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10/05/05 a.m. Last night the Washington Times reported:

"The United States is responding rapidly to concerns about a possible outbreak of avian influenza, awarding a spate of contracts over the past few weeks to stockpile flu-fighting vaccines and drugs.

The World Health Organization, the public health arm of the United Nations, predicted this summer that bird flu will likely become the first human-flu pandemic since 1968.

Dr. David Nabarro, the organization's newly appointed U.N. coordinator for avian influenza, on Thursday projected a bird-flu outbreak could kill between 5 million and 150 million people worldwide. The next day, the U.N. health agency lowered its forecast to 2 million to 7.4 million deaths."

Whether it will be a very big deal, or overblown like last year's dire flu warnings, is unclear at this time. The complete article is at http://washingtontimes.com/business/20051004-120043-6248r.htm

Yesterday, WCG's J. Tkach reported:

"Since the hurricanes devastated your region, we have waited anxiously for news. Our pastors in the area have been sending me news as soon as they get it. Thankfully, we have heard from most of you, although we still have not found about 20 families. Many have suffered the loss of jobs and property. Some lost everything."

PABC's Norman Edwards reported:

"This is an update on our efforts to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita. We have received a number of responses from people who passed the information on to those who are in closer contact with people in the
affected areas. So far, no one has decided to come. However, it appears that many people whom we might be able to help have not yet had a chance to return to their home and assess their situation. Whether there is enough of their home and job left for them to stay is a question still unanswered for many storm victims."

On other matters, I just updated my article is Revelation 1:10 Talking about the Lord's Day or the Day of the Lord? after hearing yesterdays Feast of Trumpets DVD sermon from LCG's Gerald Weston. The "Lord's Day" argument, though weak, is the main scripture that non-Sabbath keepers use for that term.

10/04/05 a.m. Turkish prime minister, "Mr Erdogan warned yesterday that the EU would have passed up an opportunity to bridge a "clash of civilisations" between the Christian and Muslim worlds if it scuppered Turkey's dream of joining the European mainstream".

"Either [the EU] will show political maturity and become a global power, or it will end up a Christian club," he said.

Europe has long been a certain type of professing Christian club. More can be found in the article Europa & The Beast.

Turkey, although Moslem, is home to the leading patriarche of the Eastern Orthodox Church. This is mainly because Greeks inhabited the area before the Turks moved in, as well as the fact that the Emperor Constantine declared that Constantiople would be second only to Rome as a Church.

Do you know that, other than the authority of the Roman Bishop, that the filioque clause is the main official difference between Catholics and the Orthodox Church?

The Filioque

One of the major doctrinal issues that caused the schism that resulted in the Eastern Orthodox (sometimes called the Greek, or Greek Orthodox, Church) Church to break from the Roman Catholic Church in 1054 A.D. was the so-called ''filioque'' clause added to the original Nicene Creed.

The Catholic Encyclopedia states, "Filioque is a theological formula of great dogmatic and historical importance. On the one hand, it expresses the Procession of the Holy Ghost from both Father and Son as one Principle; on the other, it was the occasion of the Greek schism" (Maas A.J. Filioque).

Eastern Orthodox writers (including Timothy Ware), and others, have suggested that this clause is supportive of binitarianism, and thus should not be accepted by the Roman Catholic Church who insisted on this addition to the original Nicene Creed.

The ''filioque'' clause states that the Holy Spirit, "proceeds from the Father and the Son". Most binitarians would agree with that statement (though not certain others) in the Creed.

The Catholic Encyclopedia also states, "The dogma of the double Procession of the Holy Ghost from Father and Son as one Principle is directly opposed to the error that the Holy Ghost proceeds from the Father, not from the Son. Neither dogma nor error created much difficulty during the course of the first four centuries...As to the Sacred scripture, the inspired writers call the holy Ghost the Spirit of the Son (Gal., iv, 6), the spirit of Christ (Rom., viii, 9), the Spirit of Jesus Christ (Phil., i, 19), just as they call Him the Spirit of the Father (Matt., x, 20) and the Spirit of God (I Cor., ii, ll). Hence they attribute to the Holy Ghost the same relation to the Son as to the Father. Again, according to Sacred Scripture, the Son sends the Holy Ghost (Luke, xxiv, 49; John, xv, 26; xvi, 7; xx, 22; Acts, ii, 33,; Tit., iii.6)...as the Father sends the Holy Ghost (John, xiv, 26)" (Maas A.J. Filioque).

Most binitarians would agree that the above quote is true and in accordance with history and with scripture. Binitarians believe that since Roman Catholics acknowledge that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son, that this clearly shows that the Holy Spirit is not a separate divine Being as the Father and the Son are.

The above was just added to the article Binitarian View: One God, Two Beings Before the Beginning. I wish to thank those that provided me comments on it in the past--even those of you who challenged it, helped make it better.

10/03/05 a.m. All the disasters lately reminded me that the Feast of Trumpets (which begins tonight at sunset) is also about God's warnings and punishment, but also combined with the Good News at the end.

Rev 8:6-9:21 (NKJV)
So the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound.
7 The first angel sounded: And hail and fire followed, mingled with blood, and they were thrown to the earth. And a third of the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up.
8 Then the second angel sounded: And something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea, and a third of the sea became blood. 9 And a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.
10 Then the third angel sounded: And a great star fell from heaven, burning like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water. 11 The name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters became wormwood, and many men died from the water, because it was made bitter.
12 Then the fourth angel sounded: And a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them were darkened. A third of the day did not shine, and likewise the night. 13 And I looked, and I heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, "Woe, woe, woe to the inhabitants of the earth, because of the remaining blasts of the trumpet of the three angels who are about to sound!"

