Lost Books of the Bible? “But They - Servants' News · right next various Bible transla-tions,...

Vol. 5, No. 4 A newsletter for servants of the Almighty Eternal Creator, wherever they may be Jul/Aug 1999

Most “Church of God” brethrenhave long realized that there is often abig difference between the truth of Godand commonly taught Christian doc-trine. Indeed, many Bible truths are notcommonly taught, and many commonlytaught doctrines are not in the Bible.However, just because a doctrine is not

commonly taught, does not mean it istrue. As brethren begin to accept theirresponsibility directly to Christ forwhat they believe and do, they maycome across books that may seem to beon a par with the Bible. Some haveinternal claims of divine inspiration andhave been copied by some of the same

scribes whocopied the Bible. Indeed, in the “Religion” sec-

tion of the local mall bookstore,right next various Bible transla-

tions, sits a book called ForbiddenMysteries of Enoch : Fallen Angels

and the Origins of Evil by ElizabethClaire Prophet. Another nearby bookon the shelf is titled The Lost Books ofthe Bible and the forgotten books of

Eden. These are two ofmany books on the mar-ket right now that promiseto reveal secrets to thereader that have been pur-portedly somehow lost oreven “suppressed” byreligious authorities downthrough the ages.

Is this true? Have

by John Eastman

When I was in the WorldwideChurch of God, I kept the Sabbathbecause it was commanded by God, andI felt like it was a family day that shouldbe spent with God the Father and JesusChrist the Son. I found myself wantingto say more positive things about theSabbath day, but I couldn’t seem toexplain it any further. When I left the

membership of the Worldwide Churchof God (although I kept the faith), I hadfriends try to convince me that youdon’t have to keep the Sabbath at all.They would tell me that the Sabbath isnot commanded because there is nospecific “holy” time. They would alsoargue that the Sabbath day did not “fit”with the other nine commandmentsbecause it was not a moral law.

Also In This Issue:2 Truckers’ Bible Study3 News of Local Congregations5 World News of Note8 Letters & Responses—lots of

interesting letters this time11 Short 1958 HWA Letter on

Faith in Christ30 Breakroom Bible Study32 Late Feast NewsAfter 32: Shelter in the Word

included!After Shelter in the Word,

Feast of TabernaclesSupplement included!

Continued onpage 24

Continued on page 31

“But... TheyHelped Me”One of the greatest difficulties that

a believer may face in their spirituallife is this:

I have discovered that the Bibleteacher or organization that greatlyhelped me is teaching a false doc-trine or is involved in a major sin.The problem has been brought totheir attention, but they are not real-ly changing. I can see from the Biblethat their actions are not right, but Iknow that they helped me.

This is indeed a difficult trial formany believers. Reactions vary con-siderably. We will discuss some ofthem in a few paragraphs. But first, letus realize that the Bible speaks ofthose who provide some help tobelievers, yet imperfectly.

1. The teachers of the law and thePharisees in the temple and syna-gogues were the main source ofknowledge of the Word of God, butJesus cautioned the hearers not to fol-

Continued on page 7

Lost Books of the Bible?

Our Weekly Sabbath Rest: AReminder of Our Rest from Sin

Trucker’sBible StudyOak Grove, Mo., #22-27

The Trucker’s Bible Study is conducted weekly at the Texaco truck stop onI-70, Oak Grove, Missouri by Arlo Gieselman, often assisted by LennyCacchio, the writer of this series.

June 6, 1999: One trucker came today. Although baptized as a child, heseems to have had only a passing interest in the Bible, but wanted to find achurch to attend.

He related an experience he had in his new hometown (Atlanta). He has aproblem finding a church where he is comfortable. At his previous home he wasaccustomed to attending a church in more casual clothing. When visitingchurches dressed in that way, he feels like people are staring at him and has beenapproached about dressing more formally, which he is not inclined to do.

We reviewed Romans 14, which is about not offending one’s brother (inchapter 14 the issue at hand in vegetarianism), but the principle is to be tol-erant in minor areas that are not a matter of salvation. He has three choices tochoose from:

1. Attend nowhere.2. Wear a coat and tie.3. Find a church where he doesn’t have to wear a coat and tie.In other words, respect the culture of the church you are attending.Because he did not own a Bible, I gave him two different translations and

suggested he read the Bible through. I also gave him several pieces of litera-ture including the first lesson of a correspondence course. Finally, we dis-cussed that the Bible is how God talks to us, and prayer is how we talk toGod. The Bible explains God’s purpose for creating mankind, and paints apicture of a glorious future.

July 11, 1999: We had three truckers today, two men and a woman. Allof them are interested in things of the Bible, but none were well-grounded inthe Word. One tip-off is their inability to find scriptures. I always bring astack of Bibles with me that are published by the same company, so that inthe event that people can’t find the scriptural reference, I can tell them whatpage it is on.

Since they didn’t have much in the way of questions or experiences thatthey wanted to share, I launched into essentially a sermon on Psalm 8,Hebrews 2, and God’s purpose for creating mankind. I shared with them themeaning of the gospel, which contains the essential understanding of Jesus’sacrifice for our sins, but also that he will return and set up the Kingdom ofGod on this earth. We reviewed Luke 4, Isaiah 61, and Isaiah 2.

Finally, we went through Revelation 20, which speaks of the millenniumand the first and second resurrections. Each of them took with them a copy ofCEM’s “Second Chance” study, which I had placed on a table along withother literature and tapes. They seemed to want more information on this, asit is something none of them had ever heard before.

Afterwards one of the gentleman stayed and talked about an hour with meabout studying the Bible (KJV vs NIV and Bible study tools), and also wantedadvice about personal issues related to employment. It is certainly rewarding tobe able to help people, especially those who are new to Biblical understanding.

July 25, 1999:Thankfully we have an air conditioned facility with today’stemperature hitting 100 degrees.

We had two truckers today. One was a repeat who came looking for Arlo.He related that the last time he was through, the Bible study was the best that

Jul/Aug 1999

Vol. 5, No. 4 Jul/Aug 1999

Servants’ News is one of many ministries of the spiritualChurch of God. We believe that the Bible contains the founda-tion of knowledge about our Creator and that He is activelyworking through people today. Our focus is to help and teachSabbath-keeping brethren who believe Yeshua (Jesus) is theMessiah, but we realize that the Eternal works with manygroups and individuals.

We believe the gospel should be given freely—you maycopy this newsletter and give it to others. Servants’ News hasnothing to sell and has no financial ties with other groups, but issupported by those who personally decide to help this ministry.We do not have IRS tax exempt status, but church groups areexempt without this status (see IRS Publ. 557, p. 16, col. 1).

Editor & Publisher: Norman S. EdwardsAssociate Editors: Tim & Jeanice Davis, Marleen

Edwards, Missi Lara, Lee Lisman, Jon D. PikeTechnical Services: George DeweyOffice Administrator: Pam DeweyContributors: Many! Thanks to everyone!

Notice: The people listed above do not necessarilyendorse every article in this newsletter.

Servants’ News accepts articles for publication. Include aself-addressed stamped envelope for items that you wantreturned. We are happy to print corrections for any significanterrors. Address articles, letters and subscription, literature orchange of address requests to:

Servants’ NewsP O Box 107

Perry, Michigan 48872-0107Phone: 517-625-7480 Fax: 517-625-7481E-Mail: [email protected]: http://www.best.com/~oasis7/sn/

Subscription and literature requests may be sent tothe following addresses. Contributions received at theselocations will be used for duplicating and mailing. Pleasemake checks out to the name shown with the address:Australia: Dale Heslin, 9 Alice Jackson

Crescent, Gilmore, ACT 2905e-mail: [email protected]

Canada: Cherie Zimmerman, 268 PennswoodWay SE, Calgary, AB T2A 4T3

Europe: Servants’ News, Gulpen 122,4852 Hombourg, Belgiume-mail: [email protected]

Philippines: Cesar Lumbuan; 2298 Flerida St.Balagtas, Pandacan; Manilae-mail: [email protected]

U.K.: Jenny Whiteman, 2 Warren Rd,Narborough, Leicester, LE9 5DRe-mail: [email protected]

Most scripture quotations are from the NewKing James Version unless otherwise noted.

Circulation: 2400Servants’ News is published bimonthly (six times per

year). Subscriptions are free to people who request the publi-cation and are genuinely interested in it. Servants’ News ispublished by Norman S. Edwards; 3690 Bath Rd; Perry,Michigan (do not mail to this address). He reserves the rightto refuse subscriptions for any reason. Periodical postagepaid at Charlotte, Michigan, USPS 016-995. Postmaster:send address changes to Servants’ News, PO Box 107, Perry,Michigan 48872-0107.Continued on page 29

Need a Few More HymnalsWe still have a few outstanding

requests for the old purple WCG hymnal(Dwight Armstrong songs). If you knowof extra hymnals not being used, pleasesend them to us and we will send themon to those who have requested them.Let us help our brethren praise the Eternalin the way they best understand. —NSE

Church Assorted Flavors WebsiteThe Assorted Flavors 7th Day

Sabbatarians Directory has moved dueto ISP change. If you have book markedit please take note of the new URL:

http://travel.to/Assorted-FlavorsIf you link this address it will

always take you to the current location.—Mary Lois Bierman

CGI Hymnal Music on the NetThe new Church of God,

International hymnal music is on theinternet. The web address is

http://home.fuse.net/rust/hymnal.htmlMost internet browsers are

equipped to handle the MIDI file for-mat for the music, but if you have anyproblems, please let me know. If youhave already ordered a set of BurgundyHymnal Tapes, they will be arrivingsoon. Hope you enjoy the music.

—Vivian E. [email protected]

Arkansas Non-Aligned GroupYou are welcome to come worship

with a non-aligned Church of Godgroup in Russellville, Arkansas at 10a.m. each Sabbath at the UnitedRubberworkers’ Union Hall on WeirRoad. For more information contactGary Petit at 501-669-2659 or RickMars at 501-967-6680.

—Charles Green

Large Format Hymnal AvailableI hope you enjoy my hymnal,

“Songs for the Family of God”. I amhaving large (8.5”x11”) spiral-boundcopies made; they won’t be as beauti-fully printed as the small ones, but theywill be good for those who want a bookto open flat, or for those who need largeprint. They are $12 each (plus 7% taxfor Ohio residents), including shipping,and should be ready July 1, 1999.

I will try to make a CD. It will takesome time, both to record and tofinance—it costs several thousands ofdollars to produce. When it is ready, Iwill publicize it.

Because of the wording in one articleabout the hymnal, some of you sent for a“sample copy”. I am now sending outthe real thing! One hymnal, post-paid is$6.00. Two to 20 hymnals are $5.00 each.(Ohio residents add 7% sales tax).

—Mark Graham; PO Box 770261Lakewood, Oh 44107-0019

216-529-1380; [email protected]

New Sabbatarian Singles AddressThe Sabbatarian Singles List has a

new address: 37 East 30th St.;Bayonne, NJ 07002. Write to get theJuly update if you are interested.

—Michelle [email protected]

Long-Time Elder Stan Bass DiesStanley Bass, former Regional Pastor

of the Caribbean, died on August 2, 1999after a long struggle with cancer. Duringhis later years, Mr. Bass taught atAmbassador University in Big Sandyuntil his retirement when the Universityclosed. Mr. Bass was buried on August 6.Dave Orban, Pastor in Big Sandy request-ed prayers for his widow, Millie Bass.

Cards may be sent to MillicentBass, 300 N. Lexington Dr., Big Sandy,

TX 75755. PH# 903-636-4286.—Mike Harkins

Big Sandy Campus Sale Is OffWorldwide Church of God Pastor

General, Joseph Tkach, Jr., announcedAugust 21 that the planned sale of theformer Ambassador College, Big Sandy,Texas campus will not take place. Thegroup attempting to purchase the schoolwas not able to arrange the anticipatedfinancing. Mr. Tkach said that his organi-zation had made secondary plans for thisevent, but did not say what those planswere. He also announced that his 1999budget had counted on the sale of thecampus, and that there would probablybe a major shortfall at the end of the year.

As a philosophical editor’s note:Growing entities seek to save money sothey can buy assets to increase thescope of their work. Dying entities sellor use up existing assets to pay currentexpenses. Let all of us pray that we maysee the Eternal’s purpose, and to yield a30, 60 or 100 fold harvest for Him(Matt 13:23).

—Norman Edwards

An Open Letter from WCGR #5Greetings and great hope from the

Worldwide Church of God, Restored!We send greetings to all the faithful

around the world. God bless all of youfor your courage in standing for thefaith once delivered. We continue tohear from our friends and brethren. Weappreciate your prayers, your encour-agement, and your financial offerings.Thank you so very much.

Based on recent events, theWorldwide Church of God, Restoredhas come to an important decision. Thedecision is based on the words ofMr.Tkach that were written in responseto our community. Two particular state-ments are relevant:

Jul/Aug 1999

News from

LocalCongregations

This column includes information sent to us from a variety of groups. Servants’ News does not necessarilyagree with the teachings or practices of these groups. Please ask about them before attending their functions.

1) Mr. Tkach stated that if “mem-bers create division in the church bypersisting in teaching or promotingthings that are contrary to church doc-trine...then the church has the duty torescind their membership.”

2) Mr. Tkach also states, “TheWorldwide Church of God welcomesSabbath-keepers to be full members ofthe church. We only expect them not toteach that Sabbath-keeping is com-manded for Christians, because theBible teaches that it isn’t.”

Mr. Tkach’s words are an indictmentagainst himself. He has effectivelydemanded his own resignation. By hisown criteria he has disqualified himselfas the Pastor General. Mr. Tkach haspresided over a truly historic division.Certainly the largest division of anyreligious organization in decades. Mr.Tkach has demanded that any faithwhich embraces the Sabbath be hidden.There is no such thing as a hidden faith.

Therefore:We no longer recognize Mr. Tkach

as our Pastor General. He has betrayedthe faith that was once delivered to him.He has betrayed those he has led. He hasopenly and officially declared that wecannot keep our faith unless we hide it.

Further, we will no longer offer anyportion of our tithes and offerings to Mr.Tkach. Our community will not offer anysupport to those who have openly andofficially attacked the faith and practiceof the original church and the Apostles.

