The Fine Line--When Apologists Can Be Dangerous to the Body of Christ

I came from what apologists called a cult--was it?  Except for not believing in the trinity doctrine, which the early Sabbatarian Judeo-Christian churches in Asia Minor didn't even have a concept of from 31AD to the late 200sAD, the Worldwide Church of God believed in keeping the 10 Commandment law of God, as they were enhanced by Jesus in Matthew 5:17-48.  Romans 14 clearly states that be it according to your Christian conscience as to which set of "days of worship" you observe.  The Worldwide Church of God, as well as all the Sabbatarian Churches of God going back to the Colony of Rhode Island in the 1660s, to the Sabbatarian Churches of God around London England from the 1300s to 1600sAD, all those chose the Seventh Day Sabbath and Holy Days of Leviticus 23 as their chosen days of worship according to their Christian consciences.  The trinity doctrine itself was not teased out of Scripture for the first 250 years of the existence of the Christian Church.  It was not a valid standard of orthodoxy for the 12 apostles in their writings, especially of John in his writings.  The apostle John had come up against heretics and heresies attacking and actually splitting some of his congregations in Asia Minor.  And John emphatically stated that the proof of orthodoxy was whether those espousing belief in Jesus also held and taught that Jesus was God in the flesh.  The Gospel of John veritably teaches that Jesus was actually the pre-incarnate Yahweh of the Old Testament (see John 8:58; Exodus 3:13-14).  The heresies attacking the early Judeo-Christian and Gentile Christian churches were clearly written about and listed by the disciple of Polycarp (who himself was the disciple of John), Irenaeus in 178AD in a six volume set titled Ad Haereses (Latin for "Against Heresies").  Irenaeus never in the whole six volumes mentions that belief or non-belief in the Trinity doctrine marked the difference between a heretical church and an orthodox one.  The Trinity doctrine had not yet been teased out of the Scriptures.  It was a mute question, because it didn't exist yet.  The nature of what or who the Holy Spirit was, as compared to who God the Father and God the Son, Jesus Christ were, just was not a question in apostolic writings.  To view the heresies that were attacking the early Judeo-Christian churches, log onto: http://www.unityinchrist.com/misc/whyohodoxy.

