Pacific Union Conference Jewish Ministry Launches Beth Ohr: Urban Center of Influence

By: David Gardner | April 18, 2023




The dream of starting a Jewish-Adventist congregation began more than 20 years ago in the hearts of several Jewish Adventists. Alan Reinach, Director of Public Affairs and Religious Liberty for the Pacific Union Conference, has long shared that dream and held the conviction that a permanent ministry must be established for our 800,000 Jewish neighbors in the greater Los Angeles basin.

Reinach, who is Jewish, has long been an inspiration for this project. “For decades, some of us who are Jewish Adventists have prayed and dreamed of congregations where Jews can be part of the Advent hope without giving up our culture or way of worship,” Reinach shares. “Such congregations are necessary if we are to fulfill Paul’s admonition that the gospel belongs ‘to the Jew first.’”

The hearts of the founders are on fire and burn with a passion to share with others the light Reinach and others of have found in the Torah and the prophets, as Leon Brown, executive vice president of the Pacific Union Conference, spoke about in his devotional message at the ministry launch.

The name of the congregation officially planted in Glendale, Calif., on February 28, 2023, is Beth Ohr. That name is inspired by the words found in Isaiah 60:1, which reads: “Arise, shine, for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.”

Just Liberty | Ep 62: A Christian mandate to rule? Interview with Matthe...

Revelation 14

Over Alaska

Churchill & Islam

Photo: The Churchill Book Collector


February 27, 2021
By JAMES W. MULLER

The long-awaited definitive edition of Winston Churchill’s book The River War has now been published. The roots of the conflict in which young Lt. Churchill charged with the 21st Lancers at Omdurman went back to a revolt in Sudan initiated by the Mahdi, a charismatic leader in the Muslim world. The newest issue of Finest Hour explores the subject “Churchill, Race, and Religion” and includes the observations of the Mahdi’s grandson about how the River War affected Churchill. In his introduction to the new scholarly edition of The River War, editor James W. Muller also examines how Churchill’s views about Islam were formed by his early experiences in Asia and Africa. Here follow extracts.

In The River War, Churchill calls Islam “Mohammedanism” and Muslim law “Mohammedan,” terms used by analogy with “Christianity” and “Christian” and more in favor among non-Muslims than among Muslims, who see them as misnaming Islam and the Muslim faithful as if Muhammad were analogous in Islam to Christ in Christianity. In fact, for Muslims the Qur’an as God’s word is the better analogy to Christ for Christians; in Islam true religious devotion belongs to God, who is divine, not to his Prophet, who is human, and whose followers therefore worship not Muhammad but only God. Few would be glad to think that they were fanatics.

The effects of both the “frenzy” and the “apathy” Churchill imputes to Muslims are hardly complimentary. He finds them in the thrall of “a degraded sensualism,” spoiling their lives both in this world and the next. He argues that they confuse women and slaves with property. Despite his acknowledgment that “individual Moslems may show splendid qualities,” that thousands of Muslims are “brave and loyal soldiers of the Queen,” and that all Muslims “know how to die,” he judges them paralyzed in their “social developement” and Islam the strongest “retrograde force…in the world.”

What The Bible Says About When To Obey And Ignore The Government

By: Amanda C. Bauch
December 04, 2025

Image Credit. homethods.com/CC by 2.0, cropped

Whether we’re resisting or obeying civil authorities, our actions must reflect God’s love, mercy, and truth, doing as Jesus commanded.

Amanda C. Bauch

The following is an excerpt from the newly published One Nation Under God: 40 Devotions for Patriotic Women, by Amanda C. Bauch.

Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. … For he is God’s minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God’s minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil.
—Romans 13:1–2, 4

Scripture tells us that we’re all created with the natural law: “For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do the things in the law, these, although not having the law, are a law to themselves, who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness” (Romans 2:14–15).

Our original parents, Adam and Eve, were the first to receive the gracious gift of God’s law written on their hearts. Yet they chose to disobey and do the one thing they’d been commanded not to do: “And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, ‘Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die’” (Genesis 2:16–17).

Even though Adam and Eve ate of the fruit, the natural law remained on their hearts, but sin obscured it. So it remains to this day.

Government, or some type of earthly authority, is needed because of man’s sinfulness. God’s law, as epitomized in the Ten Commandments, shows us our sin, which Paul wrote about in Romans 7:7: “What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Cer­tainly not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, ‘You shall not covet’” (cf. Romans 3:20).

