Passover Season Special

I just finished up on the Gospel of Luke section.  I have just put up Luke chapters 22 through 24, containing some excellent "connective expository sermons" dealing with the crucifixion, death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  This will make an excellent Passover review for all you readers.  

Other related links are at:

http://www.unityinchrist.com/lamb/lastsix.htm

http://www.unityinchrist.com/lamb/exodus1.html 

http://www.unityinchrist.com/messianicmovement/Leaven.htm

Luke 22 through 24 just went up in time for the Passover season.  Check out these links:

http://www.unityinchrist.com/luke/Luke22-1-20.htm

http://www.unityinchrist.com/luke/Luke22-21-34.htm

http://www.unityinchrist.com/luke/Luke22-35-53.htm

http://www.unityinchrist.com/luke/Luke22-54-71.htm

http://www.unityinchrist.com/luke/Luke23-13-43.htm

http://www.unityinchrist.com/luke/Luke23-43-56.htm

http://www.unityinchrist.com/luke/Luke24-1-35.htm

http://www.unityinchrist.com/luke/Luke24-36-53.htm

The incredible character of Jesus Christ comes out in this series.  I highly recommend it.

The Worldwide Church of God Section of this Website Expanding Now to 10 Articles and One Large Subsection on Agape

Six new articles have just gone up, one titled The Sabbath and Hospitality,  another titled Are You In A New Wineskin or An Old Brittle Wineskin? as well as new ones have also just gone up titled How Does Jesus Want Us To Observe His Sabbath Day?', 'We're the Salt & Light of the World, and the Fishers of Men,' 'How To Give A Connective Expository Sermon,'  and an article submitted by a guest-author, Arthur Suckling, a pastor in the United Church of God, who wrote the article 'The Great Divide.'  All can be viewed by logging onto the Worldwide Church of God section whose link is below.  All Sabbath/Holy Day observing Christians will want to read those new articles.  They take a real hard look at where we've been in the past, and where Jesus in Scripture indicates he wants us to go now.  All of them are a bit controversial for us Sabbath-keeping Church of God folks, but so is the Word of God, from which they are strongly based.  Check them out by logging onto the Worldwide Church of God link below: 

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

These articles highlight areas we as Sabbath-keeping Christians really need to grow in spiritually.  All the articles in this expanded Worldwide Church of God section focus on where we've been and where we need to go, or in one instance, what we should avoid (i.e. Arianism).  Jesus' desire is to show us off to the world, but he can't do that if we continue to hide under the various rocks we've gotten used to hiding under, such rocks as Exclusivism, Pharisaism (legalism), Arianism, lack of God's agape-love, just to name a few. 

This post if filed under "church unity."  Be sure to click on that "label" at the bottom of this post and see how this post fits in with the rest under that label heading.  There is a very interesting pattern that is developing here.  A year ago, my whole intention was to continue building up the expository transcripts going through the Gospel of Luke.  The Lord sort of brought me on a year-long detour and inspired me to create the articles in the Worldwide Church of God section, one after the other.  So click on that label "church unity"  under this post, and see if you can see a pattern or theme the Lord has been influencing me to write on.

Pentecost 2012

Pentecost 2012 is here, 27th May 2012.   What does Pentecost, Shevuot mean, what is it's symbolic meaning?  See:

http://www.unityinchrist.com/messianicmovement/Feast%20of%20Weeks.htm

Also a new article about congregational or house-church prayer-groups has been added to the Worldwide Church of God section.  If you're part of a Sabbath-keeping Church of God, be sure to check it out.  I proto-typed one of these in a tiny Sabbath-keeping house-church, with astounding results.  It's based on Jesus' words in Matthew 18:19-20.

http://www.unityinchrist.com/wwcofg/Prayer-groupGuidelines.htm

Passover/Spring Holy Days

Passover/Spring Holy Days,

a time for some review,

a time for some new material

The Passover will be here really soon, Passover day falling on the 6th of April this year, starting at sundown on the evening of the 5th April. Some good old standby's for articles are the ones on the The Exodus From Egypt and The Last Six Days of Jesus Christ, and of course, the old faithful article about Leaven. You can access them by clicking on:

