Church of God News

The Christian Day of Atonement is based on the English translation of the Jewish Holy day Yom Kippur. It begins tonight at sunset.

In the original Hebrew, the Bible calls the day Yom Hakippurim (Hebrew for “Day of the Atonements”).

The day is commemorated with a 25-hour fast by Jews, but normally a 24 hour fast by Christians who observe it. While not observed by the mainstream of professing Christianity, the Christian groups (mostly those with origins in the old Worldwide Church of God) that do observe it usually refer to it as the Day of Atonement.

Because it is endorsed in the Bible, we in the Living Church of God observe the Day of Atonement.

While it is mentioned in the Hebrew scriptures (the Old Testament), the focus of today’s article will be the New Testament and post-New Testament.

The Day of Atonement in New Testament Times

Bible believing Christians recognize that Jesus Christ’s sacrifice is an atonement sacrifice to reconcile us to God. Notice what the Apostle Paul wrote:

18 Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, 19 that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:18-19).

Christians that observe the Day of Atonement normally teach that on that day they are to be at one with God. And that fasting humbles them and makes them realize how dependent they are on God for all their needs. They also believe that they are dependent upon the sacrifice of Jesus for their salvation, but that Satan does play a role in encouraging people to sin.

The Living Church of God states this about the Day of Atonement (and more detail is in the article The Day of Atonement–Its Christian Significance):

…Old Testament meaning
…A day of fasting and repentance, known to the Jews as Yom Kippur (Leviticus 23:26-32)

…New Testament meaning
…Pictures the binding of Satan at the beginning of the Millennium and the world becoming at one with God.

The New Testament shows that the the Gentile Gospel writer Luke knew about the Day of Atonement, when he wrote:

…sailing was now dangerous because the Fast was already over (Acts 27:9).

What was Luke referring to according to Protestant commentators? Why the day of Atonement. Notice two such commenataries (note italics/bolding are from the sources cited):

Acts 27:9-11… Sailing was now dangerous, because the fast was already past, that is, the famous yearly fast of the Jews, the day of atonement, which was on the tenth day of the seventh month, a day to afflict the soul with fasting (from Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible: New Modern Edition, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1991 by Hendrickson Publishers, Inc.).

Acts 27:8-9… The fast to which Luke refers is the Day of Atonement (from The Wycliffe Bible Commentary, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1962 by Moody Press).

The fact that Luke used that term for a Christian audience (Acts 1:1) strongly indicates that the Day of Atonement was known, recognized, and observed by early Christians.

Post New Testament

This is further substantiated in a Jewish account (reported in the Talmud), as related by a Catholic scholar may also be helpful here. It is recorded that an early second century Christian named Jacob (100-120 AD) with a Jewish scholar discussed the Day of Atonement and the Christian Jacob explained how it helped show “Christ head of the angels” (Bagatti, Bellarmino.  Translated by Eugene Hoade.  The Church from the Circumcision.  Nihil obstat: Marcus Adinolfi. Imprimi potest: Herminius Roncari. Imprimatur: +Albertus Gori, die 26 Junii 1970.  Franciscan Printing Press, Jerusalem, p.97).

And of course, when God has an angel bind Satan (Revelation 20:1) this will be another related fulfillment for the Day of Atonement.

Furthermore, it is known that in the first and second century, Polycarp of Smyrna kept both the Spring Holy Days and the Fall Holy Days.

The keeping of these days, however, was condemned by John Chrysostum near the end of the fourth century. He specifically condemned observing the Day of the Fast that the Jews also kept (see Did Early Christians Observe the Fall Holy Days?):

The festivals of the pitiful and miserable Jews are soon to march upon us one after the other and in quick succession: the feast of Trumpets, the feast of Tabernacles, the fasts. There are many in our ranks who say they think as we do. Yet some of these are going to watch the festivals and others will join the Jews in keeping their feasts and observing their fasts.

This condemnation, though, is specific proof that some who professed Christ still observed the Day of Atonement into the fourth century.

Additionally, comments by Jerome and Epiphanius near that time concerning the Nazarene Christians would also seem to support that those who kept the Holy Days, such as Atonement, were located in several areas at that time (see Nazarene Christianity: Were the Original Christians Nazarenes?).

Those who have more interest, may wish to study the following articles:

The Day of Atonement–Its Christian Significance The Jews call it Yom Kippur, Christians “The Day of Atonement”. Does it have any relevance for Christians today?
Did Early Christians Observe the Fall Holy Days? Did they? Did Jesus? Should you?
The Book of Life and the Feast of Trumpets? Are they related? Is so how? If not, where not?
The Feast of Tabernacles: A Time for Christians? Is this pilgrimage holy day still valid? Does it teach anything relevant for today’s Christians? What is the Last Great Day? What do these days teach?
LCG 2009 Feast of Tabernacles’ Information Here is information on many Feast of Tabernacles locations for this year.
Holy Day Calendar This is a listing of the biblical holy days through 2012, with their Roman calendar dates. They are really hard to observe if you do not know when they occur

COGwriter

Today is the Feast of Trumpets.  And although the news media tends to emphasize a different aspect of it, the Feast of Trumpets (often referred to as Rosh Hoshanah) is associated with the Book of Life by the Jews.

According to current Jewish tradition,

After Rosh Hashanah services, as the congregants leave the synagogue they say to each other… “May you be inscribed in the Book of Life“” (The Jewish Holiday of Rosh Hashanah. High Holy Days on the Net. http://www.holidays.net/highholydays/rosh.htm verified 9/12/07).

Is there any relevance between the Feast of Trumpets, the Book of Life, and Christianity?

