Dear Brethren and Friends:

Greetings from Southern California! Mr. Raymond McNair is now with us here at our headquarters in San Dimas! It is a real pleasure to be able, once again, to work together with another of the real "pioneers" of God's Work in this age.

Mr. McNair is busily writing the booklet on America and Britain in prophecy--though we have not given it an "official" name yet. Because it is such a big project, we have decided to run the booklet serially in The Wor1d Ahead magazine . So you will get the booklet in installments before it actually appears in booklet form.

Of course, Mr. McNair, our executive editor, will be helping me direct all of our editorial work. He will also serve as vice-chairman and coordinator of our doctrinal team and will be driving or flying out to preach in some of our field churches from time to time as well. So he will certainly have plenty to do. It is a distinct honor to have him on our headquarters team!

All of us are very busy, preparing for our first ministerial conference which takes place July 12-16 here in our San Dimas offices. Al1 of our full-time ministers and wives are coming in, and many local elders and wives are coming at their own expense. Counting our leading headquarters men and wives, we expect about fifty people at our banquet this Thursday evening.

Brethren, God has granted us wonderful growth these past six months! We now have over 1220 households on the mailing list in the U.S. and Canada plus 250 additional households overseas. In addition, we have over 300 people who have responded to The Wor1d Ahead broadcast . Both of our feast sites are about half filled with three months to go. Del Mar, California will hold seven hundred and Pigeon Forge, Tennessee can accommodate twelve hundred. God is guiding the festival planning. At our present rate of growth we expect to fill both locations by September.

Our Belgian brethren will be hosting the European site at Hengelhoef, Belgium. Mr. Jean Carion reports that 50 additional people have now come with us from neighboring France. This is exciting news! As the word spreads that the Work is being done once again, we expect many more on the European continent will rally to Christ's banner. I plan to be in Brussels, Belgium for the Feast of Trumpets. Please pray that God will make that trip possible.

Production of our first World Ahead magazine is under way! We plan to have a four-color cover with two and four color signatures inside. Mr. Jeff Patton, our managing editor, ably assisted by Mr. Rob Hasanen and Mr. Craig Kohl are hard at work preparing layouts and editing articles for Mr. McNair to review. The first issue will be for September, which will be mailed out, God willing, in late August. Please pray with us that all will go well as we strive to please and glorify Jesus Christ in this fledgling effort.

In John 4:34-36, Jesus said to His disciples, "My food [as ours should be] is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work. Do you not say, `There are still four months [Oh, we have plenty of time to do the work] and then comes the harvest'? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes [wake up and see what is going on around you] and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest! And he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together."

Brethren, is history destined to be repeated in the Pacific? Japan and the United States are on another collision course, reminiscent of the 1930s. This culminated in the surprise attack on December 7, 1941 at Pearl Harbor by Japanese air and naval forces. On both sides of the Pacific, in spite of some attempted damage control by government leaders, emotions are beginning to run high in the media of each country.

Glen S. Fukushima is an American businessman based in Tokyo. He directed Japanese affairs at the office of the U.S. trade representative from 1985 to 1989 and currently serves as vice president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan. Under a news story headline which reads "Japan Sticks Third-World Label on U.S." Mr. Fukushima writes, "We [Americans] are portrayed as a corrupt, decadent nation in decline--a dangerous trend we must reverse.

Here are some additional excerpts on the same dangerous trend from a June 27, 1993 Los Angeles Times article:

The United States is losing public support in Japan. Over the past six or seven years, the United States has been portrayed here in steadily unfavorable terms. The result is a rising negative perception among the Japanese public of the United States as a nation, Americans as a people and American firms as reliable suppliers, employers and corporate citizens.

The United States is routinely characterized in Japan as a violent, drug-ridden, illiterate, uncompetitive society in defiance. Exposed daily to reports of Third World conditions in America's cities, Japanese tourists bound for the United States have been known to ask whether it is safe to drink the water. The sensationalized coverage of the shooting last October of a Japanese high school student in Louisiana has reportedly led some Japanese to buy bulletproof vests before boarding transpacific flights. The verdict in the Rodney King beating case last year and the ensuing riots in Los Angeles gave the Japanese media a field day in portraying the United States as a racist, crime-ridden, lawless society whose preachings about human rights to China, Burma and South Africa are filled with hypocrisy.