Sincerely,—A Community of Believers in the

Worldwide Church of God, Restored805-527-2810; [email protected]

[What started on Pentecost this yearas the WCGR “third alternative”—stay-ing in the WCG, but meeting separatelyand keeping old WCG doctrines—hasnow become a church group. Our previ-ous commentary on this group indicatedthat it was not likely to last long. “Cantwo walk together, unless they areagreed?” (Amos 3:3.) Nevertheless, it isgood that people are making a con-scious decision to attend the group thatthey firmly understand to be teachingthe truth of the Bible. This is so muchbetter than studying a group’s doctrinesat the beginning, joining it, and thengoing along with whatever they teach.Servants’ News readers might want toencourage friends who have been in the

WCG all these years but skeptical of the“new doctrines” to contact this group.It would be a good “first step”. —NSE]

Origin of Nations ForumHistory Research Projects, publisher

of “Origins of Nations” magazine, dis-tributor of many fine books and whichalso runs seminars on historical/prophet-ic subjects, invites you to subscribe to afree e-mail discussion forum. Just clickon: http://www.onelist.com/communi-ty/origin, answer a few questions, andaway you go!

The forum values any positive anduplifting discussion or news on: identityof the world’s nations and peoples, losttribes of Israel, prophecy, world news,anthropology, human cultures, genetics,Genesis 10 research and such like.

Positive, well-thought out and qual-ity discussions are sought after.

Extreme, radical, silly or attackinge-mails are not permitted.

So please go right ahead and sub-scribe and don’t forget to tell yourfriends about it. It should be fun.

—Craig White

Australian Lectures SuccessfulThe Australian lecture tour on The

Lost Tribes of Israel—Found was aresounding success.

The author is a founder member ofthe Sydney UCG, member of theHistory Research Projects organizingcommittee and is a solicitor with theCommonwealth Government.

For the second year running HistoryResearch Projects (Publisher of theOrigins of Nations magazine, GPO Box864, Sydney, Australia 2001) with thecooperation of the UCG in Australia haspresented a highly successful lectureseries dealing with the identity of Israel inthe modern world and related topics. Lastyear Dr. Rick Sherrod toured Australiaand New Zealand under the sponsorshipof HRP presenting lectures in Brisbane,Sydney, Melbourne and Auckland on theidentity of modern Israel.

This year the series was continuedwith UCG Pastor Melvin Rhodes andanother UCG member who prefers notto be named in print, giving presenta-tions.The lectures were again devisedto build bridges between the many CoGgroups and advertised to the general

public as an evangelizing opportunity.The topics presented by Melvin Rhodesincluded talks on “Daniel 7—anoverview of world history”, “TheMultitude of Nations—the free world’sfirst line of defense”, “Decolonizationand its consequences” and “EuropeanUnity—past and present”.

The other lecturer spoke on “TheCall, Purpose and History of Israel upto the captivity”, “The migrations ofIsrael from the captivity to North WestEurope”, “The promises to thePatriarchs” and “Jacob’s Trouble”.

The attendances at the variousvenues compared favorably with thoseachieved last year though in Sydney theattendance was down a little.The atten-dances at the most popular sessionswere Brisbane: 145, Sydney: 125 ,Melbourne: 120 and Auckland, NewZealand: 53. In Sydney the lower num-bers from last year were mainly due toa UCG service being conducted in anearby city. However, at the Sydneylectures there were in attendance mem-bers of no fewer than 8 CoG groups andthe other sites reported similar atten-dance patterns with CoG members veryhappy with the opportunity to meet upwith old friends from other groups orindependent members they had notseen for quite a while and who wouldonly meet under a neutral umbrella.

As further evidence of bridge-build-ing with other like-minded CoGs, anelder with the Global Church of God,Rob Barnett, acted as an MC for one ofthe four sessions in the Sydney confer-ence. Those attending included mem-bers of WCG still pursuing the faith aswell as members of the public com-pletely new to this essential informa-tion. During the course of the lectures agreat deal of free literature from UCGwas taken up by non UCG attendees andfree literature from other CoG groupswas also available and much taken.

Sample copies of various well-researched books on the subject(including Steven Collins’ book) andvarious maps and other objects of inter-est were displayed.

While History Research Projectsand the independent organizing com-mittee raised the lion’s share of thefunds to cover expenses , a great deal ofthanks goes to the congregations pas-tored by Melvin Rhodes, Ann Arborand Lansing, Michigan, for meeting the

SERVANTS’ NEWS

Jul/Aug 1999

SERVANTS’ NEWS

New JPS Bible with HebrewThe Jewish Publication Society has

at last published their Tanakh/HebrewScriptures with the English and theHebrew text! This has been so longoverdue. The English has been out foryears and it is an excellent "modern"translation, and this edition has manyimprovements and corrections even ofthis fine English translation.

Even for those who are not fluent inHebrew, it is easy to learn the alphabetand begin picking out words. So niceto have both Hebrew and English in anelegant page design. Amazon.combook store lists it for $69.95, it shouldbe available from most other religiousbookstores. The price looks high, butnot considering what you are getting.

—James Tabor

Ron Wyatt DiesRon Wyatt was known as a Bible

explorer and adventurer. He claimed tohave found the Ark of the covenant,Noah’s Ark, the original site of Sodomand Gomorrah, and many otherBiblically-related sites. He had a muse-am in Tennessee and sold books andvideos about his finds.

In 1994, I was beginning to look fortruth at sources other than the WCG andsaw a message recommending Wyatt’svideos on a computer forum. I read theiradvertising literature which seemedquite convincing. His description ofNoah’s Ark matched those of otherexplorers who have claimed to visit it.

One claim I had trouble with. Wyattclaimed that he was walking inJerusalem with a member of the IsraelAntiquities Authority and a voice toldthem where the Ark of the Covenant waslocated. The Antiquities authority personsupposedly told Wyatt that he would getapproval for him to dig immediately.Wyatt supposedly found the ark and gave

many proofs, but kept it hidden until “theLord told him to reveal it to the world.”

Does God tell people things likethis? Maybe. But the first step of prov-ing a questionable story is to look forsomething that can be independentlyverified—something that is indepen-dent of the storyteller. I contacted RonWyatt’s organization and asked thename of the man from the IsraeliAntiquities Authority.

Nobody could remember his name.They asked Wyatt for me and he couldnot remember, but said that nearly thewhole Antiquities department changedpersonnel shortly after that, so he prob-ably did not work there any more any-way. They encouraged me to order thevideo and I would be convinced, aswell as able to “participate in the bless-ing”. Wow! Two people on earth whoknow the location of the Ark and oneforgets who the other one is. And nowthat one is dead.

This becomes more and more like acheap TV suspense show! Is all hopelost? Or will some new person arisewhom Wyatt told the secret location onhis deathbed? How much will his videocost? It is sad that some people throwtruth to the wind and use people’s sin-cere interest in the Eternal and historyjust to make a few dollars. They mayjustify it be saying “many people turnedto God because of our stories”, but Goddoes not need lies to support His way.

—Norman Edwards

Malachi Martin Dies at 78The Famous Roman Catholic

Author, Malachi Martin died in NewYork City on July 27, 1999 following astroke. Martin became a Jesuit (an eliteorder of the Catholic church) in 1939and was ordained a priest in 1954. Heserved in Rome from 1958 to 1964, car-rying out many high-level missions. Hewas released from his Jesuit vows by

pope Paul VI in 1964.Martin was the author of 16 books,

the earlier ones being scholarly, and thelater ones exposing misconduct andplots within the Catholic Church. Hismost famous books include Hostage tothe Devil, The Final Conclave, Vatican,The Jesuits and The Keys of This Blood.His last published book is WindsweptHouse: A Vatican Novel. It is officiallyfiction, but other Catholic insiders con-firmed it to be largely reality.

Martin was still at work on anotherbook which promised to be even morecontroversial: Primacy: How theInstitutional Roman Catholic Churchbecame a Creature of the New WorldOrder. It was to cover a breakdown inthe power shifts in the Vatican—loss ofpower in the papacy, the rise of politicalpower in new places.

Some of what Martin revealed aboutthe Catholic Church can be proven to betrue. But when he revealed future plansof the Vatican, some have speculatedthat they are also true and have won-dered why Martin has not been silenced.Others believe that Martin is revealingonly plans that the Catholic Churchwants outsiders to know.

Servants’ News does not have ananswer to that puzzle. Many conspiracytheory sources insist that the CatholicChurch is controlling “the New WorldOrder”. On the other hand, MichaelTurner’s research (available [email protected]) indicates thatthe Catholic Church has their own agen-da apart from the New World Order:

I don't dwell on the supposedNew World Order (black helicopters,gun control, etc.), but do commenton it and point out how it won't comeinto being as planned—and is in factjust about to collapse. I've studiedthe NWO for years (even before Icame in the church) and know allabout it and its history and finallycame to the conclusion a few yearsback that the NWO is nothing butthe UK/US's ("Israel’s") attempt torun the world according to their

Jul/Aug 1999

cost of Mr. Rhode’s return airfares toAustralia.Thanks also go to the UCGCouncil of Elders for allowing Mr.Rhodes the opportunity to speak atthese lectures and both the AustralianNational Council and New Zealand

Board for their overwhelming support.Both Melvin Rhodes and Dr. Lewiswere enthusiastically received at allvenues with very positive feedback onthe content of the talks and the rivettingspeaking of both.

So successful has this lecture for-

mat been over the past two years thatHRP and the organizing committee arealready up and running on the year2000 lecture series and are thinking ofmaking it a pre-Olympic event andhave several speakers in mind.

—Murray Allatt

“” from page 4

World News of Note

SERVANTS’ NEWS

desires. (This is why it's so impor-tant to know who Israel is.) So whatI focus on is what has been herebefore and is supposed to comeback one more time: the OLD WorldOrder—the one that carried crosseswhile killing our former brethren inthe name of God—not in the nameof some Teutonic god while carryinga swastika or a New Age god carry-ing crystals.

There is no doubt that Satan as wellas men conspire to gain power andwealth for themselves. But these plansare rarely written down and never “offi-cially confirmed” by conspirators. Evenif someone defects from a conspiracygroup with tapes or writings of theirplans, it is still usually not possible toprove that the records of these plans aretrue until the deeds are actually done. Ofcourse, conspirators are free to changetheir plans at any time without tellinganybody. They often “leak” false plansto the press to confuse the whole issue. Itis better to pay more attention to realevents—who is actually doing what—than it is to listen to someone tell youwhat they “know” someone is going todo. It is better to live a righteous life, andtrust the Eternal for deliverance, than itis to panic about a conspiracy. Takeaction only when there is something thatyou really know and something that youcan really do something about.

—Norman Edwards

Need for God Preached to CongressDarrell Scott is the father of Rachel

Joy Scott, one of the students murderedat Littleton, Colorado's Columbine HighSchool on April 20, 1999. Mr. Scott'sson, Craig, miraculously survived themassacre, but witnessed as two of hisfriends were shot to death in the schoollibrary. On May 27th, Mr. Scott testifiedin Washington, DC before the Subcom-mittee on Crime of the House JudiciaryCommittee. Following is his statement:

Since the dawn of creation therehave been both good and evil in thehearts of men and of women. We allcontain the seeds of kindness or theseeds of violence.

The death of my wonderful daugh-ter Rachel Joy Scott, and the deaths ofthat heroic teacher and the other chil-dren who died, must not be in vain.Their blood cries out for answers.

The first recorded act of violencewas when Cain slew his brother Abelout in the field. The villain was not theclub he used. Neither was it the NCA, theNational Club Association. The true killerwas Cain and the reason for the murdercould only be found in Cain's heart.

In the days that followed theColumbine tragedy, I was amazed athow quickly fingers began to be pointedat groups such as the NRA. I am not amember of the NRA. I am not ahunter. I do not even own a gun. I amnot here to represent or defend theNRA, because I don't believe that theyare responsible for my daughter’s death.Therefore, I do not believe that theyneed to be defended. If I believed theyhad anything to do with Rachel's mur-der, I would be their strongest opponent.

I am here today to declare thatColumbine was not just a tragedy, itwas a spiritual event that should beforcing us to look at where the realblame lies. Much of that blame lies herein this room [the congress building].Much of that blame lies behind the point-ing fingers of the accusers themselves.

I wrote a poem just four nights agothat expresses my feelings best. Thiswas written way before I knew l wouldbe speaking here today:

Your laws ignore our deepest needs,Your words are empty air,You've stripped away our heritage,You've outlawed simple prayer,Now gunshots fill our classrooms,And precious children die,You seek for answers everywhere,And ask the question, "Why?"You regulate restrictive laws,Through legislative creed,And yet you fail to understand,That God is what we need!

Men and women are three-partbeings. We all consist of body, soul,and spirit. When we refuse to acknowl-edge a third part of our makeup, we cre-ate a void that allows evil, prejudice,and hatred to rush in and wreak havoc.Spiritual influences were present with-in our educational systems for most ofour nation’s history. Many of our majorcolleges began as theological seminar-ies. This is a historic fact.

What has happened to us as anation? We have refused to honor Godand in doing so, we open the doors to

hatred and violence.And when something as terrible as

Columbine’s tragedy occurs, politiciansimmediately look for a scapegoat suchas the NRA. They immediately seek topass more restrictive laws that continueto erode away our personal and privateliberties.

We do not need more restrictive laws.Eric and Dylan would not have beenstopped by metal detectors. No amount ofgun laws can stop someone who spendsmonths planning this type of massacre.

The real villain lies within our ownhearts. Political posturing and restric-tive legislation are not the answers.

The young people of our nationhold the key. There is a spiritualawakening taking place that will notbe squelched!

We do not need more religion. Wedo not need more gaudy televisionevangelists spewing out verbal religiousgarbage. We do not need more million-dollar church buildings built while peo-ple with basic needs are being ignored.

We do need a change of heart and ahumble acknowledgment that thisnation was founded on the principle ofsimple trust in God.

As my son Craig lay under thattable in the school library and saw histwo friends murdered before his veryeyes, he did not hesitate to pray inschool. I defy any law or politician todeny him that right!

I challenge every young person inAmerica and around the world to real-ize that on April 20, 1999, atColumbine High School, prayer wasbrought back to our schools. Do not letthe many prayers offered by those stu-dents be in vain.

Dare to move into the new millenni-um with a sacred disregard for legisla-tion that violates your conscience anddenies your God-given right to commu-nicate with Him.

To those of you who would pointyour finger at the NRA, I give to you asincere challenge: Dare to examine yourown heart before you cast the first stone!

My daughter’s death will not be invain. The young people of this countrywill not allow that to happen.

—Darrell Scott[Big changes in society are often

achieved by convicted young people,not old people who have studied it alland “know what is best”. —NSE]

Jul/Aug 1999

SERVANTS’ NEWS

low the corrupt practices of some of theleaders (Acts 15:21 Matt 23:2-7)

2. Paul explained that some preachChrist out of envy, rivalry and selfishambition, but he rejoiced in all of that(Phil 1:14-18). Obviously, it will behard for the believers who learn aboutChrist through those preaching for self-ish motives. When those believerseventually discover the true motives,they will be facing the very problemthat this article is about.