Revelation 9

9:1 Then the fifth angel sounded: And I saw a star fallen from heaven to the earth. To him was given the key to the bottomless pit. 2 And he opened the bottomless pit, and smoke arose out of the pit like the smoke of a great furnace. So the sun and the air were darkened because of the smoke of the pit. 3 Then out of the smoke locusts came upon the earth. And to them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. 4 They were commanded not to harm the grass of the earth, or any green thing, or any tree, but only those men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. 5 And they were not given authority to kill them, but to torment them for five months. And their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it strikes a man. 6 In those days men will seek death and will not find it; they will desire to die, and death will flee from them. 7 The shape of the locusts was like horses prepared for battle. On their heads were crowns of something like gold, and their faces were like the faces of men. 8 They had hair like women's hair, and their teeth were like lions' teeth. 9 And they had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the sound of chariots with many horses running into battle. 10 They had tails like scorpions, and there were stings in their tails. Their power was to hurt men five months. 11 And they had as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, but in Greek he has the name Apollyon. 12 One woe is past. Behold, still two more woes are coming after these things.
13 Then the sixth angel sounded: And I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God, 14 saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, "Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates." 15 So the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year, were released to kill a third of mankind. 16 Now the number of the army of the horsemen was two hundred million; I heard the number of them. 17 And thus I saw the horses in the vision: those who sat on them had breastplates of fiery red, hyacinth blue, and sulfur yellow; and the heads of the horses were like the heads of lions; and out of their mouths came fire, smoke, and brimstone. 18 By these three plagues a third of mankind was killed--by the fire and the smoke and the brimstone which came out of their mouths. 19 For their power is in their mouth and in their tails; for their tails are like serpents, having heads; and with them they do harm. 20 But the rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, that they should not worship demons, and idols of gold, silver, brass, stone, and wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk. 21 And they did not repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.

Rev 10:7
but in the days of the sounding of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, the mystery of God would be finished, as He declared to His servants the prophets.

1 Thess 4:16-18
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.

So while trumpets (and even current events) should be warning enough, most will not understand them enough to change. Yet, THE GOOD NEWS is that the mystery of God will be finished, and His kingdom installed.

Here is a link to my sermonette for the Feast of Trumpets last year titled The Book of Life and the Feast of Trumpets? Are they related? Is so how? If not, where not?

Speaking of disaster related news, I forgot to post this from UCG's V. Kubik,

"Church of God 7th Day Donates $12,132.73 to LifeNets for Sri Lanka Tsunami Reconstruction  "

10/02/05 a.m. This morning's focus will be disasters:

The following has to do with Hurricane Rita evacuees who went to the old WCG Big Sandy campus:

"Many new evacuees at the Alert Academy in Big Sandy say they are angry and frustrated. Before arriving last night, many had lived in three different shelters in the past week. Evacuees say they don't understand why they were brought to Big Sandy.

"They told us in Lufkin that we are suppose to be going to Texarkana, but this doesn't look like Texarkana to me," said Jarsha Frazier, Port Arthur Evacuee.

"Lufkin told us that we would be going to a dorm and have our own privacy and we could have our own rooms," said Keelie Mandrin, Port Arthur Evacuee. Someone in Lufkin told the evacuees all these things, but instead they were faced with a non-air conditioned convention center.

"We are very angry because I feel like we are treated like animals," said Mayra Taylor, Port Arthur Evacuee. "I don't feel like we are being treated like human beings." The Alert Academy says the state called on Tuesday asking if it could provide a shelter. John Tanner, the Director of the Alert Academy says he told the state all he had was a non-airconditioned convention center.

"The issue of the state is they had no other place to go with them," said Tanner. "The schools there or whatever the system was in Lufkin was going to put them on the street and we didn't want to see that, so we opened the door." The Alert Academy says it's doing everything it can do to help. The American Red Cross says it wasn't ready for all the evacuees, and right now it's just trying to meet the people's immediate needs."

The full article is at http://www.kltv.com/Global/story.asp?S=3918156

News from Ethiopia:

"Addis Ababa - An earthquake measuring 5.5 on the Richter scale has caused the eruption of a long-dormant volcano in northern Ethiopia at the weekend, but no immediate damage or injuries have been reported, geologists said Monday.

The quake, which struck the remote region of Afar, about 980km northeast of the capital on Saturday, was followed by the eruption of Mount Arteale, Ethiopia's only active volcano which has been largely dormant for the past six decades, they said.

"The magnitude of the earthquake, accompanied by a severe volcanic eruption, was measured at 5.5 on the Richter scale," Laeke Asfaw, the head of physical observatory in seismology department of the Addis Ababa University.

Molten lava spewed from the volcano, covering large portions of its slopes and surrounding areas and thick blankets of ash and plumes of smoke were reported in the region, another seismologist at the university, Gezahegn Yirga, said."

News from El Salvador:

"El Salvador's largest Volcano erupted for the first time in a century - Thousands flee. (Reuters) - "I have lost everything. I have no money, nothing, just my children and my husband," said 73-year-old Rosa Flores, whose small home was set ablaze by a red-hot rock as she made breakfast. A 12-year-old boy, Fernando Gonzalez, was desperately looking for his parents. "I'm scared. I saw big stones fall and one had smoke coming from it.""

"BBC - Oct 2, 2005
El Salvador's highest volcano, Ilamatepec, has erupted, killing two people and forcing thousands to evacuate the area.

The eruption released giant plumes of smoke and hurled ash and burning rock into the air, witnesses said. Scientists said the volcano had spat rocks as far as 1.5km (0.93 miles) from its crater. There have also been reports of lava rocks the size of cars, and villagers fleeing from a flood of boiling water.

Ilamatepec, also known as the Santa Ana volcano, had lain dormant since 1904. It lies about 60km west of the capital, San Salvador. Approximately 10,000 people live in the area surrounding the volcano. On Friday, about 30 families were evacuated after columns of sulphuric smoke rose from the crater. As it began to erupt, several thousand residents were evacuated and the government issued warnings to nearby villages. "

Regarding Mexico:

"Storms Hit Both Sides of Mexico
Tropical Storm Lashes Yucatan After Hurricane Soaks Baja

MIAMI (Oct. 2) - Tropical Storm Stan made landfall in Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula early Sunday with 45 mph sustained winds, but forecasters predicted it would weaken to a tropical depression as it moves over the region.

A tropical storm warning was in effect for the eastern coast of the Yucatan from Chetumal north to Cabo Catoche, forecasters said.

Meanwhile in the Pacific, Hurricane Otis lashed the coast of western Mexico Saturday as the storm crawled toward the Baja California peninsula, forcing hundreds of families to evacuate their homes and flooding roads in this resort city."

Yesterday, Tiawan was hit by both an Earthquake and Hurricane today at the same time.

In the 'must play' DVD from Charlotte yesterday, LCG's RC Meredith reminded everyone that prophetic events appear to be speeding up.

LCG also has a booklet titled Who Controls the Weather? which it put out a couple of years ago. It begins with:

"When savage storms, devastating earthquakes, violent tsunamis or other weather-related catastrophes occur, mankind usually blames them on “Mother Nature.” Weathermen are quick to cite statistics of similar events that occurred 30, 60 or even 100 years ago. But what they often do not mention is that such events are becoming more frequent and more forceful.