Yes, with complicated trade disputes and anti-Asian attitudes growing in the U.S., a wedge is being driven between the two great Pacific rim powers. As the balance of trade continues to lopsidedly favor the Japanese, how much longer will the Congress of the United States be willing to foot the bill for the island nation's defense? Japan's reliance on American power to protect it is a major reason for that island nation's prosperity. Without a costly defense establishment to support, Japan has been able to plow hundreds of billions of yen into the nation's infrastructure.

Will the U.S. remove the "nuclear umbrella" as a cost-cutting measure? If so, what will Japan do in the face of a North Korea, who by all estimates, will soon possess nuclear weapons? The answer is obvious. As the U.S. disarms, a militaristic and increasingly anti-American attitude will again rise over the energetic and economically powerful Empire of the Rising Sun.

Please pray fervent1y for this Work ! Let' s keep up our spiritual zeal and allow ourselves to be used by Christ to powerfully preach the true Gospel and to warn our English-speaking nations of what lies just ahead.

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It took a fair amount of courage for many of us to leave our former church association. In many cases, we gave up some friends, some family, and a lot of activities and relationships that we enjoyed. These social networks gave us a sense of stability and security.

Many of the friends and loved ones we left behind are beginning to realize that it just isn't going to get cleaned up from the inside. In their hearts, they know that most of the doctrinal changes are just plain wrong. They see that the continuing drift toward mainstream Protestantism. Nobody is stopping it. And there is no turning back:

But few have the courage to do anything about it. Oh, they make a lot of noises. They say they're not yet being "made" to teach or believe false doctrines. However, their very presence clearly implies they agree. Their continued presence and support indicates to God and fellow man that they also support these false teachings. Otherwise, why are they there?

Many are still sitting around waiting for "someone else" to make the first move. It takes courage to step out alone.

Yet courage is a basic attribute of every Christian leader: witness David in front of Goliath, Daniel in the lion's den, and Jesus before the night of his crucifixion.

After the death of Moses, God told Joshua:

Be strong and of good courage, for to this people you shall divide as an inheritance the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the Law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go (Joshua 1:6-7).

We need to pray fervently that God will give others the understanding and courage to stand up for the Truth.

And all of us in the Global Church of God will need to exercise a great deal of faith and courage in the months and years immediately ahead. For we are having to start all over. We are "pioneering" again—starting new churches, going to new countries, stepping out in faith again and again and again. Of course, we will also be persecuted.

But if we know and know that we know that there is a real GOD of unlimited power and wisdom, and that we are serving Him and doing His Work, then we should have the total faith and courage to move ahead, to serve and to sacrifice. For in actual fact those who think they are in the "safest" position, are in the greatest danger. Jesus said, "For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what is a man profited if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?" (Matt. 16:25-26).

If we are truly conquered by God, we will be willing to courageously give up our own comfort and security for a little while. Yet for all eternity we will be blessed with a reward of awesome and incomprehensible proportions.

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by Jeff Patton

Energetically delivering the keynote address at the opening of the week-long ministerial conference, Mr. Roderick Meredith clearly outlined the "big picture" for the Global Church of God.

"The purpose of this conference," said Mr. Meredith, "is to be sure we are focused on the big goals the Church must accomplish." Mr. Meredith explained that the recent experience of the Church, in which certain leaders have abandoned most of the Truth that Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong had gained during his 52-years ministry, has created "a remarkable test for God's Church."

"God is letting the members and ministers sort themselves out as to who has their heart in God's way. They must chose their way, make their selection. This is a fantastic test. There are different places [Churches of God] members can go depending if they are: in a spirit of bitterness, desire to slack off or loosen up, sit still and just hold on, or are hyper about setting dates."

However, Mr. Meredith emphasized, "If a member wants to follow the general approach of Mr. Armstrong, then this person should consider the Global Church of God. We deeply love, respect and honor Mr. Armstrong, though we are not going to slavishly follow Mr. Armstrong. But if we have a bias, that bias is to follow the guidelines set down by our apostle of 52 years." Mr. Meredith explained that we are not going to emulate the organization which published the "God Isn't" booklet, which has tossed all the doctrines up into the air. "We don't plan to change any big thing, perhaps some small things as we grow in understanding."

There are three main goals which Mr. Meredith encouraged the ministers to focus on: reviving the Work, restoring the Truth and learning ourselves, as well as teaching others, to be bond slaves of Jesus Christ.