3. Apollos traveled around teach-ing that Jesus was the Christ, but didnot understand that people should bebaptized in His name and receive theHoly Spirit. This story has a happy end-ing in that Priscilla and Aquilla latertaught Apollos the rest of the Gospel,and Paul had them baptized and laidhands on them that they might receivethe spirit (Acts 18:24-19:6).

4. Many people, including thiswriter, have been greatly helped by thebook of Proverbs. Yet what happenedto Solomon, the writer of this book ofgreat wisdom? “So the LORD becameangry with Solomon, because his hearthad turned from the LORD God ofIsrael, who had appeared to him twice,and had commanded him concerningthis thing, that he should not go afterother gods; but he did not keep what theLORD had commanded. Therefore theLORD said to Solomon, ‘Because youhave done this, and have not kept Mycovenant and My statutes, which I havecommanded you, I will surely tear thekingdom away from you and give it toyour servant’” (1Kngs 11:9-11)

5. Even the Apostles were not per-fect teachers. On the night before Christdied, His Apostles were still discussingwho among them was the greatest(Luke 22:24). Even after they hadreceived the Holy Spirit, Barnabas hada dispute with Paul (Acts 15:39) andPaul had to correct Peter (Gal 2:11).

Reactions to the ProblemSo what do people do when they

realize that the teacher or group thatgreatly helped them is also involved insin or doctrinal error?

1. Some simply begin to deny thatthe problems exist—refuse to learn anymore about them or talk about them.

2. Others completely excuse theproblems, saying that people have no

right to question the personal sins ordoctrinal teachings of “the ones Godhas called to do such a great Work”.

3. Another common approach isfor an individual to reject the teacher ororganization with the known sin or doc-trinal error, and immediately look for anew organization or teacher and thenput complete confidence in them.

4. Even more extreme, but notuncommon, is the rejection of some orall of the Bible.

5. Lastly, we would not be com-plete if we did not mention the“depressed muddle”: many peoplecontinue on listening to the sameteacher, fellowshipping with the samegroup—occasionally visiting othergroups or hearing other teachers, butwith much less enthusiasm than before.Their thinking may be something likethis: “If our leaders have this muchtrouble, what chance is there of mestraightening out my life? But I can’tabandon the people who helped me.”

“Count It All Joy” in this Trial!My brethren, count it all joy when

you fall into various trials, knowingthat the testing of your faith pro-duces patience. But let patiencehave its perfect work, that you maybe perfect and complete, lackingnothing (Jms 1:2-4).

But how can one be joyful when amajor source of one’s religious teach-ing is now in doubt? How can we bejoyful when a person or group whomwe esteemed to be of God now hasknown sins or doctrinal error? Becausethere are four major lessons that we canlearn from this trial that we might notlearn any other way!

1. Trust the Eternal, not men ortheir organizations. While nearly everybeliever thinks their faith is not in men, itis amazing to see what some do whentheir leader or church group comes upondifficult times. Paul had to teach theCorinthians not to align themselves witha particular teacher: “Now I say this, thateach of you says, ‘I am of Paul,’ or ‘I amof Apollos,’ or ‘I am of Cephas,’ or ‘I amof Christ.’ Is Christ divided? Was Paulcrucified for you? Or were you baptizedin the name of Paul?” (1Cor 1:12-13).

2. Remain forever humble aboutthe Bible truth that we do have. It isso easy to begin believing that we listento the teachers with the most truth, or

attend the group that is “doing thework”. Problems with teachers andgroups teach us that it is Christ whodoes the work through men, not menwho do the work of Christ. “Thereforelet him who thinks he stands take heedlest he fall (1Cor 10:12).

3. Appreciate good however itcomes to us. We can be thankful for alittle or a lot of helpful teaching that wereceived. Even though it is upsettingwhen we realize we were taught errorfor many years, there is little value inholding anger. Be thankful and neverforget the positive effect of the goodthings that you were able to learn.

4. Have empathy for others whoremain in other groups with errorsand sins that are obvious to you—these groups helped them. It is so easyto have patience and forgiveness for theproblems with our own teachers andorganizations, but quickly condemnthem in others. There are probably mil-lions of people who attend groups witherroneous doctrines and/or sinful lead-ers, but know that they were helped inone or more of life’s crises and broughtto God by that group. Can you expect aperson who was redeemed from drugaddiction by a Sunday-keeping groupto completely reject that group as“unGodly” when he or she begins tolearn about the Sabbath? Or will theysay: “but... they helped me”?

We must judge other groups andteachers with the same judgment wewould want ours to be judged (Matt7:2). Christ said that His discipleswould be known by their love for eachother (John 13:35). If a person believesthey have experienced Godly love in acertain group, it is hard for them (andus) to accept that there might also be sinor error present.

So What Do I Do Now?Look to Christ as your spiritual

guide, not any man. He will take care ofyou no matter how many differentteachers you learn from or how manydifferent groups you fellowship with.Rejoice as you learn the four lessons,above. You can reject wrong leader-ship, while remaining friends with thebrethren. This article cannot begin totell you what to do in your specific sit-uation. Christ knows what you shoulddo. Ask Him.

—Norman Edwards

“But They Helped Me” from page 1

Jul/Aug 1999

SERVANTS’ NEWS

We print a representative sampling ofour mail—both positive and negative. Wedo not include names unless we are fairlysure that the writer would not object. Toavoid any difficulty, writers should specifyhow much of their name and address theywould like us to print.

Appreciates SNLETTER: October 22, 1998Mr. Edwards,

I am enclosing a small donation inthanks for your sending us the Servants’News so faithfully. In these scattered times,it is most difficult to follow God’s flock.

Thanks once again for your wonderfulconcern for God’s people and your knowl-edge God has blessed you with.

—KD, TexasRESPONSE: Thank you for your kind

words. We receive quite a few letters similarto this that are very encouraging to us, butwe do not print most of them as the manysimilar letters would be of little value to ourreaders. Nevertheless, we are printing thisone so our readers realize that we receiveshort and complimentary letters as well aslong and sometimes critical ones.

—NSE

Amazed at So Many Truth TeachersLETTER: May 24, 1999Dear Mr. Edwards,

The reason I write this letter to you isthat we, my wife and I, were very much sur-prised by the article on the front page ofThe Journal of April 30, 1999.

We have a subscription on this maga-zine for more than three years. Most prob-ably they send it to us by boat mail, for wereceive it usually a month or so after it hasbeen published. This time, we received itrather early. It really is amazing to read thatso many organizations teach WCG-likedoctrines.

This year, we hope to celebrate our27th Feast of Tabernacles. But we do notknow yet where. Now since we have readthe above-mentioned articles, we think thatthere will be much more possibilities for usto go for the Feast than we knew up tillnow. So consequently we would be verypleased to receive from you the Servants’

News, with all the possible Feast sites.—F & A Steinfort, The Netherlands

RESPONSE: Many people, includingmyself, were amazed to find so many other

similar groups. Nearly allhistorians (includingSabbatarian historians)who try to trace the “true

church” through the ages agree that therewas not consistency of doctrine—doctrinevaried through the years. If the Eternalallowed doctrine to vary through the ages,what would stop Him from letting doctrinevary among different groups right now?This was obviously the case in the first cen-tury when Revelation 2 and 3 were written.

If there is any lesson that we can learnfrom this, it is that we ought to be doing theworks of Christ—serving others andpreaching the Gospel, rather than wastingtime declaring our own group to be the“one True Church”, “most true Church”,“Philadelphian Church”, etc.

—NSE

Working Together in the PhilippinesLETTER: August 1, 1999Mr Edwards:

Sorry for responding this very late.Actually I really want to give you somefeedback but encountered some technicalproblem with my computer. It took memonths before it was repaired and it’s onlynow that I am able to use it again (at last!).

Actually I was able to get the number ofMr Cesar Lumbuan thru a friend and wasable to talk to him and have it requested. Ihave known Cesar way back during the“Global” days (and actually had a chance ofworking with him during feast activities!). Iam quite surprised that he is also one of yoursubscribers and now your representative!

He informed me however that he is yetto received all his copies and I requestedinstead “Triumph and Trouble of theChurches of God” by Alan Ruth.

Luckily, I was able to get all the title thruMr Ike Gabuyo. He lent me his copies andI was able to have it photocopied.

My wife and I are now regularly attend-ing the fellowship in Shalom and theyseem doing very well especially with Y2Kinformation dissemination.

In the afternoon of Sabbath, we alsomet with the fellowship in Mandaluyongwith Mr Ike Gabuyo (Laguna) for Biblestudies and also conduct Bible seminarwith new brethren. We are also planningwith Ike to established a local church ofGod library and is now soliciting oldchurches of God publications. That’s why Iam also coordinating with Cesar if we can

borrow all sets of your publications andhave it duplicated for the library.

Regards,—Raul Hipe, Manila, Philippines

RESPONSE: I believe Cesar Lumbuannow has his complete set of literature. It isnice to see so many of you working togeth-er. It has been our experience that areasoutside the United States have been quick-er to see the problems with splitting up intoso many Sabbatarian groups. In areaswhere there are fewer Sabbatarians andwhere transportation is more difficult, peo-ple quickly realize that if each person joinsthe splinter group that they think is best,they may each end up in a different group!Fortunately, many have had the wisdom todo what you do and meet together using lit-erature from many groups.

Fortunately, church group “headquar-ters” in the United States are fairly tolerantof different groups meeting together interna-tionally—they will still send them literatureand not disfellowship them for attendingtogether. I think most groups understand theproblem. Also, the groups receive very littlemoney from most international areas, sothey will not feel an economic impact ifsome of their international subscribersswitch to another group. Furthermore, someorganizations count entire local internation-al congregations as their own, even thoughmany there consider themselves membersof other groups—this makes it look like theorganization has a “big international work”.I hope these statements are not offensive,but I have seen these things happen in myyears of working for corporate churches.For whatever the reason, we can rejoice inthe fact that most international brethren arefree to meet with and work together withbrethren not in their group.

—NSE

SN & SW in the PhilippinesLETTER: August 12, 1999Dear Norman,

We really appreciates your Servants’News and Shelter in the Word. Most of thearticles are very timely with our situationstoday. It’s good to know people like youare trying to bind churches of God all overthe world. I’m sure someday most if not allwill be awaken to what you are doing.Cesar Lumbuan is doing a very good job.And for that reason someone was attract-ed to our group (a longtime WCG mem-ber) and begin attending with us. He foundyour articles very fair and balanced.

Today we are preparing for the feast ofTabernacles. We do our practices atCardona’s family, providing us food to eat.

Jul/Aug 1999

Letters& Responses

SERVANTS’ NEWS

Thank you, —Maraming Salamat, Philippines

RESPONSE: Thank you for the encour-agement. I have no idea how long ourministry will continue or who will awak-en to it. Most of the history of the worldshows that God has not given all peoplethe same amount of understanding oftruth. The Eternal may make a way for usto share our understanding with a greatmany other people, or He may decide thatthe time is not now. He may decide to usesomeone else with more understanding tobe a great teacher.

We need to thank the Eternal for whatHe has given us, and walk throughwhichever doors He opens for us. I hopeyou have a wonderful Feast.

—NSE

Cancel Servants� NewsLETTER: June 30, 1999Dear Mr. Edwards,

It is with regret that I ask you to cancelmy subscription to the Servants’ News.Whereas, I formerly enjoyed the SN, latelyI have noticed that the content of it hasdeteriorated into that of a gossip paper.One or another of the churches of God isalways being trashed, or some personsuch as Mr. Herbert Armstrong, who isdead and has no recourse with which todefend himself. Global has not escapedcriticism, nor has UCGAIA, Mr. Meredith,COGAIC, Mr. Hulme, etc. I feel that trash-ing Churches or the ministry is of littlevalue. Gossip about the various Churchesof God isn’t witnessing to the world a warn-ing nor is it “feeding God’s sheep”. I feeldepressed after reading such negativethings. I feel that printing positive thingsabout the churches would be of more valueand much more encouraging and uplifting.

You did have a good thing going at onetime. I pray that Servants’ News willchange its script and be more positive anduplifting in the future. However, I do like“Shelter in the Word”. Please don’t let itbecome a gossip rag like Servants’ Newshas. I assume that since I am cancelingServants’ News, the “Shelter in the Word”will stop coming also.

—Deloris Hoffman, IowaRESPONSE: No! We will be glad to send

only Shelter in the Word. It does not containanything specifically about “Church of God”groups. We have received several phone calls,letters and e-mails that are similar to your let-ter. Some have requested to receive onlyShelter in the Word and we will gladly comply.

We realize that writing or reading aboutthe problems of teachers and groups is not

pleasant. It is depressing to us, as well as toyou. It would be easier if we wrote about onlypositive things. However, we do not believewe are a “gossip rag”—we believe every-thing we have printed to be true and clearlyestablished by documentation or at least twowitnesses. If there is a specific point that youdo not think we have sufficiently proven, letus know and we will better document it. (Ifwe tried to publish all relevant documenta-tion of every point, that would only makethese depressing articles many times longer.)

So why don’t we just ignore the problemsand only talk about positive things? Our read-ing of the Bible shows us that the Eternalspends a lot of time explaining the faults ofvarious individuals and groups of people—from the sin of Adam and Eve (Gen 3) to theproblems with the seven churches (Rev 2-3).The Bible gives an evaluation of every Kingof Israel. The gospels talk about the sins andmistakes of the apostles. Paul and John name

brethren who became false teachers andbrethren who left the faith.

We have written about the problems of“Church of God” groups and leaders notbecause we want to see them fail, butbecause we believe many are on a pathtoward failure and we want to see them suc-ceed. We realize that reading both good andbad news about God’s people is not some-thing we are used to. The WCG printedbasically only good news about themselvesin their own publications and members werehighly discouraged from reading other pub-lications. It was easy to believe that every-thing was going great. Now and then a per-son, minister or entire congregation wouldsimply “disappear without a trace”, butsince almost nobody talked about thesethings, they were easy to forget.

But ignoring problems rarely makesthem go away. Exposing them sometimesdoes help them go away. Several times,

Jul/Aug 1999

We received quite a few letters aboutplagiarism and Jim Rector. They fell intofour categories:

1. Thanks for exposing the sin ofstealing another’s work (plagiarism),whether it be among corporate or indepen-dent teachers.

2. The truth of God belongs to Godand the principle of plagiarism is man’slaw and is therefore irrelevant for Bibleteachers.

