7th Day Sabbath Churches of God

 

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"A particle God doesn't want us to discover"

 

CERN’s Large Hadron Collider has in the past months disappeared from our mental radar. Last week's Sunday Times headline read, “A particle God doesn’t want us to discover”

 

You may well be aware that the first outing of the LHC resulted in an explosion through the failure of some soldered joints in the structure. The machine has suffered further problems and “has begun to look like the world’s most ill-fated experiment” and “serious scientists have begun to suggest that the frequency of accidents and problems is far more than a coincidence.”

The scientists are suggesting that, though it might seem to be “way out”, the Collider is actually sabotaging itself from the future! Twisting time to generate a series of scientific setbacks to prevent itself “fulfilling its destiny.” This idea of time travel, the article says, comes from two distinguished physicists who have backed their theory with “rigorous mathematics.”

 

The scientists are Holger Bech Nielsen of the Niels Bohr Institute in Copenhagen, and Masao Ninomiya of the Yukawa Institute for Theoretical Physics in Kyoto, who “are suggesting that the Higgs boson, the particle that physicists hope to produce with the Collider, might be “abhorrent to nature.”

Nielsen explained what that meant is “the creation of the boson at some point in the future would then ripple backwards through time to put a stop to whatever it was that had created it in the first place.” So explaining why the mishaps, starting with an explosion during construction to a second that followed its start-up.

 

The tendency for the reader of the article is to say “Oh, come on, pull the other one..!” Anticipating this, the Sunday Times quotes Peter Smith, a science historian, who pointed out that what started as science fiction has often become the inspiration for big discoveries. “Even the original idea of the atomic bomb came, not from scientists, but from H.G. Wells in his 1914 novel ‘The World Set Free’. Brian Cox, professor of particle physics at Manchester University, England, said “His ideas are theoretically valid.”

 

Genesis 11:6 And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.

 

And wasn’t it H.G. Wells who wrote a book about the first men in the Moon? This impossible achievement took place 40 years ago! The progress in science and technology has been little short of frightening! To read about the latest developments in just nanotechnology is to read science fiction! Except it isn’t fiction, it is science fact!  Serious attention is now being paid to computer science and the possibility of being able to download a person’s thoughts, ideas, memories from their brain and even upload them into something else. It is now being theorized that a person could thereby be transmitted across space.

 

Jesus Christ clearly stated nearly 2,000 years ago that it would be possible for all life on earth to be destroyed. It must have appeared for almost all of those years that this could never happen. Now we are faced with a dreadful reality.

 

The Hadron Collider is shortly to embark once again on its quest for the Higgs Boson. What will that bring?

 

John Jewell

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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

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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

 

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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

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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 ....

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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?

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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

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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...."

 

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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.

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)