"God is not anxious to hurry the Work up," related Mr. Meredith. "We are here to learn lessons like loving our neighbor as ourselves." He then related that what has happened to that other organization and its transformation into the Laodicean Church is not occurring as some sort of shock to Christ. "Many ministers and members are not ready [for Christ's return]. There are more lessons to learn.

Mr. Meredith said, "In 1961 to 1972, when I was superintendent of ministers I didn't then understand management. Now I've learned we must have the right approach in servant leadership."

Setting a high standard for the ministry, Mr. Meredith emphasized, "Let's try and do it right this time as shepards with a loving approach, good preaching, visiting and effective administration."

"We should be willing to die for Jesus Christ, but you only follow me as I follow Christ [l Cor. 11:1]," said Mr. Meredith. "If I start preaching false doctrines, become a dictator, alcoholic or adulterer; well, the brethren are thinking people: It will be ten times easier for our brethren to leave us if we don't follow the Truth. If people follow me it's not because I've won so many beauty contests, but because I follow Christ."

Mr. Meredith related his plans for a Council of Elders which would be composed of most of the elders residing locally in Southern California as well as others throughout the U.S. and internationally who could be linked to important meetings by telephone.

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by Raymond F. McNair

During the past 50 years, the "Churches of God" (primarily the Worldwide Church of God) have distributed about 15,000,000 books and booklets explaining the true identity of the Anglo-Saxon-Celtic peoples. As a result, millions of Americans have come to believe that our peoples are indeed the descendants of the so-called "Lost Ten Tribes" of Israel. Possibly, as many as 10,000,000 to 20,000,000 Americans have learned of their true racial raots through reading the books published by the Churches of God during this 50-year period.

There are also other organizations who believe in and publish books, booklets and articles on the general subject of Anglo-Israelism. But, unfortunately, numerous of those organizations often include in their writings certain beliefs which are unscriptural. Some of them even promote racist teachings under the banner of Anglo-Israelism. So let the reader beware!

Sadly, today there are some who would like to discard this knowledge concerning the true identity of the Anglo-Saxon-Celtic peoples. They, like certain leaders in the Church of God (7th day) in the late 1920s and early 1930s, refuse to believe or teach this truth to their people.

In 1929, Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong (founder of the Worldwide Church of God) wrote to one of the top leaders in the Church of God (7th day), and asked him to critique his 300-page paper, proving the Anglo-Saxon-Celtic peoples were indeed the descendants of the ancient "Lost Ten Tribes" of Israel.

Mr. A. N. Dugger, a prominent Church of God leader, wrote the following letter (dated July 29, 1929) in response to Mr. Armstrong's 300-page paper:

Dear Brother Armstrong, I...have just finished [reading] the manuscript...British Israel with the illustrations and maps. You have put much work on this and I am impressed to write you now while the matter is fresh on my mind of how it has interested me. I have seen no work near its equal in clearness and completeness. YOU SURELY ARE RIGHT, and while I cannot use it in the paper at the present you may be assured that your labor has surely not been in vain. There is a purpose in your having gone into this matter so deeply right at this time which it is not difficult for me to fully see through, and you will hear more from THESE TRUTHS and the light herein revealed later... (The Autobiography of Herbert W. Armstrong, 1967 ed., vol. 1, p. 406 [emphasis added]).

Mr. Armstrong thought the message contained in his 300-page manuscript was so important, that he later published several editions of his booklet/book, entitled The United States and British Commonwealth in Prophecy. Approximately 15 million copies of that booklet/book were sent out by the Worldwide Church of God during Mr. Armstrong's lifetime!

Regrettably, some of the modern leaders in the Church today no longer believe that message, which Mr. Armstrong himself referred to as "the VITAL KEY that unlocks prophecy to our understanding"(The United States and British Commonwealth in Prophecy, introd., p. xii). Furthermore, in his book Mystery of the Ages, Mr. Armstrong referred to this truth (regarding the identity of the Anglo-Saxon-Celtic peoples being the descendants of the "Lost Ten Tribes" of Israel) as "the missing MASTER KEY to the prophecies"(p.164), and he also referred to it as "this VITAL KNOWLEDGE"(p.160).