3. Plagiarism is wrong but JimRector said he has repented so we shoulddrop the subject.

4. We have already printed too muchon about Rector/plagiarism so quit it.

We realize that the last point has somewisdom. Rather than include severalpages of letters we will print only this box.According to Matthew 18, we originallytried to make this a private matter with JimRector. When he would not fully acknowl-edge the problem to those brethren affect-ed, we took other witnesses, then finallybrought it to the church. We respect indi-viduals’ rights to make their own deci-sions about this matter. We hoped Jimwould keep his promise to produce anaccurate list of which of his tapes are pla-giarized, but as far as we know, he has not.This makes it very difficult for those stilldesiring to study his material.

We think it is only fair to warn thosewho continue to duplicate Jim Rector’stapes (even if just giving them away) that thelegal articles we read on plagiarism indicatethat such duplication would constitute beingan “accessory to plagiarism”. It is unlikely

that any of the publishers of the works Jimcopied from would sue as the cost of such asuit would probably be greater than theamount of money they would recover.(However, if they did sue, they would prob-ably name every person they could find thatwas involved in the production of tapes—courts often allow plaintiffs to collect fromdefendants based on their ability to pay, noton their share of the plagiarism. Wealthypeople or those with their own businessesmight end up paying most of the damages.)

Some of our letters indicated thatbrethren believe they should “obey Godrather than men” (Acts 5:29) and disre-gard “man’s law” if Bible truth is beingtaught. We think there are ways to teachthe necessary truths without breakingman’s law, and that we should not causesuch offense unnecessarily.

For those trying to avoid the copying ofplagiarized tapes, please realize that ourlists in the last issue were incomplete. Thereare many more tapes which we believe areplagiarized, but we did not find the originalsources. We have not had anyone report anyadditional sources, nor has anyone claimedthat any of our sources were in error. Wewould like to point out an error that we didnot catch until after publication. We mistak-enly stated that the three tape set A Passionfor Fulness (July 1, 8, 15, 1995) was pla-giarized from a book by the same name byJack Hayford. Actually, only the title of thebook was used for this series. Some of thecontents of Hayford’s book were read ontoa previous Rector tape, A Passion for God(December 10, 1994). —NSE

Summary of Rector/plagiarism Letters

church groups have reversed an unfair poli-cy or decision when a story was writtenabout it in the Journal, Servants’ News, orsome other publication. In addition, churchgroups that used to largely ignore certaindoctrinal questions have addressed themwhen other publications wrote about them.

The history of mankind, either from theBible or secular sources, is not a long, pret-ty story. It is the story of many people tryingto get what they can for themselves, and afew trying to help others live together inpeace (Matt 5:9). The help of the latter is notalways appreciated.

Even though we believe it is necessaryto write about some “Church of God” prob-lems to help those involved in them, werealize that some are not involved in them,or if they are, can do very little about them.We encourage people in those situations toskip the articles that do not interest them.

Thank you for your letter.—NSE

Guts to Write About It AllLETTER: August 24, 1999Hi Norm:

I like men who have the guts to writeabout the good, the bad, and the ugly.Donation enclosed.

—Rich Trecek, CaliforniaRESPONSE: Learning to deal righteous-

ly when people disagree a very difficultthing. I have not mastered it, but I think Ihave learned. The easiest approaches are toavoid the conflict and say nothing to the per-son, or to go to the person in anger and hate.Paul’s advice was good: “Brethren, if a manis overtaken in any trespass, you who arespiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gen-tleness, considering yourself lest you also betempted” (Gal 6:1).

—NSE

In Different Levels of GrowthLETTER: August 5, 1999Dear Norm,

Thanks for your tireless efforts inresearch and writing to provide for thewake-up of ex-WCG people and others. Iwas in the Worldwide Church of God for 25years. Your writings in Servants’ Newshave helped me a great deal in under-standing how many of us made an idol ofMr. HWA. We were duped by the hierarchysystem; and fleeced by it as well.

As I was leaving in 1995, I would getmad if anyone said anything negativeabout Mr. HWA or his lieutenants. We arenot all at the same grade in growth andmany of us are still in kindergarten in

Christian growth…still wanting milk.Some of the write-ins (letters) still

reflect a deceived and immature attitude.People need to check into things and notbe naïve as I was. There are plenty ofmaterial sources to back up what you aresaying, Norm! HWA and WCG made lots ofmistakes. The Bible records mistakes ofothers who were kings and leaders in theOld Testament for our learning.

Please keep on keeping on what youare doing Norm. We all need truth, which Ibelieve you are publishing. This is showingthe love of God to our scattered brethren. Ifeel the same as you do about HWA andWCG and am thankful for the truth we didlearn. However, we were kept in kinder-garten (pay and pray) too long. ThankGod… He let it break up. Now we canmove into the first grade. God bless you all.

—CD, MississippiRESPONSE: Thank you for the encour-

agement. It took me years to slowly under-stand the major scriptural problems with theWCG and Herbert Armstrong. I have nowmet many other people who understood thesethings years or decades before I did, as wellas those who came to understand them after Idid. God is still working with most of us.

—NSE

Comments on Beyersdorfer LetterLETTER: August 15, 1999Dear Norm,

I really enjoyed your excellent respons-es to Karl Beyersdorfer in the latest SN.Not only was there a double-mindednessby HWA as you noted in the responses, butit is plain that such double-mindedness hasrubbed off on even apparently otherwisesincere people such as Karl.

Not too surprising since this has been adeep-rooted systemic problem of the HWAlegacy from at least the 1940s (an early edi-tion of the US & Britain in Prophecy book-let). There simply is no justifiable excuse forplagiarism in the United States of Americasince 1790. Before God there has neverbeen a good excuse to present another’smaterial as one’s own original material andinspiration. That is Plain Untruth.

The “early ministers” allowed this can-cer to take root within them. This happenedby their constant exposure to the increas-ingly domineering and overbearing “leader-ship” of a man who, especially after thedeath of his wife in 1967, just had to “beright” (we all have to fight this tendency;and we must overcome it!). Their spiritualimmune systems were weakened overtime by HWA’s constant pressure and theirwillingness to compromise with it.

Karl’s excuses for HWA, et al, in thisregard are just that: excuses, unjustifiableexcuses.

The “its ok if we do it” cancer can bevery contagious! We must strengthen ourspiritual immune systems by not compro-mising with sin or by allowing any unscrip-tural leadership to dominate us (see 2Cor11:19-20). (My reference to 1967, above,as at least one watershed year is per thetestimony of Ellis Stewart in his answer tomy article on The Incredible HumanPotential book by HWA in The Journal,September, 1997).

[Personal paragraphs deleted]Some further information on plagia-

rism: I just viewed a few nights ago part ofa PBS presentation on copyright law. Thelaw professor made some significant state-ments thereunto appertaining (I’ve obvi-ously heard/read a lot of “law-speak”!).

The professor gave the generalapproach of law to plagiarism: You cannotcopyright an idea; you can copyright theexpression of an idea.

Also, an example of a recent case ofplagiarism (noted either on this presenta-tion, or on another one recently): a well-known romance novelist was recently suc-cessfully sued (and she subsequentlyadmitted the fact) for copying about tenwords out of one paragraph from anothernovelist’s book and using those words inone of her paragraphs and utilizing a simi-lar structure and overall content for herown paragraph. (We’re talking aboutparts of just one paragraph here!)

Herbert Armstrong did more than justcopy the structure of JH Allen’s wholebook. He copied concepts and even exam-ples with the same words and sometimesvery little difference in content.

So, once again, HWA would have eas-ily been shown to be a plagiarist, a fraud,and a liar in any challenge to the copyrightfor his book, The US & Britain in Prophecy.

And, before God, he would be a thiefand a liar for taking and passing off anoth-er’s work as his own, since he did not justuse the same very general concept, butcopied structure, words, and content, anddid not give proper credit—and claimedinspiration from God and bragged often ofGod’s special election of him as an apostleand as the Elijah to come (Covetousnessprobably enters in all this as well). (Seepages 9,10, 24,157,251,289-291 of Mysteryof the Ages, PCG paperback edition).

Despite whatever good God accom-plished through HWA and faithfulbrethren; despite whatever talents andabilities HWA did indeed possess; he wasa false prophet, a fraud, and an exploiter of

SERVANTS’ NEWS

Jul/Aug 1999

SERVANTS’ NEWS

brethren and co-workers.Lastly, Karl: why did you not touch upon

the issue of HWA’s extravagant lifestyle ofthe last two to three decades of his life?Nor did you touch the subject of his extor-tionist co-worker letters with their ofteneternal life threatening messages. You didnot deal with the several plain examples ofhis date-settings for the end-time eventsthat clearly mark him biblically as a falseprophet (Deut 22:23) and hence as one notto take too seriously for that reason alone!

—Bruce Lyon, CaliforniaRESPONSE: Your points are well made.

I think Herbert Armstrong did most of thethings you accuse him of, though I am notsure how aware he was of what he was doingand therefore cannot judge his heart. He didmany good things along with the bad (seeletter in box). The best I can tell, he was sur-rounded by men who nearly always agreedwith him for the last 20 years of his life.Those who would challenge his actions fromthe scriptures rarely ever had a chance to doso. “Better a poor and wise youth than an oldand foolish king who will be admonished nomore” (Eccl 4:13). Mr. Armstrong did nothave the “iron sharpening iron” that so manyof us enjoy. Yet he continually claimed soleand complete responsibility for his organiza-tions—and the entire Work of God on Earthfor that matter. An all-wise God who canlook directly on the heart will be required tojudge him. Halleluia! We have one!

—NSE

Dealing with Depression, NegativismLETTER: August 12,1999Dear Mr. Edwards,

Hello. I decided to write you a letter.This time instead of calling…Also, con-sidering the effort of sending me someolder issues (which are great).

I’m the one who called and expressedmy feelings about the “negativity” sur-rounding Mr. Armstrong. I’d cancelled mysubscription, but would like to cancel my“cancel”. I just changed my mind. (And asthe saying goes, a woman has the right todo that!) I just decided that I’m in a verynegative state of mind, due to my “sepa-ration”, and a major depression I’ve bat-tled for years.

So reading about Mr. HWA fed into thedepression, and I noticed an angry spiritrise from me. I thought of all the yearsgrowing up in “the Church” (and due torebellion, out of “the Church”) and justcried—all in the name of deception. It justinstilled mistrust in all human beings. Italso makes me angry with someone Goddid use. I just feel we should “lay him down

to rest” (excuse pun).I would like very much to continue

receiving Servants’ News, but I may justby-pass any negativity concerning Mr.Armstrong—or any minister for that matter.I feel we need all the positive, uplifting, andhealing words to enable us to be shininglights in this dark world. It is my greatestdesire. For me, negativity equates depres-sion equates spiritual defeat..

I appreciate your note, and I just want-ed to say I acted hastily! The Servants’News outweighs the bad, because of thegood… So please continue to do fine work.God bless you and your family.

—PR, North CarolinaRESPONSE: I have also struggled with

depression in dealing with so many prob-lems in the church groups. But if I am goingto teach others about God, I realized that Icannot blindly give them old WCG teach-ings and proclaim them all “truth” because

Mr. Armstrong said they were. I can teachthe good things that he taught that I canprove from a Bible. I can add other thingsthat I have learned from the Bible. I may notknow as much as I used to think I knew, butwhat I do know I can discuss with anyonewho believes the Bible

—NSE

Let Christ JudgeLETTER: June 25, 1999Dear Norman,

I agree with Richard Nickels—I knowMr. Herbert Armstrong was not perfect, butI wish you would quit beating up on him.Mr. Armstrong is the one (by the broadcaston the radio or Plain Truth) where welearned about the true Sabbath and HolyDays and true doctrines. God uses imper-fect humans to call others.

True religion is between the individual

Jul/Aug 1999

Radio Church of GodBox 111

Pasadena, CaliforniaPalm Springs, 12/12/58

I have just noticed, in going over letters written in the Letter AnsweringDepartment, a tendency which—as this reminds me—most of us have uncon-sciously followed.

It is the habit of speaking of salvation only in terms of “living out a life ofOBEDIENCE to God.” We seem to have a tendency to speak only and solely ofOBEDIENCE—commandment keeping!

We seldom mention that experience of CONVERSION—utter SURRENDER,total REPENTANCE, accepting Christ in living FAITH as personal Saviour, andreceiving the HOLY SPIRIT.

We do not seem to stress sufficiently CHRIST as SAVIOUR—faith in Him, andthen HIS faith in us (living faith which is inseparable from obedience). We mustremember that the orthodox fundamental worldly churches and evangelists stressalmost solely just CHRIST, and FAITH in Him, and accepting Him as personalSaviour. Our more or less general omission of this leads many automatically toassume we preach a gospel of EARNING salvation by WORKS. To a world accus-tomed to hearing almost altogether about Christ and a “born-again experience”(which of course they do not understand), we put ourselves and God’s TRUTH in awrong light. Instead of speaking of being CONVERTED—CHANGED—by realrepentance, surrender, FAITH in CHRIST, and receiving God’s Holy Spirit, wespeak of “coming into the TRUTH.” A man may “come into the TRUTH”—that is,let a certain amount of truth into his mind, and still be totally unconverted. We mustnot lead people to gather that we believe only in Commandment keeping (which tothem means SATURDAY-keeping) and EARNING salvation by WORKS.

We must stress the WHOLE TRUTH more—repentance, surrender, CHRISTAS SAVIOUR, being CHANGED by God’s Spirit as God’s GIFT, by GRACE, fol-lowing our conforming to His conditions of repentance and FAITH IN CHRIST—the CHANGE from carnality to Spiritual-mindedness—being BEGOTTEN—andTHEN the overcoming and enduring and GROWING life of obedience and livingfaith, with Christ living HIS LIFE in us. Let’s not leave CHRIST and GRACE outof our speech and letters.

With love, in Jesus’ name,Herbert W. Armstrong

SERVANTS’ NEWS

and God and Christ and Holy Scriptures.Sometimes we need someone to point usin the right direction—it’s a life long process.

I’m glad my mother heard Mr.Armstrong in 1945. She was baptized in1951 on a summer baptizing tour. Somepeople, especially in other countries and(even here) know about the Sabbath andHoly Days and never heard of Mr.Armstrong or Worldwide Church of God.Yet, even so, I think Mr. Armstrong made asignificant contribution in the Church ofGod history. Let Christ and God judge whathe did and did not do perfectly.

I think it is time to get on with life andkeep on keeping on. Stick to the truth—tothe Holy Scriptures and not let others tellus what it says, but ask God to help us tounderstand what He wants us to know.Keep up the excellent work.

