Make the World Great

The Republican presidential candidate in the United States, front-runner Donald Trump, is using quite successfully the slogan: “Make America Great Again.”  He states correctly that the United States is losing in trade deals to China, to Japan and to others, and he blasts the terrible Iran deal and Obamacare, but he announces that when he is President, he is going to turn all of this around.

He promises to build a great wall in order to halt the flow of illegal immigrants coming through the porous American-Mexican border into the USA, and that Mexico will pay for the wall. He also proposes to deport all illegal aliens and to temporarily halt the flow of all Muslims into the United States till “we can find out what… is going on.” He declares that he will build up the armed forces so that no one will “mess” with the USA; that he will properly take care of the veterans; and that he will take out ISIS so that the world and the United States can feel safer.

These are just a few of the promises he has made.

In regard to the border fence, one cynical television commentator said if he builds a hundred foot fence, the Mexicans will build a one hundred ten foot ladder. Mr. Trump countered that it will be a real wall which Mexicans cannot climb over. Other objections are that it would be impossible to deport all illegal aliens, but Mr. Trump’s response is that something similar was done in the past by another American president.

The question is, could any President turn things around for the US?

Let us remember that the national debt as of this writing is $20.9 trillion, and it is growing constantly. By the time you read this editorial it will be $21 trillion, a number that’s hard to get your mind around. This is a growing debt with no turn around in sight. That’s some $62,000 per citizen. So if you have a child born in the near future, he is faced with that debt.

Crime is rampant in some American cities, and the United States is the world’s biggest consumer of both illegal and prescription drugs. Politicians are corrupt, and some are only in politics to line their pockets.

Many American citizens know this, and they long for change. The interesting thing is, no matter what outlandish statements Mr. Trump might be making, his support is growing steadily, defying all “conventional” rules of “politics.” If somebody like Donald Trump would become President, he might very well be able to turn things around for the USA, to a degree, but a high price would have to be paid. Mass deportations would shock the world and might trigger civil unrest in the USA, and more violent acts by governmental forces might be the consequence. Favorable trade deals for the USA under Donald Trump would not create a friendlier world view towards the USA… they would just bring about the opposite result and might even lead to violent resistance from the rest of the world.

We must understand that what is happening right now in the USA is in no way “coincidental.” It is obvious that God is involved to bring about His plan and purpose. Because of our national and individual sins, God has removed the blessing to Abraham from the modern nations of the ancient house of Israel, namely the United States, Great Britain, Canada, Australia and South Africa. Rather than prosperity, these nations are facing war and enslavement.

The only real and lasting solution is the return of Christ to end the madness. We are not to get involved in the politics of this present evil age, but we have an opportunity today to be involved in the future in making “The World Great,” not just the United States. Once the government of God, the Kingdom of God, is established on the earth with just rulers, things will be turned around in due time. There will be only one world-ruling government on earth, with Christ as the Head and the resurrected saints as kings and priests ruling under Him (Revelation 5:10).

There will be no more beheadings, no more rampant crime, no more poverty, religious confusion and hatred against other races and ethnic groups. The world will come to worship the true God and keep the commandments, speaking one pure language (Zephaniah 3:9).

As the called-out ones, we have the opportunity now to prepare for participation in that future government to make the world a better place; so it behooves us to remain faithful to our calling and our present responsibilities to preach the gospel of the Kingdom of God to the world as a witness and endure to the end, so that we can truly make “The World Great.”

Are you up to the challenge?

How Long?

You have to wonder what in the world is going on, when considering recent attacks by terrorists, which include the bombing of a Russian commercial airplane with 224 passengers aboard who all died; the Beirut individual bombing which killed 43; the Paris terrorist attack with a death toll of 130 innocent non-combatant civilians; and the terrorist attack in Mali, Africa, which killed 20 people.

I remember the Ambassador College choir song,  “It Won’t Be Long Now,” and I ask myself how long this madness can go on. It’s like Satan is on a rampage, influencing these senseless murders which are a reflection of his mind, since Christ referred to him as a murderer from the beginning. It should be no surprise to us to see what’s happening now, since Satan attempted an overthrow of his Creator in the distant past, and the Bible tells us he will try again in the end time:

“And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him” (Revelation 12:7-9).

Satan knows that his time is short (verse 12), and he has become very active. We do not set dates for the return of Christ, yet looking at what’s happening with increased frequency, callousness and heartless attacks on innocent victims, this has to be alarming, and we may be closer to the Great Tribulation than many think.

