The request has been expressed to the General Conference that The Sabbath Watchman carry a current events column. We concur with the great importance of providing information to those who take the Bible, and the Bible only, as their rule of faith and practice.
There is a wide range of subjects– including politics, health, science, family, education, events in nature, and business, in addition to religious movements–that On the World Stage will present in brief form.
Some faithful members have been sending us news clips appropriate for such a column. We will be glad if even more such items will be sent in from other corners of the world. Send newspaper articles, magazine articles, and items from the Internet, being sure to include the source and date with each item.
Speaking of the final days, Jesus said, “Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.” But He also said, “And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.” Luke 21:26, 28. We want to be people who can see how the events happening in the world around us relate to God’s message in the Bible; however, we also want to be people of faith, not of fear. As long as we are able, let us use this opportunity to be informed about important matters.
| A STRONGER NEW WORLD ORDER? |
When in 1990 Vatican insider Malachi Martin wrote The Keys of This Blood, describing Pope John Paul II’s cooperative effort with the United States to bring down communism and assert greater Vatican power, the backbone of the plan seemed to be the religio-political aspect of the Roman Catholic Church (the religious part dominating, especially in Poland).
But now Martin has written Windswept House: A Vatican Novel, which alludes to a much stronger emphasis on the politico-religious (the political part taking first place). He claims that his book is basically a true story but that he wrote it as a novel to avoid giving the names of well-respected and loved cardinals who are involved in what some might consider a conspiracy but that he says is a deliberate plan. The planners simply see it as the right thing to do; never mind that others may see it as an enormous threat to freedom.
According to Martin, “Academia, foundations, non-governmental organizations, even some governmental agencies” are part of an “unspoken alliance” to change the Roman Catholic Church’s primary function into a “stabilizing social force in the world. They see the church as the only global structure able to do this.” This alliance, according to Martin, has “vast resources devoted to population control, education, and economic and social stabilization. If they can get the Roman Catholic Church to side with them in the social and cultural field in a world that is dysfunctional, they’ll have another element of stability.” A major part of their attention is focusing on selecting the next pope–one who will cooperate with them in their global scheme much more than Pope John Paul II, whom they see as a defender of medieval traditions. While some of them consider the current pope too conservative, traditionalists think he is not conservative enough.
Many of the planners are not so concerned about the religious side, except as it can serve what they consider the “social good.” They see the world’s dysfunction and are planning to try to correct it in human ways. Actually, we can see that Satan’s anger and desperation are being exhibited on all sides, and most visibly in war and strife; but global instability from any cause can only be expected to make the organizers turn up the heat on their desperate plans for a one-world religion/one-world government. The New Age side, driven by spiritualism and hence superstition, will no doubt become more vocal in its urgings for one-world unity. It is really amazing how the prophecy of Revelation 13:3, “…And all the world wondered after the beast,” the great Babylon, is playing out and encompassing so many diverse elements of society.
Protestant, Roman Catholic, and Orthodox leaders in Chile signed a historic agreement in late May recognizing baptisms performed in each other’s churches. Each church will honor all water baptisms “celebrated as a sacrament” in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
“Baptism is an unbreakable tie that unites Jesus Christ to all Christians in all times and places,” states a document signed by the leaders. It recommends that a common format for baptism be established. This is “a step along the way toward the visible unity of the single Body of Christ, so that the world can believe,” the document says.
Ten theologians from the churches worked for two years to create the document. Who signed it? The Catholic Archbishop of Santiago, the Metropolitan Archbishop of the Orthodox Church, and representatives of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, Methodist Church, Communion of Brothers Church, Pentecostal Mission Church, Church of the Evangelical Reform, Evangelical Wesleyan Corporation, Free Pentecostals Church, Universal Apostolic Mission Church, and the Evangelical Corporation of Sendas Antiguas.
| CATHOLIC/LUTHERAN COMPROMISE |
The Roman Catholic Church and the Lutherans have made what has been termed a “decisive step forward in the process of reconciliation,” according to Ismael Noko, general secretary of the Lutheran World Federation. The two sides formulated a compromise on “justification,” or how humankind achieves salvation. Lutherans have in the past preached that salvation depends on the grace of God, while Catholics maintained that good works are also involved. The new joint declaration reconciles the two views by saying that divine forgiveness comes “solely by God’s grace” and that good works flow from that.
