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What if you lived by the Bible?

 

I have, on a number of occasions, pointed out that the time was rapidly approaching and indeed, in some ways, was already here when you could be arrested for quoting the bible. We could even see this happening to ministers of religion. Provided they were, in fact, teaching the bible. Reports are now appearing in the British press regarding otherwise law-abiding British citizens, who have been arrested for doing something which the bible itself authorizes!

 

It was reported in the press and has now become a feature article in one of the British national newspapers. The headline was “Branded an abuser for telling off my children.”  A sub heading read “Mother followed home by a police officer after shouting at youngsters in supermarket.”  The report says, “A mother fears she has been ‘criminalized’ for giving her children a ticking-off in a supermarket.  She was secretly followed home by an off-duty policeman who overheard her threatening to smack them unless they behaved.”

 

How many times have you, if you are a parent, when in a shop, supermarket, or some other public place, suffered your children misbehaving, being noisy, or thoroughly obnoxious and, being unable to spank them there and then, tell them in no uncertain terms as to what would happen when they got home if they didn’t immediately shape up?

 

From time immemorial, as the saying goes, parents have been doing this and have, indeed, fulfilled the promise and spanked those children. Did the children die as a result? No! Did they suffer some indignity? Yes! But that’s the point!  In the case just reported in the press, the mother received a letter from the local council saying that her “chastisement” of the children had been ‘put on record’ for at least the next 14 years. The mother concerned was doing, so the newspaper reported, what parents should do, and what thousands do every week – setting moral boundaries for how children should behave. In this case the local authority has told the mother that they are keeping her family on record until the children leave school. Her daughter is only four. The mother has a part-time job and is a trainee manager in a Christian Bookshop. One could assume, therefore, she would have some knowledge of the bible.

 

So what does the bible say in the matter of bringing up children. It has a lot to say because it is a very important and vital task. Children are the future generation. They are the future leaders of commerce and industry, the future leaders in local and national government. It is vital that they be trained and brought up to be responsible adults. To be individuals who understand the right and correct standards in life as far as it is possible for their parents to have trained them without interference from the state which has no responsibility for the rearing of children.

 

Here is a verse from Proverbs 22:15 “Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him.” Another verse says that a parent is not to with-hold correction from the child. In the New Testament, in the book of Hebrews chapter 12 and verse 7, it asks the question “What son is he whom the father chastens not?”

 

John Jewell 

                                                                                                                                                                 
 

Daily Mail – 9th November  -- Why tough love is best.
Parental warmth AND discipline produces best adults, admits Left-wing think-tank.

Taking a “tough love” approach to parenting increases the chances a child will grow into a well-rounded, successful adult, a think-tank said yesterday. Combining warmth and discipline means youngsters are more likely to develop skills such as application, self-discipline and empathy, according to a study. The Demos report found these traits were shaped during the pre-school years – more often as the result of “tough love” parenting – and regardless of whether parents were rich or poor.  However, it found this style of parenting was more commonly exercised by parents who were better-off and married.  How educated the parents were and whether the mother breast-fed until six months were also powerful influencing factors in shaping a child’s personality. …. The survey showed how children of married parents are twice as likely to be among the 20 per cent who do best at school.  However, children cared for by lone parents and step-parents are three times as likely as their classmates to be in the bottom 20 % …. Youngsters from co-habiting households are 66% more likely  to be among the worst performers academically.

 

Privilege

 

Society often associates privilege with those who have more than the average. It may also associate privilege with advantages obtained through birth into a wealthy or aristocratic family. Finally, in describing privilege, it may focus on other advantages that the ordinary man in the street doesn’t have or enjoy.

 

There can be both deference to those so privileged or, very often, resentment from those who feel that life can be unfair and that they themselves may be disadvantaged. It usually depends on which side of the fence you’re on!

 

But let us apply the word “privilege” to our calling and the Festival of Tabernacles that we’ve just observed. What a privilege that has been and how privileged we are to have been given the knowledge of the truth at this time, so that we have the opportunity to be in the first resurrection!

