A Christian charity worker in Malta could face jail time after he claimed that his faith enabled him to turn away from a homosexual lifestyle he no longer wanted.

Matthew Grech, 33, faces potential fines and imprisonment for allegedly falling afoul of his country’s ban on “conversion practices” when he explained to a local media outlet last year how he left homosexuality behind because he came to believe it was wrong.

“I was invited by this new emerging platform in Malta called PMnews to share my story and to discuss sexuality in general,” Grech told Fox News Digital, noting that he was “surprised” when police later called him early on a Sunday morning and ultimately served him with a prosecution order summoning him to court on Feb. 3.

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Source: https://www.foxnews.com/world/christian-charity-worker-faces-potential-jail-time-fine-speaking-leaving-lgbt-lifestyle

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The new monthly letter is being printed and will be mailed the first of next week.  Our HQ building is cleaned up and cleaned out of leaven, and we expect there will be a good turnout for the Passover (Lord’s Supper) service to be held this evening at sundown.  I will tell you that several hundred people have gone to the 21^st Century WATCH website in response to a post offering explanation about the origins of Easter.

There is much to be said and understood about what’s happening in the United States and all around the world.  Hopes for prosperity and survival have been dashed in so many ways, it’s hard to keep up and not much fun in any event.  It appears as though those who purportedly “won” the election are going to use every conceivable path to try to outlaw the rights we considered inviolable.

But this is no time to be in a terrible attitude.  We’ve got more important things to contemplate as another (forgettable) year has passed, and it’s time for the Passover and the Spring Holy Day season to commence.  God has a glorious future in store for those who overcome the sins of this world, and this is a good time to reflect on those promises.  We hope you all have a fulfilling Passover, and First Day of Unleavened Bread.  And we’re looking forward to having visitors from near and far for the activities scheduled around the Last Day of Unleavened Bread next weekend.

There will be plenty of time to rail against the insanity playing out against everything we stand for next time.  May God bless all His people who keep His commandments and respect His Word.

Mark

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

The post Weekly Update by Mark Armstrong – 26 March 2021 first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

The Supreme Court gave a positive sign to a California church fighting Gov. Gavin Newsom’s restrictions on the number of people allowed at houses of worship due to the coronavirus pandemic.

In a Thursday order, the court vacated a District Court ruling against Harvest Rock Church with instructions to reconsider their challenge in light of the Supreme Court’s recent rejection of restrictions on prayer services in New York.

CORONAVIRUS LOCKDOWNS BY STATE: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

“The September 2 order of the United States District Court for the Central District of California is vacated, and the case is remanded to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit with instructions to remand to the District Court for further consideration in light of Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn v. Cuomo,” the Supreme Court said.

Fox News reached out to Newsom’s office for comment, but they did not immediately respond.

In a 5-4 ruling, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn and the Jewish group Agudath Israel of America, issuing an injunction against New York’s restrictions that limited prayer services at houses of worship to 10 people in some areas and 25 in others. The religious organizations claimed that Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s policies were more restrictive against houses of worship than against secular establishments.

KENTUCKY AG TAKES STATE’S CORONAVIRUS RESTRICTIONS TO SUPREME COURT IN BID TO OPEN RELIGIOUS SCHOOLS

In California, there is a tiered system that places different levels of restrictions on different counties, but as of Nov. 21, 41 counties in the state — representing 94% of the state’s population — were under the most restrictive regulations that include the prohibition of all indoor religious services. Services in other counties have strict caps on the number of people permitted. The state issued specific guidance to places of worship earlier this year.

The church’s legal argument is based primarily on the First Amendment. Under the amendment’s Free Exercise Clause, the church claims, Newsom’s order is illegal because restricts the size of religious gatherings while treating non-religious groups and activities differently.

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The church also cites case law surrounding the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause that says that the government cannot “force or influence a person to go to or remain away from church against his will.” The church claims that imposing criminal penalties on people who go to a house of worship influences them to stay away.