—Judy Averill, NCRESPONSE: The reason we bring up

Herbert Armstrong is because there are somany groups that base their entire operationon his Work. The main stated reason that wehave some separate church organizations isthat each one claims to be following HerbertArmstrong better than the next. The Eternalwill certainly judge Mr. Armstrong in right-eousness—and be understanding of mis-takes that he did not know he was making.But if I can reach leaders of organizationsand other brethren today and show themwhere Mr. Armstrong departed from theScriptures and the trouble that such depar-ture caused, I believe I should do it.

When Mr. Armstrong was alive, I had fartoo much trust in his explanation of the Bible.I did not search the scriptures as I should.Therefore, I never felt compelled to go to himor his staff about a Bible issue. But today, Ifeel compelled to write about areas where ourpast practice departs from the Scripture, sothat leaders and brethren who are alive nowcan do what they can to correct it.

—NSE

Thankful for Honest HWA WritingLETTER: August 5, 1999Dear Norm and Servants’ News,

Thank you very much for explainingyour future goals for your publications.

We are so glad for your honesty withwhat Herbert W. Armstrong did and did notdo. We had to quit two churches of God whowant to mix the “upholding of HWA” with thegospel of Christ. It just does not mix! I knowyou and others have to walk a fine line toreach more brethren, but we do not have tohonor anyone but Christ and God in ourworship. So when you choose to be honestwith HWA’s historical legacy, no matter the

flak you receive, we are very thankful.—Paul and Barbara Morris, TexasRESPONSE: Thank you for your short

letter. It is nice when encouraging lettersmore than balance out negative and “cancelmy subscription letters”.

—NSE

HWA: 19 Million Christians in 1928LETTER: July June 19, 1999Hi Norman,

Thanks for sending me down the miss-ing page of the HWA article, it helped makesense of the remaining pages.

I noticed several articles that I would liketo obtain copies of. May I order them fromyou directly? [literature request deleted]

Also I would be interested to learn ofany information or articles on the Messageof the Third angel.

I have a copy of the article in the Oct1928 Bible Advocate in which Herbertdescribes what he believes are the 19million or so Christians alive in 1928!(Go figure.) I am also intrigued that this 3rdangels message was a big issue for COG7at that time, so when the article BritishIsrael was read by Dugger and he com-mented in the oft quoted letter on the TrainJuly 28 1929, the title of the article is “ThirdAngel’s Message and British Israel.” p406soft cover Autobiography.

I ponder if the (in)famous comment “yousurely are right,”was more on the ThirdAngel’s message than on the BI issue?Don’t of course have any way of provingotherwise. However I noticed in an articleby Ralph Orr in a WWN, that the manu-script copy had a number of pages (about20?) removed and replaced with newermaterial and no mention the third angel’smessage in the ‘modified’ version. (one ofthe HWA personal papers collection).

If you have any information or can sug-gest some other sources, I would gladly fol-low it up. Thanks for your time.

Regards,—David W. Jenkins, Coolaroo, Australia

100033,[email protected]: I do not have any more

information about the documents that youmentioned. Richard Nickels (888-687-5191) might. I am quite aware that theSeventh Day Adventists placed greatimportance on the “Third Angel’sMessage”, but that doctrine was very earlydropped by Herbert Armstrong.

You will get our literature much fasterif you write to the Australia address onPage 2 of Servants’ News. Please do that.

I find it very interesting that HerbertArmstrong estimated that there were so many

Christians in 1928. He was obviously count-ing many groups, probably Sunday-keeperstoo. His writing would not have been accept-ed by hardly anyone if he dogmaticallyclaimed that some tiny group of dozens orhundreds were the only Christians in theworld at the time. Usually, it is not untilgroups grow large and powerful that theybegin to claim they are the only true church.

—NSE

Facts Are Only Way to Cut ThroughLETTER: July June 21, 1999Hi Norm,

I am writing to request some literature. Iwould first like to give you some back-ground on myself. I attend a small fellow-ship group in Toronto, Ontario (approx. 25-30 people). We used to be a CGI groupuntil the split a few years back.I have beenreceiving Servants’ News for a few yearsnow and am glad that this magazine is ableto provide so much different information.We have a common acquaintance [namewithheld]. He was attending our group andspeaking on a monthly basis until recentlyas he has become very involved in a charis-matic movement (the Vineyard Movement).I miss him and am concerned but we allhave to find our way in our relationship withGod so all I can do now is pray for his wellbeing. He really helped me to break out ofthe bondage I held from organizations. Iwas never in Worldwide so I cannot say Iwas held in chains physically but my mindwas and I consider even the CGI to be acult, in fact any organized religion is a cult.Your magazine has also helped to give meinformation to deprogram the myths I heldonto.Even people in my group want to bean organization for the benefit of taxreceipts,order,money,etc. and do not seethat you cannot serve God and mammon atthe same time. When you need the govern-ment to recognize you as a church then it isjust another copy of the beast system thatstarted thousands of years ago.

I used to think that we should moveon and forget all this Armstrong “bashing”as some detractors call it but I realize thatinformation is the only way to de-mythol-ogize something and I thank you for con-tinuing to provide it. I am free but thereare many who are not free physically,mentally, or spiritually, and that is why Iam writing this request. I would like tohave this information handy in casesomeone needs help in facing reality inthe future and facts are the only way tocut through propaganda.

I would request the last few backissues you did on Herbert Armstrong as I

Jul/Aug 1999

no longer have them and I would also likethe three critiques you offer in theJan/Feb.99 issue, as well as Did ChristReorganize the Church, and BiblicalCalendar Basics. I believe God hasallowed us to be scattered in His mercy topreserve His Church and help us all comeinto a personal relationship with Himbecause He does not share His glory withmen, organizations or anything else.

It is all about Jesus Christ alone.Thank you, God bless, and keep up thegood work.

Your brother in Christ, —RN, Canada

RESPONSE: Thank you for your letter.I will gladly send you all of the requestedliterature. God certainly uses people atdifferent ways and at different times. ButI think there are many who have a veryone-sided perspective of the WCG andHerbert Armstrong. The best people toreach them with the good as well as thebad are friends whom they trust.

—NSE

True Perspective ImportantLETTER: April 7, 1999Dear Norm and Marleen,

I thought your December issue chroni-cling Herbert Armstrong’s mistakes anddubious tactics was very worthwhile read-ing. It certainly helps to back up and get anobjective sixty-year perspective rather thana six-day perspective so often given in theco-worker letters. I think the right attitudewe all need is to try to have a true per-spective of what happened. It’s very diffi-cult and sometimes means we have toadmit we might have been wrong. Thankyou so much for all the research you putinto this series of articles. Here’s a dona-tion to help with the costs.

—John Sash, MissouriRESPONSE: Admitting we have been

wrong is a hard thing to do. It is even hard-er when so much of our religious life wasbased on the concept that we were in the“one true church” and if we continued to bemembers in good standing, we would go tothe “place of safety” and then the Kingdomof God. It is also difficult to look at the badfrom our past when there was also so muchgood. To help others with this difficulty, wehave included the article, But... TheyHelped Me, in this current issue.

—NSE

Where Do We Go From Here?LETTER: April 13, 1999

Perhaps the considerable time and

dedication…obsessive?…and the diligentresearch which went into the project aimedat denigrating Mr. Armstrong could havebeen put to better use following the advicein Phil 3:13…forgetting those things whichare behind, and reaching forth unto thosethings which are before…

Where do we go from here, and how dowe get there?

—Beth Linehan, WIRESPONSE: The effort was put into the

Herbert Armstrong research so that the manypeople trying to re-create his Work could seeit for what it was, not in the rose-coloredglasses they were used to viewing it.However, you are right, we must go on. Ourarticle in the May-June issue, Where are Youon the Field? covered some of this topic. Ourcoming article on eternal judgment will coverthe big priorities of all people, especiallybelievers. How we get where we should go isup to the Eternal, and each one of us!

—NSE

�Where Are You on the Field?�LETTER: August 7, 1999

I just finished reading Norman Edwards'article in Servants’ News, May/June issue(Where are You on the Field).I think it doesan excelent job of puting us humans in per-spective to God. If you think about why weare here (I think most of us would agree weare basically here to learn) why would doc-trine be the most important thing in our rela-tionships. I have been saying for some timethat on a scale of 1 to 100, 100 being totalunderstanding and Godly character that allof humanity (athiest, pagan, protestant,catholic and Sabbath keeper) fall in around1 or 2 on that scale. So why condemn eachother? Good job Norman! Humbly keep upthe good work!

RESPONSE: There are times when Ireally need such encouragement. It is hardto spend long hours trying to dig out thetruth about something only to have peoplesay essentially: “We would rather notknow the truth about that.” But we allmust be patient with each other. I canremember times when I did not want tohear the truth about something.

—NSE

Many Ministries Falling ApartLETTER: June 9, 1999Dear Norm,

Just a short letter to say thank you forcontinuing to use my articles in your publi-cation, and to share with you that I ampraying for you in the huge task of the workthat you are involved in. May God continue

to bless your efforts.I was reading some of the letters that

people send you and you can see theattacks. I can only imagine the ones youmight get that try to rip your guts out. I havehad experience with this in the past withsome of what I have been involved with—itis not easy to get those kinds of letters. Myprayers have been for you that God will giveyou the strength to endure through the workthat you are doing. It was years before Godtaught me not to become offended at thesekinds of attacks. And to have the workloadto deal with the amount of people you aredealing with—the only way you will be ableto endure all of this is by the grace of God.I have increased my prayers for you. MayHe continue to give you that grace to walkin His love and not become offended. Thisway we will stay in focus.

There has been so many ministriesfalling apart. You can prove from the scrip-tures that God says that He will take a tollon those who stand in His temple as lead-ers and don’t do it the right way. Scripturesays that this will increase before Christreturns—by that I mean it will increase withthe toll that God says he is going to take onthe leadership. Ezekiel 34 is a good scrip-ture that relates to this.

It sure seems to be taking place. Thoseleaders that have been exposed in the lastfew years—I don’t believe that it has allbeen accident. God is moving to take a tollon the leadership. There are many placesthat God will give us leeway, but standingin His Temple and bringing defilement isone area that no leeway is given. In the OldTestament, many different sins were forgiv-en, like the case with David with adulteryand murder. But the defilement of the min-istry was not forgiven. David was afraid ofGod when He struck Uzza dead for defilingthe ministry. 2Sam 6:9. It’s a good thing forDavid that he never touched the Ark.

1Cor 3:16-17 is another scripture thatshows his anger of the leadership defilingGod’s temple. So many in the leadershiptake this so lightly. I have warned thosewho minister about these scriptural factsof defiling God’s Temple, and they take itlike it’s just throwing a cigarette on the side-walk. They do not understand the danger!If they did, they would understand whyPaul said he walked in fear and trem-bling—1Cor 2:3.

And judgment will be stricter with thosewho were teachers! (James 3:1). Norm,when you put all these scriptures together,it makes me tremble. But so few who aregiving sermons or writing articles seem tohave this fear that God says we shouldhave. They are so confident of their own

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wisdom that they often bring it into God’stemple to defile it. God cannot allow this,the toll will be taken, His Word says so. Justbecause they are not dropping dead theyway Uzza did, when he tried to do a goodwork for God with the hand of the flesh—still, God will deal strictly with these mattersbecause of the position they are placingthemselves in as teachers! If they knew thedanger they were in and the judgementthey are going to have to face, many woulddrop their position immediately. But igno-rance is no excuse. God says, “My peopleare destroyed for lack of knowledge”.

I know of no other scriptural warningsthat are more binding to those in leadershippositions right now than these.

I believe that God will continue to takehis toll in these matters as He moves torefine His Church and get it ready for thewedding. I pray that those in leadershippositions will give heed to these scripturalwarnings. God will not play games. Somany in leadership positions act as if Godis not watching. May we give heed tothese scriptural warnings that can saveour lives. And do it the way Paul toldTimothy: “Take heed to yourself and toyour teachings, hold to that, for by doingso you will save both yourself and yourhearers” (1Tim 4:16 , RSV).

Thanks once again for the continuedwork and the task you are doing in trying toserve so many of God’s people. I reallylook forward to reading Servants’ Newseach time it comes. May God continue tofill you with His Grace.

—Tommy Willis, LouisianaRESPONSE: Thank you for the prayer and

encouragement. I am not sure that I can sayfor certain that sins related to the priesthoodbring a more powerful punishment than adul-tery or other such sins. Both Samuel’s sonsand Eli’s sons abused their offices and did notdie instantly. Whereas, four of David’s chil-dren died (Bathsheba’s first born, Amnon,Absalom and Adonijah) because of David’ssin. Nevertheless, the other scriptures youbring out about the seriousness of sins towardGod’s temple (His people) are very serious.Far too many leaders believe that as long asthey are “doing God’s work”, God will acceptwhatever they do to “protect His work”—which sometimes results in sinning againstothers. God is better than that. He wants Hiswork done His way. He does not need us tosin against others in order to do His work.

—NSE

Germany in Prophecy[This letter is in response to an article inthe Philadelphia Trumpet. Since that pub-

lication rarely prints letters opposed to itsviews, Mr. Turner wrote his response toother Sabbatarian publications.]LETTER: October 22, 1998Greetings,

This is in response to the articleWinston S. Churchill—The Watchman byGerald Flurry, in which he states:

He faced reality and spoke thetruth in a dangerous world... That isthe mark of a great leader! Theyalways tell the truth, no matter howhard it is to accept!...

It would behoove each one of youto drop everything and prove what Iam telling you today!...

Our greatest challenge is toaccept the truth. Can you? Can I?...

We didn’t denazify Germany afterWW2, and they are back on the worldscene. The ugly factions are about toget control again...

We must face facts and drawtrue conclusions from them.Now using the above criteria and “prov-

ing what he is telling me today,” I can’t helpbut come to the conclusion that GeraldFlurry is neither a watchman nor does hehave “the mark of a great leader” becausehe is not telling the truth when it comes toGermany. He is not “facing reality” nor “fac-ing facts and drawing true conclusions fromthem.” Gerald Flurry is obviously trying toequate himself with Winston Churchill sincehe relentlessly harps on about Nazis.

The facts are that: yes, Germany did-n’t denazify—but neither has the US, UKor other countries. Every country hasmoles and warts on the body politic. Andthe neo-Nazi dirtbags did worse thanexpected in the recent German elections(especially in Bavaria!) and are dividedinto competing factions.

Gerald Flurry would do well to take offhis Nazi-colored glasses and rereadHWA’s Dec. ‘48 PT article about the UNconference in which he pinpoints a particu-lar party started by the Catholic church thatwill become the vehicle for the revival ofthe Holy Roman Empire of the GermanNation. It would also be beneficial to rereadthe articles “Franz Josef Strauss MakesHis Bid” (PT, Sept ‘79) and “Where is WestGermany Headed?” (PT, Sept ‘84).