Current conditions should help us to follow Christ’s admonition and put more impetus on us to pray fervently that God’s Kingdom may come, since it is the only solution to the madness of this current world under the sway of Satan and his merciless, indecent and demented demons.

The sooner we complete our job of preaching the gospel in all the world, the sooner this evil age will end. Now is not the time to slack off, but we should rather stay committed to our commission and responsibility, while staying close to God, because things are only going to get worse, before God’s Kingdom will be established on earth.

We can sigh and cry in the meantime and wonder just “how long” will this go on before we see a world of violence, senseless killing and mayhem under Satan’s influence come to an abrupt end. We long for the time when the world tomorrow, the Millennium, will be ushered in—when all will truly enjoy peace and prosperity. Surely, “it won’t be long now.”

A Full Tank

When we travel to the ministerial conference and the Feast of Tabernacles in the United States, I fill up my van with gas and I know that it will get me to Goldendale in Washington, which is about 557 kilometers from our home.  We stop there, take a break and re-fill the gas tank.

As God’s people, we have had the opportunity at the Feast to fill up our spiritual tanks by drinking in the messages which had been prepared for us.  Our spiritual tanks have to take us through the long winter months up to the next Holy Days in the Spring.

In order to do that, we had to take full advantage of the blessings that God provides for us at the Feast.  One manner to maximize the effectiveness of the spiritual benefits was to ensure we remained in good health in order to attend all the services so we were able to benefit from the messages which we received.  This ensured our spiritual tanks were topped up in order to carry us to the Spring Feasts.

Another benefit was the fellowship we were able to enjoy with one another. Since some of us who are more remote and isolated only see each other once a year at the Fall Festival, this was a time to renew and refresh the friendships we have with one another. We had opportunities to eat in fine restaurants with one another and sharpen one another through good conversations while rejoicing of being together on this occasion.

So the Feast provided both spiritual and physical benefits. We drew closer to God and reached a better understanding of His plan and laws through the messages and we drew closer to each other via the fellowship we enjoyed with one another.

God knew through His plan of salvation, which incorporates all seven of His Holy Days, that there would be a long duration of time between the Fall and Spring Holy Days, and He expects of us to take full advantage of the Fall Festival to ensure that we will have enough spiritual fuel to take us to the Spring Festivals.

The question is, did we take full advantage of the blessings which God offered us? Or did we neglect to attend the Feast even though we could have done so? Did we neglect to listen carefully to the messages and to fellowship joyfully with brethren of like mind? If we did not do this, then we will have a much more difficult time to cope with the long winter months until the Spring Feast Days. In that case, perhaps heart-rending repentance and prayer to God for extra strength would be very important.

Those who will be able to look much more confidently in the future are those who faithfully obeyed God’s command to observe the Feast in the right way and with the right attitude; who will dwell and meditate on the messages that they have heard; and who will be diligent to practice what they were taught. We pray that you belong to that category.

After the Millennium

Conditions and events leading up to the Great White Throne Judgment period, Satan’s final fate , the new Jerusalem and beyond, when the physical is no longer and their is only the spiritual – for eternity.

Download Audio 

Stay Tuned In

The carnal mind is enmity to God and we as Christians  must be tuned into God’s wavelength in order not to be led astray.

Download Audio 

During the Millennium

Conditions as they will be in the millennium with Satan having been put away and the whole world will eventually worship the one and true God

Download Audio 

Before the Millennium

Events and conditions leading up to the millennium and the return of Christ.

Download Audio 

How Do You Respond to a Person who Believes that Sunday Should Be Kept?

First and foremost, you have to establish whether a person is willing to follow the dictates of the Bible and the example of Christ and the New Testament Church or the traditions of men, which are based on paganism and human tradition and not on the Bible.

The following approach could be pursued in a series of questions, as outlined below:

1) How does a person prove, show, manifest and demonstrate that he or she is willing to embrace God’s love?

1 John 5:2-3 says:   “By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.”

The Bible is clear that one demonstrates love for God—that one is willing to embrace the love OF God–by keeping His commandments. There is nothing ambiguous about this statement.  The conclusion is: If someone does not keep the commandments in spite of what he or she may say, then the person does not truly love God.

2) How many of the commandments should one keep?