Source: https://www.foxnews.com/politics/supreme-court-california-churches-coronavirus-restrictions

The post Supreme Court gives temporary win to California churches over coronavirus restrictions first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

The post Donald Trump Glorifies Jesus! first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

The mainstream media has determined that most of us are utterly uninformed and completely dependent on their daily lectures to get through our lives.  They’ll report what the “experts” have to say on any number of subjects affecting us directly, and we better be sure to fall into line.  Why, we might be responsible for the loss of hundreds of thousands of lives if we don’t comply immediately.  When people expire, for whatever reason, it’ll be YOUR FAULT.

Now we’re being told that much of what we know to be incontrovertible fact is more Russian disinformation!  Those Russians must be absolute geniuses to be able to pull off a hoax of such intricacy and magnitude!  The mainstream wouldn’t risk polluting your mind with such poison because you couldn’t handle it.  The charges are so bizarre as to be absurd, and therefore all the social media companies, major newspapers and TV outlets must denounce corroborated facts and at the same time make sure the public never gets a whiff.

Experts, former CIA and FBI people all recognize this as part of a Russian plot to interfere with “our democracy.”  They’re the “experts” we’re told we must believe.  Forget thinking for yourself, it’s been all but outlawed.  You WILL listen to the EXPERTS, or the media and their dumbed-down minions in society will “make sure” you are locked out of the discussion, lest others be exposed to your conspiracy theories.

We’ve been set up.  Day and night we’re being lectured like a bunch of little kids who don’t know what to think or do next.  We have to be TOLD, forcibly, how we must react and what we must believe or else.  Everything will be fine as long as we’re careful not to step out of line.  Express a contrary fact or opinion, and the masses will descend to shut you up.  How dare you traffic in these insane “conspiracy theories!”  It simply won’t be tolerated.  The mob will make sure you’re silenced, if not punished.

It’s already happened, and gained universal acceptance in the realm of religion.  Never mind the clear, unmistakable Word of God.  Parishioners depend on their “experts” to tell them what they must believe.  These backward collar types have studied at the seminary!  They’ve been schooled on how to defend their doctrines, and you’re simply not qualified to question what the experts have decided, even when it disputes the clear and repetitive Word of God.

When a friend and  neighbor recently succumbed, supposedly to the dreaded virus his wife told me, “He just couldn’t do it anymore.”  No one knows what he suffered at the hospital.  He couldn’t have any visitors, including his wife and close family during the weeks he spent, probably mostly unconscious, while the “experts” made all their decisions unsupervised.  From experience with both of my parents, it’s obvious that anybody in that situation needs an advocate, somebody who loves them, to ask questions and sometimes refuse the medical community’s recommendations or protocols.  Once within the walls of a medical community, you realize that it’s no longer about what’s best for you, it’s about the “job” of those who work there.  It’s their “job,” and you best not interfere with their work!  Surely most of them are caring and can empathize with the details of your suffering.  But they are the EXPERTS, and you’d be a fool to make of fuss.

Sorry to get carried away with anecdotal personal experience.  But sometimes the EXPERTS don’t have the right answers.  Unfortunately, most have no idea what their loved ones went through while being “treated.”  They weren’t allowed to be involved because THEY too might get sick.  As we all know, the only RIGHT thing to do is cower indoors and marvel in fear at the scary statistics while listening to grade-school grade lectures about what a dunce the President has been during the “pandemic.”  It’s worse than ever!  Record infections!  Record deaths!  Hot-spots!  Clusters!  You better live in constant FEAR if you know what’s good for you, and make sure everybody you come into contact with is doing likewise.  We’re told that we can prevent two or three-hundred-thousand deaths by year’s end if we’d just mask up!  If not, you bear responsibility for people dying.  It’s like the disease is in the ether, and you better put on your mask before you look in the mirror or you might infect yourself.

We’re told to expect “strong delusion” and mass deception as part of the end-time scenario.  It’s hard to imagine that the masters of communication and information could be any more corrupt than they’ve proven to be.  The concern is that nearly half or more of the population doesn’t have time to get to the bottom of anything.  They rely on the EXPERTS!  You know, the “fact-checkers” for every mainstream outlet.  They’ll decide what’s TRUE, just like the religious experts, the health EXPERTS, the environmental experts.  There are EXPERTS for every facet of life, and they take everything into consideration.