 

Is the world envious of our “privilege”? Pretty unanimously, the answer must be, as we can be viewed as odd or peculiar for keeping festivals that are considered outdated and irrelevant. What would be the point of resenting those who are looked at as "religious" and outmoded in a secular society? It is extremely doubtful that we are seen as being privileged by anyone outside the Church today.

 

But conversely, do we consider ourselves privileged to have been called at this time? We should. We must. If we don’t, we could easily miss out on the most stupendous and thrilling future that we could ever envisage. Out of nearly seven billion people on this earth, very few have had the marvelous calling that we have been privileged to have been given. Attitude is so important and God is reviewing and monitoring our approach to our calling.

 

If anyone in the Church of God resents any worldly "privilege" that others might enjoy, that would be a hypocritical approach. It would be good to reflect on the fact that WE indeed are the people of privilege, if you think about it! "For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called" (1 Corinthians 1:26). And we understand that the first resurrection is the better resurrection (compare Hebrews 11:35 and Revelation 20:6). Now that’s real privilege!

 

The Festival of Tabernacles and the Last Great Day provided us with a wonderful time to be with God at His festival site and with other like-minded brethren. What a PRIVILEGE it was to have been there!

 

Brian Gale


Temple Institute Constructing Sacrificial Altar


Building the Altar (Israel News photo: Temple Institute)

The Temple Institute began work on the sacrificial altar on Thursday, Tisha B’av [9th Av - 30 July 2009] the day the Second Temple was destroyed almost 2,000 years ago.

The Temple Institute has already built several of the Temple vessels such as the Ark and the menorah, and has now embarked on an ambitious project to build the altar, which will ultimately measure 3m wide, 3m long and 2m tall.

During Thursday’s ceremony, which took place in Mitzpe Yericho just east of Jerusalem, the Temple Institute laid the cornerstone for the altar and demonstrated how tar will be used to cement the stones together. The Institute plans on bringing the altar to its proper place on the Temple Mount when the Temple is rebuilt.

Read full news report

 


Where Is ‘the True Church’?

For some it is an all-consuming quest, a life-long pursuit to find it. And what spiritually-aware individual would not want to be a part of that desirable end?
Jesus asserted that he would build his church, and we need not doubt that it
exists somewhere. But where? No Christian would like to think that his or her
own denomination is not so represented. For who would want to belong to the opposite — a ‘false church’!

 
Yet the choice is virtually infinite, with thousands of options — like some vast spiritual hypermarket, accessible via the internet. You don’t even have to stir
from your couch, and somewhere there will be one that takes your fancy. The bottom line, however, is that no one such option is the sole representative of
the church that Jesus is building. And that is despite the claims made by an array
of self-styled ‘apostles’ and ‘witnesses’ and ‘prophets’.
 
We may, certainly, learn from a charismatic preacher or skilled Bible exponent.
(The two, note, are not always the same!) But if he or she claims to be ‘God’s
only representative’ or the one who alone ‘has it right’ - you can be sure you are
in the presence of a purveyor of spiritual snake oil. Be wary — run!

Simply, the ‘one true church’ is composed of everyone in whom the holy Spirit is living and acting. That means that the Father and Jesus are residing in and guiding them. And they are scattered worldwide — not solely in a particular denomination.
Even a superficial analysis of the New Testament makes clear that no church of God was doctrinally perfect. Some even bordered on the heretical, yet were accepted by Jesus (eg Revelation 2-3) as his church.
 
Note that, in the early church, congregations were not ‘denominational’ — other than being part of the one church of God. Each was directly answerable to Jesus through his Word, while attentive to the oversight by the apostles during their lifetime. But each was independently organized. Put another way, congregations were not grouped as Methodists or Baptists or Adventists or the ———Church of God. Such groupings are expressions of human frailty, and highlight our unwillingness to truly ‘love one another’. They express intolerance of the opinions of other brethren of Christ and an unwillingness to serve together despite differences.

After the passing of the apostles, their teachings — a perfect expression of what Jesus taught — became the ‘gold standard’ for the faith. Jesus, of course, had already authenticated what we today call ‘the Old Testament’ — what the apostle Paul calls ‘...the Holy Scriptures (II Timothy 3:15).
 