Tear Gas Used On Protesters During Violent Clash With Police In Greece

________-_________

 

How a (Jesuit) Priest Became a Confidant of Venezuela’s Maduro

ANALYSIS: Father Numa Molina’s close ties to Venezuela’s president have inflamed friction with the nation’s bishops, who accuse the regime of persecution and economic devastation.

Left: Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro gestures during a meeting at the Eurobuilding Hotel in Caracas on Nov. 14. Right: Father Numa Molina, whose association with President Maduro has drawn attention. (photo: Federico Parra / AFP via Getty Images and X/@numamolina)

Jonah McKeown World  December 5, 2025

Tensions remain high between the United States and Venezuela amid numerous boat strikes in the Caribbean by the U.S. military that have killed more than 80 people since early September. Though the Trump administration says the strikes are intended to stop drug smuggling, U.S. Catholic leaders have sharply opposed the alleged targeting of civilians and survivors.

Nicolás Maduro, who has led Venezuela into a 12-year tailspin that has included rampant inflation, numerous human rights abuses and the departure of millions of emigres, reportedly believes he can cling to power despite the crisis.

Pope Leo, speaking during a recent press conference on the papal flight from Lebanon to Rome, said the Holy See is working with the Venezuelan bishops’ conference and the nuncio to calm tensions after Trump’s recent threats to take further military action in Venezuela. As of Dec. 3, Trump and Maduro reportedly spoke by phone about a possible meeting.

Amid the geopolitical uncertainty, an obscure but influential figure has the ear of Venezuela’s autocratic president: a Jesuit priest, whose openly socialist views have put him at odds with the nation’s Catholic hierarchy.

Jesuit Father Numa Molina, 68, became a confidant of Maduro’s after previously meeting and gaining the trust of his predecessor, President Hugo Chávez, who ruled Venezuela from 1998 until his death in 2013 and whom Father Molina has called a “prophet.”

Nightclub fire kills 25 in Goa, India, officials say | BBC News

US Taxpayers Funded Taliban's Army, Billions In Weapons Form Militants' ...

Attempted coup d'état in Benin: Foreign minister says situation under co...

The Biden Autopen Presidency: Decline, Delusion, and Deception in the White House Full Committee on Oversight and Government Reform

THE BIGGEST POLITICAL SCANDAL IN AMERICAN PRESIDENTIAL HISTORY

Chairman James Comer and Oversight Republicans have released a bombshell report exposing the truth behind Joe Biden’s cognitive decline and who was really running the show.

Through transcribed interviews and depositions with Biden’s own former senior staff, we uncovered that while Biden struggled to perform his duties, critical decisions were made behind closed doors without a clear chain of command. That included using an autopen to sign executive actions, pardons, and major policy directives without clear approval from Joe Biden.

Staffers close to Biden admitted his decline was real. Shockingly, some did not even know who was authorizing signatures in his name or using the autopen. Others invoked the Fifth, refused to testify, and stonewalled the Committee at every turn.

This isn’t just a cover-up—it’s the biggest political scandal in American presidential history.

The Biden Autopen Presidency will go down as one of the biggest political scandals in U.S. history.

As Americans saw President Biden’s decline with their own eyes, Biden’s inner circle sought to deceive the public, cover-up his decline, and took unauthorized executive actions with the autopen that are now invalid.

CHAIRMAN JAMES COMER

Read the Report and Transcripts Here

THE TRANSCRIBED INTERVIEWS

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As part of the Oversight Committee’s investigation into The Biden Autopen Presidency, Chairman James Comer and Committee staff conducted transcribed interviews with several of Joe Biden’s former senior aides and advisors. These witnesses who worked closest to the former president painted a disturbing picture of a White House in decline and denial.

Their testimony revealed that President Biden’s cognitive deterioration was real, visible, and widely discussed inside the West Wing. Senior staff admitted the President was shielded from unscripted events, major policy meetings, and medical evaluations that could expose his condition.

Political operatives, like Anita Dunn, interfered in medical decisions, blocking cognitive tests to protect Biden’s reelection prospects.

Witnesses further confirmed that critical executive actions and even presidential pardons were executed without Biden’s direct authorization, signed instead by an autopen. Several aides confessed they did not know who was approving or controlling its use.

The Committee’s findings are clear: Biden’s top aides concealed his decline, exercised presidential authority without him, and misled the American people.