And the “experts” are seemingly in total ignorance of the fact that there is a Great God who ultimately controls natural events--who blesses nations that obey Him with “rain in its season” (Leviticus 26:4), and who can (and often will) punish a rebellious people with drought and famine (v. 19). Jesus Christ predicted that natural disasters would be one of the signs preceding His return to this earth as King of kings: “For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences [disease epidemics], and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows” (Matthew 24:7-8)."

Anyway, the full booklet, Who Controls the Weather? is available on-line.

10/01/05 a.m. This morning, ICG's Mark Armstrong reported:

"As you know from reports, Texas and Louisiana took quite a major hit from the most recent hurricane, particularly along the border region and quite some distance inland. We here in Tyler experienced strong gusty winds (taking down a sizable tree in my backyard along with the power line) but were spared the severe damage seen further south. Not only were key sectors of oil production and refineries damaged, but the United States has sustained another major long-term economic blow in terms of repair and rebuilding. Many who had taken refuge up in this area lost everything, and may not be able to return to see what can be salvaged for some time."

I believe that the hurricanes, combined with overstretching the military and prior spending excesses (and the related borrowing) are setting the US up for a major fall.

In a related story, the Tyler Morning News reported:

"BIG SANDY - Tempers simmered to near boiling at a newly formed, non-air-conditioned Red Cross shelter in Big Sandy on Wednesday, as evacuees from closed shelters in Lufkin moved for a third time.

Many said they felt betrayed by promises broken of privacy, air conditioning and showers to be provided them, if they would move north to make room for local schools wanting to get back on schedule.

"We can't stay here," said Joseph Tibbs Sr., surveying a humid, stark, 100,000-square-foot metal warehouse at the ALERT Academy three miles east of Big Sandy at 3 p.m. Wednesday. "My wife is ill, and she can't take this heat. It must over a hundred degrees in here."...

The building was made available to the Red Cross by the Air Land Emergency Response Team Academy on very short notice, said Academy Commander Col. John Tanner.

"We were called by state officials yesterday afternoon and asked if we had room for 1,500," said Tanner. "I told them, 'well, yes, but only a place with no air-conditioning.' We were already housing and feeding 300 Katrina and Rita evacuees and I told them we couldn't feed additional evacuees. They said, 'fine. We'll be coming.' Our commitment to them was we could house 1,500 evacuees for eight days. Then we're getting ready for a large family camp that uses this building."

In spite of the billions spent on emergency preparedness, many details are situations have been overlooked. We in the COGs all know that we need to rely on God and not man.

Yesterday, on other matters, Arutz Sheva (AKA Israel National News) reported,

"Secular politicians were up in arms Friday over an attempt by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to win support from Haredi MKs by stopping highway work on the Sabbath...

The Prime Minister promptly told Infrastructure Minister Binyamin (Fuad) Ben-Eliezer (Labor) to order a halt to the work, but the minister said Friday morning that the construction would continue on the Sabbath after the upcoming holidays.

MK Yossi Sarid (Meretz-Yachad) told Ben-Eliezer to "regain his senses" and reject Sharon's order. "It is indeed nice and appropriate to take into consideration the religious community’s feelings, but it is no less important to be considerate of the secular majority who will be stuck in traffic jams for hours," Sarid added."

Since the foundation of that nation of Israel is believed to be a continuation of that done in biblical times, Israeli leaders are obligated to not have that type of work done on the Sabbath.

09/30/05 a.m. The Catholic World News reported:

"The leader of the Eastern-rite Ukrainian Catholic Church has called for the creation of a single Eastern Church in that country, joining the Catholic and Orthodox under a single patriarch.

The religious tensions that trouble Ukraine could be solved, Cardinal Lubomyr Husar said, "if Ukraine had one patriarch for all." He told the Religious Information Service of Ukraine that on this basis, Ukrainian Christians could "return to the primary unity."

The Ukrainian prelate argued that "neither Moscow nor Rome will give us unity." Instead, he said, Ukrainian Catholics should join in a single Church, and then "Rome, Constantinople, or Moscow-- which is much younger compared to them-- will just accept this fact."

It is not essential, Cardinal Husar said, that the patriarch of this Ukrainian Church should be a Catholic. The single requirement for such a leader, he said, is that "this patriarch should be a man capable of uniting everyone."

However, the leader of the Ukrainian Catholic Church-- which is the largest Eastern Church in communion with Rome-- went on to say that a united Ukrainian Church must also be in communion with Rome. Therefore, he said, even if the patriarch is not now a Catholic, he would soon enter into full communion with the Holy See."

I have long wondered whether or not the Ukraine would be part of the EU. This suggests some type of tie will develop. Anyway, the entire article is available at http://www.cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=39887

On other matters, a reader questioned the statement in my Binitarian View article that Jesus emptied himself of His divinity on the Earth (between his birth and prior to His resurrection) and claimed I used convoluted logic. This reader essentially felt that this position was based on a 300 year-old commentary (it was not) and that this was not the correct modern translation (it actually is the correct literal translation). He also faulted me because he said that I needed to quote HWA if I made these kind of statements (it was HWA who taught not to believe him, but believe what you see in the Bible). While I did not quote HWA in that article, I may as well quote him here so that all in the COGs will realize that HWA taught the same thing:

"For we read, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God; all things were made by him, and without him was not anything made that was made" (John 1:1-3). "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; we have beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father" (verse 14 -RSV). Also, "He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world knew him not…He, who was God, actually became human flesh because I John 4:2, 3 -RSV - states, "By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit which confesses that Jesus Christ has come iii the flesh is of God, and every spirit which does not confess Jesus is not of God." He was conceived in and born of the human virgin, Mary. "Now, the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother, Mary, had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child of the Holy Spirit" (Matt. 1:18). He was made not only flesh, but human flesh and blood. Notice Heb. 2:14: "Since then the children are sharers in blood and flesh, himself also in like manner partook of the same" (Ivan Panin translation)"… Jesus, in nature, is equal with God -"Jesus Christ: who, existing in God's form, counted not the being on an equality with God ought to be grasped at, but emptied himself . . . being made in likeness of men" (Phil. 2:6 Panin translation)" (Armstrong HW. Is Jesus God?).

The plain truth is that we in the COGs DO NOT TEACH THAT JESUS WAS FULLY GOD AND FULLY HUMAN THE WAY THE TRINITARIANS DO.