Unfortunately, today, there are many skeptics in God's Church who would like to do away with "this vital knowledge," burying it in total obscurity, so that the peoples of America and Britain will no longer be able to understand the real truth about their ancient ancestral roots. Since, admittedly, this "vital knowledge" is "not pertinent to salvation," such skeptics would do away with it altogether. But such specious reasoning discounts the simple fact that though not the most important subject dealt with in the Bible, prophecy is, nonetheless, very important to God—otherwise He would not have caused about one fourth of the Bible to be filled with prophetic writings. And we are commanded: "Despise not prophesying" (I Thess. 5:20)!

Future issues of The World Ahead magazine will regularly feature articles about America and Britain in Prophecy. Our nations need to know their national identity --their ancestral roots-- and even more importantly, our peoples need to know what Bible prophecy says will happen to us in the not-too-distant future.

Would God’s Word Ignore the World’s Greatest Nations?

Stop and think for a moment! Is it reasonable to believe God would not even mention influential nations like America and Britain in Bible prophecy? The Bible mentions all of the mighty empires which arose in ancient times: Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Media-Persia, Greece and Rome. The British Empire has, in modern times, been far greater than any of the ancient empires--including the Roman Empire. Would the Word of God utterly neglect to mention the mighty British Empire which dominated the world for over two centuries?

Also, one might ask: Is it rational to believe God would totally ignore mentioning in His Word the richest, most powerful nation this earth has ever seen--the United States? God's Word makes mention of many nations -- Arabia, Crete, Cyprus, Egypt, Ethiopia, Greece, India, Iran (Persia), Italy, Lebanon, Libya, Malta (Melita) and Spain. Is it reasonable to believe the Great God would totally fail to mention the modern nations of America and Britain in His Word?

God Almighty does not ignore mentioning our great nations of America and Britain. In fact, those Anglo-Saxon-Celtic-descended peoples are mentioned more often in the Bible than any other people. Of course, they are not referred to in the Bible under their modern names of AMERICA and BRITAIN. But our American and British peoples are, in truth, the modern-day offspring of the ancient people who were known in Bible times by the name of ISRAEL!

Furthermore, the Bible gives numerous specific and vitally important prophecies which concern the future of the modern-day Anglo-Saxon-Celtic descendants of the people of "Lost Israel." Those prophecies give important warnings which our people need to know about!

The Global Church of God will fulfil its commission to give a loving warning to all the modern-day nations of Israel, including Judah (the modern nation known today as Israel), in order that some may turn from their abominations and be spared the Great Tribulation which will surely strike our nations due to our increasingly degenerate lifestyles!

In this series of articles in The World Ahead, we shall reveal the fascinating answers to these and many other important questions concerning the meteoric ascent of America and Britain to the very pinnacle of world power and prestige. We shall prove that, thousands of years ago, Almighty God promised and prophesied the rise to power of the peoples of the United States and Britain -- including their British-descended Commonwealth of Nations! Never before in the history of the world have any nations, descendants of a common ancestor, wielded such power! It is indisputable that no such "brother nations" have ever remotely matched the economic and military might of the American and British peoples.

Many Americans and Britons have not understood what it was, or WHO it was, that brought about this meteoric rise to power of the Anglo-Saxon-Celtic peoples. They have never before been able to comprehend why our peoples have been so blessed -more than any other nations in the entire history of this world?

In these gripping articles, we shall examine both the biblical and the historical proofs showing that the Anglo-Saxon-Celtic peoples who settled Britain and America are in truth the descendants of the ancient tribes of EPHRAIM and MANASSAH, sons of the Patriarch Joseph. It was to them and their descendants that God Almighty gave the fabulous birthright promises and blessings. Whoever held the birthright promises was to receive a double portion of God's blessing. It was Joseph's offspring who were to receive "two portions," rather than "one portion" which the other eleven sons of Israel or Jacob (later to become tribes of Israel) would receive (Genesis 48:22 and I Chron. 5:1-2).

Watch for this vital series of articles coming soon in The World Ahead magazine!

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by Don Davis

In the early 1970s, while visiting the Big Sandy campus of Ambassador College, I had the opportunity to tour the excellent facilities of the agricultural program that then existed.

A farm supervisor drove me along a dirt road to the turkey yard. A large number of these birds were approaching maturity just in time for Thanksgiving Day. About fifty large fowls were perched atop a wooden rail fence. As we pulled up in front of them, the turkeys fell silent as the car motor stopped and we got out to more closely view this unusual (to a city dweller) sight.