The seventh month is called Tishri in Hebrew and the Feast of Trumpets is referred to as the first of Tishri in some Jewish literature. Although the Jews now call it Rosh Hoshana, that was probably not its original name:

“Rosh Hashana, which literally means head of the year” {it was} “not called Rosh Hashanah until Talmudic times” (Kramer, Amy J. Rosh Hashana Origins. Copyright © 1998-1999 Everything Jewish, Inc. http://www.everythingjewish.com/RoshH/RH_origins.htm 9/16/04).

Since the terms ‘head’ and ‘year’ are not in the Old Testament passages about it, it appears that the COG term for it (Feast of Trumpets) appears to be more biblically-based that the relatively-new Jewish term ‘Rosh Hashanah’ (which has numerous spellings).

It is not totally clear how or when the Jews tied together the “Book of Life” and the Feast of Trumpets (a Talmud quote later in this article shows that they did some time ago), but they did.

From my reading in the Talmud, it appears that since many Jewish leaders believed that God created the world on the Feast of Trumpets (certain Jewish teachers taught that the creation was most likely in the Fall, rather than in the Spring because in Genesis 1:11 when God states, “Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit”, this would be the Fall, for that is when there is both grass and fruit on trees), that the Feast of Trumpets symbolized the beginning of creation, and hence by, inference, life.

The Talmud itself essentially concludes that the fact of the three different trumpet blasts in Numbers 10:1-10, represents three books, one of them being the Book of Life.

The first biblical allusion to the Book of Life appears to be Exodus 32:32-34,

“Yet now, if You will forgive their sin–but if not, I pray, blot me out of Your book which You have written.”

And the LORD said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against Me, I will blot him out of My book. Now therefore, go, lead the people to the place of which I have spoken to you. Behold, My Angel shall go before you. Nevertheless, in the day when I visit for punishment, I will visit punishment upon them for their sin.”

Moses knew that he was mentioned in this book. It also appears from the above passage that God is speaking both about a book and a day of punishment.

The apparently same book is mentioned in Psalm 69:27-28 where both concepts are also discussed,

Charge them with crime upon crime; do not let them share in your salvation. May they be blotted out of the book of life and not be listed with the righteous (NIV).

Furthermore, the same book may be mentioned in two other Psalms:

You number my wanderings; Put my tears into Your bottle; Are they not in Your book? (Psalm 56:8, NKJV).

Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When as yet there were none of them (Psalm 139:16, NKJV).

In Malachi 3:16 it states,

Then those who feared the LORD spoke to one another, And the LORD listened and heard them; So a book of remembrance was written before Him For those who fear the LORD And who meditate on His name.

These verses show that those that fear the LORD are mentioned in a book, but those that are not righteous are not in it.

In Isaiah 27:13 it is written:

So it shall be in that day: The great trumpet will be blown; They will come, who are about to perish in the land of Assyria, And they who are outcasts in the land of Egypt, And shall worship the LORD in the holy mount at Jerusalem.

These passages appear to be referring to the last trumpet-the one signalling the return of Christ and the establishing of the Kingdom of God.

Perhaps it should be mentioned that the type of trumpet involved with the Feast of Trumpets in the Old Testament, as well as with most alarms for battle and judgments is usually the Hebrew term, showphar, more commonly spelled shofar. This type of trumpet is some type of animal horn (normally some type of ram).

The New Testament frequently mentions the blowing of trumpets (though it does not clearly appear to distinguish between shofar trumpets and other trumpets)–though shofars are probably the type most likely being referred to when prophetic matters of judgment are involved.

Jesus taught,

…and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other (Matthew 24:30-31).

This is similar to what Paul taught,

For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17).

So both Jesus and Paul taught that the saints would be gathered when a particular trumpet sound goes forth. And that Jesus will come with a trumpet blast.

Which trumpet?

The last trumpet,

Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed– in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed (1 Corinthians 15:51-52).

Because this is referring to the last trumpet, scripture clearly does not support the concept of a pre-tribulation rapture, like many evangelicals believe in.

Although his writings are not part of the New Testament, Polycarp was a disciple of the Apostle John and looked forward to the fulfillment of this trumpet as he wrote:

Wherefore, girding up your loins,” “serve the Lord in fear” and truth, as those who have forsaken the vain, empty talk and error of the multitude, and “believed in Him who raised up our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead, and gave Him glory,” and a throne at His right hand. To Him all things” in heaven and on earth are subject. Him every spirit serves. He comes as the Judge of the living and the dead. His blood will God require of those who do not believe in Him. But He who raised Him up from the dead will raise up us also, if we do His will, and walk in His commandments, and love what He loved (Polycarp. Letter to the Philippians, chapter II. Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 1 as edited by Alexander Roberts & James Donaldson. American Edition, 1885.)

This last trumpet is in 1 Corinthians 15 is apparently the seventh trumpet in Revelation 11:15,

Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!”

Whose names are in the Book of Life?

Paul writes,

And I urge you also, true companion, help these women who labored with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the Book of Life (Philippians 4:3).

John recorded,

He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels (Revelation 3:5).

Thus it appears that the saints are the ones who are written in the Book of Life. And the saints are those that are resurrected at the last trumpet.

Other passages in the Book of Revelation mention that those that worship the beast (13:1,8;17:8), those that are involved with abominations (21:27), and those who take away words from Revelation (22:19), will not be among those whose names are written in the Book of Life.