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There is one so-called Christian ministry which has set itself up as a judge and jury against legalistic churches, and particularly the Sabbatarian Churches of God that branched out after the death of Mr. Joseph Tkach Sr. in 1995.  They have written online articles which border on being rabid against legalism of any kind.  While I do admit some church 'denominations' can be extremely harmful for a believer to get involved in, the constant attacks of PTM-Ministries upon their Sabbatarian Churches of God brothers goes above and beyond acceptability.  I found one legalistic church denomination on an apologist website (a balanced one) that is so bad in  being legalistic and over-controlling of it's members, that it makes any Sabbatarian Churches of God look like they are harmless school children in a kindergarten playground.  (see http://www.carm.org/list/bcc.htm , to see what I am talking about.  And this apologist website does not even mention Sabbatarian Churches of God, and has a benign mention of the Seventh Day Adventists.)  Recently PTM-Ministries has come under fire for their scathing articles against legalism, which many times are veiled attacks against the Sabbatarian Churches of God that broke away from the Worldwide Church of God in 1995.  (This smacks of a jealous sibling fighting the others in a family, where one sibling cannot get over a grudge the other siblings have graciously put aside.)  Monte Wolverton, son of Basil Wolverton, wrote an article in response to some of these letters which were bringing PTM-Ministries under fire.  I wrote a letter back to Monte, which follows.  "Is it legalism to strive to obey God's law (whether for those who are Sabbatarian Churches of God, adhering to the OT Holy Days and Sabbath, along with the other 9 Commandments, which find their spiritual counterpart [all 9] in the NT, and for Sunday observing Christians striving to adhere to the NT 'law of Christ' [9 of the 10C, found re-iterated in the NT], as Paul admonishes obedience to throughout the NT Epistles (ie, to say "sin not" is just another way of saying "obey", since sin is the transgression of the law [whichever 'law of God' one chooses, cf. Romans 14])--as long as one is striving for obedience in and by way of God's Holy  Spirit, without any intention of "earning salvation through obedience?"  You may have to read that twice to get the jist of the question, but it's important, for some groups label legalists as those who sincerely strive to obey God's law.  That's not a proper definition at all.  Legalists demand one keeps the law of God as a 'requirement for salvation', often without regard to whether the obedience is done by one's own efforts, or by and through the influence of the Holy Spirit.  Pastor Chuck Smith once remarked that when man tries to look at the subject of 'Law & Grace', it's like looking at a triangle for some, looking sideways at it, and a circle for others looking straight down on it, both irreconcilable definitions for what it actually is.  Yet both are described in the Bible as being a part of 'Law & Grace'.  But when God looks at the subject, he sees a cone (both a triangle and circle)!  If one seeks genuinely to obey God's law (whichever version should not effect the definition, Sunday or Sabbath keeper) by and through the faith of Jesus, empowered by the Holy Spirit, you wouldn't define this as legalism, now would you?  And no matter how the preacher may be pounding the pulpit about obedience, if his audience is genuinely Holy Spirit indwelt and obeying God's Word not on his or her own, but by having the Lord write his royal law on their hearts and minds via the Holy Spirit, would you define that as legalism?  Well I know many Christians, both Sunday and Sabbath observing, who are in this category, imbued with the Holy Spirit, and their lives are marked by overcoming in God's power.  Would it be proper for me to label (libel) their various denominations as legalistic and slam them, when this would be a personal affront to my friends and brothers in Christ?  Would I be amiss to support a ministry which practices and does this as an integral part of their ministry?  If the body of Christ has been given the overall job of proclaiming the Gospel to the world, shouldn't that be our central focus, and let other denominations later answer to God for themselves on how they handled the assignment, according to the knowledge they were granted?  