The obvious answer is, all of them. So now, why does someone keep Sunday rather than the commanded Sabbath of the Bible?

The Sabbath is part of creation, in that it was instituted when God created man and when He rested on that day.  It is the longest commandment in words of all the ten, and it starts with the admonition to REMEMBER the Sabbath and KEEP it holy, not to substitute it for another day, be it Sunday, Friday or any day, and not to forget that it is a commandment.

When God wants to emphasize something, it is repeated in the Bible.  The Ten Commandments are listed twice, both in Exodus and Deuteronomy, showing the importance and durability of them. Christ said the Sabbath was made for man. He never made that statement about Sunday.  Mark 2:27 states: “And He said to them, ‘The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.’”

Christ emphasized that He is Lord of the Sabbath. Mark 2:28 continues:  “‘Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath.'”

He is Lord of it because as the God of the Old Testament, He established it and dictated the manner in which it should be kept, which oftentimes was opposed to all the rules which were subsequently added by the Pharisees, Sadducees and the scribes. Many of these rules, as well as additional ones, are also endorsed by modern Judaism, making the Sabbath a burden and a yoke, rather than a joyful occasion.

No claim can be made that Jesus is the Lord of Sunday. It is evident that Christ kept the Sabbath according to His custom. A custom is something one does on a regular and consistent basis. It is not a sporadic event.  Luke 4:16 states: “So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read.”

We also know that Paul–the apostle to the Gentiles–kept the Sabbath and taught the Gentiles to do likewise. We read in Act 13:14: “But when they departed from Perga, they came to Antioch in Pisidia, and went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and sat down.”

Acts 17:2 adds: “Then Paul, as his custom was, went in to them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures.”

We also read that he told the Corinthians (converted Gentiles) in 1 Corinthians 11:1: “Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ.” As Christ kept the Sabbath according to His custom, so did Paul.

3) Since the Bible expressly tells us to keep the Sabbath which Christ and the apostle Paul kept, where did the Sunday tradition come from?

Historically, it was the Catholic Church which changed the day in the 4rd century from Sabbath to Sunday.

 In the book, “90 Common Questions about Catholic Faith” by John O’Brian, it states on page 63:

“… the Bible does not contain all the teachings of the Christian religion (our comment: a false statement) nor does it formulate all the duties of its members (our comment: another false assertion). Take for instance the matter of Sunday observance, attendance of divine service, and abstention from unnecessary servile work on that day. This is a matter upon which our Protestant neighbours have for many years laid great emphasis; yet nowhere in the Bible is the Sunday designated (our comment: “Sunday” is not even mentioned) as the Lord’s day; the day mentioned is the Sabbath, the last day of the week. The early Church, conscious of her authority to teach in the name of Christ, deliberately changed the day to Sunday: she did this to honour the day on which Christ rose from the dead, (our comment: which He did not) and to signify that we are no longer under the Old Law of the Jews but under the new Law of Christ” (our comment: another wrong concept, as worded).

Sunday was the Gentile day of worshipping pagan gods—sun gods. The Catholic Church adopted Sunday worship to induce pagans entering their fold. They were also motivated by strong anti-Semitic feelings which explain their hostility towards the “Jewish” Sabbath.

However, no man and no human organization or institution has the authority to change God’s Law, which would be paramount to claiming that one had the authority to say adultery and murder are no longer a sin, which would be absurd. No one has the authority to change the Ten Commandments, which were written by God in stone to demonstrate their permanency. One may decide not to obey the commandments, but one cannot change or alter them.

4) One has to make a choice. Does someone want to follow the traditions of men and of the Catholic Church or the clear injunctions of the Bible?

The traditions of men, which are contrary to God’s commands, are inspired by the god of this world, Satan, who deceives the whole world. Revelation 12:9 states:  “So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.”

2 Corinthians 4:3-4 adds: “But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.”

The commandment to keep the Sabbath comes from God. The tradition to keep Sunday comes from the god of this world who worked through the Catholic Church to “change” the Sabbath to Sunday, which it had no divine authority to do.

To summarize, the only way laid out in the Bible to demonstrate our love for God and God’s love in us is to keep all of His Ten Commandments, not only a few of them.

Listed in the Ten Commandments is the command to keep the Sabbath, not Sunday nor any other day. The Sabbath was instituted at the creation of man, and it is the longest commandment in words. The Ten Commandments are listed twice to emphasize their importance, and they were written in stone to show their permanency and durability.