What these articles point out is in com-plete disagreement and in stark contrastwith what Gerald Flurry says and predictswill happen in Germany. Yes, the PT alsopointed to the Nazis coming back, but thisshowed the confusion in the WCG aboutwhich path Germany would take—which inmy opinion, is from one ditch (“the eviltwisted cross”) to the other (“the holy x’tian

cross”), they just haven’t made it to theother...yet. But Bavaria is already there—ready to show the way!

Gerald Flurry would do well to heed hisown words: “Our greatest challenge is toaccept the truth. Can you? Can I?”

Philia...—Michael Turner, Texas

RESPONSE: Thanks for the letter. MostAmericans know little or nothing about thegovernments or political parties in othercountries. If such things make the majornews at all, it is usually only a few secondsof some “old guys” shaking hands and abunch of people cheering, and it is overbefore the average person can learn thenames of the people involved and what theystand for. If someone who seems like theyknow what they are talking about tells anAmerican that the Nazi party is about to takeover Germany—or that the Catholics areabout to take over Germany—there is a goodchance that the American will believe them.We have been somewhat amazed at howmany “prophecy teachers” simply claim thatworld events are matching their propheticteaching—even though they are not.

We cannot judge the hearts of theseteachers, but it appears that many claim tohave a detailed understanding of worldevents in prophecy even though they havenever heard directly from the Eternal norused the Bible to predict even one singleworld event in advance. The purpose of theirdogmatic prophetic claims seems more tohang on to followers who are uneasy aboutthe future. People need to learn to build aconfidence and trust in the Eternal to deliverthem from difficulties, not to have confidencein a church organization that may well neverhave successfully prophesied anything.

No one has enough time or capability toread all of the important news about everyimportant place on earth. First we shouldstudy the prophecies of scripture so we knowwhat they say, then we should pay attentionto what is going on around us so that we canpossibly match it to scripture, and thirdly, weshould pray and ask the Eternal to reveal themeaning of those prophecies that we need tounderstand now. During the past 2000 years,most people believed that they were livingnear the time of the end. Think about all ofthe wasted energy that went into analyzingend-time prophecies to make them come outto 200 A.D., 400 A.D., 700 A.D., 1000 A.D.,1500 A.D., and even 1944 A.D., 1948 A.D.and 1972 A.D. None of those end-time sce-narios worked out.

This does not mean that we should notstudy prophecy, but it means that we shoulddo it in proper perspective. We will be eter-nally judged by what we do in this life—how

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we honor God and how we treat others. Butthere is no scripture that says we will bejudged according to our prophetic under-standing. And it is quite possible that we mayindividually die before “the end” comes.

—NSE

Is Y2K a Judgment?LETTER: March 23, 1999Dear Norman,

I always look forward to receivingthe Servants’ News. Thanks so much foryour “labor of love”.

Have read several articles on the Y2K.So many tell us that it will be a major dis-aster. One reason I believe it will be, thisgreat nation has gotten so far from ourMost High God. In one way or the other, Hewill punish the rebellious. So much sinabounds. Love of many has grown cold.

[Literature request omitted] May all ofyou be richly blessed everyday.

—MB, GeorgiaRESPONSE: Y2K is certainly a judg-

ment in that many organizations put shortterm profits ahead of the long-term good ofeveryone—and will reap the consequencesnot preparing their computers for Y2K ear-lier. However, some people who were pri-marily responsible for such failure to pre-pare have resigned from the organizationsthat will suffer and now work at places thatare Y2K-ready. On the other hand, otherpeople will suffer in Y2K who knew noth-ing about it until it was too late. This is thenormal way of most sins: those who com-mit them often suffer because of them, butsometimes they appear to escape, and oftenothers not involved with the sin suffer, too.

However, I believe there are manygreater evils in our nation than failure to pre-pare for Y2K. Will God use Y2K to punishcertain people for other sins? Will He use itto punish the whole nation or the World? Icannot point to a specific prophecy on this,but I believe that Y2K will get most of theworld’s attention. However, I do not knowwhether it will be a “judgment” upon thosewho misuse computers to control and takeunfair advantage of people (big governmentand business) or whether it will be a catalystthat causes big governments to enact martiallaw or go to war—thereby punishingmankind in general.

—NSE

Bread & Wine More Than OnceLETTER: June 30, 1999

Dear Norman Edwards;I am interested in receiving any back

issues of the Servants' News beginning

with the September 1998 issue that youcan send to me. I have read parts of a cou-ple of issues at a friend's home and wouldlike to begin receiving it at my home[address removed]. I am e-mailing youfrom my friend's computer.

I also would like to know what yourbelief is pertaining to taking bread and winemore than once a year. Please send aresponse to this question to me at thehome address given above. Thank you foryour help in these matters. Looking forwardto hearing from you.

Sincerely,—Jennifer Leagan, Tennessee

RESPONSE: We always keep all backissues of Servants’ News in stock. TheJan/Feb and March/April 1997 issues con-tain articles giving much of my understand-ing about taking bread and wine more thanonce per year. It is good to understand theBible and live by what it says. But the scrip-tures on judment all show we will be judgedon how we treat our neighbors, not on howwe explain complex doctrines. Do not letthis be a “stumbling block” either way.

—NSE

Comments on Fringes LetterLETTER: June 20, 1999Dear Norm,

Thanks again for the SN. As always, Idevour it.

I had to respond to the letter of KayRea [Mar-Apr 1999, page 14] on wearingtassels and fringes (Numbers 15:38-40),and I remember bringing up this subjectsome time ago at the WalkertonFellowship. Your answer to this questionwas adequate, however, for what its worth,here is the answer I gave then:

The custom of wearing tassels and/orfringes was common among the pagans,and the Israelites, as always, wanted to belike their neighbors.

Now God said (paraphrased), “…okay,you can wear them, however, they were toput a blue thread in their tassel and to lookat it to remind themselves that they wereGod’s commandment-keeping people.Moreover, they were to wear them through-out their generations (verse 38).

Obviously, the custom of wearing tas-sels has gone out of vogue. So, the ques-tion for Christians is, do we have to weartassels with a blue thread, today?

Yes, we do. Jesus said so, Matt 17:18,“…not one jot or tittle shall pass from thelaw, until all is fulfilled (accomplished).”

Here is another example of how Christraised the letter of the law to a higher spir-itual plane. The purpose of the blue thread,

again, was to remind the Israelite of thecommandments. Now, notice John 14:15-17, 26, “If you love Me, keep My com-mandments. And I will pray the Father ,and He will give you another Helper, thatHe ma abide with you forever…” (verse 26)“…But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whomthe Father will send in My name, He willteach you all things, and bring to yourremembrance all things that I said to you.”

Today, the New Covenant Christian isreminded of the Law through the HolySpirit. Let’s abide in that.

Ron Fry, IndianaRESPONSE: Thanks for your additional

explanation. I think your scripture is well-used here. If some still want to wear thefringes and believe it helps them, I am notopposed to it, but I agree that an active HolySpirit is a much more powerful reminderthan a fringe.

—NSE

Different Church BackgroundLETTER: June 2, 1999Dear Mr. Edwards,

I read the recent edition thoroughlythough I was never a member or adherentof HWA or any COG. I listened to CGItapes for three years between 7th DayAdventist membership (8 years) andMessianic congregation (4 years) misledby a divorced plagiarist who “divorced” uswhen insufficient money for him persisted.It turns out our “church” was incorporatedin his name alone.

Thanks for dealing with Jim Rector inyour usual exhaustive fashion. I am so gladhe repents. As you know, Ellen White wasalso a non-original rewriter, still called “ThePen of Inspiration” and the “Spirit ofProphecy” by thousands. Why cannot theexhorters among us humble the oldman enough to focus on truth itself?The Jews credit the sages and rabbis inter-minably on all Bible commentary—a manmust memorize Talmud and Mishnahmaterial which minutely identifies eachcontributor, in order to lead or teach.Perhaps, legalists that they may be, theyhave constructed an elaborate bridge overthe pitfall of pride: self-aggrandizement.

Your emphasis on getting your messageyourself is much needed. There is an analo-gy to cooking and eating here, to be exam-ined. Spiritual nourishment can beprocessed by someone else’s recipes whichthen must be acknowledged, or a morehealthful diet of unprocessed food can befollowed—raw! Most of us will need andselect some of each—prepared dishes andsalads convenience food or fruit eaten in

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hand. What do we blame for our sickness?The cook? The additives? I’m sure you canmeditate on this and write it better than I.

I appreciate you as a constant sourceof helpful material, as a stimulus to in-depth analysis and thorough coverage.

—Margaret Beasley, OklahomaRESPONSE: Thank you for the explana-

tion of the groups you were in. It is impor-tant to realize that we are not the onlygroup with church leadership problems. Onthe other hand, it is important to realize thatif the sins and problems of other groupslook so bad to us that we want nothing todo with them, other people may look at thesins and problems in our groups and decidethat they want nothing to do with us!

It is amazing. There are probably few ifany “Church of God” members who areoffended at me for printing your letter withthe problems of the various groups youattended. I doubt any of our readers wouldinsist that you must go back and be loyal toone of the groups that you attended. Yetsome of those same people would beoffended by someone printing the truthabout problems in their group. Also, somewould insist that brethren should stay intheir group in spite of the problems. It issimply too easy to have a different standardfor our own group and other groups.

—NSE

Mixing Old and New Covenants?LETTER: June 27, 1999Dear Norman Edwards,

Please do not send me anymore ofServants’ News. I do not agree with whatyou are printing in your paper.

It seems like you are mixing the oldcovenant of the nation of Israel and thenew covenant of Paul’s letters to theGentiles. The two don’t mix.

The Gentiles according to Paul areunder grace. The Jews will have theirseven years what is left of the Prophecy inthe tribulation.

—Ivar Redland, MinnesotaRESPONSE: This is an interesting theory,

but not very Biblical. Christ’s prophecy inMatthew 24 and the Book of Revelation alloverlap with the prophecies of Daniel,Ezekiel, Isaiah, etc. The two are not separate.

Furthermore, we can be certain that Pauland many other Jewish converts lived bothunder the New Covenant and under the OldTestament law at the same time. How?When Paul was accused by the Jewish lead-ers, they could not find any provablecharges to bring against him (Acts 25:7). Ifhe had been violating their law, they couldhave brought such charges. Paul was still

allowed to participate in physical temple rit-uals (Acts 21:26). To do this, he must havecontinued to keep the Sabbath, Holy Days,purity laws, and many other laws thatrequired a person to be “cut off” from Israelif they failed to do them. Later, Paul clearlystates: “Men and brethren, though I havedone nothing against our people or the cus-toms of our fathers, yet I was delivered as aprisoner from Jerusalem into the hands ofthe Romans...” (Acts 28:17).

Indeed, the Temple, its sacrifices andthe Levitical priesthood ended in 70 A.D.when Jerusalem was destroyed. But manyteachings given by the Eternal in the OldTestament continue in force. It containsextensive stories that show how the Eternalworks with nations and individuals. A per-son can do much to love God and hisneighbor as himself with only the NewTestament. But using both Old and Newtogether is so much better.

—NSE

Learn From Our Brother�s MistakesLETTER: June 2, 1999Dear Servants News Staff,

I have needed to do this for quite sometime, I hope the money will help. I knowthat many of us are very appreciative for allyour efforts on the papers you produce.

There are many times I would love towrite a letter to the editor and tell you that Iagree with this or that. There are times toothat I want to write because someone haswritten in to you to argue or belittle all thatyou are doing. I am so thankful that I canreceive your paper. I always try to devour itimmediately.

I wish all of God’s people could beopen minded enough to stop beating upsome of the old subjects and start workingon some new ones. Many people just wantto harp on the doctrine or decisions of thisorganization or that. It is totally unneces-sary and a complete waste of time.

I believe we should watch what hap-pens to our brothers in other organiza-tions, but I believe only from the point ofview to learn how to handle ourselves.We should always have compassionbecause Christ wants us to learn to loveone another and forgive. There are somany hostile elements out there and webrethren need to take care of each other.Whenever we think we need to be, weneed to remember to strive towards loveand leave behind resentments and fear.It’s hard for me to do but I have a feelingfrom the word of my God that He wants usto grow up. We fall so easily towardsimmature behaviors and selfish ambitions.

Your endeavors go noticed. May Godbless you in all that you do and thank you somuch for giving me something to think about.

—Jackie Sena, UtahRESPONSE: Thanks for your encourage-

ment. We hope your attitude is contagious.—NSE

Need the Internet?Go To The Library!

LETTER: January 10, 1999Dear Servants News,

Please continue to send Servants’News to me, and if I missed last month’sissue please send it to me. [Personal com-ment deleted]. Some time ago, there wasan article in Servants’ News about a LivingRoom Church Directory organization. Iwrote to the address but don’t know if theyare still in existence or at that address. Ifyou know of a source of living roomchurches in the Oklahoma City area, wouldyou please send it to me?

I do not have a computer or access toone, so I can’t just look in the internet.Please don’t suggest that I buy one—I’m asingle woman with a low income. I see inthe Servants’ News, it always assumesevery reader has a computer or works withcomputers.

—PS, OklahomaRESPONSE: We will certainly send you

the Living Room Church of God directory.We realize that most Servants’ News sub-scribers do not have computers. We regu-larly receive suggestions that we savemoney and distribute our publications only,or primarily by e-mail. We do not acceptthem as this would reduce our service tomost of our subscribers.

We do list e-mail addresses and websitesfor many things as they are convenient forbrethren with computers. But if there is eversomething you would like to access and can-not because you do not have a computer,please write us and let us know. Also, pleaserealize that most libraries have free inter-net access available to patrons and, if theyare not busy, will show you how to use it.

—NSE

Sacred Names Doctrine Based onTheory, Not Facts

LETTER: July 14, 1999Dear Norm,

Here is another attempt to disprove theSacred Name doctrine. Hopefully it is con-cise and to the point.

God is Pagan!Jul/Aug 1999

SERVANTS’ NEWS

Letters from your readers refer to Godas “Yahweh”. Supposedly Yahweh’s namehas been replaced with “Elohim”, or itstranslation: “God”. Has there been a mas-sive tainting of the Bible? Sacred Nameproponents teach that we should only use“Yahweh” when speaking or writing aboutthe Lord or God.

The purpose of this letter is to explainthe fundamental error in the Sacred Namedoctrine.

Scholars in the 1800’s developed theDocumentary Theory of the Bible. Theynoticed that some chapters in the Bible use“YHWH” (“Jehovah” or “Yahweh”). Thesechapters became known as the “J” docu-ments. Other chapters use Elohim or God.These became known as “E” documents.According to the theory, priests wrote someof the Bible. These parts were dubbed “P”documents. Supposedly some of thesewriters substituted YHWH’s name withpagan names.