In our time we constantly strive to more fully understand these teachings, but because of changing culture, language and other factors over the intervening centuries, we ought to respect differences of interpretation and not to proclaim
our own exclusive ‘rightness’. 
 
The essentials ‘for salvation’ are writ large, easily discerned from the Word —
for those who ‘have eyes to see’. Too often a doctrinal ‘twig’ becomes, especially among those churches that claim to be truly Bible-based, the focus for acrimonious division. The true heart of our Christianity — the living out of our personal faith while in a hostile world — is lost in a tidal wave of inconsequential personal interpretations. Petty squabbles between churches, then, simply underline Paul’s message to the Corinthian brethren: ‘is Christ divided?’  Exclusive devotion to a particular leader or denomination brands us as ‘...carnal...babes in Christ
(I Corinthians 3:1).
 
As says the Scriptures: ‘...all of you are slow to understand. By now you should have been teachers, but once again you need to be taught the simplest things about what God has said. You need milk instead of solid food. People who live on milk are like babies who don't really know what is right. Solid food is for mature people who have been trained to know right from wrong’ (Hebrews 5:11-14 CEV). It’s time to grow up!
 
The ‘true church’ is wherever the Spirit is indwelling an individual, who through faith is ‘...grow[ing] in the grace and knowledge of the Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ’
(II Peter 3:18).

James McBride


The Miracle of Myanmar

On 5 Feb 1812, Adoniram Judson married Ann Hasseltine.  Exactly one week later, they set sail to go on a missionary trip to India.  They became convinced that baptism is required of believers, so they courageously cut off all support until they could receive support from other sources.  Furthermore, they were frustrated by not being allowed entrance into India.

 

Finally, they found an open door to Rangoon, Burma.  More sorrow followed, though, as Adoniram was imprisoned allegedly for being a spy.  Ann’s persistence won him freedom, but she had brought their newborn as proof for why she was away so much of the time.  Adoniram was freed, but not without their newborn catching smallpox and dying.  They went six long years without any converts.  Finally, on 27 June 1819, they had their first convert.

 

Finally, in 1828, Judson made contact with the Karen tribe.  One day, Judson went to the bazaar in Moulmein and found a young Karen slave for sale named Kho Tha Byu.  Judson bought Tha Byu and tried to teach him and possibly convert him.  It turns out he was a hardened criminal with quite an attitude.  Judson kept treating him with kindness, though, and eventually Tha Byu was baptized.  Through Tha Byu, many Karen were converted.

 

It was not because Tha Byu was a convincing speaker.  It wasn’t even because of his remarkable conversion, although that undoubtedly helped.  Certainly, a man who was a thief and a murderer suddenly changing is impressive, but is it enough to convince others that their manner of worship is wrong?  No, it was because of a group of legends.  One legend was about 2 people in a garden.  Even more remarkable was another legend:


Long, long ago the Karen elder brother and his young white brother lived close together. God gave each of them a Book of Gold containing all they needed for their salvation, success and happiness. The Karen brother neglected and lost his Book of Gold and so he fell into a wretched type of existence, ignorant and cruelly oppressed by the Burmese. The white brother, however, prized his Golden Book, or Book of God, and so, when he sailed away across the oceans, God greatly blessed him. Some day the white brother will return, bringing with him God's Book, which, if the Karen people will receive and obey, will bring to them salvation and untold blessings.

John Carmack              Read full story ....


The 'Great Commission' of Matthew 28:19

If Christ commanded the apostles to baptize disciples into the name of the triune God, why did Peter, on the day of Pentecost, having been baptized with God's holy spirit (Acts 1:5), disobey Christ, declaring to the crowd that they should repent and be baptized into the name of Jesus Christ? Acts 2:38 Why did the apostles continue to baptize into the name of Jesus Christ only?


John Meakin, a minister and writer for the Church of God, an International Community (COGIC), resigned in September 2008, following a 'difference of opinion' with its president, David Hulme.

 

John Meakin then joined the Living Church of God, and soon the number of congregations in the UK increased from 7 to 15, prompting Douglas Winnail, Director of Church Administration, to declare, "It is certainly encouraging to see the Church growth in that area of the world—especially in light of social trends that seem to be moving in an increasingly secular and anti-Christian direction."