But the EXPERTS in nearly every field think they are way smarter than God.  Many of them deny His existence and look with pity on believers.  Too bad.  When the EXPERTS fly in the face of things we know, we’ll dismiss them.  When they push politically correct dogma that disputes the Word of God, we’ll reject them.  The big-tech companies are not a “Ministry of Truth,” they’re a ministry of propaganda, taking advantage of those who listen to EXPERTS to determine their next move.  The “experts” don’t carry much weight with the people who believe and obey the Word of God, but they do influence a large contingent of the population.  That’s what we see as mass deception, and the media giants are no longer ashamed to openly engage in it.  It’s a crying shame, but we’re wise to it.

Mark

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

The post Weekly Update by Mark Armstrong – 23 October 2020 first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

Newsom also was facing pressure from more than 1,200 California pastors who vowed to resume services this upcoming Sunday regardless of what the governor decided. At the same time, a lawsuit filed by a Southern California church reached the U.S. Supreme Court on Sunday night.

Church services, which had been banned since Newsom’s March 19 order, would look dramatically different under new state Department of Public Health guidelines. Religious services and funerals can host a maximum of 100 people, or 25 percent of building capacity, whichever is lower.

The state also advised caution around church singing. A religious choir practice in Washington state became a “superspreading” event in March that resulted in the majority of attendees contracting Covid-19 and two deaths, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“Congregants engaging in singing, particularly in the choir, and group recitation, should wear face coverings at all times and when possible, these activities should be conducted outside with greater than 6-foot distancing,” state the CDPH guidelines.

While Newsom is allowing churches to resume in-person services, counties have the ability to impose stricter rules than the state and can still prohibit them.

CDPH announced that retailers are allowed to reopen statewide for in-store shopping. The vast majority of counties — 47 of 58 — had already received state permission to open in-store retail. But some of the most populous counties, including Los Angeles and several in the San Francisco Bay Area, had not requested that flexibility, either by choice or because they had not met the state’s criteria for entering “Stage 2.”

It was not immediately clear Monday how many of the 11 counties still in “Stage 1” would allow in-store retail. The latest guidelines are subject to county public health departments’ approval and will be revised in 21 days, when the state Department of Public Health will “review and assess” the impact of reopening, taking into account Covid-19 incubation periods.

Use of face coverings, social distancing, extra sanitation, and temperature checks for staff are recommended for all businesses and organizations now allowed to open their doors. Retail does not include personal services such as hair salons, nail salons, and barbershops.

“Together, our actions have helped bend the curve and reduce infections in our state. As sectors continue to open with changes that aim to lower risk, remember that Covid-19 is still present in our communities,” State Public Health Officer Sonia Angell said in a statement. “As more of us may be leaving our homes, keeping physical distance, wearing face coverings in public, and washing your hands frequently are more important than ever to help protect yourself and those around you.”

The new guidance issued Monday also includes guidelines for protests and “political expression,” limiting attendance using those same parameters and recommending protesters wear face coverings. The state is not prohibiting protests but warned of the health implications of mass gatherings and “strongly” recommended those acts happen online instead of in person.

Those rules come after hundreds of protesters gathered outside the state Capitol on Saturday.

“Activities like chanting, shouting, singing and group recitation negate the risk-reduction achieved through six feet of physical distancing,” CDPH said. “Failure to maintain adequate physical distancing may result in an order to disperse or other enforcement action.”

Note: See previous story: Federal court backs California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s orders keeping churches closed

Source: https://www.politico.com/states/california/story/2020/05/25/california-reopens-churches-3-days-after-trump-threatened-to-override-states-1286396

The post California reopens churches 3 days after Trump threatened to ‘override’ states first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas issued the 10/10/10 rule last week so the city could have a “soft opening” of the economy but enforce social distancing practices meant to stop the spread of the coronavirus. The rule treats churches the same as nonessential businesses, requiring lists be kept of people who spend more than 10 minutes on certain premises.

The new policy says specifically about churches, “In-person religious gatherings (including weddings and funerals) may resume, subject to the 10/10/10 rule (if held inside) or limited to 50 people outside, provided social distancing precautions are followed and event organizers maintain records of all attendees.”