Those promoting the Sacred Namedoctrine quote scholarly books in order toprove that the Bible has been tainted.These books present “facts” derived fromthe Documentary Theory of the Bible.Sacred Name proponents believe these“facts” support their doctrine. “Facts” cre-ated from a theory must not be used toprove doctrine.

This is the basic error.Go to the library: examine each book

which is quoted by the Sacred Name pro-ponents; read the entire context; read thepremises set forth by each author in orderto determine his philosophy. Use the inter-library loan system to get the books if nec-essary. You will see that each quote comesfrom a book, which is based upon theDocumentary Theory of the OldTestament. Why must they use thesebooks? No other evidence exists!

If you cannot prove “YHWH” (“Yahweh”)has been deleted and replaced by “Elohim”,“El” or other names, then you cannot provethat the Bible has been tainted.

—Bill Bartholomew, CaliforniaRESPONSE: Thank you for this explana-

tion. We have seen other people quote fromsimilar scholarly books to “prove” somedoctrine or historic point and came to thesame realization: Scholars who advocate theDocumentary Hypothesis do not believe theBible was given by God as it claims to be,but was concocted by many different men.Why prove any doctrinal point from theoriesof men who do not even believe the Biblecontains the Word of God?

We would also like to point out thatthere is no single “Sacred Name Doctrine”,but hundreds of groups with many varia-

tions of doctrine. Some who exclusively useSacred Names do not claim that the Biblehas been altered, but say that the Creator hasmany titles used in the Bible, but one name,“YHWH”. Furthermore, there are someSacred Name users who simply believe that“Yahweh” is a much better rendering of theHebrew “YHWH” than “Lord”. Theyaccept those who use other names for theCreator and I accept the name they feel isbest. I do not have difficulty with them fol-lowing their conviction, even though Ibelieve it is not necessary. “For whatever isnot from faith is sin” (Rom 14:23).

—NSE

Validity of Christ & New TestamentLETTER: August 4, 1999Dear Norman,

I consider it a privilege, to have knownyou, met with you at the CalendarConference in Dallas some years back, andeven to see a letter or two of mine or of like-minds, show up in print in your Servants’News. I have been continuing to scanissues over the past several years, but seeno more letters that question the validity ofthe Catholic created New Testament. Eitherpeople want to stay on the ‘easy’ path,where “Christianity is Bliss”, or the ques-tions became too hard to answer. To helpsave you some expense, you can removeour name from your mailing list. In parting Iwill pose 5 more easy questions:

1. If there was a son of God, where washe prior to the alleged dwelling on earth?

2. Where is he now?3. Comparing thirty-three and a half

years to the length of eternity, what was thesacrifice?

4. If they were both One, who did thedying, and who did the resurrecting, whoprayed to who, and how can one be eter-nal and also be dead three days, and if hewasn’t really dead, once again: Where’sthe sacrifice? Check the first command-ment again.

5. In John 3:16- Who did God give hisson to, any way?

P.S. Now even the Arch Bishop ofCanterbury (2nd only to the Pope) has seri-ous doubts.

—Mr. and Mrs. Bob Rose, TXRESPONSE: Thanks for letting me

know, we will gladly discontinue your sub-scription.

In the last couple of years, we havereceived almost no letters questioning thevalidity of the New Testament. Most peopleI know who rejected the New Testamenta few years back have now either reject-ed the Old Testament, too, or have reex-

amined their beliefs and are again learn-ing about God from the whole Bible.

The Bishop at Rome gradually gainedpreeminence over the Bishops in otherareas. The central, hierarchical CatholicChurch as we know it today did not existwhen the scriptures were canonized. If the“Catholic Church” was clever enough towrite the New Testament and convince orbully most people into accepting that it wasa first-century document, why did not theyput their own doctrines in it? They couldhave easily added a few clear verses aboutSunday observance, church authority, Peterburied in Rome, praying to Mary, the trinity,etc. But they did not. There were enoughcopies of the early NT manuscripts in somany different places that only gradual,very minor changes were possible.

You mentioned the Archbishop ofCanterbury as being second beneath thePope—I think the various other“Orthodox” branches (not to mention theProtestants) would see their groups’ leaderas more important—these groups containmany millions. The Christian world hasnever been as unified (either for good orevil) as most people think.

To answer your numbered questions:1. I think you want me to say that Christ

was in heaven with the Father, but this is aquestion of much religious debate and Iwould rather explain why it does not haveto be answered. Where was my son beforehe was born? Science shows that his ovaexisted in his mother since she was born.Did my son exist in me beforehand? Yes,but probably only for days. For most of his-tory, people have not even known thismuch. Yet, people have appreciated theirsons for millennia, without knowing exact-ly where they came from. Similarly, I donot have to know exactly where Christ wasbefore His human life in order to appreciatewhat He did then and where He is now.

2. The Son is now at the right hand ofGod (Heb 10:12).

3. There is a valuable lesson in compar-ing Jesus’ or anybody’s lifetime with eterni-ty. How much of a sacrifice is it to live theEternal’s way? Yet most people seem towant to live “their 70 years” their own wayno matter what it does for their eternity. Thewhole purpose of human existence is to trypeople’s hearts before they are given eternallife (Deut 8:2, Jer 17:10). To be beaten anddie on the cross required only about1/12,000th of Jesus human life—even asmaller fraction of your longer life. Butwould you volunteer to undergo a similarpunishment today if you knew it would giveyou eternal life? Would you be able to stickit out, or would you give in to the pain part

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way through and say “forget eternal life, justlet me out of this?” I am not about to say Iwould do any better. Even though Christ’sstay on Earth was short, and His sufferingvery short compared to eternity, when it isput in personal terms, it is a great sacrificefor one who deserved no punishment.

4. Check Genesis 2:24: “Therefore aman shall leave his father and mother andbe joined to his wife, and they shall become(one) flesh”. The Hebrew here for “one” isechad, the same word used in Deut 6:4,“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, theLord is one!” Husbands and wives aresometimes one flesh, at other times two.They do some things as one unit, otherthings as two. The Father and Son are onein purpose—as opposed to pagan godswhich compete and fight with each other.To answer your questions: The Son died.The Father raised the Son. The Son prayedto the Father. The Son (was not) eternalwhile He was a human. When He was deadfor three days, He was as dead as any otherhuman, and His suffering was every bit asreal as your suffering would be if you diedthis way. It was more difficult in that He didnothing to deserve it, and was deserted byHis friends and the Father. Would you findthe story of salvation through Jesus moreacceptable if He lived for millions of yearsas a human and suffered for thousands ofyears? Compared to eternity, does any fixednumber of years mean anything?

5. Your last question is typical of peoplewho are having trouble accepting the truthof the Bible. There is a tendency to thinkthat: “as long as I can keep asking questionsthat don’t have apparent answers, I am notresponsible for obeying the Scripture (orthe part I don’t like)”. If you will check anEnglish dictionary, you will find many def-initions for the word “give” (or many defi-nitions for the original Greek word didomi).Definition 1 in my Merriam-Webster’sCollegiate Dictionary says “to make a pre-sent of (give a doll to a child)”. In thissense, there must be someone to receive it.Definition 13a says “to suffer the loss of:sacrifice”. There may or may not be a directreceiver of the action. If I give my time towrite an article, am I giving it to someonespecific? If I don’t know exactly who isgoing to read the article, who did I “give mytime” to? To know the purpose of what theFather gave, all you need to do is read theentire verse:

John 3:16 “For God so loved the worldthat he gave his one and only Son, that(whoever) believes in him shall not perishbut have eternal life.”

Please don’t let language syntax ques-tions prevent you from understanding what

the Bible says. At some point, either in thislife or after the resurrection, I believe thatyou will shown beyond doubt what Jesus(Yahshua) has done for you, and I hope youwill accept it.

—NSE

Bible Not Limited By TranslatorsLETTER: June 28, 1999Mr. Edwards,

I don’t know if you read my letters any-more. But as I received the Dec. Servants’News, I ran across a statement that I haveheard frequently from the ministry—as wellas scholars and historians: “TheBible…was originally written to a peoplewho lived thousands of years ago andspoke a different language. We have torely on translators, and …historians”, etc.etc. This statement tells me first of all thatyou have no idea of the scope and powerof God’s grace and His Spirit. (and I’m notsaying this only to you).

We limit God when we decide He hasto reveal Himself through the devices ofmen. We limit his power and sovereignty.God’s Word is Forever (Psa 119:152). It isthe only source of real truth (John 14:6,17:17 and 18:37) It expresses the mind ofChrist as He is now. And the reason wedon’t apply it to us now—is we don’t seethe reality of God in our lives.

If you are of the Body of Christ Hereveals Himself in you through that Word.The Holy Spirit is not limited by “transla-tors” or “historians”. It is only limited by thatawesome mind of Christ—which can doanything, to anyone, at anytime, in anyplace, and good will be the result.

Do you think God had nothing to dowith the KJV of the Bible? After all, He isthe Creator of all language. But the “pure”language He gives to “the chosen” is“truth”. His Holy Spirit is the amplified ver-sion of the Bible and the written Word is thefirst line of defense against the powers ofdarkness, (Matt 4:4) written by inspirationof the Holy Spirit. That is what is written inyour heart in Heb 8:10 and 10:16. (not justthe ten commandments). Christ refers tothe Psalms as part of the law in John10:34-35. If the Psalms is part of the lawthat is written in our hearts, then the wholeword is written in our hearts—making theimage of Christ (Rom 10:4).

—Myra McQueen, TexasRESPONSE: Yes, either I or someone else

still reads most of your letters. I believe thatGod does guide the translation of the KingJames and other Bibles and can cause themen involved to do anything that He wants.However, I can show beyond any doubt that

He did allow some error to be inserted intothe various translations. If you claim that theKJV Bible is 100% correct, then that meansthat all of the Greek and Hebrew manuscriptshave numerous errors.

Yes, I believe that people can be led tounderstand the true meaning of theScriptures by the Holy Spirit in spite ofscribal and translation errors. You, as well asothers regularly write to me about under-standings of scriptures, supposedly giventhrough the Spirit, that differ from what Iunderstand from my resources. But can Iwrite an article stating that “this must be themeaning of that scripture because the HolySpirit revealed it to Myra McQueen?” Whatdo I do if someone else writes me that theHoly Spirit revealed a contradictory under-standing of the same verse to them?

This is not a hypothetical question—itreally happens. I have letters and articlesfrom many different people indicating thatthe Holy Spirit has revealed the true mean-ing of chodesh (“new moon”), ben haarbayim (“between the evenings”) or someother Hebrew or Greek word. The samehappens with specific verses like Josh 5:11or Psalm 81:3. But these “Spirit-revealedmeanings” differ.

When people claim to have a revelationof the Spirit, we must check it against theBible. It is our “first line of defense” as yousay. If we believe we have an understand-ing of what the Bible says on a certainpoint, then we should live by it. But if theEternal does not give us an understandingon a specific issue, then we should not takeour own best thoughts on the subject andclaim they are inspired of the Holy Spirit.

When I stated that the Bible was writ-ten to people who lived thousands of yearsago, I meant that terms like chodesh andben ha arbayim were indisputably under-stood by the people of that time, but may bedisputed today. If there is no clear way tocheck inspiration of the Holy Spirit againstthe clear meaning of the Scripture, then thatinspiration is primarily useful only to theones who are so inspired.

Even though people are destroyed dueto a lack of knowledge (Hos 4:6), there isan even more important issue: what theydo with the knowledge they have. Peoplewill be judged based on how they use theknowledge that they do have (Luke 12:47-48; Jam 4:17; Rom 2:14-15). While“Church of God” groups tend to have moretruth than many other groups, they alsohave a tendency to focus too much onlearning truth and not enough on doing andsharing what they know.

—NSE

Jul/Aug 1999

Glad to Receive Back SN IssuesLETTER: June 27, 1999Hello Servants w/News,

Thank you. Not only did you respondand respond quickly but in large measure aswell. I was only expecting to be placed backon your mailer, not receive past newslettersI’d missed in between. The materials camejust as I was finishing my fifth round ofchemo therapy. This particular chemo getsme down (as in hard) for about a week fol-lowing treatment. It’s unbelievable what thatstuff does. Anyway, having the large numberof SN’s to read will certainly help get methrough it, has all ready.

There was a small note attached to thenewsletters received. I do not know if thenote was directly or personally from Mr.Edwards but I presume it was. The noteconcludes with “May the Eternal deliveryou from cancer, or show you clearly whyyou have it.” I could not ask for more.

Keep on keeping on, and may you domore good than you even realize.

—Forrest Reed, [email protected]

RESPONSE: Yes, the Servants’ Newsnote was from me. If you have access to theInternet, it would probably be worthwhilelooking into some alternative cancer thera-pies. Obviously, there are many phonies, butI have seen some simple ones that appear toprovide very good results. Some, as simple aseating a diet of raw seeds, can be done in con-junction with whatever treatments you maybe having. Far too much of today’s medicineis based on economics, not on real healing.Maybe one thing that the Eternal wants us tolearn is to look to him to help us find truth,rather than to rely on paid “experts”.

—NSE

Rebuttal to GTA CommentsLETTER: June 22, 1999

I want to write in rebuttal to your con-stant negativism and judgmental attitudeabout Garner Ted Armstrong. Who hasn’tmade mistakes? Look at Noah, who gotdrunk. So drunk, he didn’t know that hisgrandson committed homosexual activitieson him. Look at Lot, Righteous Lot who livedaround sin every day, who got drunk afterSodom and Gomorrah was totallydestroyed, and his daughters committedincest with him. Look at Abraham, who liedabout Sarah or David a man after God’sown heart, who committed murder and cov-eted another mans wife. and even commit-ted adultery. Who do you think you are,except a man. Look and read about all ofGod’s people in the Bible. Your idea of per-

fectionism and what God wants us to be istotally different. Your lack of love, and for-giveness shows what fruit that your organi-zation and others like you are doing. Do youthink you are any different any Gerald Flurryor as that matters William Dankenbring?

Your judgmental attitude shows whattype of person you really are. Evidently youhaven’t heard any of GTA’s impassionedsermons in the past several years, or thatmatters. You don’t know what he has gonethrough, the many, many tears he hasshed, You who have so right with your hyp-ocritical judgmental attitudes. You whohave it so right, picking and picking, pickingat this doctrine and that doctrine, with yourcalendar disputations, and fringes on gar-ments and etc. I applaud Alex Nicholson ofNova Scotia with his letter to you.