The Jewish Talmud teaches,

R. Kruspedai said in the name of R. Johanan: Three books are opened [in heaven] on New Year, one for the thoroughly wicked, one for the thoroughly righteous, and one for the intermediate. The thoroughly righteous are forthwith inscribed definitively in the book of life; the thoroughly wicked are forthwith inscribed definitively in the book of death; the doom of the intermediate is suspended from New Year till the Day of Atonement; if they deserve well, they are inscribed in the book of life; if they do not deserve well, they are inscribed in the book of death.

Said R. Abin, What text tells us this? — Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, and not be written with the righteous. ‘Let them be blotted out from the book — this refers to the book of the wicked. ‘Of life — this is the book of the righteous. ‘And not be written with the righteous’ — this is the book of the intermediate.

R. Nahman b. Isaac derives it from here: And if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written, ‘Blot me, I pray thee’ — this is the book of the wicked. ‘Out of thy book’ — this is the book of the righteous. ‘Which thou has written’ — this is the book of the intermediate. It has been taught: Beth Shammai say, There will be three groups at the Day of Judgment — one of thoroughly righteous, one of thoroughly wicked, and one of intermediate. The thoroughly righteous will forthwith be inscribed definitively as entitled to everlasting life; the thoroughly wicked will forthwith be inscribed definitively as doomed to Gehinnom, as it says. And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life and some to reproaches and everlasting abhorrence. The intermediate will go down to Gehinnom 17b and squeal and rise again, as it says, And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried. They shall call on my name and I will answer them.

Of them, too, Hannah said, The Lord killeth and maketh alive, he bringeth down to the grave and bringeth up. Beth Hillel, however, say: He that abounds in grace inclines [the scales] towards grace, and of them David said, I love that the Lord should hear my voice and my supplication, and on their behalf David composed the whole of the passage, I was brought low and he saved me. Wrongdoers of Israel who sin with their body and wrongdoers of the Gentiles who sin with their body go down to Gehinnom and are punished there for twelve months. After twelve months their body is consumed and their soul is burnt and the wind scatters them under the soles of the feet of the righteous as it says, And ye shall tread down the wicked, and they shall be as ashes under the soles of your feet. But as for the minim and the informers and the scoffers, who rejected the Torah and denied the resurrection of the dead, and those who abandoned the ways of the community, and those who ‘spread their terror in the land of the living’, and who sinned and made the masses sin, like Jeroboam the son of Nebat and his fellows — these will go down to Gehinnom and be punished there for all generations, as it says, And they shall go forth and look upon the carcasses of the men that have rebelled against me etc. Gehinnom will be consumed but they will not be consumed, as it says, and their form shall wear away the nether world. Why all this? Because they laid hands on the habitation [zebul], as it says, that there be no habitation [zebul] for Him, and zebul signifies the Temple, as it says, I have surely built thee a house of habitation [zebul].

Of them Hannah said, They that strive with the Lord shall be broken to pieces. R. Isaac b. Abin said: And their faces shall be black like the sides of a pot. Raba added: Among them are the most handsome of the inhabitants of Mahuza, and they shall be called ‘sons of Gehinnom’” (Talmud – Mas. Rosh HaShana 16b, 17a). Note: ‘R.” stands for “rabbi”.

Both the Bible (the Living Church of God position) and Jewish tradition state that the righteous have their names written in the Book of Life and that they will be rewarded on Tishri 1.

The Bible (and the Living Church of God) also agree with the Jewish position that others will be also have their names in it later: Revelation 20:11-15,

Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.

Jewish tradition also teaches that those that are not truly wicked (the intermediate) will not be saved or destroyed at that time, but that they will have a ten day period until the Day of Atonement (which they call Yom Kippur) for judgment.

While this time of judgment is mentioned in Revelation 20:11-15, the COG (Church of God) position has tended to be that those who have not rejected God (blasphemed the Holy Spirit), will have an opportunity for salvation later, the period of which may last 100 years (Isaiah 65:20, and is discussed more in the article Hope of Salvation), and that this is shown by the last Holy Day, the Last Great Day, which happens on the twenty-second day of Tishri.

Revelation 20:4-5 states,

“Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.”

Because of this, the COG position is (and has been) that there is at least 1,000 years between when the righteous (those whose names are now written in the Book of Life) and the others being resurrected, thus the New Testament disagrees with the Jewish idea that the wicked are handled on the same Feast of Trumpets that the righteous are (it also disagrees with the 10 day position for those the Jews called ‘intermediate’–not righteous, not wicked).

Actually, one of the most significant ways that the COGs differ from the Protestant world is that the COG’s believe that nearly all will be saved and that the biblical holy days (which Protestants tend to teach are done away) picture this. (More information is found in the article, Hope of Salvation: How the COGs Differ From Protestantism.) Those who do not observe God’s Holy Days simply do not fully understand God’s plan of salvation.

Some articles of possibly related interest may include:

Universal Offer of Salvation: There Are Hundreds of Verses in the Bible Supporting the Doctrine of True Apocatastasis Do you believe what the Bible actually teaches on this? Will all good things be restored? Will God call everyone? Will everyone have an opportunity for salvation? Does God’s plan of salvation take rebellion and spiritual blindness into account?
Hope of Salvation: How the Living Church of God differ from most Protestants How the Living Church of God differs from mainstream/traditional Protestants, is perhaps the question I am asked most by those without a Church of God background.
Did Early Christians Observe the Fall Holy Days? Did they? Did Jesus? Should you?
The Book of Life and the Feast of Trumpets? Are they related? Is so how? If not, where not?
The Day of Atonement–Its Christian Significance The Jews call it Yom Kippur, Christians “The Day of Atonement”. Does it have any relevance for Christians today?
The Feast of Tabernacles: A Time for Christians? Is this pilgrimage holy day still valid? Does it teach anything relevant for today’s Christians? What is the Last Great Day? What do these days teach?
Holy Day Calendar This is a listing of the biblical holy days through 2012, with their Roman calendar dates. They are really hard to observe if you do not know when they occur

An animal horn trumpet.