No man, church or group of men have the authority to change God’s commandments. To make such a claim is absurd and would mean that one could change or annul any one of the commandments.  Most Christians would reject the idea that they could now commit adultery or murder an innocent person (even though they might justify killing in war or aborting babies). However, the vast majority of Christians believes and accepts the wrong idea that one could justifiably annul the Sabbath and replace it with Sunday.

It boils down to this: Will you keep the commanded day which God has instituted, blessed and sanctified, and which the Bible commands us to remember and to keep holy, or will you observe the day dedicated to the worship of pagan sun gods and adopted and instituted by the Catholic Church under the influence of the god of this world, which it had no authority to do? In other words, which will you follow–God’s commandments or human traditions?

Lead Writer: Rene Messier (Canada)

Gods Now

Have you ever wondered just how God now looks upon our current status? We know we received at baptism a small down-payment, as it were, of God’s Holy Spirit, and we have a responsibility to grow in grace and knowledge and to remain faithful to our calling until Christ returns or we die, ensuring our future in the Kingdom of God as the Father’s sons and daughters.

In God’s mind we are already in His Kingdom. Only we can prevent ourselves from entering  the Kingdom. Christ said He would never forsake us; that is, He would always be there for us through thick and thin. We are called upon to do what is necessary to “make it” into God’s Kingdom and His Family.  When the Kingdom is established on earth, we bear full responsibility if we are not in it.

Those of us who are fathers knew that when our spouse was pregnant, a child would be born into this world unless there was a miscarriage. Barring this, there was no question in our minds that our baby would be born.

A baby is protected in the womb. It is also nourished with a rich supply of blood which carries the oxygen required for cell growth and nourishment through the umbilical cord until the baby is full-term and born.  At that time the cord is cut and the baby is on its own, being separate from the mother, even though it still requires care and nourishment.

The Church is similar to a mother’s womb in that the members are protected, nourished and cared for. The Church’s responsibilities were laid out for us by Christ, when He admonished Peter in the book of John to “Feed my sheep” (John 21:17). This is a way for the Church to demonstrate love for God and neighbor.

We also read in John 21:15: “So when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, ‘Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me more than these?’ He said to Him, ‘Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.’ He said to him, ‘Feed My lambs.’” This would include younger and newer Church members of the flock.

Peter was also told to tend the sheep, which involves caring for and protecting the sheep: “He said to him again a second time, ‘Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?’ He said to Him, ‘Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.’ He said to him, ‘Tend My sheep’” (John 21:16).

The ministerial responsibility towards God’s sheep and His lambs–the members of God’s Church–is plainly laid out for us in 2 Timothy 4:1-2:

“I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.”

This admonition was to Timothy, an Evangelist in God’s Church, and it must also be applied to the entire Church ministry today. Notice, Timothy was to “convince” by using the Scriptures to prove a biblical point. He was to “rebuke” when necessary—not that the sheep should be browbeaten, but on occasion, they would need correction just as a loving father would correct his children. He was to “exhort”; that is, encourage the members to stand firm and not compromise.

How was he to do this? With “all longsuffering”; that is, with Godly patience and love, and with continued “teaching” without wavering.

This is admonition to the ministry to help Church members in their growth and edification. Those who think they no longer need a true minister to teach them because they are spiritually mature and can just stay home and listen to a mixed bag of messages are making a grave mistake, which could lead to their disqualification from entering the Kingdom of God.

How long do you think a baby would survive if it would decide after four months in the womb that it does not need the mother anymore? And if it were to leave the womb and cut off the umbilical cord–the source of its food and nourishment? It would not survive for long. There is a lesson here for any of those independent Christians who have rejected true Church authority and feel they are perfectly fine in their “self-sufficiency” and that they no longer need God’s true and dedicated ministry.

The fact is: God works through His ministers to feed and take care of the Church members. Rejection of this fact is rejection of God’s government here on earth. If one cannot be subject to the Church now, how can God use one in His Kingdom?

As I mentioned earlier, in God’s mind we are already in the Kingdom, and failure to be there in the future would be totally our fault–not God’s. Let’s appreciate what God has established in regards to the Church which is to care for and feed the members, to ensure that they will be ready to meet Christ when He returns. We must individually fight against becoming a spiritual miscarriage, which could occur when we reject Church government which was established by Christ in the Church for the benefit of the flock.

©2025 Church of the Eternal God