As the supervisor and I walked toward the turkeys, they watched us with quiet curiosity. We halted about five paces from the fence. One hundred beady bird eyes were riveted on us. My guide said quietly, "Listen to this," and he began to mimic loudly the well-known call of the feathered fence-sitters, "GOBBLE GOBBLE GOBBLE!" A resounding chorus thundered back at us from the crowd on the top railing, "GOBBLE GOBBLE GOBBLE!" Then, abruptly, the birds fell silent once more.

Eventually, the turkeys returned to their routine as we drove away. Our visit had been just a break in the short, monotonous lives of the birds, but I had learned a lesson which has spiritual implications for God's people now.

Today, thousands of converted, well-meaning Christians are sitting on a spiritual fence. They realize their church leadership has gone into error, having departed from the truth of God. However, not wanting to be found on the wrong side of the fence, they just sit, waiting for some kind of "sign" to show them what to do.

One side of the fence, which they reject, represents surrender to a watered-down religion of man's devising. The other side, which they fear, is the difficult road of personal responsibility to God's word, total commitment and sacrifice which must be traveled by brethren who have decided to stay with the Truth once and for all delivered to the saints.

But the fence-sitters, indoctrinated in "never leaving the Church," cannot see their church has left them! Some of the fence-sitters, like those turkeys, perch in silence until their leadership gives them biblical "GOBBLE-DY-GOOK." Then they repeat "GOBBLE-DY GOOK" back, without checking this teaching first in their Bibles.

Just as those turkeys at Big Sandy were unaware of their approaching doom (it was then shortly before Thanksgiving Day), many fence-sitting Christians dc not perceive their own spiritual danger. The longer a person stays on the fence, the more likely it is that person may get down on the wrong side!

The Apostle Paul said:

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. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables (II Tim. 4:1-4).

It is not too late. Christ is still offering spiritual escape from error to all who will accept it. Christians must realize that GOD IS NOT ON THE FENCE! He commands all men to make a choice. "I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendant: may live..." (Deut. 30:19). When a turkey sits on a fence, half of him is on each side. So it is with Christians on the spiritual fence. God wants his people's hearts to be 100% on His side. "The proud have forged a lie against me, but I will keep Your precept; with my whole heart. Their heart is as fat as grease but I delight in Your law" (Psalm 119:69-70).

Yes, it is spiritual decision time for those who truly want to follow Christ and live by God's law. As a turkey on a rail can be easily shot by a marksman, a fence-sitting Christian makes a good target for Satan who hunts for their souls. Get off that fence! Come down on the side of the living Church where the Truth of God is active in preaching the soon-coming Kingdom of God, giving the loving warning to all Israel of the coming great tribulation and teaching the whole counsel of God.

In I Kings 18:21, a question is asked that applies to the people of God today. "And Elijah came to all the people, and said, `How long will you falter between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.' But the people answered him not a word." The prophet Elijah's advice is still good today Don't be caught unawares like those turkeys destined for somebody's dinner table.

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by Ron Nelson

For the Europeans, the 90s are no more civilized or enlightened than the 80s were before the fall of the Berlin wall and communism. They see a more unstable world--one of wars, border disputes, bitter racial and ethnic conflict, terrorism and urban riots.

Is the European Community's current blueprint towards unity going to survive? Though American headlines more often focus on Europe's economic and social troubles, step by step Western Europe is still moving toward complete union. But what kind of Europe will it become? Will a united Europe be able to guarantee peace and stability on the continent?

An Idea Whose Time Has Come?

The idea of a united Europe grew out of the "never again" attitude that pervaded Europe after World War II. One of the most ardent promoters of a United Europe was Dwight D. Eisenhower, first as allied wartime commander and then as the U.S. President.

Winston Churchill also publicly promoted the idea. In one of his speeches he said, "We cannot aim at anything less than the union of Europe as a whole. And we look forward, with confidence, to the day when that union will be achieved."

The European Community (or common market) was founded 35 years ago as a trade bloc, though some visionaries hoped a political union would grow out of that framework later. The common market now comprises at least 350 million people--out-numbering the population of the United States. Much progress toward total European economic integration has already been achieved but economic union is not yet complete.

One of the biggest problems the EC faces is that the less efficient countries of the Community face severe competitive pressures under a single currency from efficient producers like Germany. The January 1993 deadline for monetary unification has been missed. It may be 1999 before completion of this absolutely crucial step toward an economically united Europe can take place. Common EC foreign and defense policy-making also faces serious hurdles. To create a "common citizenry" from all the EC member countries would demand a corresponding loss of state sovereignty and national identity of each of the constituent parts.