There are essentially four reasons for that:

1. We believe that Jesus emptied Himself of His Divinity while in the flesh. Philippians 2:7 teaches, "...Christ Jesus, who subsisting in (the) form of God thought (it) not robbery to be equal to God, but emptied Himself, taking (the) form of a slave, becoming in (the) likeness of men" (Literal translation. Greem J.P. ed. Interlinear Greek-English New Testament, 3rd ed. Baker Books, Grand Rapids (MI), 1996, p. 607).

2. Jesus repeatedly taught that He of Himself "could do nothing" prior to His resurrection (John 5:19,30;8:28), that He claimed He had "[a]ll authority" after the resurrection (Matthew 28:18), that He was not fully God when He could do nothing.

3. Since the Bible claims that Jesus was tempted in all points as humans are (Hebrews 4:15) and that in another place the Bible claims "God cannot be tempted by evil" (James 1:13), since "scripture cannot be broken" (John 10:35) He could not have been fully God while in the flesh.

4. Jesus was not called God in the flesh until after His resurrection (John 20:28).

Thus while Jesus was what God would be like in the flesh, he simply was not fully God then.

09/29/05 a.m. In a posted sermon summary, UCG's Ken Martin states:

Now in this fall season, this third season, there are actually four holy days to be observed. There is this day, Trumpets; followed by Atonement, to be followed by the large Feast of Tabernacles, the first day being a holy day and then that Last Eighth day, a holy day which makes that fourth. You have four holy days in that fall festival period of time. Now the Feast of Trumpets depicts nothing less than what the bible clearly demonstrates is the return of Jesus Christ, the King of kings and Lord of lords to this earth. Now as far as the actual day, remember a day can move along, today it may be a certain day on the calendar, next year it may be the Feast of Trumpets on a different day, so you don't know the day or the hour, like the scripture says, but you know that this Festival pictures the dynamic return, at some time in the future, of the Son of God and He is going to fulfill the promises of scripture that are spoken of Him...

I Thess. 4:16 – For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout and with the voice of an archangel...and notice...with the trumpet of God...now who is the one that the bible tells us is the trumpeter? That is Gabriel, Gabriel is the angel who is always pictured as the trumpeter, you know, Gabriel, blow your horn, well if he's that one, he's going to be blowing that horn that day...notice what it's says...the dead in Christ will rise first.

So here we have a resurrection of people who have been dead in Christ, men and women of past generations who will be coming up on this day, that is going to be awesome, what is going on here? It is the resurrection of the saints of God coming alive before the eyes of human kind; this is going to be a phenomenal event in itself. Then it goes on to say:

V. 17 – Then we who are alive...if we are that generation who happens to be blessed to be alive when this event happens, then notice...we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.

Many people tend to run with that scripture and say that means, I have been raptured to heaven and that does not say that. It merely says they are being caught up to meet the Lord who is coming down, not to take us back to heaven, but to take us to Zech. 14 where in that day His feet will stand on the Mt. of Olives, that Mt. of Olives shall cleave in two and tremendous events are going to be happening and we are going to be smack dab in the middle of it as the saints of God. That's why we are so taken back by the awesomeness of these events that God in His mercy would open our eyes to see the future of these marvelous events and how that we play an awesome part in it. I would now take you to another correlating scripture please that is very very important with this understanding and that is I Cor. 15:52 and in it it mentions:

I Cor. 15:52 – In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet...so there is going to be a last trump and when that last trump comes, notice...for the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised incorruptible and we...we who are alive and we who are what? Still in the flesh...we will be changed.

Now that is going to be an awesome event. Simply because of this one factor - there are many people today, well-meaning people who are walking around with a preconceived idea that they're already born again. Now if you want to take the scripture and say, you know, you become renewed in your thought process to conversion, O.K. But to be born again, they say, "I've been born again." Please, read again, what did we just say? If you are born again, there has to be a change. From the dead, the dead are done what? They are raised or changed incorruptible and we, who are still physical, what will happen to us? We will also become as saints then, incorruptible. My point being this, dear brethren, you cannot be born again and still be in a corrupted state. You can be transformed by your renewing of your mind, you can be converted, you can be changed from within to the power of God's spirit, but you are not born again as a new individual, that's why Nicodemus knew so clearly, he said, "Can I go back into my mothers womb?" He knew what Christ was talking about; He wasn't talking about some kind of spiritual emotional feeling. He said, how can I do that? I can't go back in my mother's womb. It's not that, it has to come from above, this working has to deal with God, God is the one who has to bring about the ultimate change of every human being, first from within and then ultimately to change us in the twinkling of an eye or to bring us out incorruptible. That is the revelation of scripture and being born again. Yet people today have gotten this idea that they can be born again and it's just a sad little misunderstanding of many well-meaning people who have been deceived on a very serious topic, a topic that the bible addresses very clearly."

For more information on UCG's position on being born-again, please see the article:
Differences between the Living Church of God and United Church of God

For additional information on one aspect of the Feast of Trumpet, please see the article The Book of Life and the Feast of Trumpets? Are they related? Is so how? If not, where not?

Here is the latest commentary from LCG's Carl Ponder:

Hurricane Winds Bring Possibility of Wide-scale Famine!

"As bad as the destruction and misery have been from storms which have pounded Florida and other southern states these last two years, their worst effects may be yet to come. If all the lettuce is wiped out, or if the English peas are destroyed, no one will starve, because the essential food sources for the United States are soybean, corn and wheat. Even farm animals are dependent on these basic foods. Now future yields of these major crops are in doubt because of unexpected effects of hurricane Ivan last year and Katrina, Ophelia, Rita and other storms yet to come."

LCG has several commentaries concerning the Hurricanes at its commentary pages: http://www.lcg.org/cgi-bin/tw/commentary/tw-comm.cgi?action=view_comm_h

09/28/05 a.m. This AP story may have prophetic implications:

"South Africa's government is for the first time moving to seize land from a white farmer, saying Thursday that negotiations to buy the property to hand over to black claimants were taking too long.

Blessing Mphela, a land restitution commissioner, said at a news conference that the seizure was a last resort, but he added that land transfers to redress the abuses of the apartheid era must speed up.

The government has repeatedly said it would rely on negotiated sales to shift agricultural land ownership rather than emulate Zimbabwe's seizures of white-owned farms, which many experts say contributed to the collapse of that country's economy.

But Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's policies have made him hugely popular among black South Africans as land transfers lag here - which the government blames on white farmers demanding overly high prices and dragging out sales."