Read the rest of the article and watch all videos

William Miller's 14 Rules of Bible Interpretation

By The Watchman


Those who are engaged in proclaiming the third angel’s message are searching the Scriptures upon the same plan that Father Miller adopted. In the little book entitled “Views of the Prophecies and Prophetic Chronology,” FatherMiller gives the following simple but intelligent and important rules for Bible study and interpretation:– {RH,
November 25, 1884 par. 23}

“1. Every word must have its proper bearing on the subject presented in the Bible; 2. All Scripture is necessary, and may be understood by diligent application and study; 3. Nothing revealed in Scripture can or will be hid from those whoask in faith, not wavering; 4. To understand doctrine, bring all the scriptures together on the subject you wish to know, then let every word have its proper influence; and if you can form your theory without a contradiction, you cannot be in error; 5. Scripture must be its own expositor, since it is a rule of itself. If I depend on a teacher to expound to me, and he should guess at its meaning, or desire to have it so on account of his sectarian creed, or to be thought wise, then his guessing, desire, creed, or wisdom is my rule, and not the Bible.” {RH, November 25, 1884 par. 24} The above is a portion of these rules; and in our study of the Bible we shall all do well to heed the principles set forth. {RH, November 25, 1884 par. 25}

RULES OF INTERPRETATION

IN studying the Bible, I have found the following rules to be of great service to myself and now give them to the public by special request. Every rule should be well studied, in connexion with the scripture references, if the Bible student would be at all benefited by them. {1842 WiM, MWV1 20.1}

End of Climate Catastrophism Is Good for Prosperity

By Josh Hammer  December 05, 2025



Fré Sonneveld


Is the American Left finally waking up from its decadeslong climate catastrophism stupor? For years, climate alarmism has reigned as political catechism: The planet is burning, and only drastic action -- deindustrialization, draconian regulation, even ceasing childbearing -- could forestall certain apocalypse. Now, at least some signs are emerging that both the broader public and leading liberal voices may be recoiling from the doom and gloom.

First, recent polling shows that the intensity of climate dread is weakening. According to a July 2025 report from the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication, while a majority (69%) of Americans still say global warming is happening, only 60% say it's "mostly human-caused"; 28% attribute it mostly to natural environmental changes. A similar October 2025 study from the University of Chicago's Energy Policy Institute found that "belief in human-driven climate change declined overall" since 2017. Interestingly, Democrats and political independents, not Republicans, were primarily responsible for the decline.

Moreover, public willingness to countenance personal sacrifice in the name of saving the planet seems to be plummeting: An earlier October 2024 poll from the Pew Research Center found that only 45% said human activity contributes "a great deal" to climate change. Another 29% said it contributes "some" -- while a quarter said human influence was minimal or nonexistent.

The moral panic is slowly evaporating. Millions of Americans may still believe warming exists, but far fewer view it as an imminent existential threat -- let alone embrace sweeping upheavals in energy policy and personal lifestyle.

Former President Biden Delivers (Speech) at LGBTQ Forum

(Remember Who You Are - A Generation Lost in Spiritual Amnesia and Pagan Traditions) Lembre-se de Quem Você É 🔥 Uma Geração Perdida na Amnésia Espiritual e n...

AU applauds congressional resolution supporting church-state separation

November 2025 Church & State Magazine

November 3, 2025

Americans United welcomed the introduction of a resolution in Congress honoring the separation of church and state.

Rep. Yassamin Ansari

U.S. Reps. Yassamin Ansari (D-Ariz.), Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) and Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) introduced the resolution — H. Res. 773 — on Sept. 30. It references two important speeches in church-state history: President John F. Kennedy’s speech to the Greater Houston Ministerial Association on Sept. 12, 1960, and President Ulysses S. Grant’s Sept. 29, 1875, speech to Army veterans in Des Moines.

Both presidents strongly endorsed church-state separation in their speeches. Kennedy famously said, “I believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute — where no Catholic prelate would tell the President (should he be Catholic) how to act, and no Protestant minister would tell his parishioners for whom to vote, where no church or church school is granted any public funds or political preference and where no man is denied public office merely because his religion differs from the President who might appoint him or the people who might elect him.”

Kennedy continued, “I believe in an America that is officially neither Catholic, Protestant nor Jewish — where no public official either requests or accepts instructions on public policy from the Pope, the National Council of Churches or any other ecclesiastical source, where no religious body seeks to impose its will directly or indirectly upon the general populace or the public acts of its officials — and where religious liberty is so indivisible that an act against one church is treated as an act against all.”