 

How then has such spectacular growth been achieved in "an increasingly secular and anti-Christian" UK? read more


The Hebrew Yeshua vs. the Greek Jesus

In a 2 hour video, Nehemia Gordon, Dead Sea Scrolls scholar, Semitic language expert, and former Pharisee, shows how:

"The issues over which Yeshua wrestled with the Pharisees are simply not understood by modern Christians; nor are his most important instructions followed by those who claim to be his disciples...."

 

 

A 'blog' on the Israel National News web site refers to a famous prophecy from the book of Isaiah : 

 

We'll Teach the Pope a Thing or Two

Yes, it’s true that the Catholic and Christian world is responsible for the murder of millions of Jews.

Yes, it is true that the Vatican stood by and did nothing to prevent the slaughter of Jews in the Holocaust.

Yes, it is true that the belief in Yeshu is idol worship with all of its statues and polytheistic trinities.

Yes, it is true that Christianity and is offshoots have led the world astray from G-d and His commandments, to follow after a false religion.

Yes, it is true that the empty and misleading doctrines of Christianity are the source of the moral decay of Western culture and its incessant world wars.

Yes, it is true that no representative of the Vatican or the Catholic Church should be allowed to step foot in the Holy Land until they beg the Jewish People’s forgiveness and renounce all of their errant and evil ways.

Yes, all of these things are true.


Nonetheless, allow me to shed a glimmer of light on the present pompous and pontifical visit, seeing it as the forerunner of a prophecy that is sure to come to pass.

Isaiah Wall

Inscribed on the famous Isaiah Wall outside of the United Nations is the prophecy:

“THEY SHALL BEAT THEIR SWORDS INTO PLOWSHARES, AND THEIR SPEARS INTO PRUNING HOOKS; NATION SHALL NOT LIFT UP SWORD AGAINST NATION. NEITHER SHALL THEY LEARN WAR ANY MORE” (Isaiah, 2:4).


Of course, the anti-Semites at the UN left out the preceding verses of Isaiah’s prophecy which explain how this ideal situation will come to pass:

“And it shall come to pass in the end of days, that  the mountain of the L-rd’s House shall be established on the foremost of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and all the nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, Come and let us go up unto the mountain of the L-rd, to the House of the G-d of Jacob, and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth Torah, and the word of the Law from Jerusalem” (Ibid, 2:2-3).


In simple words, the goyim will come to Jerusalem and learn from the Jews how to serve G-d. Only then will nations no longer lift up sword against fellow nations.


The current visit is a preview of what will be in the near future as all of the repenting imposters crawl on their hands and knees up the road to the House of G-d in Jerusalem to learn from the Jews the true way of serving Hashem.

May it come soon!

 

The Hebrew word goyim means peoples or nations - as in Isaiah 2:2,4 - but for Jews goyim means peoples or nations other than Jews.

 

They conveniently forget verses such as:
Gen.12:2 "And I will make of you a great nation <goy>...";
Josh.5:6 "For the children of Israel walked forty years, in the wilderness, till all the people <goy> ...";
Zeph.2:9 "... and the remnant of my people <goy> shall possess them."

 

Time For Action!

Recently I received a request from one of the church pastors we serve in Kenya for help in reaching Muslims in an area of Northern Kenya where we have previously had no contacts.

 

Having spent some time reading the Qur'an, I wrote a leaflet, entitled
For Those Who Fear God, that could be printed on one sheet of A4, and we financed its printing. The leaflet has enabled him to reach many Muslims with the gospel, and we are told that so far seven people have been converted.

 

Recently I gave a message at church entitled  'Sleepwalking into Disaster', about Western civilization's need to waken up to the threat to our freedom and beliefs from the religion of Islam. I hope you will view this short video on youtube to see the evidence that our grandchildren may find themselves in the same position as persecuted Christians in Islamic countries around the world today.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-3X5hIFXYU

 

Truly there has never been a more urgent need for Christians of all kinds
to join together to defend our faith and reach out to the Muslims with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

 

From the Pastor of the North West Church of God (UK)