Now I could see warning other Christians about the genuine heretical groups such as Adoptionists or 'Christian Gnostics (I've known one, a nice person, but boy, a space-shot doctrinally!  Way out there, and when I studied Gnosticism, very dangerous.)  I could even see warning about legalistic groups that are so legalistic that they are a danger to those who get entrapped by them (like the one I gave a link for).  But you could call Southern Baptists, or a lot of the other Baptists legalists by the standards being used by PTM-Ministries.  But I know some Baptists, and many are Holy Spirit indwelt.  Should I label them legalists?  I often wondered, when PTM-Ministries got going, why they took on what might be described as falling under the category of being apologists or a quasi-apologist ministry, especially aimed at what they perceived as legalists?  Many legalistic groups are genuinely Christian, and attacking any such group, since we're all part of the body of Christ, is like one part of the body of Christ attacking another part, when they all need each other to live and function as a body.  The apostle Paul had something to say about this.  And what he said had more to do with showing respect and love, since we're all a part of Christ's body of believers.  He said the more comely parts need the less comely parts--am I correct?  In this respect, shouldn't we be heeding Jesus' words, "Judge not, that ye be not judged"?  If our (mis)judging offends one single member of the body of Christ, causing him or her to stumble, aren't we going for a deep-water swim with a big weight-belt on?  Since I have visited and fellowshipped  with a lot of believers on both sides of this "Sabbath-Sunday great divide", this question has been on my mind, especially since I have seen so many differing interpretations for 'Law & Grace', and yet have genuinely witnessed believers within all these differing parts of the body of Christ exhibiting the same exact Christly lifestyle.  Maybe all our definitions for 'Law & Grace' lack the depth and understanding God has on the subject, but our lifestyles all reflect the same spiritual "code-of-conduct" for believers in Jesus Christ, all living "in the Spirit", living in the "faith of Abraham", who is the father of the faithful.  I am confused.  Maybe I'm reading these Scriptures wrong.  Please tell me, what would you do?  Would you support such a ministry?  Or would you choose to lean on the side of caution, and forego being judgmental, no matter how "right" it looked?  I have to look at the various denominations carefully, and be seeking to understand them and show understanding--seeking to inspire all within them toward their God and Christ given assignment found in Matthew 28:18-20.  And I leave the apologist's job to the apologists, and try to pick the apologist that has no personal interest in the group I'm looking at.  Since most legalistic denominations or churches do have many Holy Spirit inspired and led individuals within them, as do the non-legalistic ones, is it correct to attack legalistic churches and denominations?  Maybe in a totally clinical environment, abstract from being able to identify any group, one can attack legalism, per se.  But when an apologist ministry's descriptions point toward one or another denomination so clearly that you can easily identify it, or know for certain the group you're in has been "targeted", this then, I would gain to say, is attacking another part of the body of Christ.  This would exclude of course, the extreme cases that are genuinely harmful psychologically to it's adherents (ie, the one I mentioned before).  But those are few and far between, while many of our "painted targets" are genuine parts of the body of Christ, and ought not to be "shot at".  Is that a proper thing to do?  Wasn't Paul one of the biggest teachers of Christian sensitivity for the sake of other believers?  He targeted Judaizers, but never Judeo-Christians who were off by themselves and bothering nobody.  If many of my friends, ones who have clearly demonstrated the indwelling Holy Spirit in their lives, still attend in one of these Sabbatarian Churches of God, and I were to viciously attack (publicly, online) their prophetic beliefs (pre-millennial, with a slight twist) as "Armstrongism", would I not offend those who still hold those beliefs, and perhaps cause some of them to stumble (especially new members whom I personally know)?  I know I would.  Should we, by extension, be a part of a ministry that could cause others believers to stumble?  