Jesus taught, "When they persecute you in this city, flee to another. For assuredly, I say to you, you will not have gone through the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes" (Matthew 10:23). We in the COGs have long taught that Rhodesia (which became Zimbawe) and South Africa, as Anglo-ruled nations in the British Commonwealth, were essentially a part of physical Israel. When my wife and I were at the FOT in South Africa, about 19 years ago, we met a woman who had fled from Rhodesia to South Africa who said the same thing would probably happen there too. Sadly, she was correct. It is my understanding that many in South Africa are considering New Zealand and other English-speaking countries as a place to temporarily flee to (not to be confused with fleeing to A Place of Safety).

The full AP story is at http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apafrica_story.asp?category=1105&slug=South%20Africa%20Land

Zenit.org reports:

"The Holy See and the Lutheran World Federation are in the final stages of the writing of a joint document "on the Church's apostolicity and apostolic succession."

The work is being done at a meeting of members of the Lutheran-Roman Catholic Commission on Unity. The Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity is the host of the meeting, which ends Thursday.

The commission members are discussing a comprehensive draft report, with the aim of making the document ready for publication in 2006.

The dialogue, which began in 1967, is held by the Lutheran-Roman Catholic Commission on Unity".

For a truer view of the Church's apostolicity and succession, please read the article: The Location of the Early Church: Another Look at Rome, Ephesus, and Smyrna. Even though most of the information in that article comes from Roman Catholic and Lutheran approved sources, it is likely that they will overlook most of it.

In yesterdays' WCG Christian Odyssey:

"I remember well attending Sunday school as a young child. I loved the stories from the Bible about David and Goliath, about Jesus walking on water, about Jonah and the whale. But what I didn’t learn clearly was the gospel of salvation by grace alone, received through faith in Christ alone. And thus my formative religious training was about biblical characters and events, but not about the joy of Jesus’ life and love for me.

Because of this teaching deficit, I fell prey as an older teen to a false gospel—a gospel of behaviorism and legalism that was not really the gospel (good news) at all."

09/27/05 a.m. The Sep-Oct 2005 edition of UCG's World News & Prophecy arrived last night. There were two stories I would like to quote from. The first is by Darris McNeely:

" New Orleans, Louisiana, survives because of a system of levees, earthen embankments and concrete-encased metal plates built to hold back the waters of Lake Pontchartrain and the Mississippi River. That "old man river" rolls its strongest as it passes the city at the end of its long journey through the heartland of America. The flooding that engulfed the city in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina was caused in large part by three failures of the levees holding back the lake. Tragically, the city saw the collapse of another kind of "levee," the moral levee of civilization, as looting and violence broke out when thugs and unscrupulous people scrambled to take what they could from the wreckage...

In a matter of hours New Orleans was reduced to a third world status. Toilets would not flush, sewage was everywhere and dead bodies floated by, untended because rescue workers had to prioritize their efforts to focus on the living. The city had the smell of death. It was a classic wartime triage situation. Americans are not used to seeing such sights at home, but only on television in far-off places. It has been more than 13 years since we have seen such scenes of rioting in an American city. We forget and have grown complacent—twin enemies of the thin veneer that covers any civilization.

In recent years American audiences have been watching survival-type reality shows on television. These contrived episodes seem hollow compared to the real-life survival drama on the U.S. Gulf Coast. Are we seeing how real people would react to the real breakdown of ordered society in the event of a countrywide catastrophe?...

The city with its buildings can be rebuilt. In this case, it will take years to return to normal. The levees can be restored and made stronger, but without careful maintenance they could fail once again. It's the same for character and self-restraint. The type of character that can withstand depravation and upheaval must be built and maintained one brick at a time over years of careful living."

Two comments: 1) The third world countries I have been too were not as bad in character or economy as New Orleans and 2) There has been no significant indication of repentance towards right living coming from those that were affected to lead me to believe that another disaster there would not have similar consequences (although the military may step in sooner to stop looting, etc.).

UCG's Melvin Rhodes reported:

"German manufacturers have a reputation for producing high-quality merchandise, and they have once again reached the number one position as the world's biggest exporter. With a population of just over 80 million, Germany exports more than America, with almost 300 million people.

What does this mean for the United States and other countries?

Global reach

Consider this: Germany is not just the world's biggest exporting nation. It is also the dominant nation of the 25-country European Union (EU). The EU is the world's biggest single market, bigger than the United States. It also accounts for more than half of all the world's trade. That gives the EU incredible clout around the world."

Thus, with only 27% of the US population, Germany exports more. This bodes poorly for the US.

The Times (of London) reported:

"IRRITATED American officials yesterday sought to play down claims that Alan Greenspan had said Washington had “lost control” of its budget deficit.

Thierry Breton, France’s Finance Minister, speaking to reporters in Washington, made the claim after a closed-door meeting with Mr Greenspan, the Federal Reserve Chairman, and John Snow, the US Treasury Secretary...

The shortfall of tax revenues over public expenditure is expected to be about $400 billion (£215 billion) this year, boosted by the unexpected cost of rebuilding after hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

The Federal Reserve refused to comment on M Breton’s reports of its Chairman’s views.

Earlier, the French minister said that both he and Mr Greenspan had expressed disappointment “that the management of debt is not a political priority today”. “The United States has lost control of its budget at a time when racking up deficits has been authorised without any control (from the US Congress),” M Breton said. "

The truth is the US deficits (trade and budget) are out of control. Here is a link to the full article http://business.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,16849-1797751,00.html.

09/26/05 a.m. COGaic reported,

"In a ruling that Euroskeptics are calling a further erosion of national sovereignty, the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg ruled in favor of the E.U. Commission involving environmental policies. Eleven member states opposed the idea that the Commission could determine what offenses against E.U. environmental law should be considered to be criminal.

The decision opens the door to the E.U. being able to dictate whether breaches on a wide range of other established policies can be deemed criminal or not. The Commission said, “The judgment concerns particular environmental legislation, but it sets an important precedent for Community law in general.”

The leader of Britain’s Tory MEPs Timothy Kirkhope called the ruling a “worrying erosion of British sovereignty. Notwithstanding our support for environmental protection, this is a blow to Britain’s ability to decide things for ourselves…. The decision on whether or not to criminalize offenses in Britain should be a matter for Britain, not for the E.U.”

Commission President Barroso called it a “watershed decision. It paves the way for more democratic and more efficient lawmaking at E.U. level.”"

As regular readers of this page are aware, the COGs believe that Britain ultimately will leave the EU.

In its latest commentary UCG's Cecil E. Maranville writes:

"In a bold speech before the United Nations on September 17th, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad rejected the offer of incentives by the EU3 (England, France and Germany) to abandon uranium enrichment for its nuclear program.