COGwriter

The Fall holy day season is upon us.  Tonight at sunset begins the month of Tishri, and the first day of this month is observed by the Living Church of God as the Feast of Trumpets.

Jews also have an observation, but they normally use the term Rosh Hoshanah.

We in the Living Church of God believe that the holy days on the Old Testament all have applications for Christians in the New Testament.

There is partial agreement of this even amongst Catholic and Protestant theologians as they accept that Christ was the Passover lamb and that Christians are to be unleavened (which is what the Bible teaches in 1 Corinthians 5:7).  They also accept that God gave the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4).

These dates occur in the Spring.

However, many of Catholic and Protestant theologians seem to have a different view of the Fall holy days.  And most fail to grasp the prophetic significance of them.

But all do realize that the New Testament is full of references to trumpets being blown.

We in the Living Church of God believe that two of the many things that the Feast of Trumpets pictures is the return of Jesus Christ and the resurrection of His people when the last trumpet is blown.

Notice the following scriptures:

16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore comfort one another with these words
(1 Thessalonians 4:16-18).

51 Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed– 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed (1 Corinthians 15:50-52).

These verses will be fulfilled.  And they reflect doctrines that the Christian observance of the Feast of Trumpets teaches.

For more on the Feast of Trumpets and the Fall holy days, please check out the following articles:

Did Early Christians Observe the Fall Holy Days? Did they? Did Jesus? Should you?
The Book of Life and the Feast of Trumpets? Are they related? Is so how? If not, where not?
The Day of Atonement–Its Christian Significance The Jews call it Yom Kippur, Christians “The Day of Atonement”. Does it have any relevance for Christians today?
The Feast of Tabernacles: A Time for Christians? Is this pilgrimage holy day still valid? Does it teach anything relevant for today’s Christians? What is the Last Great Day? What do these days teach?
LCG 2009 Feast of Tabernacles’ Information Here is information on many Feast of Tabernacles locations for this year.
What Does the Catholic Church Teach About Christmas and the Holy Days? Do you know what the Catholic Church says were the original Christian holy days? Was Christmas among them?
Holy Day Calendar This is a listing of the biblical holy days through 2012, with their Roman calendar dates. They are really hard to observe if you do not know when they occur

Pollution on Kamilo Beach, Hawaii, from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch

COGwriter

In its latest update, LCG reported:

Irresponsible Stewardship. The South Gyre is an area of the Pacific Ocean 1,000 miles (1600 km) off the coast of California where oceanic currents and winds converge and deposit surface materials. This is also the location of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch—a “sprawling mass of garbage-littered water… where most of the plastic looks like snowy confetti against the deep blue of the north Pacific Ocean.” Researchers are unsure of the exact impact on ocean life, but some estimate that plastic rubbish is responsible for the death of at least 100,000 sea creatures annually. Thankfully, plastics are biodegradable. However, in breaking down, they give off toxins to the surrounding environment (AP, August 28, 2009). When God placed Adam and Eve in the Garden, He charged them with being responsible stewards of His creation—to tend and keep the garden (Genesis 2:15). Human beings have failed in this responsibility and hence the whole creation is groaning for a time when it will be delivered from this bondage to human sins (Romans 8:19-22). We need to be concerned and cry out on behalf of humanity and creation, “…Even so, come, Lord Jesus!” (Revelation 22:20).

The Bible warns:

18 The nations were angry, and Your wrath has come,
And the time of the dead, that they should be judged,
And that You should reward Your servants the prophets and the saints,
And those who fear Your name, small and great,
And should destroy those who destroy the earth (Revelation 11:18).

We are to be responsible stewards.

There are Many COGs: Why Support the Living Church of God?

TRANSFORMED FROM TRUTH

COGwriter

While I often have problems with articles in the mislabled “Christianity Today”, I thought that the following article had some interesting insights:

Vacationing with the Pagans

Eric Miller | posted 9/04/2009…

Paganism: an old word with enduring resonance, and for good reason. Think of it as the state of heart and mind that has emerged as the reality of Law has come, over the past century, to seem less and less real—a long historical process that reached a kind of climax in the ’60s, when to “question authority” meant, among other things, to question the very existence of authority.

Crucially, though, among the varying norms and mores Americans challenged were many that reflected misguided perceptions of Law, often rooted in the idiosyncratic culture of American Protestantism. In the 1960’s aftermath these received ideas, on matters ranging from hair length to alcohol to race relations to worship, fell quickly. Vast space opened up in which efforts could be made to (re)define freedom, authority, and law.

The moral direction and tension the Law had long foisted on Western civilization has by our day nearly vanished. With the sweeping away over the past century of innumerable small-L laws came the overarching dismissal of Law itself. A recognizably Christian culture has given way to a new paganism…

To put it sharply: If there is a new paganism pervading America, we American Protestants have had a hand in preparing the way for it. http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2009/septemberweb-only/135-51.0.html?start=1

More and more aspects of paganism have been adopted in American culture and part of the reason is how American Protestants have tended to turn away from teaching the Law of God to a focus on what I will call “traditions of men”.

Of course, part of that started with Martin Luther, but the rate has accelerated in many Protestant circles.