Links to see relating to this BLOG:

http://www.unityinchrist.com/history/historycog1.htm

http://www.unityinchrist.com/wwcofg/wwcofgod.html

http://www.unityinchrist.com/history/BaptistHistory.htm

http://www.unityinchrist.com/misc/whyorthodoxy.html

http://www.unityinchrist.com/history/revivals.htm

Baptist and Sabbatarian history, the riddle solved!

While researching a link going to a Baptist history site that went dead on this website, I was forced to look up another link.  I read through one of the links of this denomination which was about their history, thinking it looks promising.  I read through it, spot checking it, especially where they mentioned their history in 1100s France, knowing the Baptists claim the same lineage through Peter de Waldo, the Henricians, the Cathari and the Albigensians, the groups we know as Sabbath and Holy Day observing groups in France.  The Baptists also trace a history from Asia Minor through the Bogamils in Yugosalvia, entering southeast Europe the way the Sabbatarian Churches of God do.  I have always wondered how two church denominations, one Sabbath and Holy Day observing Judeo-Christians, the other Baptist Sunday observers, could lay claim to the same historic line, going from Asia Minor, through Europe and France, then to England, and then America.  At first, I thought, someone must be lying.  But I immediately thought better of that, two Holy Spirit inspired groups like that wouldn't knowingly tell lie about their history.  Then I focused on France of the 1100s AD. These tiny groups, but especially the Waldensians, were preaching up an evangelistic storm in France, and they had even translated the four Gospels, some of the Epistles, the book of Job, amongst other parts the Bible into the vernacular French.  The Catholic church was feeling the heat of their preaching.  So the Catholic pope of the time launched the first Inquisition in France, with others to follow.  Most think of the Spanish Inquisition, but these started in France.  Ralph Woodrow's Babylon Mystery Religion, gives the bloody gruesome details of the French Inquisitions.  I'll quote on tiny section from his book which focuses in on one such event.  "One of the documents that ordered such persecutions was the inhuman 'Ad exstirpanda' issued by Pope Innocent IV in 1252.  This document stated that heretics were to be 'crushed like venomous snakes.'  It formally approved the use of torture.  Civil authorities were ordered to burn heretics.  "The aforementioned Bull, 'Ad exstripanda' remained thenceforth a fundamental document of the Inquisition, renewed or reinforced by several popes, Alexander IV (1254-61), Clement IV (1265-68), Nicholas IV (1288-92), Boniface VIII (1294-1304), and others [these times all cover the French Inquisitions].  The civil authorities, therefore, were enjoined by the popes, under pain of excommunication [which would put their lives under the same danger] to execute the legal sentences that condemned impenitent heretics to the stake...At Lavaur in 1211 [just as all this was getting going] the governor was hanged on a gibbet and his wife thrown into a well and crushed with stones.  Four hundred people in the town were burned alive.  The crusaders attended high mass in the morning, then proceeded to take other towns of the area.  In this siege, it is estimated that 100,000 Albigenses fell in one day.  Their bodies were heaped together and burned."  (pp. 105, 108 Ralph Woodrow's Babylon Mystery Religion.)  When persecutions got really hot, many within these Sabbath-keeping groups in France switched to Sunday observance in the hopes of not being spotted by the Inquisitors and Catholic priests, in an effort to save their lives.   This was in a history of the Sabbatarian revivals I transcribed and put on this website.  In the Sabbatarian Churches of God in Rhode Island history article I have on this website, while researching that history I found in another church history link the story of the Cottrell family, who were French Albigensians, who escaped to England.  Their family continued there in one of the Sabbatarian Churches of God near London.  In 1638 John Cottrell moved to the Colony of Rhode Island and ended up in the Church of God congregation in Newport Rhode Island and his son ended up in the Westerly congregation.  The Cottrells ended up migrating with other church members to the midwest of the United States.  They have never as a family, from France to the midwest of the United States, ever stopped worshipping on the 7th day Sabbath.  So they are a historic link to these same slaughtered Albigensians in France.  They escaped.  Also, we know that most of the churches in Asia Minor up to around 250 AD were Judeo-Christian Sabbath-keepers.  So the church line going into France must have been Sabbath-keepers.  It was a single historic line, which both Baptist and Sabbatarian Churches of God were laying claim to.  But if this historic line left Asia Minor as Judeo-Christian Sabbath-keepers, which is the more likely case, it must have been Sabbatarian in France at first.  But the white hot intensity of these Inquisitions made many in these groups in France rethink their choice for days of worship, with their physical survival at stake.  While reviewing this Baptist history link, I zeroed in on the part dealing with France in the 1100s, and found a statement, a quote from a Catholic source (obviously part of the Inquisitors records), where they weren't calling the places these people met "churches", but they called them "synagogues".  Now these Catholic persecutions and Inquisitors would not be calling the places of worship of anyone observing Sunday as a "synagogue", but they certainly would be calling people who met on the Saturday Sabbath, observed the Jewish Holy Days and circumcised their children "synagogues".  So what I believe is that the historic line of both our Sabbatarian Churches of God and the Baptists was a single line up until it reached the period of the first and second Inquisition in France.  Then the line split, one going to Sunday observing "Baptists" or "Anabaptists", and the other remaining Sabbath, Holy Day observing Sabbatarian Churches of God, most of which got slaughtered, but some escaped first to Holland, and then to England in the 1300s (the Lollards).  Both these groups, Baptists and Sabbatarian Churches of God adamantly believe in baptism of adults only by full immersion.  In England, the Sabbatarian Churches of God would often evangelize amongst their Baptist "friends", helping to maintain and grow their numbers in England.  This practice continued into America.  So when the Baptists claim to be a "really old church denomination" going back to Asia Minor, they are right.  When the Sabbatarian Churches of God claim the same thing, they are correct as well. Actually they all were Sabbath-observing full-immersion baptists all the way back to Asia Minor.  But the split in the historic line came in France due to white-hot persecution and slaughter of their numbers.  The Baptists will never claim to have originally been part of the Sabbatarian Churches of God to have come out of Asia Minor through Yugoslavia.  After France the the 1200s when the Baptists had been Sunday observing long enough, they finally discovered the freedoms we have in Christ over days of worship explained in Romans 14.  Now we have too, but still prefer Sabbath and Holy Days voluntarily.  The link to the Baptist history will be up soon on this website in the Church History section.  Be sure to watch for it.  Then compare it to the information in the Sabbatarian's histories at:

http://www.unityinchrist.com/history/revivals.htm  and http://www.unityinchrist.com/history/historycog1.htm  and also http://www.unityinchrist.com/history2/index3.htm .

The current Worldwide Church of God under Joe Tkach Jr. claims we came from the Baptists in England.  It would appear, realistically, that the Baptists came from Sabbatarian Churches of God much earlier, in France. His view of this history appears to be 180 degrees out from the actual truth. As far as I'm concerned, the riddle is solved.

Unity amidst diversity within the Body of Christ

I went to one of our exWCG member small-group Sabbath studies yesterday on the Cape.  The group meeting was a bit smaller than usual, was a cozy get-together in a small living room with a woodstove going.  We studied Romans 14.  We all read aloud the first four or five verses from Romans 14 out of the various translations, going around the room.  Then when that was done, we'd each make a comment on what we thought it meant.  Some would give the historic content and meaning for when it was written (55-65AD, my estimate).  Some would give comments on what they thought it means to us believers today.  We did this until we finished reading Romans 14.  It was really interesting from our perspective of being non-Torah observant Sabbatarian Church of God believers.  What Romans 14 meant to us, the whole chapter, is that we have a very unique understanding of the secondary doctrinal understandings of God's Word and the freedoms we have in Christ in these secondary areas of belief.  But some of our understandings must not  necessarily be shared, say when we fellowship with our Torah-observant Sabbatarian Church of God believer friends, if doing so would make them stumble and fall in regards to their sincere Christian conscience toward these beliefs.  Also when fellowshipping with some of our evangelical Sunday observing Christian friends, we must not share some of our secondary beliefs which differ from theirs, if doing so would make them stumble.  The whole point being, to be at peace with other believers, and accept them at their various spiritual levels of understanding, in an attitude of love for them.  I suddenly realized that the people in our small-group that met that day have a very high spiritual maturity level of understanding towards most if not all Christian groups within the body of Christ, which places us in a unique position to promote some sort of unity within the body of Christ, should our small-group ever grow into a whole bunch of small-groups.  I remember that study I put up on the site written by Doug Ward writing about Cotton Mather and a sermon he gave about Christmas in 1712, where Cotton Mather applied Romans 14 toward two groups that were forming between Christians in Massachusetts, one group wanting to observe Christmas, and the other diametrically opposed to it.   What Paul wrote in Romans 14--if followed and practiced--makes for peace amongst the doctrinally diverse groups, denominations and churches within the body of Christ, in the context of love through understanding, which promotes Christian sensitivity toward others who have differing secondary beliefs from us.  It all revolves around showing active love for our brethren in the differing parts of the body of Christ by taking the time to understand them in context with their secondary beliefs that differ from ours, and showing sensitivity toward them and their beliefs. Most Messianic Jews don't like to eat pork, shellfish, and such.  Should you invite a Messianic Jewish friend over to your house and serve him a ham dinner?  No, that would put that individual in an awkward position, by using your freedom in Christ to make your brother stumble.  Torah-observant Sabbatarian Christians believe keeping the Sabbath and Holy Days of Leviticus 23 as opposed to observing Sunday, Christmas and Easter is not an optional choice--they sincerely believe the 7th Day Sabbath and Holy Days of Leviticus 23 are primary commands to be followed, not secondary.  So visiting one of their church services, and sharing about your freedoms in Christ as explained in Romans 14, as you fellowship with them, expounding to some of them who've been your friends a long time, showing them all you "know" in the Scriptures that say it's OK to worship God on Saturday or Sunday, may cause them to stumble (especially if your Scriptural explanation was really good and "airtight").  That is what Romans 14 forbids!  Unity within the greater body of Christ simply cannot exist without the sensitivity that Romans 14 teaches.  What I noticed when our small-group meeting was over with (and we sat down together at a nice dinner provided by the hostess), what struck me hard, was that our small-group had reached this high level of understanding and sensitivity toward all other groups, denominations and churches within the body of Christ. We in our group all like worshipping on the Sabbath, and some of us on the Holy Days of Leviticus 23, but we fully understand and are sensitive toward all other Christian groups.  At an understanding level, I realized that we are in a unique position to have something to do with promoting unity within the body.  Whether the Lord goes anywhere with this, expanding our group into many, and sharing this dream, is strictly up to the Lord.  A local Calvary Chapel pastor I know started hosting a group-pastors prayer meeting, encouraging all the local church pastors from differing denominations within the community to attend to pray for the community and their collective and individual needs.  The group has grown to ten different pastors representing ten different denominational groups.  He has learned to observe the sensitivity training of Romans 14.  All agree on the major essentials of the Gospel of Salvation, but all avoid promotion of their secondary beliefs which differ from each other, showing Christian sensitivity toward each other.  Jesus is not asking any one of these denominational groups to drop their particular set of secondary beliefs they hold, instead he is asking all to be sensitive to the other's beliefs that differ, and to be united in the essentials of Salvation, and join hands in promoting the Gospel of Salvation around their communities, as well as around the world.  That is the purpose of this whole website, by the way, as shown in the Mission Statement.  And this leads us to the fulfillment of Matthew 28:18-20 for our particular generation in this age of man we find ourselves in.   Our small group came out of the Worldwide Church of God, and came through all the changes instituted within that group under Mr. Joseph Tkach Sr.  There must be many like us scattered around the country, maybe in small groups, maybe all alone.  We do possess a unique understanding, all of us.  I say let's put it to use to serve the Lord.  Scroll down the nav bar on any page of UNITYINCHRIST.COM and click on the nav button titled "Worldwide Church of God" and read it to learn more about what the people in our small-group came through.  The journey was very painful for most, but as I saw yesterday, yielded a very sweet spiritual fruit.  If you are one of these people, there is a link at the end of that article titled "The Worldwide Church of God" that goes to another article which gives some interesting proposals toward forming up more of these small-groups, and perhaps even congregations of us, and explaining what our central goal should be to promote unity amidst diversity, toward the end of assisting in promoting the Gospel of Salvation around the world.  Just an proposal that God has inspired me to write about.  It's in God's hands, and timing if he wants to better use the human resources he's trained with this amazing level of sensitivity towards other Christians groups and denominations.  Again, the link at the end of that article titled "Worldwide Church of God" proposes an idea of how we can magnify across the Body of Christ our hard-earned understanding to promote greater unity within the body of Christ so we can accomplish the 1st Commission Jesus gave the whole body of Christ in Matthew 28:18-20.  Click on that link at the end of the article "Worldwide Church of God" and you will see a picture of an 1800s Sabbatarian Church of God building I photographed in Rhode Island, which is also pictured above.  Again, just an idea, a proposal for our exWCG brethren who may want to use what the Lord has just taught us.

