  If you had to guess, you definitely wouldn’t be far off.  One justice says the First Amendment of the Constitution has been “weaponized” to intervene in economic and regulatory policy.  Obama appointed her.

Some of the issues appearing before the highest court have to do with the ordered shutdown of worship services.  As we’ve seen, governors with authoritarian tendencies act with the force at their control, and maybe a year or two later they find out they didn’t have the authority to overrule the Constitution.  But they’ve put countless businesses, including churches, out of business by then.

Whatever happened to freedom of assembly, never mind freedom of speech?  Are they telling us that Fauci’s ever-changing opinions outweigh Constitutional rights?  Yep, that’s exactly what they’re telling us via most media outlets.

In Canada, it’s worse.  There was a story this week about a church in Alberta that “violated covid regulations.”  So the authorities shut the church down and closed the approaching streets while they double layered the building and the parking lot with chain-link fences.  That ought to show those parishioners who’s boss!

Sorry to keep bringing this up, but nothing makes sense anymore (and the media seems to like it that way.)   Is it any wonder?  Little children are taught to believe in things that don’t exist, and it is treated like a crime if someone were to shatter their expectations at too young an age.  Santa Clause and the Easter bunny are sacrosanct, and are purported to be the best of childhood memories.  But none of it is true.  No wonder people don’t trust churches or preachers.  They encourage parents to teach their kids a bunch of fairy tales and really, fervently believe them!  No wonder so many grow up to reject most that they’ve been taught, especially religious values.  Why wouldn’t young adults conclude that none of the other religious teachings are much better than the fantasies they learned as a child?  Sooner or later they’re going to find out, and they do.

If you’ve ever seen much of  Garner Ted Armstrong, you realize he thought our beliefs ought to make logical sense.  One of the things that always made me smile is when he asked his TV audience, “Is your religion any good to you if it makes any sense?”  When you look at nature, or at the universe, you see that everything makes scientific, mathematical and logical sense.  Everything operates according to Laws that ensure that things work accordingly.  As the Proverb says, “Only a fool says in his heart there is no God.”  Mainstream society wants to cut the bonds between us and God.  Woke philosophy operates as if on a higher plane, well outside what God has decreed.

What’s with these companies and corporations announcing their “stand” on any number of political issues?  It’s way past time we stopped giving them any aid or comfort.  Maybe they should be told off and shamed.  But everybody is frightened of losing access to their services.  Oh well, maybe they shouldn’t be in the business of providing services if they hate everything most of us stand for.

Mark

PS: I should tell you that we had a great group of visitors here last weekend. Not only were they treated to explanations and historical facts about the days of Unleavened Bread, but we (and quite a few children) had a great karaoke party after sundown Saturday night.  Thanks very much to all who were here and helped make one of the most enjoyable and memorable occasions our building has ever seen.  Word from Mr. Robert Nunnery and Mr. Kelly Pierson is that they had great results at the meetings in Dalton as well.  It’s nice to put this world and its problems in their place once in a while.

The post Weekly Update by Mark Armstrong – 9 April 2021 first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

We’re all home now from the annual Feast of Tabernacles, which by all accounts was a wonderful experience at each of the five sites we sponsor.  There was surprisingly good attendance and the friendly, joyful atmosphere you’d expect.  We were reminded of one of the differences between ourselves and most of the other organizations.  Our people are FREE to attend the location of their choosing, stay in whatever accommodations they like, and we don’t hand out pages of rules to be followed, or else.

It is part of the lasting legacy of my Dad, Garner Ted Armstrong.  He rejected the whole concept of an authoritarian “headquarters” and ministry, calling people on the carpet or telling them they’re not welcome until they satisfy the dress code or some other rule on their printout.  We welcome everybody, that is, unless or until they make it abundantly clear that they’ve come to trouble our members over some doctrinal dispute or other.  It’s been about twenty years since my Dad said that the time for dispute over some doctrinal understanding or other was long past.

We operate under the premise that each of us has direct access to God through prayer, and no church or minister has any business getting between the individual and God, or to demand that some arbitrary standard be met in order to come and learn at our services.  We do, however, expect some decorum, in fact, happiness and JOY that God ordained for such occasions.  It may seem an outdated concept in the society we inhabit, but can be found in abundance at our Feast sites.