The 10/10/10 rule is described on the city’s website as, “Most non-essential business operations that are open to the public (such as non-essential retail stores and personal care services) can resume in-person operations provided business operators follow the ’10/10/10 rule.’ The 10/10/10 rule specifies that these businesses must limit the number of individuals on-site (inclusive of employees and customers) to no more than 10 percent of building occupancy or 10 people (whichever is larger), and record the names, contact information, and approximate entry/exit time of all customers who are on-premises for more than 10 minutes.”

Only medical facilities and grocery stores are exempt from the new policy, according to Metro Voice.

The order has received blowback from some, including a nonprofit Christian ministry called the Liberty Council.

“The Kansas City government is now DEMANDING that churches turn over membership lists, along with the names, telephone numbers and physical addresses of anyone who enters a church! This order also applies to all businesses,” Liberty Council founder and Chairman Matt Staver said in a statement Friday.

“Never in our wildest dreams could we have imagined Nazi-like measures designed to surveil, track and spy upon what was once a free American people,” Staver said. “That is exactly what Kansas City’s misguided government officials are now demanding.”

The mayor’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Source: https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/nazi-like-measures-kansas-city-policy-requires-lists-be-kept-of-people-attending-in-person-church-services

The post ‘Nazi-like measures’: Kansas City policy requires lists be kept of people attending in-person church services first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

Birgitte Stoklund Larsen, a journalist for the Danish Bible Society, claims the decision was not an “ideological choice.”

A recently published Danish translation of the New Testament that omits the word “Israel” and “Jews” has sparked outrage in the Jewish world.

“We are stunned that the new Danish Bible Society publication of the Bible erases references to Israel out of stated worry over ‘confusion’ with the modern Jewish state,” B’nai B’rith International tweeted on Monday.

“Yet this surreal revision causes confusion and worse: the whitewashing of history, identity, and sacred scripture!” the tweet added.

Rabbi Abraham Cooper, a director at the Simon Wiesenthal Center, compared it to a “cheesecake with zero calories,” reported Algemeiner. 

“Wow will Jesus be surprised,” he said. “Jew-haters and Israel-bashers rejoice!”

Even a Muslim cleric condemned the omissions, saying it was done to present the Jewish people as stateless.

“‘Israel’ has been replaced with ‘Jews’ or erased altogether. The agenda is to present Jews as stateless. It’s false and against God,” Imam Mohammad Tawhidi, an Iranian-born Shiite cleric, tweeted on Monday.

The backlash is in reference to Bible 2020, a Danish translation of the Biblical Greek New Testament by the Danish Bible Society, in which 59 of the 60 references to Israel were removed from the original text.

Other than that one time, references to the “Land of Israel” in Bible 2020 read “Land of the Jews,” and when the people of Israel are mentioned in the original text, it is replaced by either “Jews” or nothing at all.

Birgitte Stoklund Larsen, a journalist for the Danish Bible Society, claims the decision was not an “ideological choice,” but rather to avoid identifying ancient Israel with today’s State of Israel.

“It is not an ideological choice, but a communicative choice,” Larsen wrote on the organization’s website, adding “the meaning must emerge, the text must be immediately understandable even to the reader who does not have a thorough knowledge of the Bible and Christianity.”

Larsen also quoted Rabbi Bent Melchior, a former chief rabbi of Denmark, who defended the translation.

“When we are called Jews today, it is because we come from Judea and not from Israel,” Melchior told Christian Daily on Sunday. “I would say that it can be a good correction because there is no geographical indication when Israel is mentioned in the Bible.”

Source: https://worldisraelnews.com/surreal-danish-bible-translations-nixing-of-israel-sparks-outrage/

The post Danish Bible translation omitting ‘Jews’ and ‘Israel’ sparks outrage first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

Migration remains the top concern across the European Union, according to an EU public opinion poll, although the importance of climate change is growing.

Thirty-four percent of respondents in the new Eurobarometer survey view immigration as the most pressing problem, down six points from last year.

For the first time, climate change jumped to the second most important concern, with 22% of respondents mentioning it, according to the biannual poll conducted by the European Commission.

The economy, member states’ public finances and terrorism tied for third at 18% in the survey, followed by the environment at 13%.