Some articles of related interest may include:

Hope of Salvation: How the Living Church of God differ from most Protestants How the Living Church of God differs from mainstream/traditional Protestants, is perhaps the question I am asked most by those without a Church of God background.
The Similarities and Dissimilarities between Martin Luther and Herbert W. Armstrong This article clearly shows some of the doctrinal differences between in the two. At this time of doctrinal variety and a tendency by many to accept certain aspects of Protestantism, the article should help clarify why the Living Church of God is NOT Protestant. Do you really know what the Protestant Reformer Martin Luther taught and should you follow his doctrinal example?
Is There “An Annual Worship Calendar” In the Bible? This paper provides a biblical and historical critique of several articles, including one by WCG which states that this should be a local decision. What do the Holy Days mean? Also you can click here for the calendar of Holy Days.
Are the Ten Commandment Still in Effect? This article quotes the ten commandments and combines some of the previous articles into one article about the ten commandments. The commandments are shown at Mount Sinai, before Mount Sinai, in the teachings of Jesus, after the crucifixion, and in the teachings of Paul. It addresses the most common “traditions of men” regarding them as well.
Tradition and Scripture: From the Bible and Church Writings Are traditions on equal par with scripture? Many believe that is what Peter, John, and Paul taught. But did they?

The Hymnal of the Living Church of God Consists Mainly of Psalms and Biblical Passages Set to Music

COGwriter

In his commentary this week, CEM’s Ronald Dart wrote the following:

Working my way through Psalm 81 this morning, I came to “selah” for the umpteeth time and looked again at the Hebrew and the usage in the psalms. I am increasingly aware of the musical nature of the psalms, and at the same time noticing it in a parallel study in Ezekiel. I am coming to the conclusion that one of the reasons we have trouble with some passages is that we are interpreting them as prose when they are written to be sung…

This goes with another thing I am seeing: The change in perspective. When you start noticing that a few verses are sung in the first person about God, and the next verses are sung in the first person singular as from God, the psalm begins to take on a new shape. At first, I just assumed this was like the mixed metaphor, merely a reflection of Hebrew thought. But then it dawned on me that if this was in performance, it might be done by two singers or a singer and a chorus…

Now add the element of vocal interpretation. I had a high school speech teacher who, when interscholastic speech competition came along, entered me in, of all things, poetry reading. It turned out to be one of the best things any speech teacher ever did for me. It was there I learned how much meaning could be developed in reading text aloud. Pacing, volume, pausing, and other vocal effects could completely change the way the listener received the text. Every musical artist knows that even with a mechanical device like a piano, there can be enormous differences in interpretation of a piece of music.

This is a good reason for families and churches to have oral readings of scripture.

Most of the songs sang by early Christians were Psalms.

The Book of James teaches:

Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms (James 5:13).

The Apostle Paul noted:

Whenever you come together, each of you has a psalm (1 Corinthians 14:26).

Post-biblical writers also suggest that this was the practice of those who professed Christ in the second century as well.

Two articles of possibly related interest may include:

Praises to Jesus Christ or Biblical Hymns: Which Should Christians Primarily Sing? This biblical article on music is in response to an advertisement critical of WCG’s 1974 The Bible Hymnal.  It also address early church practices here.
What is the Appropriate Form of Biblical Interpretation? Should the Bible be literally understood? What do the writings of the Bible, Origen, Herbert W. Armstrong, and Augustine show?

COGwriter

In its latest update, LCG reported:

The United States Now the Caboose: Noted author and brokerage president Peter Schiff recently made some sobering observations regarding the state of the U.S. economy. Mr. Schiff stated, “the U.S. could see double-digit inflation within the next two to three years, and potential ‘Zimbabwe style’ hyperinflation within the next five to 10 years, depending on how the government reacts to high inflation.” He went on to discuss how “The theory that the world’s economies are linked like a train and that the United States is the engine is 180 degrees wrong… ‘I think the world represents the engine and the U.S. the caboose,’ he says. ‘The world has been spending a lot of energy dragging a caboose that consumes more than it produces and borrows more than it saves’” (MoneyNews.newsmax.com, August 18, 2009). Mr. Schiff’s observations are sobering indeed, when one considers that the U.S. was by far the leading economy of the developed world not long ago. God warned long ago what would happen if Israel failed to follow His sound economic principles. “The alien who is among you shall rise higher and higher above you, and you shall come down lower and lower. He shall lend to you, but you shall not lend to him; he shall be the head, and you shall be the tail” (Deuteronomy 28:43-44). The U.S. is coming to resemble the tail, or “caboose,” just as God promised it would. God’s prophecies stand the test of time!

I would like to elaborate on this by quoting a few more of the related scriptures.

First notice that the descendants of Israel were promised to be the head and NOT the tail if they obeyed God’s commandments:

13 And the LORD will make you the head and not the tail; you shall be above only, and not be beneath, if you heed the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you today, and are careful to observe them (Deuteronomy 28:13).

Second notice that they were promised to BECOME the tail if they disobeyed God’s commandments:

43 The alien who is among you shall rise higher and higher above you, and you shall come down lower and lower. 44 He shall lend to you, but you shall not lend to him; he shall be the head, and you shall be the tail. 45 Moreover all these curses shall come upon you and pursue and overtake you, until you are destroyed, because you did not obey the voice of the LORD your God, to keep His commandments and His statutes which He commanded you (Deuteronomy 28:43-45)

The USA is becoming increasingly against the commands of the God of the Bible.  And as a consequence, it is becoming more subservient to foreigner creditors.  When enough foreigners realize what Peter Schiff reported has merit, the Bible shows that the creditors will rise up and plunder (Habakkuk 2:6-8).