TRUMPET IN THE WILDERNESS

Preparing to Give the Loud Cry (Tim Rumsey)

VATICAN RATLINES - The PAPACY'S CREATED ESCAPE Routes for WW2 WAR CRIMINALS

Global Refuge (Formerly Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Global Refuge

Founded 1939; 86 years ago

Type Non-governmental

Tax ID no. 132574854

Legal status Non-profit

Headquarters Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.

Region United States

President and CEO Krish O'Mara Vignarajah

Affiliations Evangelical Lutheran Church in America,
Latvian Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
Revenue US$3 00 million (2017)[1]
Employees 550
Website www.globalrefuge.org

Formerly called Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service


Global Refuge, formerly known as Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service,[2] is a non-profit organization that supports refugees and migrants entering the United States. It is one of nine refugee resettlement agencies working with the Office of Refugee Resettlement[3] and one of two that serves unaccompanied refugee minors.[4] Global Refuge also advocates for policies and practices relating to immigration and detention.[5][6]

As an organization, Global Refuge originates from the response of American Lutherans in 1939 to the needs of Europeans displaced because of World War II,[7] but the roots of the organization reach back to the 1860s when the New York Ministerium and the Pennsylvania Ministerium joined together to help and protect Lutheran immigrants in the US.[8] Since then the organization's scope has expanded to include any refugees entering the US, support for asylum seekers[9] and migrants,[10][11] and services to unaccompanied children (UACs).

Global Refuge continues to be a faith-based organization and maintains collaborative relationships with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the Latvian Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.[12]

As of 2019 the president and CEO is Krish O'Mara Vignarajah.[13]

Pr. Marko Kolić - Mystery of Iniquity - Satan's Last-Day Work Exposed

Fulfilment of prophecy begins:

Alleged Haitian gang leader sentenced to life in prison in kidnapping of 16 American missionaries

December 3, 2025 / 5:29 PM EST / CBS/AP

A man alleged to be the founder and leader of a Haitian gang was sentenced on Wednesday to life in prison for orchestrating the 2021 kidnapping of 17 people — 16 of them Americans — including five children, who were on a missionary trip to the Caribbean country.

Joly Germine declined to say anything before U.S. District Judge John Bates in Washington, D.C., sentenced him.

"No remorse has been shown by Mr. Germine. No acceptance of responsibility," the judge said.

Some of the kidnapping victims chose to speak in court, telling Germine they forgive him for his role in their ordeal.

Ray Noecker, whose wife, Cheryl, and five children were held hostage, said it was a "life-changing experience" for their family. He turned to Germine and told him that he hopes he finds "God's peace."

"True freedom is not found outside of prison walls. True freedom is found inside your own heart," Noecker said.

The victims — 16 U.S. citizens and one Canadian citizen — were kidnapped by gang members near Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on Oct. 16, 2021. Two hostages were freed in November 2021 and three more were released in early December. The remaining 12 escaped later in December after being held at gunpoint for 62 days.

'A nice geek from the Midwest': Leo's brand emerges during first foreign trip as pope

Pope Leo XIV

'A nice geek from the Midwest': Leo's brand emerges during first foreign trip as pope

The new American pontiff has been far more reserved than his outspoken predecessor. But many of their underlying progressive messages are the same.

Dec. 3, 2025, 9:00 AM EST
By Alexander Smith

After a quiet start, the first American pope appears to be finding his voice.

During his debut foreign trip, to Turkey and Lebanon, Pope Leo XIV projected a papal brand more guarded and less polarizing than that of his predecessor, Pope Francis.

But many Vatican watchers have nonetheless been impressed with his ability to deliver powerful messages — particularly on issues such as climate change, artificial intelligence, poverty and immigration — albeit in a subtler way than the man he replaced.

“Pope Leo is certainly growing into the role,” said Massimo Faggioli, a world-leading Vatican expert and professor at Trinity College Dublin. “He has resisted the temptation to give a sound bite that’s easy to use as a headline,” but “when he speaks, he says things that are quite courageous.”

For all the warm reviews, some Vatican watchers have sounded a note of caution: Leo has yet to stake out concrete positions, let alone sharp critiques, on any major issue. Doing so will almost certainly mean disappointing at least one faction in this church of 1.4 billion that he has so deftly kept onside.