May/June 2003

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=100 BGCOLOR="#CCCCFF" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="04000640egdysm.jpg"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#000066" FACE="Arial" ><B>Church of God, In Truth</B></FONT><FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#000099" FACE="Arial" ><B> </B></FONT><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000099" FACE="Arial" ><B> </B></FONT><B>   |     </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Church of God, In Truth"><U><B>home</B></U></A><B> | </B><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000099" FACE="Arial" ><A HREF="id3.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Letters to the Brethren"><U><B>Up Level</B></U></A></FONT></div> <div> <A HREF="id291.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="September/October 2004"><U>September/October 2004</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id287.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="July/August 2004"><U>July/August 2004</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id283.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="May/June 2004"><U>May/June 2004</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id275.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="March/April 2004"><U>March/April 2004</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id254.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="January/February 2004"><U>January/February 2004</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id253.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="November/December 2003"><U>November/December 2003</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id245.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="September/October 2003"><U>September/October 2003</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id242.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="July/August 2003"><U>July/August 2003</U></A>   |   May/June 2003   |   <A HREF="id231.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="March/April 2003"><U>March/April 2003</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id228.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="January/February 2003"><U>January/February 2003</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id221.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="November/December 2002"><U>November/December 2002</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id215.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="September/October 2002"><U>September/October 2002</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id211.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="July/August 2002"><U>July/August 2002</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id207.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="May/June 2002"><U>May/June 2002</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id203.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="March/April 2002"><U>March/April 2002</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id199.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="January/February 2002"><U>January/February 2002</U></A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=200 BGCOLOR="#0000BF" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <div> <B>Church of God, In Truth</B></div> <div> <A HREF="id291.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="September/October 2004"><U>September/October 2004</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id287.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="July/August 2004"><U>July/August 2004</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id283.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="May/June 2004"><U>May/June 2004</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id275.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="March/April 2004"><U>March/April 2004</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id254.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="January/February 2004"><U>January/February 2004</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id253.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="November/December 2003"><U>November/December 2003</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id245.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="September/October 2003"><U>September/October 2003</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id242.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="July/August 2003"><U>July/August 2003</U></A></div> <div> <B>May/June 2003</B></div> <div> <A HREF="id231.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="March/April 2003"><U>March/April 2003</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id228.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="January/February 2003"><U>January/February 2003</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id221.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="November/December 2002"><U>November/December 2002</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id215.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="September/October 2002"><U>September/October 2002</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id211.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="July/August 2002"><U>July/August 2002</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id207.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="May/June 2002"><U>May/June 2002</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id203.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="March/April 2002"><U>March/April 2002</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id199.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="January/February 2002"><U>January/February 2002</U></A></div> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" height=380 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <I>May/June 2003</I></div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B>STARTING OFF ON THE RIGHT FOOT </B></div> <div> James Russell, Elder </div> <div> To God's scattered Brethren </div> <div> Greetings to all reading this magazine. I do not always express my appreciation or gratitude for your prayers, financial support, letters, e-mails, phone calls and your encouraging comments! They give us confidence to keep on swimming against the current of man's traditions. We at the Church Of God, In Truth, are truly grateful! </div> <div> You may have noticed on the back of our new magazine covers, our invitation for you to join us for live weekly and Holy Day internet sermons at http://postponements.com, or you may listen over the phone by dialing 305-503-1818 and then after hearing a recorded operator ask for your access code, dial 428. Services are held at 11:30 AM Pacific, 12:30 PM