Who Becomes President: Final Analysis

Well it's a week and a day until the national elections, and I'm really surprised no one has bothered to comment on my blog about about whether God chooses the President or has anything to do with who gets elected.  You know, the more I study history, and see how key leaders having been raised up, or taken down has acted like a hinge where history took a turn, sometimes it was a precursor to the fall of an empire, at others the rise of one.  All empires and nations go through growth cycles.  When they get old, they tend to get weak--first morally, then economically and finally militarily, usually following similar sequences as those that went before. Rome is the most commonly sited case history, but they all follow similar patterns.  In the period after the division between the 10 tribe House of Israel and the House of Judah, both had a series of good and bad kings, more morally evil than good.  Finally the House of Judah (long after the captivity and deportation of the 10 tribed House of Israel) had experienced a run of bad kings.  Judah was going down.  One strong king came to power, replacing an evil one.  He was king Josiah. He was righteous.  But idolatry had already permeated the nation of Judah. He kept it in check, and Judah revived for a period, but right after his demise in battle, the Babylonians soon conquered Judah in a succession of three invasions.  We have to see what shakes out in the election.  But the state of the nation right now stands here:  The economy is going into recession due to financial sins hidden from the public eye until they surfaced, confidence in the economy waned, and as confidence goes, so goes the market.  Check the news websites, it's a constant daily show of countless murders, rapes, and theft.  The land is being filled with innocent blood and no one is saying anything about it.  Politicians tax, tax, tax, but give little in return--all the while saying "Just trust us".  Surely our allies must be sick of our financial sickness bringing them down.  McCain may bring stability and healing to the economy for awhile, or maybe just give it the space to recover.  Obama may tax us to death, and the economy will really stumble.  But in the end, 4, 8 years from now, where will the US be? Question is, how fast do we want to see the nation go down the drain.  Is the choice up to the electorate, or is it up to God?  Read my blog about who chooses the President, and pray accordingly.  I still (on a personal level) believe the choice is ultimately God's.  He doesn't necessarily have to choose someone that will be good for us.  Depends on how long He wants this nation to go on.  That brilliant man Einstein wrote in the 40's and 50's that we were in the end times (from a nuclear war perspective).  If that was so then, where are we now?  If you vote, vote your conscience.  But I still think it's God's choice in the final analysis.  Big question is, what does the Lord want us to be doing in this period of time probably just prior to his 2nd coming?  Check out the Mission Statement of UNITYINCHRIST.COM to see a few ideas. Something to pray about.  If the Lord gives us a good President, who redeems the time a little bit for us, what are you going to do with that precious time???  Are you ready to commit to serving the Lord more vigorously, redeeming the short time we have left?  I think the Lord is looking at his people, and he is looking at that aspect more than any others.  Are you complacent about the times we live in--"let others evangelize, support evangelism"--or are you really hot for the Lord and seeing his Kingdom grow.  I think that is what's going to decide this election, in the final analysis.  