The compromise was made following meetings in which the two organizations agreed to lift most of the condemnations made against each other in the 16th century.
Much more goes on behind the scenes than out on the public stage of our world. For example, The News, a Portuguese English-language newspaper, reported that the Bilderberg Group was supposed to have a meeting in Sintra, Portugal, in June.
What is the Bilderberg Group? People who keep track of conspiracies have linked this powerful global elite with the ultimate takeover of the world, according to an article in Nexus Magazine, December 1995-January 1996, from Australia. Several democratic monarchies of Western Europe ban members of their royal families from playing an active role in the political process. But they can speak their minds if they are invited to a Bilderberg Group meeting, where no resolutions are proposed, no votes are taken, and no policy statements are made.
There are usually 115 participants in each yearly meeting. Eighty are from Western Europe and the remainder from North America. One third of them are from government and politics, and the remaining two thirds are from industry, finance, education, and communications.
According to the Bilderberg’s draft document of 1989: “Bilderberg takes its name from the Bilderberg Hotel in Oosterbeek, Holland, where the first meeting took place in May 1954. That pioneering meeting grew out of the concern expressed by many leading citizens on both sides of the Atlantic that Western Europe and North America were not working together as closely as they should on matters of critical importance. It was felt that regular, off-the-record discussions would help create a better understanding of the complex forces and major trends affecting Western nations in the difficult post-war period.…
“What is unique about Bilderberg as a forum is (1) the broad cross-section of leading citizens, in and out of government, that are assembled for nearly three days of informal discussion about topics of current concern especially in the fields of foreign affairs and the international economy; (2) the strong feeling among participants that, in view of the differing attitudes and experiences of the Western nations, there is a clear need to develop an understanding in which these concerns can be accommodated; and (3) the privacy of these meetings, which has no purpose other than to allow leading citizens to speak their minds openly and freely.”
No one except the participants is allowed in the meetings, and the press is also not allowed. The question has been asked “why this imperious assembly should be granted the sort of secrecy for its deliberations the mass media would never accord to any government–not even to Europe’s reigning royalty.” The reason given by United Nations correspondents was: “The Bilderbergers are too powerful and omnipresent to be exposed.”
Do we have to worry about such things? Yes, if we don’t believe God is in control. But if we believe the Bible, that “the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and His ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil” (1 Peter 3:12), and that God’s “eyes are open upon all the ways of the sons of men” (Jeremiah 32:19), we will be able to observe but not be afraid of what is coming upon the earth. It is a tremendous gift and source of peace to belong to the family of heaven and believe that “all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:28.
Archaeologists recently discovered a 2000-year-old factory underneath the city of Jerusalem. The factory apparently produced tools for a Jewish temple. It was the largest series of ancient rooms discovered in Israel. “In these rooms, dozens of people, expert stone workers, designed tools, tables, and cups … from the raw material we are sitting on,” said Jon Zeligman of the antiquities authority, pointing to soft rock. He said the vessels and tools were used for ceremonies in the nearby temple, which was built in the sixth century B.C. When the temple was destroyed in A.D. 70, the factory, located on the edge of Jerusalem’s walled Old City, was abandoned and forgotten–until now.
According to the Jewish calendar, the seventh or sabbath millennium will begin on September 11, 1999, at sundown. The date is Tishri 1, 6001. You can read more on the Internet at: www.6001.com/countdown.htm.
Dates or no dates, we can only believe there is little time left to prepare for what is ahead: “A terrible conflict is before us. We are nearing the battle of the great day of God Almighty. That which has been held in control is to be let loose. The angel of mercy is folding her wings, preparing to step down from the throne and leave the world to the control of Satan. The principalities and powers of earth are in bitter revolt against the God of heaven. They are filled with hatred against those who serve Him, and soon, very soon, will be fought the last great battle between good and evil. The earth is to be the battlefield–the scene of the final contest and the final victory.” –Ellen G. White, My Life Today, p. 308.
Special thanks to the following contributors to On the World Stage: Radek Dobias, Canada; Helmut Welker and David Welker, Germany; Henry Dering and Dorothy Demarest, U.S.A. Readers are invited to submit news items of special interest to their fellow believers. The choice of which items to publish is reserved to the staff of The Sabbath Watchman.