Is it possible that what we’ve known to be factually verified is finally about to be confirmed by official government entities?  Will some smidgen of TRUTH actually penetrate the news media after years of their non-stop shenanigans?  Many have lost hope that previously respected institutions could ever again be trusted to tell the truth, let alone dispense justice.  Suddenly they tell us that things are coming to a head, and some of those non-stop FALSE accusers, of President Trump and those that dare support him, are lawyering up.  Criminal activity?  Why they have no idea what anybody is talking about!  They’re so confused, they lack for words.  Well, it’s about time!

Will the mainstream anchors even be able to pronounce the words that we expect to be in the wire reports?  Not without a scowl, and not without a panel of insiders and impeachment “experts” to now accuse top law-enforcement officials of carrying out “revenge” against the President’s critics.  Imagine law enforcement agencies being used to carry out political errands, trampling the Constitutional rights of innocent people!  They’re shocked and bewildered.  How could such a thing happen in a legal system brimming with checks and balances?  Uh, that’s the question we’ve wanted answered for so long, we nearly forgot.  Well, almost.

It’s been nearly two years since a relatively brief explanation appeared in this Update, highlighting facts that could be corroborated by numerous credible sources with precious little research.  There are at least a half dozen books, some of the best-sellers, that outline and document the corruption that has taken place right under our noses.  After denying that there was any such thing as a “deep state,” now it’s being argued that the deep state is, in fact, a benevolent group trying to “do the right thing” and rid us of the president elected by ignorant people in flyover country.

Let’s face it, folks, even if you’re not in “flyover country.”  The mainstream media, the institutions of higher learning, the schoolteachers union, major corporations, and most government agencies hate everything we stand for.  Much of what we believe couldn’t be stated on any network panel without howls of derision, and the outbreak of spit-flecked outrage.

It looks like a battle for the ages.  They should have known they wouldn’t be able to run off President Trump by the sheer volume of accusations.  History has been made.  They threw everything but the kitchen sink at him, and now they’re heaving that too.  He’s still standing, somehow, unable to trust anyone even in his administration, save a precious few loyal friends and family.  There’s no need to rehash the past two years of withering attacks, the enthusiastic complicity and feigned sincerity of the media accomplices.  They’ve been working overtime to DECEIVE their audiences while hiding behind mottos like, “FACTS FIRST.”  Ratings show we’re not the only ones who can’t stand it.

Tremendous damage has been done during this period of false reporting.  Lives have been destroyed; reputations have been ruined.  Fortunes have been expended and lost.  Allegations have been endless, all delivered with the smug assurance that they (the prissy anchor set) know something you don’t.  Maybe something is about to give, and the truth of about a thousand trumped-up (no pun) controversies will finally begin to be verified by credible individuals on the government payroll. We can only hope, pray, and remember, we’ve had our hopes up before.  Maybe this time it will conclude differently, but the spin doctors are working overtime tonight!

Most of the world’s difficulties that we normally visit in these pages are ongoing.  The Hong Kong protest against communist Chinese rule has gotten worse, raising the specter of violence, Tiananmen Square style.  The one thing that may prevent a communist crushing of those who wish to live under the freedoms afforded by British law, is the prospect that Trump might become a much more difficult trade negotiator if things turn ugly.  But another reality is becoming clear.  It’s been exposed by the fracas with the NBA.  Players making millions off broadcasts and promotions to the Chinese market have shown that their money is a much higher priority than the NATIONALITY that made their success possible in the first place.  At the first sign of support for the people of Hong Kong, the communist dictatorship canceled broadcasts of pre-season games in China.  That means players lost MONEY.  Lots of it.  You won’t believe the argumentative banter still going on at ESPN.

That’s where their loyalty lies.  Nuts to the United States, they’ve got their foreign markets all lined up to secure extra millions and nothing better get in the way.  Certainly not loyalty to the United States and the freedom and security it stands for.  Maybe they’d be happier living in China!  But that’s not the end of the story.  How many big corporations are making their fortunes off business done in China?  More than we’d like to know.  China is making demands on U. S. companies, exerting controls to which most are all too happy to comply.  This controversy we’ve only recently seen come to light may run way deeper than we ever expected.  We’ve got news for all of them.  Some things are more important than money.  The freedom God ordained in his promises to Abraham comes to mind.  It’s priceless. We’d intend to cherish it, and never sell out our beliefs or blessings, no matter the economic considerations.

Mark

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

The post Weekly Update by Mark Armstrong – 25 October 2019 first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.