The Feast of Trumpets was on the 30 September of this year.  Joel 2:1-11 describes in prophecy the army of God as Jesus commands it as he descends to the Mount of Olives and then fights against the nations gathered there in Jerusalem and the Israeli nation.  The verses are quite graphic in the NIV.  Next Holy Day on God's calendar is the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur), which is today, the 9th of October.  Joel 2:9-17 describes what we should do on this day, and what is asked of the Israeli nation on that momentous day right after Yeshua's 2nd coming. "'Even now,' declares the Lord, 'return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.'  Rend your heart and not your garments...Blow the trumpet in Zion, declare a holy fast, call a sacred assembly.  Gather the people, consecrate the assembly; bring together the elders, gather the children, those nursing at the breast.  Let the bridegroom leave his room, and the bride her chamber.  Let the priests, who minister before the Lord, weep between the temple porch and the altar.  Let them say, 'Spare your people O Lord.  Do not make your inheritance an object of scorn, a byword among the nations..."  Then in Zechariah 12:1-8 and 14:1-15 the 2nd coming of Yeshua is graphically described.  Then verses 9-14 of Zechariah 12 describes this amazing fulfillment of the Day of Atonement, just following the 2nd coming and victory of Yeshua and the army of God over their enemies.  "And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication.  They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him [Yeshua] as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son.  On that day the weeping in Jerusalem will be great, like the weeping of Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo.  The land will mourn, each clan by itself, with their wives by themselves: the clan of David and their wives, the clan of Nathan and their wives, the clan of the house of Levi and their wives, the clan of Shimei and their wives, and all the rest of the clans and their wives." Right now as life goes on in the US, candidates debate, the debt crisis continues, people driving to and from work, it's a normal day.  But in the Israeli nation, and especially Jerusalem, no cars are on the road, no planes fly, no trains or buses run.  People dressed in their best, and prayer shawls, walk down the middle of streets going to synagogues, praying for forgiveness, spending the day in prayer.  Children ride bikes and play in the deserted streets.  Do you think America will ever have a real day of prayer like that?  Yes, the Jews don't recognize Yeshua yet, but they will.  I wonder at that time if the United States will even be around as a nation.   Don't you?  Do you ever wonder that?  Joel 2:1-11 and Zechariah 14:1-15 are about Yeshua, Jesus coming back to stop a very real World War III, which it states in Matthew 24, if he didn't there would be no life left on the planet.  So if the Jewish nation loses 2/3's of their population in this war (as Joel prophecies), and they're a praying nation, where does that leave most Americans?  What's going to become of us?  Come on folks, lets have some comments.  Or are you all dead out there in Internet land, or sound asleep.  Oh, Joel has good news, in Joel 2:18-32 just after this massive war symbolized by the Feast of Trumpets, and then the Day of Atonement, where the Jewish nation recognizes Yeshua.  Then Joel says we enter the true period symbolized by the Feast of Tabernacles.  Read on through Joel 2:18-32 to see what the Feast really symbolizes.  Will inhabitants of the earth after Jesus' return be keeping the Feast of Tabernacles?  Read Zechariah 14:16-19.  Want to know more about the Millennial Kingdom of God which the Feast of Tabernacles symbolizes?  Scroll down the nav bar on the Homepage and click on the  "Millennial Kingdom" nav button.  The Feast of Tabernacles this year is from October 14th through the 21st.  For those of you who go, have a happy Feast!

September 11th, anyone remember it?

Today is September 11, 2008.  I remember I was home and turned on the TV around 9am.  My son was just getting home from his night job, and we both watched in amazement as the second airliner crashed into the other Trade Tower.  We stayed glued to the TV for the rest of the day, needless to say.  So, where have we come from that eventful day?  The war with Al Quaida, which under Bill Clinton had been swept under the rug, so to speak, became a "hot war", with the US military going right away into Afghanistan, freeing it from Taliban and Al Quaida control.  Next was Iraq, which looking back, was a bad move, regardless of your politics.  Even hardened soldiers admit it was.  What, go into a country made up of three waring factions, regardless of who's in power?--not good, not smart.  Look at what happened in Yugoslavia when Tito died.  Whenever we leave, the three groups are going right back into civil war.  Russia just went to war with Georgia (not in the US), and our President (foolishly in my opinion) went to back up the Georgian Republic, messing around in Vladimir's back yard.  Now Vlad's sending two Tupelov-160 Blackjack supersonic bombers to Venezuela, and is about to send a Russian naval fleet there for "exercises" this fall.  NATO forces sent fighter jets to "accompanied" the two Tupelov-160s across the Atlantic (that must have made the Russians happy).  Vlad is saying he's not afraid of another Cold War.  Europe is in the middle of this saber rattling too.  Now Russia's main worry isn't us, nor the Europeans, but to their east, China.  That's why they're re-arming so swiftly in a major way.  But we don't seem to realize that.  So Russia and China are becoming armed camps.  Europe will follow in reaction to the stance the US and Vlad have taken against each other (unnecessarily in my opinion).  The Europeans, under German leadership, are building a fleet of very stealthy Uboats that run on fuel-cells.  Can't track them, not yet, at least.  

Looks like just before the Hebrew Holy Days kick off, there's a lot going on.  Does anyone of you remember what the Fall Holy Days of the Hebrews represent prophetically?  Most Jews and Messianic Jews realize the Feast of Trumpets, which falls on September 30th of this year, represents the coming of the Messiah.  Messianic believers (and most Sabbatarian Church of God believers) in Jesus know this is as the 2nd coming of Jesus Christ.  The events that lead up to that momentous event are a major World War, and worldwide famine.  World Wars often come about when superpowers are at odds with each other.  Have you checked out the 2nd coming of Jesus section of the website (www.UNITYINCHRIST.COM)?  Or the "Terrorism" section of the same site.  The two tie in remarkably well, showing the coming alignment of nations and why.   And after the Day of Atonement, the Feast of Tabernacles comes, which represents the Millennial Kingdom of God, where Jesus and the resurrected holy saints rule over the world, the survivors of WWIII.   Care to comment?  Be sure to read those articles.  Looks like this Fall Feast season is going to be interesting, that's for sure.  They usually are.