http://www.unityinchrist.com/lamb/exodus1.htm

http://www.unityinchrist.com/lamb/lastsix.htm

http://www.unityinchrist.com/messianicmovement/Leaven.htm

For all the various (375 of them) Sabbath-keeping Churches of God whose parent church was the Worldwide Church of God, the Worldwide Church of God section has been expanding. And the articles now included in it are very Passover appropriate. One four-part series is on the vital subject of Agape, and how with God's Holy Spirit, we're supposed to develop this godly love within us, or else our Christianity is hollow, empty. The other one, hot off the keyboard, is an article which concerns each and every one of us Sabbath-observing Church of God Christians. It is an article proving the Sabbath Commandment has not been abrogated. That one should interest all of you. But be careful, like the Word of God it is based upon, it cuts both ways, like the double-edge sword God's Word is. As such, at least for now, it is not aimed at Sunday-observers, although you folk can feel free to read it too. Go to these two links at:

http://www.unityinchrist.com/Agape/Agape%20I.htm

http://www.unityinchrist.com/wwcofg/Has%20the%20Sabbath%20Been%20Abrogated.htm

The core of what it means to be a Christian is in the article to be found in the first link, the one about Agape. The Sabbath not being abrogated issue is covered in the second link. Both are kind of hot potatoes for us, as time grows shorter to the Lord's coming, and we need to be taking these things (i.e. our Christianity) seriously. Have a good Passover and Days of Unleavened Bread everybody.

New Minor Prophets commentary

New Minor Prophets Commentary now available--Jesus Christ calls for unity within the Body of Christ!

I have just uploaded a new commentary of the Minor Prophets (Hosea through Malachi) for this website. It is in the Prophecy section of the site. Be sure to check it out. Some very, very important nuggets of prophetic truth are contained in the Minor Prophets. I discovered one of those nuggets in Zephaniah 2:1-3. I discovered imbedded within Zephaniah a message from the pre-incarnate Christ to the Church, Body of Christ, for us believers in Jesus who would find ourselves living just before the Tribulation. Considering how the Body of Christ is composed of a bunch of bickering, squabbling denominations and individual churches, this is quite an amazing message for the Body of Christ. Since 1995, for example, the Sabbath-keeping Worldwide Church of God has divided into 375 separate, often times, bickering individual denominations. The amazing thing is that they all more or less believe the same as each other doctrinally. In many instances (but not always) it is their leadership who are responsible for the divisions within this part of the Body of Christ. Click on the title of this blog and scroll to Zephaniah 2:1-3 to read this amazing message from the pre-incarnate Jesus Christ to us right now. Now since Jesus gave this message, I would guess Jesus will help bring this unity to pass. Personally, I cannot see how it can occur without his bringing it to pass. But the leadership within the various denominations will have to be cooperative to Jesus' command here. And it is an emphatic command, repeated twice within the same verse. It can't be ecumenical unity either, the type unity the "liberal" dead and dying denominations so often attempt to unify by. Jesus may just use persecution to slam all of us together into one semi-cohesive unit. There are various forms of unity as well, such as unity of purpose, we may become all unified in supporting the proclamation of the Gospel, unified in our support of the non-denominational organizations that proclaim the Gospel to the world. Who knows, though? I don't know how Jesus is going to bring unity about, to help us fulfill his emphatic command for us. Knowing the opposition found within the various parts of the Body of Christ, I'm just as curious as to how Jesus is going to bring unity about as you are. It is kind of interesting I would discover the very verses that proclaim the theme of this website, "UNITYINCHRIST.COM", which continues to operate on an extreme shoestring. But isn't that the way God does things sometimes, starts out really, really small, like that tiny little cloud Elijah's servant saw forming out over the ocean, which turned into a giant flooding rainstorm? Be sure to read that Zephaniah 2:1-3 file, and mull over, meditate on Jesus' message for the Church, the Body of Christ.

Question for ex-Worldwide Church of God members

If you are an ex-Worldwide Church of God member, I have a very good article written about the Worldwide Church of God, which may help put our "Worldwide" experience into proper perspective, and it gives a few helpful suggestions as to where we need to be headed in our spiritual journey right now. The Worldwide Church of God section of this website also helps answer some vital questions about unity within this part of the Body of Christ raised by Jesus Christ in Zephaniah 2:1-3. To log onto the Worldwide Church of God section, click on:

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

For another interesting piece that covers some aspects of unity in the Body of Christ, log onto:

http://www.unityinchrist.com/corinthians/1st%20Corinthians.htm

Incredible Prophetic Events Occuring As I Write--A Question For Sunday-observers

Turmoil in the Middle East

The Fall Holy Day season has just gone by us, and world events really heated up just in time for them, as usual. This year looks like a humdinger, and as I write Qadaffi is out of power and has been killed. As of today the 24th of October, 2011, the transitional leader of Libya just called for Sharia Law as Libya celebrates liberation (foxnews.com). I quote, "Abdul-Jalil set out a vision for the post-Qaddafi future with an Islamist tint, saying that Islamic Sharia law would be the "basic source" of legislation in the country and that existing laws that contradict the teachings of Islam would be nullified." Next door to Libya foxnews.com reports "Signs of Strong Islamist Vote in Tunisian Elections" and "Egypt's parliamentary elections have been taking place this last week in November, with the Muslim Brotherhood scoring a whapping 36.6 percent, which when allied to any other conservative Islamic party will give them a clear majority in the Egyptian government." As of now, quoting from foxnews.com, "The High Election Commission [in Egypt] said the Islamic fundamentalist Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party garnered 36.6 percent of the 9.7 million valid ballots cast for party lists. The Nour Party, a more hardline Islamist group captured 24.4 percent...The Brotherhood has emerged as the most organized and cohesive political force in these elections...The party itself has positioned itself as a moderate Islamist party that wants to implement Islamic law without sacrificing personal freedoms, and has said it will not seek an alliance with the more radical Nour party. The ultraconservative Salafis who dominate the Nour party are newcomers to the political scene. They had previously frowned upon involvement in politics and shunned elections. They espouse a strict interpretation of Islam similar to that of Saudi Arabia, where the sexes are segregated and women must be veiled and are banned from driving. Its members say laws contradicting religion can't be passed." That last statement was also made by the new leader of Libya right after Qaddafi was killed. Now for sure there appears to be a solid string of Islamic nations across North Africa, soon to come under Sharia law, all loosely united under the Muslim Brotherhood, or worse, the organization that brought this Arab Spring about through their well-organized protests, which started in Tunisia and spread throughout the Arabic world. Syria is next on their list. Now Basher Assad's regime in Syria looks to be in very serious trouble, and in danger of toppling. Such a group of nations may form into a caliphate of nations, with little Israel sandwiched inbetween them, with the possibility these nations could possibly morph into what is known in Daniel 11 as the "king of the south" (cf. Daniel 11:40-45). The prospect of Israel in a "Muslim Brotherhood Sandwich" does not spell peace in the Middle East at all. It may create a "situation which demands outside intervention" (European brokered 7-year peace treaty anyone?). How close to the abyss do we have to get before waking up spiritually to the signs of the times folks?

How Important Are God's Holy Days?--Did the Early Church Observe Them?

As a few of you already know, the Fall Holy Days symbolize the time of the great tribulation and subsiquent 2nd Coming of Jesus Christ (Trumpets), the locking away of Satan and the demons and Jesus' Atonement being applied to the whole world now (Atonement), and the arrival of the Millennial Kingdom of God (Feast of Tabernacles). Recent world events show us these events depicted by the Fall Holy Days are getting much closer. As a matter of fact, all of God's Holy Days commanded for ancient Israel in Leviticus 23, and observed by the early Christian Church for the first 300 years of their existence, symbolize important steps in God's masterplan of salvation for the whole world (and everyone who has ever lived in the world as well). Gentile Christianity mainly focuses on the meaning of the Spring Holy Days (Jesus' death, burial, resurrection, and the birth of the Church), although they don't celebrate the actual spring Holy Days per se, while ignoring the Fall Holy Days and their symbolic meaning altogether, not incorporating their rich meaning into their Gospel proclamation. What I suspect is that God wants the entire, complete picture of his plan of Salvation and His invitation to it to be given to the world. That is what makes the Holy Days so very important, because they picture that entire plan of salvation we should be making plain to the world. Why celebrate the Hebrew Holy Days of Leviticus 23? Simply because they rehearse God's master plan of salvation, step by step, as you observe them. They step beyond one's own salvation (Spring Holy Days), to how God is going to offer up salvation to the whole world. To see how the early Church looked, days of worship and all that, log onto:

http://www.unityinchrist.com/history2/index3.htm

The early Christian Church was nothing like what most imagine it as being like. The "ancient" Holy Days of God, and the Sabbath itself, convey far more spiritual meaning and knowledge than the Gentile Christian days of worship--Sunday, Christmas and Easter--which borrow heavily from pagan origins. And they knew that back then. What Sunday-observing believers really need to learn is the historic truth that Sabbath and Holy Days of Leviticus 23 were being actively observed as "days of worship" by the early Christian Church for the first 300 years of its existence, from 30AD to around 325AD, instead of believing the unhistoric fable that it went over to Sunday/Christmas/Easter as their "days of worship" almost immediately, from Acts 8 onward. That is a historic fallacy. But just because the Sabbath and Holy Days are shadows for what Jesus and the Holy Spirit have accomplished in us (Spring Holy Days), and will yet accomplish (Fall Holy Days), is that a reason to ditch their observance? Nahum said this to Judah, and by inference to all believers in Jesus, taken in context with part "a" of Nahum 1:15, "Behold, on the mountains the feet of him who brings good tidings, who proclaim peace! [that's the Gospel, folks, those that bring the Gospel!] O Judah, keep your appointed feasts, perform your vows." Yes, Sabbath and Holy Days are far better than Sunday/Christmas/Easter (which have pagan origins [see http:www.biblebelievers.com/babylon/00index.htm] ). The Holy Days of Leviticus 23 rehearse God's entire Plan of Salvation for mankind. As a matter of fact, Jesus at his return will make observance of the Holy Days mandatory for all of mankind (see Zechariah 14:16-19; Isaiah 66:22-23). You have a choice to make. Choose wisely, time is short.

A Sincere Question for Sunday-observers

Some of the Body of Christ on the Sunday observing side are literally on fire in their promotion of the Gospel, and that is a good thing--the Sabbath-observing believers could certainly learn a thing or two from you guys on this score. Also the Calvary Chapel denomination's method of preaching through the Word of God giving what I term "connective expository" sermons is also one of the most powerful methods of spiritually nurturing a congregation--something else the Sabbath-observing believers could learn from as well (I feature transcripts of some of these [by permission] on this site, Gospel of Matthew, Mark, John, and some of the Epistles so far). But here's a serious question for you Calvary Chapel people: One of your pastors of Jewish lineage, Dr. David Hocking, made the statement to some of your pastors (I think in a pastors meeting) that 'they [Calvary Chapel pastors] should start getting used to the idea of Sabbath/Holy Day observance, because in the Millennial Kingdom of God we're all going to be observing them.' That's what he said. And Dr. Hocking's message was favorably received, because a local Calvary Chapel pastor relayed what Dr. Hocking said to his congregation (I was sitting in the congregation and heard him repeat Dr. Hocking's words). My sincere question is: Seeing that Sunday/Christmas/Easter truly have repugnant pagan origins, Why wait till Jesus' return to start observing the days Jesus himself will re-institute for the Church? That's my question. To see where Dr. Hocking is getting that idea (which is totally Scriptural), log onto the link below and scroll to the part of the commentary on Zechariah 14:16-19 and read through that:

http://www.unityinchrist.com/prophets/Zechariah/Zechariah4.htm

The Plain Truth About The Worldwide Church of God

My Israeli webhost just posted my article (recently researched and written) about what brought about the demise of the Worldwide Church of God as a Sabbatarian Church of God. Although painful for some to read, it was written because many if not most ex-Worldwide Church of God members do not realize why God allowed the Worldwide Church of God to be destroyed. Obviously this is true because the major splinter denominations which split off of WCG in 1995 still continue to make the very same mistakes and treat people the same way WCG did. Why? Because no one has really taught them why God was so displeased with the WCG and why he destroyed the WCG. We all tend to think that a man (or two of them) destroyed the Worldwide Church of God (and they certainly had a good hand in it), but it was really God who allowed them to do it, because he didn't like what he saw or what leadership within the Worldwide Church of God had been doing to those under them. This article was written because there is a need to know for those poor exWCG members who had to go through all of this. There is a need to know because the mistakes that led to the demise of the Worldwide Church of God continue to be made. If that weren't true, there would be no need to write and publish this article, and doing so would be worse than gossip. But this article has redeeming value because it not only names the sins, but points a way out of them, for those who are willing to listen. Click on the title to this blog to take you to the article. By the way, I was a loyal member of the Worldwide Church of God from April of 1970 to around 1996-7, having contributed multiple tens of thousands of dollars in tithes and offerings to God through the WCG. Most longtime WCG members, like me, were truly financial investors in the WCG in that sense, and I would say because of our time and money "invested", we all have the right to know the plain truth about what really happened and why. In spite of the errors (which were in the nature of the hierarchal non-Biblical governmental structure of the Worldwide Church of God), Mr. Armstrong did lay a good foundation doctrinally for Sabbath-keeping Churches of God. But like all foundations, buildings must be built upon them. Right now that foundation sits there, with nothing built upon it. Have you ever seen people (usually ones in the country, out in the woods) who don't have sufficient funds to build their house right away, so they build their foundation, cover over the top of it and live in it until they have the funds to build the house? That is about what we have in the various Sabbath-keeping Churches of God right now. What is it God would have us build on that foundation we were given, and what would God have us avoid in building materials? Check out the upper nav bar buttons on the Worldwide Church of God section for some really good answers to those two timely questions.