Trust in EU

Trust in EU institutions reached its highest level since 2014 and is higher than in member states’ individual parliaments and governments. Forty-four percent of respondents said they trust the EU, compared to 34% who said they trust their national parliament or government.

Similarly, 45% of respondents view the EU as positive, while 61% are optimistic about the future of the bloc and 55% are satisfied with the way democracy works in Brussels.

Source: https://www.dw.com/en/migration-more-worrying-than-climate-change-for-europeans-survey/a-49904437

The post Migration more worrying than climate change for Europeans: survey first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

FILE: An evangelical prays during a Mass at a church Ramon Espinosa, AP

*Trump the ‘White Power Crusader’ defends Christianity against a Jewish-Muslim plot

The percentage of U.S. adults who belong to a church or other religious institution has plunged by 20 percentage points over the past two decades, hitting a low of 50% last year, according to a new Gallup poll. Among major demographic groups, the biggest drops were recorded among Democrats and Hispanics.

Gallup said church membership was 70% in 1999 — and close to or higher than that figure for most of the 20th century. Since 1999, the figure has fallen steadily, while the percentage of U.S. adults with no religious affiliation has jumped from 8% to 19%.

Among Americans identifying with a particular religion, there was a sharp drop in church membership among Catholics — dropping from 76% to 63% over the past two decades as the church was buffeted by clergy sex-abuse scandals. Membership among Protestants dropped from 73% to 67% percent over the same period.

Among Hispanic Americans, church membership dropped from 68% to 45% since 2000, a much bigger decline than for non-Hispanic white and black Americans.

There was a big discrepancy over that 20-year period in regard to political affiliation: Church membership among Democrats fell from 71% to 48%, compared to a more modest drop from 77% to 69% among Republicans.

David Campbell, a University of Notre Dame political science professor who studies religion’s role in U.S. civic life, attributed the partisan divide to “the allergic reaction many Americans have to the mixture of religion and conservative politics.”

“Increasingly, Americans associate religion with the Republican Party — and if they are not Republicans themselves, they turn away from religion,” he said.

Mark Chaves, a professor of sociology, religion and divinity at Duke University, said that as recently as the 1970s, it was difficult to predict someone’s political party by the regularity with which they went to church.

“Now it’s one of the best predictors,” he said. “The correlation between religiosity and being Republican has increased over the years.”

The overall decline in church membership is driven by cultural and generational factors, said Nancy Ammerman, a professor of the sociology of religion at Boston University.

“Culturally, we are seeing significant erosion in the trust people have for institutions in general and churches in particular,” she said. “We are also seeing a generational shift as the ‘joiner’ older generation dies off and a generation of non-joiners comes on the scene.”

The new Gallup findings underscore that generational dynamic. Among Americans 65 and older, church membership in 2016-2018 averaged 64% percent, compared to 41% among those aged 18-29.

“The challenge is clear for churches, which depend on loyal and active members to keep them open and thriving,” wrote Gallup poll analyst Jeffrey Jones. “How do they find ways to convince some of the unaffiliated religious adults in society to make a commitment to a particular house of worship of their chosen faith?”

“These trends are not just numbers, but play out in the reality that thousands of U.S. churches are closing each year,” Jones added. “Religious Americans in the future will likely be faced with fewer options for places of worship, and likely less convenient ones, which could accelerate the decline in membership even more.”

Professor Scott Thumma, who teaches sociology of religion at Hartford Seminary, suggested several likely factors behind the decline. Among them, he said religious young adults are delaying marriage, postponing having children, and, when they do, having fewer children.

He also suggested there was diminished social pressure to formally join organizations.

“I’ve encountered many persons in churches that have attended for several years but did not officially join or become a member,” he said by email. “This is also evident in persons switching from one congregation to another without joining any.”

The findings are based on Gallup surveys conducted over the last 20 years, with most surveys including at least 2,000 U.S. adults and having a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points. Some findings are based on aggregated interviews from 1998-2000 and 2016-2018, with each period including interviews with more than 7,000 adults.

Source: https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/poll-church-membership-in-u-s-plummets-over-past-20-years-1.7139105

The post Poll: Church Membership in U.S. Plummets Over Past 20 Years first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.