"His speech began like a muezzin's sermon [a muezzin is the Muslim crier who summons people to prayer at the mosque] on justice between nations. It contained the unbeatable argument that it is impermissible for one group of countries to deny another group access to nuclear energy thereby holding back its development. He reminded the UN that the IAEA [International Atomic Energy Agency] rules specified it was the duty of nuclear nations to assist others in the peaceful utilization of the atom. He was warmly applauded" ("Iranian President's UN Debut," Sept. 19, 2005, Novosti).

The U.S. and EU opinion is that the Islamic Republic of Iran is not a trustworthy guardian for enriched (weapons grade) uranium. President Bush named Iran as part of an "Axis of Evil," and the U.S. State Department considers Iran to be a sponsor of terrorism. In fact, the State Department lists President Ahmadinejad as a terrorist and had to make a special exception to allow him to enter the country to attend the UN General Assembly!

Confronted by a CNN reporter on the charge of state-sponsored terrorism, Ahmadinejad insisted that Iran was the victim of terrorism, citing past assassinations of government officials! "

Iran has taken many steps to increase its military and political influence. It will most likely continue to find ways around UC/EU restrictions and to spin its position to the press.

09/25/05 a.m. Last night ICG's Chris Cummings put the following together:

"Just got off the phone with Mr. Armstrong and he reports that the news updates you are hearing on Fox and other stations are somewhat more severe than what is really going on. The winds have been and continue to be gusty but the rain has been light. A top of a tree came down in Mr. Armstrong's yard but his power is still on. 15,000 in the city of Tyler proper are without power at the moment. The storm went primarily to the east of Tyler. Weather man is looking for sunny weather tomorrow in the Tyler area."

While Rita was not as devastating as Katrina, I am fairly sure that those in the Gulf Coast wanted a chance to get back to their homes sooner (right after writing this sentence I see a news headline Rita Evacuees Should 'Stay Put' and I suspect most want to go home now). Rita caused a lot of flooding.

In its Sept 2005 newsletter, CGE included this item:

"Here is what Mr. Armstrong said in the Plain Truth, December, 1967, Personal from the Editor, concerning what our Creator says about health and sickness:

'It is God's will that we be in health (III John 2). God intended us to obey His laws—His physical laws that operate in our bodies for good health as well as His Spiritual Law. Yet He knew our weaknesses and rebellious nature. When we repent of breaking His Spiritual Law and transgressing against Him, our loving and merciful Father has provided a way for removing the penalty—through Jesus' sacrifice, paying the penalty in our stead.

In like manner, when nature's laws have been broken, this is God's instruction to those who have become His begotten children:

Is any sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the Church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: and the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him (James 5:14–15).

Notice important specific points in that instruction. First, it is addressed to, and pertains to those who have become God's own begotten children—those who are Christ's—and in Romans 8:9 it is made plain that only those who have, and are being led by, in daily living (verse 14) His Holy Spirit, are Christ's. Next, it says the prayer of faith shall save the sick. But James also says (chapter 1:6–7) that if one's faith wavers, he will not receive the answer. Yet also, in the "faith chapter" of the Bible, Hebrews 11, we read this: he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him (verse 6).

And again, what we ask of Him we receive because we keep His Commandments, and do those things that please Him (I John 3:22).'

09/24/05 a.m. This morning, AOL News reported this AP story:

"Hurricane Rita plowed into the Gulf Coast early Saturday, lashing Texas and Louisiana with driving rain, flooding low-lying regions, knocking power out to nearly a million customers and sparking fires across the region.

Rita made landfall at 3:30 a.m. EDT as a Category 3 storm just east of Sabine Pass, on the Texas-Louisiana line, bringing a 20-foot storm surge and warnings of up to 25 inches of rain, the National Hurricane Center said. Within four hours it had weakened to a Category 2 storm, with top winds of 100 mph, as it moved further inland between Beaumont and Jasper.

There were no immediate reports of fatalities, though rescuers in many areas had to wait for winds to subside before launching searches. About 3 million people had fled a 500-mile stretch of the Texas-Louisiana coast ahead of the storm, motivated in part by the devastating toll that Hurricane Katrina inflicted on the Gulf Coast barely three weeks ago."

So far, it appears that Katrina caused more damage than Rita.

Last night, ICG's Mark Armstrong reported,

"Only a couple of weeks after what has been called the most destructive natural disaster in modern American history, the country is bracing for another blow from a powerful hurricane! No matter where you’re located, you’ve probably heard of little else for the last day or two. And this one, hurricane Rita, is expected to take a significant toll on the Texas coast in addition to causing severe problems further inland. Never in our lifetimes have we seen a spectacle the likes of most of Houston, Texas trying to evacuate, all at once! That, in itself has already caused a lot of suffering and misery as hundreds of thousands sat running out of gas, and many stranded, in gridlock traffic with temperatures of one hundred degrees. You’ve no doubt seen that 24 nursing home patients died a fiery death in a bus that exploded and burned outside Dallas.

Hopefully this hurricane will not cause many more to lose their lives. But there is no question that it will deal another severe blow to the U.S. economy, long before the effects of the last devastating storm can even be calculated. And as I write, the levees that are supposed to protect New Orleans have been breached and the city is in danger of filling up with floodwaters again! As you are aware, a substantial percentage of the nation’s oil production, storage and refining is on the Gulf coast and in danger of long-term damage at a time when the U.S. is already battling a fuel crisis.

We can’t help wondering if or when the atmosphere of crisis will abate."

I personally suspect that there will be a break after this hurricane season, followed by other disasters.

Lat night, WCG Today reported this by Lee Berger,

“As part of our Generations Ministry programs, summer 2006 will see the addition of a brand new camp to our nationwide family of summer camps. Our other camps are directed mainly toward the pre-teens and teens, but this new camp—called Crossing Borders—will be open to Christians of any age.

“Crossing Borders camp will provide education and hands-on training in mission-based evangelism. This camp will help maturing Christians discover and strengthen their hearts for mission, explore styles and methods of outreach, and provide relevant application of their gifts in living and sharing the gospel across cultures by participating in an actual mission/outreach project—this year reaching into Mexico."

While reaching others is good, this camp suggests to me that WCG has taken another step to become more like the evangelical Protestants.

Last night, Reuters (http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=scienceNews&storyID=2005-09-23T184939Z_01_BAU361418_RTRUKOC_0_US-LIFE-EVOLUTION.xml) reported,

"A new battle over teaching about man's origins in U.S. schools goes to court for the first time next week, pitting Christian conservatives against educators and scientists in a trial viewed as the biggest test of the issue since the late 1980s.