Most today do not realize the tie that the USA and the Anglo-descended peoples have with the Old Testament nor the importance of observing the Ten Commandments.  And because of this, many do not understand what is now happening.

Do you?

Some articles of  related interest may include:

Anglo – America in Prophecy & the Lost Tribes of Israel Are the Americans, Canadians, British, Scottish, Welsh, Australians, Anglo-Southern Africans, and New Zealanders descendants of Joseph? Where are the lost ten-tribes of Israel? Who are the lost tribes of Israel? Will God punish the U.S.A., Canada, United Kingdom, and other Anglo nations? Why might God allow them to be punished first?
Are the Ten Commandment Still in Effect? This article demonstrates that the commandments were shown from the Bible to be at Mount Sinai, before Mount Sinai, in the teachings of Jesus, after the crucifixion, and in the teachings of Paul. It addresses the most common “traditions of men” regarding them as well.
Were the Pharisees Condemned for Keeping the Law or Reasoning Around it? Many believe that the Pharisees were condemned for keeping the law, but what does your Bible say? If they were not condemned for that, what were they condemned for?
The Ten Commandments Reflect Love, Breaking them is Evil Some feel that the ten commandments are a burden. Is that what Jesus, Paul, Peter, James, and John taught?
Was the Commandment to Love the Only Command? Some have stated that John’s writings teach this, but is that what the Bible really says?
The Ten Commandments and the Early Church Did Jesus and the Early Church keep the ten commandments? What order were they in? Here are quotes from the Bible and early writings.

COGwriter

Ronald Weinland is a self-appointed “prophet” who claims that he and his wife are the two witnesses.  At his CGPFK website under FAQ Topics, the Abomination of Desolation, it refers to his book “The Prophesied END-TIME” for details.

Specifically Ronald Weinland wrongly teaches that the abomination occurred in 1994 and was spiritual:

The Abomination of Desolation
Look closely at what Jesus Christ said would follow after Mr. Armstrong finished his work. “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come. When you therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place (whoso reads, let him understand:) then let them who are in Judea flee into the mountains:” (Matthew 24:14-16).

Many prophecies have a “physical type” of fulfillment and a “spiritual type.”…

Only one man in this modern age was appointed—“set” in the Church of God. That man was Joseph W. Tkach, Sr. He had been given great trust and authority, but he betrayed Jesus Christ in the sermon he gave in Atlanta, Georgia on December 17, 1994. “Who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped; so that he as God sits in the temple of God, showing [“Showing” in the Greek means “to show forth, to expose to view, to reveal.”] himself that he is God” (2 Thessalonians 2:4). His actions exposed his rebellion…

After Mr. Tkach betrayed the trust placed in him by giving that defiant sermon in Atlanta, the Spiritual Temple of God became defiled. An abomination of unprecedented proportions had taken place within the Church…

Exactly 40 Sabbaths (to the day and very hour) after Mr. Tkach gave that sermon, he died. This was God’s own declaration. By taking his life, God revealed that Mr. Tkach was indeed the “son of perdition”—“the man of sin.” By this, God also revealed that the Church and the world had entered the end-time. This was finally the time, after 6,000 years, for end-time prophecies to be fulfilled. The process had begun. It all began on the same day Mr. Tkach gave his defiled sermon, but it was God who had to reveal it…

This also fulfilled other prophecies.“When you therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso reads, let him understand:) then let them who are in Judea flee into the mountains:” (Matthew 24:15-16). The fleeing that took place when the physical temple was destroyed was the “physical type”—fleeing into the mountains. Now came the “spiritual type.” It was time for spiritual Judea, the Church, to flee into the mountains…

The “abomination of desolation” that was about the destruction of the spiritual temple began when this seal was opened by Jesus Christ. The opening of this seal marks, reveals and actually announces the very beginning of the end-time. It reveals that a countdown has begun and Jesus Christ will soon return. It marks the beginning of great tribulation in this world. The end-time is already here. (Weinland R. The Prophesied End-Times, pp. 142, 146, 148, 150, 152).

But notice what Jesus specifically taught:

15 “…Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place” (whoever reads, let him understand), 16 then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains (Matthew 24:15-16).

The above event did not occur in 1994.  Nor did it on February 2, 2008,  March 18, 2008, April 17, 2008, or on December 14, 2008 (nor any date in-between 1994 to present) despite various inaccurate statements from Ronald Weinland.  (Ronald Weinland has claimed that the Great Tribulation began on April 17, 2008 and then he changed his date to December 14, 2008–and currently he is still insisting that his December 14, 2008 date was correct.)

How can we be sure that the abomination Jesus referred to has not been fulfilled by J. Tkach?

Because Jesus referred to the one that Daniel spoke about.  And that leader is also known as the King of the North:

31 And forces shall be mustered by him, and they shall defile the sanctuary fortress; then they shall take away the daily sacrifices, and place there the abomination of desolation. 32 Those who do wickedly against the covenant he shall corrupt with flattery; but the people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits. 33 And those of the people who understand shall instruct many; yet for many days they shall fall by sword and flame, by captivity and plundering. 34 Now when they fall, they shall be aided with a little help; but many shall join with them by intrigue. 35 And some of those of understanding shall fall, to refine them, purify them, and make them white, until the time of the end; because it is still for the appointed time.

36 “Then the king shall do according to his own will: he shall exalt and magnify himself above every god, shall speak blasphemies against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the wrath has been accomplished; for what has been determined shall be done. 37 He shall regard neither the God of his fathers nor the desire of women, nor regard any god; for he shall exalt himself above them all. 38 But in their place he shall honor a god of fortresses; and a god which his fathers did not know he shall honor with gold and silver, with precious stones and pleasant things. 39 Thus he shall act against the strongest fortresses with a foreign god, which he shall acknowledge, and advance its glory; and he shall cause them to rule over many, and divide the land for gain.

