Happy Anniversary to Us

Good morning!

Consuming news today is like facing a firehose. You choose to use the Trumpet as a news source—and we appreciate that. Why the Trumpet? Have you looked into it? Do you know who we are and why we do what we do?

[BRIEF]

This weekend marks 36 years since the start of the Trumpet’s parent organization, the Philadelphia Church of God. This publication is just part of an array of media and projects we produce, including K-12 education, a college, a top-class fine arts concert series, a traveling Irish dance troupe, archaeological excavations and exhibits, and much more. I encourage you to look into the bigger picture behind the news you read from us to better understand what truly makes the Trumpetunique.

Visit our sister website, pcg.church, and watch Trumpet executive editor Stephen Flurry’s television program airing this weekend about our anniversary: “Thirty-Six Years of Raising the Ruins.”

Trump declares ‘peace’ when there is no peace: Trump met with the leaders of Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo yesterday at the White House and signed a new peace agreement between the countries.

“We’ve ended a 30-year war in Africa,” he declared. “I think they’ve spent a lot of time killing each other and now they’re going to spend a lot of time hugging, holding hands and taking advantage of the United States of America economically, like every other country does,” he said.

The problem is, over in Africa, they’re still fighting.

The leaders met at the “Donald J. Trump Institute of Peace,” recently so renamed, the State Department says, to celebrate “the greatest dealmaker in our nation’s history.”

The deal formalizes terms agreed to in June, including a ceasefire, the disarmament of militia groups, approval for refugees to return home, and business deals to create wealth, a similar pattern to President Trump’s Gaza peace deal.

The reality on the ground in the Democratic Republic of Congo is that the M23 rebel group continues to fight, and the violence is spreading to neighboring Burundi.

But President Trump is confident. “I think it’s going to be a great miracle,” he said. He clearly wants peace. But declaring peace and getting some leaders together for a nice ceremony is much easier than actually ending the conflict. Even a peace deal that stops the fighting for a time often sows the seeds of the next war.

The Prophet Jeremiah condemns false prophets who go around “saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace” (Jeremiah 6:14; 8:11). He’s referring specifically to those who simply declare peace within Israel, but it’s the same attitude that ignores the heart of the problem and instead just declares it solved.

Isaiah 59:8 says, “The way of peace they know not ….” The only way President Trump will bring lasting peace anywhere is by looking to God. Instead, he declares, “I can solve anything”—as he did when trying to bring India and Pakistan together.

President Trump made a brief reference to the “Prince of Peace” at the signing yesterday—but no one looks to Him to actually bring peace. Only by acknowledging that he can’t truly solve anything and looking to God to show the way of peace can President Trump bring lasting peace anywhere. Our article “The Roadblock to Peace” has more.

‘Kingdom’s court’ hands president Texas victory: Yesterday, in a 6-3 ruling, the majority-conservative United States Supreme Court granted Texas a stay that allows it to move forward with its new congressional map for the 2026 midterm elections. The newly drawn districts could result in as many as five additional Republican seats, a significant boost for President Trump, who has been pushing Republican-controlled states to fight back against Democrat gerrymandering.

• A lower court had ruled that the new map was unconstitutional based on “disenfranchising” racial minorities. Texas Governor Greg Abbot petitioned the Supreme Court for a stay, which it granted, ruling that Texas can use the new map until it can look at the issue more closely.
• The lower court accused Texas of drawing new districts to disenfranchise racial minorities, without proof. Until such proof is provided, a district court has no power to dictate how the Texas state government draws congressional maps.

In his article “Is America’s Supreme Court in Bible Prophecy?” Gerald Flurry highlighted a prophecy in Amos 7:13 about the “king’s court,” which would be better translated as “kingdom’s court.” He explained why he believes this refers to the United States Supreme Court, and how this indicates that, though it is not personally loyal to America’s end-time Jeroboam (President Trump), it does favor him in his fight against left-wing lawlessness. This ruling is consistent with that prophecy.

IN OTHER NEWS

Chancellor Merz squeaked through his biggest crisis so far this morning. A large number of his own M.P.s had threatened to rebel against his pensions bill. After weeks of crisis talks, he finally managed to pass it by a slim margin with 319 votes. (He needed 316 for a majority.) Also this morning, the government’s long-delayed and debated conscription law finally made it over the finish line. Bild described the vote as a “warning signal from Merz’s own ranks: Today WE will push through the pension reform, and tomorrow YOU will rebuild the party.” Party infighting has weakened Germany’s center-left-center-right coalition. “Many M.P.s no longer trust their coalition partner,” they wrote. “This is poison for the already weak cohesion of the black-red coalition.” Many others “resent the way thumbscrews were put on them” and resent their own leadership. Germany has again devolved into coalition chaos and is craving a strong leader.

Putin is “wasting the world’s time.” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha made this characterization of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s negotiating position on Wednesday. The day prior, U.S. special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner had met Putin in the Kremlin for a four-hour negotiation that bore no fruit, much like previous U.S.-Russia talks in February and August. On Thursday, Putin stated: “It all comes down to this. Either we liberate these territories by force of arms, or Ukrainian troops will leave these territories and stop fighting there.” Vladimir Putin remains the roadblock to peace.

Sudan has offered Russia a Red Sea naval base: The Wall Street Journal reported Monday that the latest form of the offer would give Russia permission to deploy four warships and 300 troops to a yet-to-be-announced location for 25 years, as well as access to some of Sudan’s mining industry. Based on Bible prophecy, Trumpet publisher Gerald Flurry has warned that Iran and Germany will soon plunge into a mad scramble for control of African nations. Russia is not included in this prophecy, but its actions there are hastening this coming clash.

Eurovision split over Israel: The European Broadcasting Union announced yesterday that it will allow Israel to participate in next year’s Eurovision Song Contest. Some European countries had asked for a ban on Israeli contestants, citing the Gaza war. Ireland, the Netherlands, Slovenia and Spain responded to the announcement by saying they will boycott Eurovision. This is another example of normalizing anti-Semitism.

Only 1 in 10 Europeans sees President Trump as a friend: That is according to a Barometer of European Public Opinion survey of 9,553 people from Belgium, Croatia, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal and Spain. Trump has promised to bring peace to the Continent and has made overtures toward appeasing Russia, but more than 80 percent of respondents believe Russia does not want peace. Fifty-one percent perceived an elevated risk of war with Russia, and nearly 70 percent thought their country was unprepared. As the Trump administration continues to talk about peace, Europe is preparing for war.

Two in five UK teens are in abusive relationships: ITV News reported on Wednesday that in a Youth Endowment Fund survey of 11,000 13-to-17-year-olds nationwide, 39 percent said they experienced or committed acts of “violent or controlling behaviors.” The Bible prophesies that lack of “natural affection” would “wax worse and worse” in the end time (2 Timothy 3:1-3, 13). These curses spring from rebellion against God and have devastating consequences.