Eleven parents of students at a Pennsylvania high school are suing over the school district's decision to include "intelligent design" -- an alternative to evolution that involves a God-like creator -- in the curriculum of ninth-grade biology classes.

The parents and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) say the policy of the Dover Area School District in south-central Pennsylvania violates the constitutional separation of church and state, which forbids teaching religion in public schools.

They also argue that intelligent design is unscientific and has no place in a science curriculum.

Intelligent design holds that nature is so complex it must have been the work of an God-like creator rather than the result of natural selection, as argued by Charles Darwin in his 1859 Theory of Evolution.

The school board says there are "gaps" in evolution, which it emphasizes is a theory rather than established fact, and that students have a right to consider other views on the origins of life."

There are more than simply gaps. Evolution is clearly a false religion that is NOT based on true science. This is easily shown in the article Evolution: A Probability or an Impossibility?

09/23/05 a.m. Interestingly, Zenit (a Vatican supporting news service) is complaining that a "Catholic" senator is upset that relief money for Hurricane Katrina may also benefit Catholic schools:

"The U.S. bishops' secretary for education says that Senator Edward Kennedy's opposition to hurricane relief aid for private and religious schools "makes no sense."

"Denying educational aid to victims of Katrina because they attended Catholic schools is like denying home repair assistance to anyone who is not in public housing," said Dominican Sister Glenn Anne McPhee.

"Congress needs to reach out to help all afflicted by disaster, whatever their race, economic level, or school ties," she said.

In a statement dated Wednesday and posted today at the bishops' Web site, the woman religious said: "Senator Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA), ironically, stands as the premiere politician opposed to helping these young people. It is at best incredible that the senator who has built his government career on helping the disadvantaged can turn away from them in what may be their hour of greatest need.

"Who can be poorer than a young person who has lost his home, his school, his pet, his neighborhood and even, in some cases, members of his very family? Must such a young person be denied educational aid because the parents chose to enroll him or her in a Catholic or other nonpublic school?"

Disappointed

Sister McPhee continued: "Senator Kennedy said he is 'extremely disappointed' that in President Bush's plan for hurricane relief, aid would go to students no matter where they attend school.

"He's not half as disappointed as his fellow citizens who see his [Kennedy's] attitude as discriminating against what amounts to 45 percent of the students in New Orleans, many of them African-American and underprivileged by anyone's standards." "

I presume he will have the same attitude if Hurricane Rita causes major damage.

AOL News reported this about Rita this morning, "Hurricane Rita Roars Toward Texas and Louisiana Coasts Two Million Told to Flee The Category 4 storm results in a traffic-snarled exodus as residents seek higher ground. Rita's first rain bands are expected to start lashing the coast by tonight..."

LCG's home page states, "The most horrifying time of death and destruction is coming within the lifetimes of most of you. Yes, I said "the" most horrifying time. This soon-coming time of national disaster will make the Holocaust perpetrated by Adolf Hitler seem small by comparison. I know that sounds astounding, but this program will give you facts and specifics."

The video is titled How YOU Can Be Spared and is available at http://www.lcg.org/cgi-bin/tw/telecast/tw-telecast.cgi?action=view_telecast

09/22/05 a.m. UCG's Harold Rhodes, pastor of the Mobile and Geneva, Alabama, and Pensacola, Florida, congregations reported, "Beginning with Biloxi, Mississippi, we helped one family who lost their apartment to storm damage relocate to Augusta, Georgia, where her brother is in real estate and is helping them get settled in a house. Moving east to Ocean Springs, Mississippi, we have one family who received some damage to their home, but it is livable, and they have the situation under control. Many if not most homes in this area were destroyed, but God spared these brethren. The same is true a little further east in Gautier, Mississippi. We have one couple there who also escaped major damage for which they are very grateful. Mobile, Alabama, experienced its worst flooding in many years. As a result, we have two families who lost everything. We are in the process of relocating these brethren to the Cleveland, Tennessee, church area. One of our members there has a second home on Signal Mountain, Tennessee, and has offered this home to them until they can get reestablished. It is truly heartwarming to see how the brethren from everywhere have opened their arms and homes to our brethren in need. We also have a family in Gulf Shores, Alabama, whose home received further damage from Katrina. They had just barely completed repairs from Hurricane Ivan a year ago and now this. Most of the members had some damage to their homes and property in this part of the Gulf, and some had non-member relatives who lost everything."

WCG's Mike Horchak of New Orleans reported, "As of Thursday, Sept. 15, we have located 85 New Orleans members and family out of 125. Please pray that the others will make themselves known...Our Slidell church has 12 members, and we have heard from all but two. Our Hammond church has about 35 members, and all are accounted for..."

With Hurricane Rita coming on the heels of Katrina, it has already been a rough hurricane season in the Gulf region.

On other WCG issues, I noticed yesterday, in an article about faith, WCG quoted this verse, Hebrews 11:1, from the NIV, "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see."

This is interesting to me, because the word translated as being sure is the Greek word hypostasis. About 17 yeats ago, WCG started to teach that God was three hypostases. Yet, WCG and other trinitarians would like to believe that this word somehow conveys the idea of three sides of the same being. The truth, of course, is the Binitarian View. Speaking of faith, here is A Short Article on Faith.

09/21/05 a.m. The October 2005 edition of WCG Today reported:

"Many have voiced support for a name change, citing its benefits to our fellowship. In response to these requests, the church has entered into a process to consider a change in our corporate church name and to select one that would properly reflect who we have become.

Members and ministers have been suggesting for 10 years that we change the denomination’s name. In connection with this, Church Administration agreed several years ago that it would be helpful for local congregations to select local names that would better reflect their sense of purpose and mission, and 65 percent or more of U.S. congregations have already done do.

In the weeks following the Rancho Mirage conference, Joseph Tkach, Mike Feazell, WCG communications director, Dan Rogers, superintendent of U.S. ministers, and Randal Dick, superintendent of missions, discussed the background that led to the decision to seek a name change.

“Our current name tends to have the effect of hindering our ability to proclaim the gospel, because it creates another barrier for the unchurched to deal with,” Dr. Tkach said.

“Instead of readily discovering that we are a vibrant Christian renewal movement, they instead equate us with groups that have followed the tenets of Armstrongism.”

Third name for denomination

Dr. Tkach went on to say: “This would not be the first name change for our church: Herbert W. Armstrong changed it twice—once from Church of God, Seventh Day, to Radio Church of God and then to Worldwide Church of God.