40 “At the time of the end the king of the South shall attack him; and the king of the North shall come against him like a whirlwind…” (Daniel 11:31-40).

This could not have been Joseph Tkach. He simply did not fulfill the other prophecies related to the King of the North, nor was he the King of the North. Furthermore, the Tkach preaching incident occurred nearly 15 years ago. The 1335, 1290, and 1260 days would have long been over. And despite Ronald Weinland’s two different dates (April 17 and December 14, 2008) for it to start, the Great Tribulation simply has not began yet.

Ronald Weinland improperly overlooked the Book of Daniel–the one place that Jesus said to look–when he (Ronald Weinland) came up with his inaccurate interpretation.

Those following Ronald Weinland are being misled and need to open their eyes right now! They need to ignore his smooth talking and check out what the Bible really teaches happens on those days (check out the article Who is the King of the North? for more details of that and other events that need to occur prior to the beginning of the Great Tribulation).

Some articles of related interest could include the following:

Concerns About Ronald Weinland’s Church of God-Preparing for the Kingdom of God Ronald Weinland falsely claims to be one of the two witnesses God is raising up and that the end will come in 2008 (first April 17th, then June 2008, now December 14, 2008). Why is he a false prophet? He also has at least one other view that suggests that he is not part of the Church of God.
Can the Great Tribulation Begin in 2009, 2010, or 2011? Can the Great Tribulation begin today? When is the earliest that the Great Tribulation can begin? What is the Day of the Lord?
Who Are The Two Witnesses? What is their job? What does the Bible reveal? What has the Church of God taught on this subject? Might even Roman Catholic prophecies give some clues here?
Who is the King of the North? Is there one? Do biblical and Roman Catholic prophecies point to the same leader? Should he be followed? Who will be the King of the North discussed in Daniel 11? Is a nuclear attack prophesied to happen to the English-speaking peoples of the United States, Great Britain, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand? When do the 1335 days, 1290 days, and 1260 days (the time, times, and half a time) of Daniel 12 begin? When does the Bible show that economic collapse will affect the United States?

COGwriter

Partially because of Charles Darwin, we have all pretty much been taught that the appendix is an unneeded “vestigial” organ.  But, of course, Darwin was wrong:

Appendix May Be Useful Organ After All

By CHARLES Q. CHOI

Aug. 24) — The body’s appendix has long been thought of as nothing more than a worthless evolutionary artifact, good for nothing save a potentially lethal case of inflammation.

Now researchers suggest the appendix is a lot more than a useless remnant. Not only was it recently proposed to actually possess a critical function, but scientists now find it appears in nature a lot more often than before thought. And it’s possible some of this organ’s ancient uses could be recruited by physicians to help the human body fight disease more effectively.

“Maybe it’s time to correct the textbooks,” said researcher William Parker, an immunologist at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C. “Many biology texts today still refer to the appendix as a ‘vestigial organ.’”

Slimy Sac

The vermiform appendix is a slimy dead-end sac that hangs between the small and large intestines. No less than Charles Darwin first suggested that the appendix was a vestigial organ from an ancestor that ate leaves, theorizing that it was the evolutionary remains of a larger structure, called a cecum, which once was used by now-extinct predecessors for digesting food.

“Everybody likely knows at least one person who had to get their appendix taken out — slightly more than 1 in 20 people do — and they see there are no ill effects, and this suggests that you don’t need it,” Parker said.

However, Parker and his colleagues recently suggested that the appendix still served as a vital safehouse where good bacteria could lie in wait until they were needed to repopulate the gut after a nasty case of diarrhea. Past studies had also found the appendix can help make, direct and train white blood cells…

Moreover, the appendix appears in nature much more often than previously acknowledged. It has evolved at least twice, once among Australian marsupials such as the wombat and another time among rats, lemmings, meadow voles, Cape dune mole-rats and other rodents, as well as humans and certain primates.

“We’re not saying that Darwin’s idea of evolution is wrong — that would be absurd, as we’re using his ideas on evolution to do this work,” Parker told LiveScience. “It’s just that Darwin simply didn’t have the information we have now.”

He added, “If Darwin had been aware of the species that have an appendix attached to a large cecum, and if he had known about the widespread nature of the appendix, he probably would not have thought of the appendix as a vestige of evolution.”  http://news.aol.com/health/article/researchers-say-appendix-has-uses/637211?icid=main|htmlws-main|dl1|link3|http%3A%2F%2Fnews.aol.com%2Fhealth%2Farticle%2Fresearchers-say-appendix-has-uses%2F637211

I never accepted Darwin’s claims against the appendix and have known for many years that the appendix played a role in maintaining a properly functioning digestive system for humans (but this information about its role in white blood cells is new to me).

The odd part of this article is that the researchers still seem to feel that they have to acknowledge publicly that Darwin’s evolutionary explanation is not wrong,  This is consistent with what the Ben Stein movie Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed revealed (see Ben Stein’s Expelled).

Which was?

Scientists who challenge too much associated with evolution are shunned by many academic institutions,  as there is a tremendous amount of pressure at most “leading” academic institutions to squelch research that is not in support of evolution.

And that is probably one reason that most have been unaware that the appendix does have biological functions for humans.

Evolution, as the explanation for the origin of life, is unscientific and false.  It also requires students to accept a belief that violates other known laws of biological science.   Evolution has led to the intentional ignorance of appropriate scientific methods.