Mountain, 1:30 PM Central, 2:30 PM Eastern, and 3:30 PM Puerto Rico time. Our life's journey is to see God's truth taught and practiced as found in the source of truth, God's Word. </div> <div> Isaiah provides confidence of our insight in this area of thought, " For I the LORD love judgment, I hate robbery for burnt offering; and I will direct their work in truth, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them. And their seed shall be known among the Gentiles, and their offspring among the people: all that see them shall acknowledge them, that they are the seed which the LORD hath blessed." [The chosen and faithful are going to be the bride of Christ]. They respond in Vs.10 " I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for He hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, He hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels"(Isa 61:8-10). </div> <div> The garments of salvation and the robe of righteousness, symbolize obeying God's Word of truth. The bride of Christ will be set apart as Christ's inspired prayer to God the Father indicates. "Sanctify them through Thy truth: Thy word is truth. As thou hast sent Me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth" (John 17:17-19). In the Apostle Paul's encouraging second letter to Timothy he wrote, " Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth" (2 Tim 2:15). </div> <div> Study means to exert oneself, and be diligent in applying what he or she has proved out of the word of God. The truth of God's message must be rightly applied so no part of scripture will set in opposition to what is presented by the Bible as a whole. Each scripture is like a brick in the wall of a building. It must be in its proper place, or the whole wall stands weakened. We, as God's called, cannot let Satan influence us or discourage us from obeying His laws found in no other book but the Bible! </div> <div> The Apostle Paul was inspired to tell God's called, "Prove all things; hold fast that which is good"(1 Thess 5:21). Careful discrimination must be made in distinguishing the false from the true. A Church seeking to live by God's teaching, must be in accord with the teachings of God's inspired scriptures, not from outside sources! EXAMPLE; Have you ever tested or proved your source for why you kept the dates you observed Passover and the Days of Unleavened bread ? Did you observe Passover on Tuesday April 15th? Was the evening of April 16th the Night to be much Observed, followed with April 17th for the first Day of Unleavened Bread? Was your Last Day of Unleavened Bread kept on the 23rd ? From where did those dates originate? Did you know that those are postponed dates and as such, are not supported by God's Word? </div> <div> I recently read on the internet "The third day of April marked the beginning of a new year according to God's Sacred Calendar and we are just days from the beginning of God's spring festival season. The vast majority of people on the earth today are totally ignorant of these days. Many do observe holidays based upon certain ancient pagan practices, yet do not understand that God specifically forbids the observance of those days. Many in the Church of God, who formerly observed God's Holy Days, in agreement with Biblical instructions and have begun observing the holidays of this world. How can we know we must not follow that example?" My question is, why would anyone call a calendar using those postponed dates, "GOD'S SACRED CALENDAR," when it's history can be easily traced back to originating as a TRADITION of man - that of a Pharisee named Hillel II, circa 358-359 AD! Calling that counterfeit calendar "God's Sacred Calendar" and not by its true name and identity, is BLASPHEMY! That Hebrew Calendar which incorporates postponement rules cannot be found or identified in God's Holy Word! </div> <div> God's Sabbaths and Holy Days can easily be found if you let God lead you and not follow the traditions of men. God's 7th day Sabbath is easily traced and found by reading Genesis chapter One and Genesis 2:1-3. The same is true for the first day of God's month. Genesis chapter One, tells us, "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. And God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day"(Gen 1:1-5). This first day of the first month started from the beginning of creation when "darkness was upon the face of the deep," making it the first day of the first month. Notice the sun and the moon had not yet appeared. If you start a new month with the appearance of the luminaries, then you are starting on the fourth day of God's creation and you would not be keeping a 7th day Sabbath, as God commanded! </div> <div> You might ask then, where did the light come from on day one, two and three? God's awe-inspiring exhibition of His illuminating power, bears the imprint of His own activity! As we can read in Revelation 21:23, about the millennium, we are going to witness this same light that we read of in Genesis One: "And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof." Our Creator did not need the sun or the moons [luminaries] to see His creating activities. He was the glorious light that shined on this earth at the time He was creating the earth for mankind! "This then is the message which we have heard of Him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all"(1 John 1:5). "The sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee: but the LORD shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory. Thy sun shall no more go down; neither shall thy moon withdraw itself: for the LORD shall be thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended" (Isa. 60:19-20). Light has ever been a symbol of His divine presence. </div> <div> We read that on the fourth day, God exposed for man the "tools," like the sun, moon and stars for them to have a way of counting days, months, and years. Those who want to use the crescent moon [Allah– the crescent moon god] for starting their months will have a confusing time, just as those who use the Hebrew Calendar to justify postponements and counting for God's seventh day weekly Sabbath rest, when counting from God's creative activity on the fourth day. </div> <div> We have also come to understand there is a 19 year cycle that incorporates twelve, twelve month years called "regular" years and seven thirteen month years, called "leap" years. You might find it interesting to note that there are 19 Feast Days. Of these nineteen days, there are seven Holy Days and twelve common days. God harmonizes in all He plans and creates. He needs no help from outsiders who try to justify counterfeiting His calendar in order to trip up His called out ones, by attaching His name to it. May God help you in your study to "Prove All Things." </div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> In Christian Love, </div> <div> Church of God, In Truth </div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>