Does God ultimately choose the next President?

It is the age-old question between Calvinism and God giving man free choice and free-moral agency.  While the Bible is clear that humans have free choice, fulfilled prophecy, yes, Old Testament prophecy, that is now a part of history books proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that God is in control, ultimately, wherever history has been at a key juncture, like during the rise and fall of great empires.  The first great Gentile world ruler, Nebuchadnezzar wrote of this Biblical principle when he stated in Daniel 4:17, "...to the intent that the living may know that the most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomsoever he will, and sets up over it the basest of men."  Look at the rise and fall of the Persian empire, also prophecied in Daniel 2 and 7, and 8.  God prophecied through Daniel that a Greek empire with one strong leader would conquer the massive Persian Empire.  But long before Alexander the Great came on the scene, Xerxes, would have made the prophecy a mute question.  His intentions were to conquer Greece with a massive army and navy such as the world had never seen.  What stood in his way?  The squabbling Greek city-states, who were always at civil war with each other.  God had obviously raised up two great military men, strategists in their own elements.  Leonidas with his 300 Spartiates, coupled to 4,000 regular Greek heavy infantry killed 20,000 Persians, 10 percent of their fighting force in just 3 days of battle at the Hot Gates.  Themistocles, leading the Greek navy, won a massive naval battle at Salamis, wiping half of Xerxe's navy out in one major sea battle.  Xerxes wanted to conquer Greece and then conquer all of Europe.  These warring Greeks who could never get along had to stop Xerxes in order for the foundation of Alexander's empire-toppling battles to have succeeded, just as Bible prophecy said it would.  But Xerxes himself couldn't be killed.  Leonidas, it is purported, had his Rangers, special fast-moving Spartiates, target Xerxes imperial tent during one of the evenings during those three days.  It is also purported in Greek history that his Rangers got inside the tent.  Most military historian-strategists say that a man of Leonidas' stature and military training would have most definitely planned and ordered such a raid.  But it didn't succeed. It should have.  Why couldn't Xerxes be killed (three of his brothers were)?  The Jews know that Xerxes was the husband-king of Queen Esther, and the elements of the Book of Esther take place in 480BC, the exact same year of the Battle at the Hot Gates.  But after September of that year, after the naval loss at Salamis, Xerxes makes his way back to Susa and the palace.  Esther used Xerxes to save the Jews from extermination.  If Xerxes had been killed in August or September 480BC, he couldn't have gone back to the royal palace, and evil Haman would have had the Jews exterminated.  God chooses leaders, and even what does or doesn't happen to them, at key junctures in history.  I am doing research on this subject for a proof of the Bible type article.  It is also said in one of the Epistles that God knew us, believers, before the worlds were created.  Jesus said the Scripture cannot be broken.  Think of your own family line.  If it's like mine, my parents weren't believers, just barely nominal "Christians", in name only.  Now if Scripture can't be broken, and God knew I'd be one of his children, (and even know the numbers of hairs on my head, maybe even before the worlds were created!) now, from 1970 to present, just think of all the divine circumstances that would have had to occur in my family line, especially the protecting of my father in WWII, and my grandfather in WWI in the Ardennes, and my great-grandfather, who was a prisoner in Libby prison in the South, and then went on to fight in Bloody Kansas (probably chasing Jesse James).  Now take my family line on both sides back thousands of years, all those "parents" having had to be protected at crucial moments of their lives so they could procreate, just so God could know me as one of his children.  If Scripture can't be broken (direct quote of Jesus by the apostle John), then God had to do a lot of fine orchestrating in just my family line going all the way back to Adam.  Yes, the Bible says we have free choice, but the Lord works powerfully in-between and around that "free choice" to work out his will.  It's like law and grace, once explained by a theologian like this.  To God, law and grace is like a circle.  To us it's like a triangle.  God knows it's both.  But how can it be both?  Looking down, God sees a circle.  We see a triangle.  Get up close, and it's a cone, both a circle and triangle.  It's the same with God's sovereignty and our "free choice", they're interwoven and worked out to do God's will in ways we humans just can't understand yet.  One person said this "I believe God moves within history, as humans make decisions, rather than insisting on history marching forward in lockstep fashion."  Any thoughts, comments?  What about this, if God raises up empires, chooses leaders, does he raise up churches, denominations, and then let them grow old and die out spiritually?  God uses believers in churches, a lot of times, to evangelize, and through that effort, he calls new believers, whom he also has known from before the worlds were created.  Paul said "For now we see through a glass darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known" (1 Cor. 13:12).