To learn more about how life formed and why the evolutionary explanation is not scientifically valid, please review the following articles:

Is God’s Existence Logical? Some say it is not logical to believe in God. Is that true?
Is Evolution Probable or Impossible or Is God’s Existence Logical? Part II This short article clearly answers what ‘pseudo-scientists’ refuse to acknowledge.

Hindu Temple in Tamil Nadu, India

COGwriter

Newsweek’s latest edition reports that there has been a shift in religious thought in the USA that makes most professing Christians closer to Hinduism than the traditional Protestant beliefs about death:

We Are All Hindus Now

NEWSWEEK - From the magazine issue dated Aug 31, 2009
by Lisa Miller

America is not a Christian nation.

We are, it is true, a nation founded by Christians, and according to a 2008 survey, 76 percent of us continue to identify as Christian (still, that’s the lowest percentage in American history). Of course, we are not a Hindu—or Muslim, or Jewish, or Wiccan—nation, either.

A million-plus Hindus live in the United States, a fraction of the billion who live on Earth. But recent poll data show that conceptually, at least, we are slowly becoming more like Hindus and less like traditional Christians in the ways we think about God, our selves, each other, and eternity.

The Rig Veda, the most ancient Hindu scripture, says this: “Truth is One, but the sages speak of it by many names.” A Hindu believes there are many paths to God.

Jesus is one way, the Qur’an is another, yoga practice is a third. None is better than any other; all are equal. The most traditional, conservative Christians have not been taught to think like this. They learn in Sunday school that their religion is true, and others are false. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the father except through me.”

Americans are no longer buying it. According to a 2008 Pew Forum survey, 65 percent of us believe that “many religions can lead to eternal life”—including 37 percent of white evangelicals, the group most likely to believe that salvation is theirs alone. Also, the number of people who seek spiritual truth outside church is growing. Thirty percent of Americans call themselves “spiritual, not religious,” according to a 2009 NEWSWEEK Poll, up from 24 percent in 2005.

Stephen Prothero, religion professor at Boston University, has long framed the American propensity for “the divine-deli-cafeteria religion” as “very much in the spirit of Hinduism. You’re not picking and choosing from different religions, because they’re all the same,” he says. “It isn’t about orthodoxy. It’s about whatever works. If going to yoga works, great—and if going to Catholic mass works, great. And if going to Catholic mass plus the yoga plus the Buddhist retreat works, that’s great, too.”

Then there’s the question of what happens when you die. Christians traditionally believe that bodies and souls are sacred, that together they comprise the “self,” and that at the end of time they will be reunited in the Resurrection. You need both, in other words, and you need them forever. Hindus believe no such thing.

At death, the body burns on a pyre, while the spirit—where identity resides—escapes. In reincarnation, central to Hinduism, selves come back to earth again and again in different bodies. So here is another way in which Americans are becoming more Hindu: 24 percent of Americans say they believe in reincarnation, according to a 2008 Harris poll. So agnostic are we about the ultimate fates of our bodies that we’re burning them—like Hindus—after death.

More than a third of Americans now choose cremation, according to the Cremation Association of North America, up from 6 percent in 1975. “I do think the more spiritual role of religion tends to deemphasize some of the more starkly literal interpretations of the Resurrection,” agrees Diana Eck, professor of comparative religion at Harvard.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/212155

The basic Hindu idea that there will be some type of opportunity for salvation for nearly all of those that were not granted it in this life is correct.  Notice what the Bible teaches:

6 And all flesh shall see the salvation of God (Luke 3:6).

The Protestant/Catholic concept that only through Christ is there any salvation is also correct.

A major problem with the Hindu view is that it is devoid of the “name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12)–which is Jesus (Acts 4:10).

A major problem with the Protestant/Catholic view is that they really do not understand that when Jesus died for all (John 3:16-17) that this means that He did not die just for a relative few.  And while Protestants/Catholics do believe that God is love as John wrote (1 John 4:16), they do not normally understand that God is wise enough to have a plan of salvation that will result in almost everyone who ever lived to be saved.

The Bible is clear that few are chosen for salvation now (Matthew 22:14), while others will have their opportunity in the age to come (Matthew 12:32; Luke 18:30).

But because Protestant and Catholic leaders do not normally teach this, it is little wonder that many Americans are properly rejecting the non-biblical notion that most that ever lived will be condemned to eternal torment.  There are hundreds of verses in the Bible that show that God has a plan of salvation that will result in salvation being offered to all and that nearly all who ever lived will be saved.

Some documented articles that help show this include the following:

Hope of Salvation: How the Living Church of God differ from most Protestants How the Living Church of God differs from mainstream/traditional Protestants, is perhaps the question I am asked most by those without a Church of God background.
Universal Offer of Salvation: There Are Hundreds of Verses in the Bible Supporting the Doctrine of True Apocatastasis Do you believe what the Bible actually teaches on this? Will all good things be restored? Will God call everyone? Will everyone have an opportunity for salvation? Does God’s plan of salvation take rebellion and spiritual blindness into account?
Did the Early Church Teach Purgatory? Is there a place called purgatory? Does God have a plan to help those who did not become saints in this life?
What is Limbo? Is There Such a Place as Limbo? What Happens to Babies When They Die? When did Limbo start being taught? What is the truth about dead babies?
Is There “An Annual Worship Calendar” In the Bible? This paper provides a biblical and historical critique of several articles, including one by WCG/GCI which states that this should be a local decision. What do the Holy Days mean? Also you can click here for the calendar of Holy Days.