Patriotism must be Redefined

"For many of those who dreamed of a Europe united and free during the bitter Cold War years, the realities of the post-Communist era are proving a bitter-sweet harvest." (Los Angeles Times, March 16, 1993). The report continues, "Western Europeans have watched with growing concern the mix of problems ranging from restless populations to virulent nationalism ... threatening the comfortable affluence they have so long enjoyed."

Historically, European peoples have fought and died to preserve their independence and sovereignty--from each other. But surveys in Europe show many Europeans as now ready to forgo or transfer sovereignty to some sort of supra-national European entity whose actual form is not yet sure.

A surprising cross current to the Europeans' drive toward unity is their continued desire for "stronger American leadership," according to a New York Times story. But as that newspaper noted, "The American military establishment in Europe does not know what the President will finally ask it to do" (May 16, 1993).

Failure of American Leadership

Since President Woodrow Wilson, America has sometimes operated on the conception that it is the responsibility of the United States to make the world safe for democracy. While military might projects the power and influence of the United States, it must be wielded by sound leadership to be effective strategically.

The United States has been shown to be impotent in rallying effective European participation to deal with the ex-Yugoslavian civil war, particularly in Bosnia. Observers sense a serious decline in American power and credibility right at a time when the world needs confident leadership.

Some analysts say U.S. leadership is being withdrawn. "As in the 1930s, ordinary Americans are consumed with anxieties closer to home, but the political class, too, appears to be turning inward." Scott Sullivan, Newsweek's regional editor observed that the United States hasn't taken much interest in Europe in recent years. "For decades the Middle East has seemed a more dangerous place. Japan and East Asia have loomed larger on the trade front." He stressed that Europe does very much matter because "American interests are directly affected by all these developments...". (Newsweek, November 30, 1992)

Dangerous Leadership Vacuum

The war in Bosnia, with its daily diet of televised atrocities at Europe's door "has added to the region's gloom, and the war itself has revealed how far the Community must go before it can live up to its claim to be a world political power" (New York Times, June 20, 1993).

TIME magazine convened a panel to discuss EC progress on a continent torn between unification and nationalism. The panelists sensed a steady rise in popular support for unification. (East European countries have signed on as associate EC members in 1991. The EC signed agreements with Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria.) German Chancellor Helmut Kohl's former foreign policy advisor, Horst Teltschik noted, "We can enlarge the zone of stability by enlarging the Community. But to enlarge the Community we have to first deepen the integration." (TIME, Dec. 9, 1991 ).

In a special "World Report" section of the Los Angeles Times, December 8, 1992, David C. Roche, a global strategist with the Morgan Stanley investment house in London, foresees a new shape for Europe "with a mighty Germany radiating influence from the center."

Along with Germany, Roche places the Benelux countries, Austria, Switzerland, Sweden and Denmark in Europe's prosperous core. Poland, Czechoslovakia and Hungary, where German economic influence is pervasive, might also be included." "The Europe of the 1990s," Roche wrote in a Morgan Stanley analysis, "is unlikely to be the nice, prosperous, bureaucratically managed and boringly predictable continent which everyone hoped to see after a meeting in the small town hall of Maastricht last year."

What is behind the awesome changes we are seeing? "You are dealing with very weak governments and a genuine leadership problem in the three main West European countries (Britain, France and Germany). The main fear I see is tied to recession and the growing xenophobia it has touched off. It's not limited to Germany, though it's depressing it should reappear there after 45 years of democratic experiment," says Stanley Hoffman, chairman of the Center for European Studies at Harvard University (U.S. News & World Report, June 14, 1993).

Prosperity through Exclusivity

Economics and the resulting prosperity-at-all-costs approach will shape much of Europe's foreign policy. But it will also be a response to security needs in this ever more dangerous world. "'The new world order still lacks a profile, and there are even signs that the West is splitting apart," warned Horst Koehler, state secretary at the German Finance Ministry. He added, "The Cold War unity in the West risks being replaced by ‘a gigantic global distribution fight,' not only between industrial and developing worlds, but among industrial countries themselves" (Wall Street Journal, July 2, 1993).