“Our current name does not properly represent us for several reasons. Numerous older sources continue to address the former doctrinal errors of the WCG under that name, even though we have long since been delivered from such errors.

“In many ways, the name Worldwide Church of God is in effect ‘poisoned,’ similar to the way the German word fuehrer (leader), though innocuous in itself, is no longer usable in any normal sense because of its associations with a negative history. The negative associations with Armstrongism that are connected with the name Worldwide Church of God tend to hamper our effectiveness in proclaiming the gospel. A name change could give us a greater opportunity to tell the story of our transition...

“For many in the public arena, the name Worldwide Church of God is assumed to be the church affiliated with Garner Ted Armstrong or Herbert W. Armstrong. Also, most of the church groups who separated from the Worldwide Church of God and who still maintain the teachings and practices of Armstrongism, have adopted similar names, and this often causes confusion as to our identity in the mind of the public”...

Members in all nations are encouraged to give input on a name change to their pastors, who will forward their suggestions to district superintendents. According to an announcement sent to church pastors, suggested names “should be short (no more than four words), clear and descriptive of our church; they should be names not already being used by other churches.” Tkach added, “I believe that all the work [involved in a name change] will be well worth the fresh sense of purpose and identity that a new name will help bring us. "

I am glad that WCG plans to change its name. It is NOT part of the COG anymore and thus the name Worldwide Church of God is misleading. WCG finds it difficult to be part of the world's churches with that name, and since that has apparently been its goal for more than a decade, it should change its name.

The lead article at CEM's website is by Ron Dart and is entitled, So You Want to Start a Church?. It includes these statements:

"What can you do about a church? Well, you can start one. Starting a church is not really a very big problem (unless you want to start a very big church). The word "church" simply means "assembly" so we get some folks together. A church can meet nearly anywhere. People who call themselves Christians have met in caves, alongside rivers, in homes, in hired rooms, and even in church buildings. The one thing that is required to be a "church" is to meet together. The New Testament word for "church" means "assembly".

The three primary activities of a local church are worship, edification, and fellowship. Prayer and singing are the most common forms of worship. Bible study, Sabbath school and sermon are the usual forms of edification. Fellowship, in part, is the bonding that takes place through church activities and acts of service. If all you do is get together with family and friends, listen to a tape, and share coffee and sandwiches, you have two of the three-edification and fellowship. The third, worship, is not consciously done in many church services, but without it we cannot really say that it is "church" - an assembly of the children of God...

If you want to call it church, even a "house church" here are my recommendations:

1. Open with prayer.
2. Sing hymns of praise to God.
3. Have a moderately short reading of scripture.
4. Have some form of edification: Bible study, sermon, even if taped.
5. Sing another hymn and close in prayer...

Keep in mind that the local church service is an important tool for evangelism. If you plan to invite visitors, it is vital that you make a good impression on them."

While the general format he advises is pretty to close to what our video group does, he sort of misses the point of the Church of God. The Church consists of called out ones who are supposed to fulfill Matthew 28:19-20. And if Philadelphian, Matthew 24:14. Laodicea, however, essentially means 'people decide' and those who compose this church simply do not have the works that Christ commends in Revelation 3.

Since Ron Dart, and much of his target audience, first came to the COG based on HWA, he and they may wish to read some of Herbert Armstrong's Comments on Independents.

09/20/05 a.m. ABC News reports,

"Germany's benchmark stock index and the euro currency dropped Monday after an inconclusive election result dampened hopes of deeper reforms to Europe's biggest economy...

The euro also dropped amid the confusion over what government will inherit the task of trying to boost Germany's sluggish economy. The 12-nation currency bought $1.2128, down almost a full U.S. cent from $1.2225 in New York late Friday.

The election result left Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's coalition of Social Democrats and Greens without a majority in parliament, but conservative leader Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats and their preferred coalition partner, the pro-business Free Democrats, also failed to win a majority. Merkel was left with a thin three-seat advantage over Schroeder's party, which refused to concede defeat.

The outcome raised the prospect of a "grand coalition" between the two main parties which some economists and business leaders fear could lead to political and economic deadlock."

According to one analyst I read yesterday, this is the reason why the US dollar has not dropped because of Hurricane Katrina (and now Rita).

Speaking of hurricanes, IsraelNationalNews.com reports:

Israel's leading known Kabbalistic Elder, Rabbi Yitzchak Kaduri called upon worldwide Jewry Tuesday night to return to Israel due to natural disasters which threaten to strike the world.

In a class between the Mincha (afternoon) and Maariv (evening) prayers at his Jerusalem yeshiva seminary, Rabbi Kaduri issued the following call:

”This declaration I find fitting to issue for all of the Jews of the world to hear. It is incumbent upon them to return to the Land of Israel due to terrible natural disasters which threaten the world.

In the future, the Holy One, Blessed be He, will bring about great disasters in the countries of the world to sweeten the judgements of the Land of Israel.

I am ordering the publication of this declaration as a warning, so that Jews in the countries of the world will be aware of the impending danger and will come to the Land of Israel for the buliding of the Temple and revelation of our righteous Mashiach (Messiah).”

The entire article is available at http://www.israelnn.com/news.php3?id=89850#responses This is the first such call I am aware of from a Jewish religious leader--though a Kabbalist is not orthodox from a COG perspective.

Speaking of Israel, yesterday Zenit.org reported:

"Pope's Talk of Treaty With Israel Seen as Significant...

At last Thursday's meeting at the papal summer residence in Castel Gandolfo, the Pope said he was eager to see the fulfillment of the 1993 Fundamental Agreement between the Holy See and the state of Israel.

An AsiaNews source close to both sides said that the Holy Father's explicit reference to the agreement and the need to see it "fulfilled," as well as to the further talks now under way, is highly significant.

The papal reference conveyed the message that the agreement and its completion are essential to the relationship between the Church and the Jewish people, according to AsiaNews, an agency of the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions.

This means, among other things, that it is essential that Israel be faithful to its treaty obligations vis-à-vis the Holy See and the Catholic Church, including the obligation to negotiate in good faith in order to reach the much-delayed agreement on the fiscal status of the Church and Church property.

Benedict XVI's speech came just exactly one week before the delegations of the Holy See and Israel are due to meet again."

I would not be surprised if this pope actually visits Israel.

This morning I visited SCG's home page. And once again it still uses the Tkach list of truths restored by HWA. Tose interested in seeing both lists should read the article Did You Know What the First Changes the Tkach Administration Made? SCG is a small group that has changed the message, but claims that it is faithful.

Additional information can be found in the article Its Not Stedfast

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Volume 9, issue 14