Trade war--"distribution fights"--will be only one area of economic competition. Too many people will cause the EC to exclude some and this will sharpen the division of the world's haves and have nots. Already Germany wants zero immigration so that jobs and housing shortages will not worsen.

In a report on Germany and how such changes will produce a new kind of European: "There's always talk about a unified Europe, but it means a unified Western Europe. A new Iron Curtain is coming up here, a border determined by living standards rather than politics," (U.S. News & World Report, June 14, 1993).

Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher spoke of these concerns recently in Los Angeles: "After the second [world war] we set up what came to be called the new world order. [But] it isn't a new world order at all, there really isn't such a thing as a new world order, there never will be. It is world cooperation to give moral authority to a course of action.... We [also] knew the importance of prosperity, we knew the importance of building up better economics and better channels of trade."

Money and wealth are motivators among men and no less so among nations. But what about other crucial issues. Mrs. Thatcher continues, "If we look now at some of the hot spots around the world, we will see that we're not headed for universal democracy by any means. Right at the heart of Europe, Serbian aggression reminds us, as I never expected to see in Europe again, about ethnic cleansing, brutality, massacre, murder, relentlessly pursued. It is within the sphere of influence of the European Community. It should be within the sphere of conscience."

Prophecy shows that a very powerful, determined self-interested leadership will arise in Europe. It will acquire absolute power over the lives of Europeans so that none can buy or sell without coming under its direction. This economic control will produce prosperity but not without adversely touching the lives of millions more around the globe!

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Christ promised Christians who overcome in this era an awesome and truly wonderful reward for their faithfulness. He says in Revelation 3:12, "He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more." Yes, we will one day be pillars in God's temple but do we really understand what all this means?

The word God uses for pillar helps us understand. The word "pillar" is "stulos" in the Greek and means to stiffen, support, or simply be a pillar. The base word from which the word pillar is derived is also interesting. It is "histemi" and it means to stand, continue and abide.

Think what this means to us. We will be in the very temple of God. We will be close to Him, supporting Him, abiding and continuing with Him, and standing up for Him in all that He does throughout eternity. Sounds exciting doesn't it? You bet it does!

However, what is important for us to realize now is this: if we expect to be pillars in His temple in the future, we must be pillars in His temple now (Ephesians 2:19-21 ). How about you? Are you a pillar?

God's servants are to be pillars. In Galatians 2:9, the Apostle Paul said that James, Peter and John were pillars in the Church. In the Old Testament, Jeremiah was a pillar for the people of God. God ordained him to be a prophet to the nations and told Jeremiah not to fear the people to whom he was to take, God's message. God had made Jeremiah a pillar of iron to them. They could fight against him and his message all they wanted, but they would never prevail. Jeremiah would stand tall, firm, sound and unfailing (Jeremiah 1:l-18).

In construction, pillars are strong, isolated, upright structures that support the great weight of an edifice. They are narrow in width and stand tall in height and are usually sunk deep in their foundation. They have been known, in some cases, to be anchored in solid rock.

A pillar's relative strength greatly exceeds its size and mass if it is truly upright. But if it leans just a little too much one way or the other it is weakened. God's people must be truly upright to become pillars. "Lord, who may abide in Your tabernacle? Who may dwell in Your holy hill? He who walks uprightly, and works righteousness, and speaks the truth in his heart" (Psalm 15:1-2).

Paul tells us that the whole Church should function as a pillar. I Timothy 3:15 says: "...I write so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth."

We are the Church, the household of God. We are to be the pillars and ground of the Truth. To do this we must sometimes stand alone. We must be grounded solidly in our foundation, Jesus Christ, who is our Rock. We can only enter God's kingdom by what Christ calls the narrow and strait gate.

We also must rise above the mundane trials and problems of life. We must support God's Work and we must support one another. We must stand firm in the Truth no matter what kind of storm washes over us.

This is why it is so important for us to strive to be pillars now. When catastrophes come, whether storms or earthquakes, there is always some damage done: Sometimes an entire edifice will fall down in a shambles. However, even when a building crumbles, the pillars may be left standing.

Are we pillars? Are we willing to stand firm when everything is collapsing all around us? Are we still standing up for God (Psalm 94:16)? Still standing on our foundation? Are we still supporting the Truth? Are we still supporting God's Work and His people? If we are, then we are functioning as pillars today and we can be assured that we will be pillars in His temple in the World Ahead.

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