You say that you forgive GTA, but youshow your real side in your continualgarbage. Garbage in and garbage out. Youthink you have the right to expose anythingand everything about any person no matterhow many times a person has got on theirknees and as cried out to Almighty God forforgiveness. You say, “well he has donethis and that you will be judged with thejudgment that you have meted”, Mr.Norman Edwards. You bring up slop, andgarbage that was in a sewer and have wal-lowed in the slop trough like a pig.

—James Parkhill, Roswell, NMRESPONSE: Thank you for bringing

these Biblical examples to mind. In eachcase, we see where a “man of God” made amistake one or two times. That mistake isrecorded, and a punishment from theEternal is often recorded with it (rememberLot’s wife). None of these men in the scrip-tures whom you mentioned are an exampleof continual sin. 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1explain that Church leaders should not bethose known for continual sin. How many“stirring” sermons a leader might give orhow many tears he has cried repenting isnot an issue in these chapters. If these chap-ters should not be used to show us leaderswho are disqualified, than I do not knowwhy they are in the Bible. As far as I know,I have never heard a Garner Ted Armstrongsupporter try to explain why these versesare in the Bible.

I would rather teach the Bible. I don’tlike working in the slop trough, but it is partof a farmer’s job some time. From thePharisees, to the Popes, to Protestant lead-ers, to Sabbatarian leaders, the name of theEternal has been greatly blasphemedbecause people continue to revere leaderswho can give stirring religious messages,but who did not practice what they preach.“For not the hearers of the law are just in

the sight of God, but the doers of the lawwill be justified” (Rom 2:13).

—NSE

Interesting Religious BackgroundLETTER: August 10, 1999

Thank you very much for the subscrip-tion.

You asked about my religious back-ground, well here it goes. As a child myparents sent my brother and I on aTabernacle Baptist Church bus that wouldcome around the house on Altus Air ForceBase in Altus, OK. I guess as most childrendo I would go down to the altar everySunday and “accept” Christ. I think theLord understands children in this way. Afterwe moved to Tennessee, where I live now,I did not attend church at all. I started dat-ing my now husband (who I had no ideawho he was even though we went to thesame somewhat small high school andhad some of the same friends, our firstdate was a blind date, God sure works inmysterious ways, huh?). After dating for 3months we decided we wanted to get mar-ried and it was then that he told me that wecould not get married unless I acceptedChrist, he had been saved since he was achild. So, he took me to a a church that hisfamily went to which was a First Assemblyof God church. After the preacher invitedthose down to the front to accept Christ Iwent and a lady came to pray for me. Shespoke in tongues the whole time andscared me to death. I was even lookingbehind me to find a door out, needless tosay I did not accept Christ at that time. Onour way home that day I cried all the way.Chris (my boyfriend at the time and myhusband of 11 years) tried to comfort me asbest as he could. This type of church is theonly church that he had gone to growing upand he didn’t realize it would upset me so.

After explaining to me what had hap-pened and that the lady was very wrong inwhat she did, we went back again to thechurch and I accept the Lord. Since thenwe have attended churches of this nature,Pentecostal, Charismatic. There came atime about 5 years ago that we got verydisheartened and to be honest disgustedwith the way these churches were acting.So we decided to try some of the mainstream denominations and we did. Wetried Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, if itwas considered Christian we tried it. All inall what we have found is churches that aremore interested in numbers, money andpointing fingers. We did not see much love,true fellowship, and especially true Biblestudy. So my husband and I decided to

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stop attending an organized church andstudy at home. We live in a very small areaand there are plenty of churches, but wehave tried them all. I know that a church isnot suppose to be perfect, but what I haveseen and heard truly bordered on ridicu-lous. When you attend a church service ona Sunday night and there are only 6 peoplein attendance including you and yourspouse and you are all saved and thepreacher gets up and preaches on salva-tion, something is wrong. This type ofexperience has happened more than oncein our quest for a church.

As far as what I believe, I believe theBible, God’s Holy Word. I know that we are allhuman and we will disagree, but we shouldbe able to study together and learn what Godwants us to learn. So, for now we have decid-ed to do our studying at home. I love the Lordwith all my heart and I know that I am not per-fect, and I could even have wrong ideasabout churches, but from what I have seen inmy area, God can’t be too pleased.

I do not belong to any one denomina-tion (to be honest I think they are unscrip-tural anyway). I am a child of God andsaved by the blood of Jesus Christ. I amseeking truth where I can find it beginningwith the Word of God first and then to othermen and women of God. I am not bitter inanyway about my church experiences, I dowish I could find a fellowship that would puttheir energies into actually studying theBible. What churches are feeding their flockright now I fear will not get them through theend times to come. Well, I hope this helpsyou understand my religious backgroundas you requested. If you have anymorequestions or comments, do not hesitate toask. I love talking about the Lord anychance I get. Thank you so much for send-ing the publication that I requested.

—Melissa Barker, TennesseeRESPONSE: Thank you for this expla-

nation. If you would allow us to print it, Ithink many readers would find it interest-ing. —NSENEXT LETTER BY THE SAME PERSON:

August 18, 1999Hello in the Name of the Lord!!!

I just received my first issues ofServants’ News and Shelter in the Word twodays ago. I have read through several arti-cles and skimmed through the rest for now,I intend to read each one. I must say thatyou put out a lot of information and teaching,I really like that. I know nothing about theorganization of churches you belong to, ofwhich I became very confused while readingabout them. It sounds like you might justneed to start over. I guess this comes fromthe fact that I do not ascribe myself to any

one denomination. I feel like as trueChristians we should seek God’s face in allthings and study the scriptures for as muchas we can get until His return. From what Ihave been able to gather from your articles,you are also trying to do the same.

I sent to you a run down of my religiousbackground per your request a couple ofdays ago and I hope that you’ve had timeto read it. If I had to choose a particulardenomination that I have been a part of themost in the past it would be theCharismatic or Pentecostal denomination.So, to see your articles on this group wasvery good. In fact, my own mother-in-law isthe television production manager forKenneth Copeland Ministries in Fort Worth,TX. and has been for several years.

In closing, I would like to let you knowthat I would very much like to keep receiv-ing your publications and I look forward toreading them. May God Bless You, I lookforward to hearing from you soon.

In Christ’s Name,—Melissa Barker, Tennessee

RESPONSE: Thank you for reading andcommenting. I hope to print this letter ofyours also. It is very helpful to hear a sin-cere “outsider’s opinion”. The groupswhich have split off of the WorldwideChurch of God have been largely to them-selves for decades. Arguments and ideasthat we repeat often enough to ourselvessound so good, until someone asks simplequestions that we never thought to ask. Weare sending you some more literature thatwe hope you will find helpful.

—NSE

Y2K Not So Bad?LETTER: July 20, 1999Dear Norm and Pam,

While I was in a large traditionalChristian bookstore on Woodward nearwhere I live (Dickson’s), I ran into a displayof books dealing with the Y2K issue.

There was a very interesting one by awell-known anti-cultist, Dave Hunt, called“Y2K: A reasoned Response to MassHysteria” (Eugene, OR: Harvest House,1999). It is a book you should consider buy-ing or borrowing because it means it may bebest to pull back some from the relativelyhardline position you’ve upheld on the sub-ject. While I wouldn’t say it will be a mere“speed bump,” it might not be bad enough toeven inflict a recession on the USA if thisbook’s reasoned arguments are correct.You may wish to bring it to your readers’attention for “the other side,” because it runssome interesting figures about how quickfixes and automated solutions exist that can

much more quickly solve problems than(say) Gary North says when dealing withmillions of lines of code. The embeddedchip problem may also be badly overblown.This is a book worth hunting down, to saythe least. One wouldn’t want to end up in aminor version of the mess HWA did in 1972,namely, finding people complaining aboutmaking major financial decisions based onpredictions in The Servants’ News that don’tpan out, without (ahem) some “plausibledeniability.” I’m well aware you don’t agreewith (say) the extreme position that GaryNorth and other alarmists uphold, and youtry to low key things, a typical aspect of theSN style on almost all subjects when youwrite. But I think there are reasons to at leastbring the “optimists” case forward in yourpublication as a protective measure againstthe inevitable carping that may break forth inearly January if indeed nothing close to eco-nomic chaos occurs.

Sincerely,—Eric Snow, Michigan

[email protected]: I have not read the specific

book you have mentioned, but I have read anumber of writings stating that Y2K willnot be a major problem. These writingstend to follow the lines of the book youdescribe. They talk about automated meth-ods of fixing the problems. They talk aboutsuccessful tests. They talk about creativeways to recover from problems or bypassthem. All of these things are true and Ibelieve them. What they don’t talk about isconcrete statistics like: “90% of USA pow-erplants have been tested by setting theircomputers to Dec 31, 1999 and all of themworked correctly through the flip-over into2000”. The reason is that nobody has anysuch statistics that are based on reality. Ithas been shown that the NERC statistics arecompiled from “pre-written” reports thatwere sent from NERC to the utilities andthen returned. Furthermore, utilities can belisted as “compliant with exceptions”, anddo not have to state exactly what the excep-tions are. Anybody who wants to honestlywrite reports saying “Y2K will not be aproblem” would have to know how manypower plants are compliant and exactlywhat these “exceptions” are. Unless theyhave access to some secret, marvelouslypositive data that nobody else has, then theyhave no good reason to blindly claim that“all will go well”.

Not all industries have been like thepower industry—some appear better off,some appear worse. But there are preciousfew industries where all of the major com-panies are announcing that they are com-pliant right now. I have read about corpo-

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rations or government agencies whichannounce that all of their mission criticalsystems are compliant—and then beenamazed to see what they listed as “non-mission-critical”: safety systems, securitysystems, telephones, climate control, etc.Can you really run a business in the Northin the winter without heat or telephones?Is anyone filing reports or keeping statson “non-mission-critical” systems? Isthere any standard definition of a “non-mission-critical” system?

My own research from several sourcesindicates that a person whose job is pri-marily preparing a company or agency forY2K is twice as likely to be storing per-sonal emergency supplies as the averageman on the street. If Y2K is not going tobe a problem in this country, wouldn’t youthink that the computer people who aredoing the work would be the least likelyto store personal supplies?

The situation with Servants’ News andShelter in the Word will not be anything likethe situation with Herbert Armstrong andhis tribulation in 1972/1975. HerbertArmstrong’s authority for his predictionswas his interpretation of Bible prophecy.He was like so many hundreds of otherswho added up numbers and words from theBible and predicted the return of Christ intheir own lifetime. Armstrong had manyother failed predictions in the 30s, 40s and50s, but most of his followers (like myself)were not wise enough to locate and readabout these failures, but blindly believedHerbert Armstrong because he did teach somany good things and because he was thehead of such a “big work”. HerbertArmstrong never claimed that the Eternalspoke to him or in some way specificallyrevealed these prophecies to him. But he didtell people they should physically plan forit—so many did not financially plan for thefuture, did not make needed repairs to hous-es & equipment, skipped needed dentalwork, etc. Mr. Armstrong also told people tosend all the money they could to his work,rather than buying things for themselvesthat they wouldn’t be able to enjoy in a fewyears because of the Tribulation.

My advice for getting ready for Y2K isnot based on any specific Bible prophecy—only the clear Biblical truth that the Eternaloften has allowed sudden disaster to comeupon nations that do not obey Him. I advisethem to use their money as they best see fitto prepare for themselves and for others—inways which will not be a complete loss evenif Y2K does not significantly affect them. Ido not advise foolish financial decisions orimply that people will be spared by God ifthey send money to me (or any other min-

istry). I am not asking them to do anythingthat I am not doing myself. Did HerbertArmstrong sell his house or expensive fur-nishings in the late 60s because he wouldnot need them in the tribulation? No.

My writing about what will happen in theyear 2000 is based solidly on over 25 years ofcomputer programming with both main-frames and PCs. Large software systems thatare thoroughly tested still usually have a fewbugs when placed in production. If thesebugs turn out to be serious and not immedi-ately correctable, the solution is usually torevert back to the previous version of thesoftware. Getting the world’s software readyfor year 2000 is the largest software projectever, as well as the greatest hardware testingeffort ever. Unfortunately, there will be no“previous version” to revert to when Y2Kproblems occur. Those in charge of comput-ers will have to either fix them, replace them,or shut them down. If only a few percent ofcomputers fail, it will still be a major impacton the USA and the rest of the world.

Eric, you seem to be recommendingthat I print some stuff saying “Y2K won’tbe all that bad” to protect myself in case itisn’t. That is not what Servants’ News isabout. I do not write things to protectmyself from future complaints so Servants’News can continue. I don’t write articlesbased on what I think people would like tohear. When I wrote articles on Passover,Herbert Armstrong, and other subjects, Ithought that people would discontinue theirsubscriptions because of what I wrote—andsome did. I write because I believe God hasgiven me understanding in certain areas andthat I am supposed to share it with others. IfI am shown to be wrong in some majorway, then I will stop my publication. If Ican no longer take care of my family fromwhat I receive for publishing, then I willhave to stop it or cut it back drastically. ButI am going to write the truth as I understandit, not some mumbo-jumbo stuff that I canuse to claim “I was right” no matter whathappens. This practice is one of the majorproblems with political institutions and cor-porate religion that has created the mess weare in today.

—NSENEXT LETTER BY THE SAME PERSON:

August 8, 1999Dear Norm,

I give you credit for being willing to takea strong stand, and let the chips fall wherethey do. Hence, I understand why you don’twish to “hedge” yourself, or give ambiguousadvice that’s on both sides of the fence.However, I do believe you may run into thisproblem come January of 2000. If Y2Kturns out to be the proverbial “speed bump,”

at least within the U.S., some may emailyou and complain about spending (say)$1000 on a (now almost) useless generatoror stockpile of food based on what the“Servants’ News” or “Shelter in the Word”published. I assume you would reply, well,based on my professional judgment at thetime, that seemed to be a wise precautionand good insurance, but I admit it was amistake based on current events, etc., etc.I understand the differences you makebetween HWA and 1972 and your ownadvice about Y2K.

One difference may not be as great asyou believe, in that I doubt it was HWA him-self who said to (say) not get dental workdone because the end is nigh, or sell yourhouse, etc., but people let themselves getworked up and nobody in the paid ministrystopped them from doing these things (orperhaps, actively encouraged them). Somepeople may do more drastic things basedon what is in the Servants’ News or Shelterin the Word than you would want them to,such as moving to a remote rural area.

But given the above, I would like you tojoin me in making some predictions aboutthe year 2000. It’s my prediction now thatthe American unemployment rate will notexceed 8% in that year, and no more than1-2% of the electrical grid will be down formore than a week due to the Y2K bug inthe U.S. I’d like to hear your specific pre-dictions of how bad things will be. If webelieve Gary North (and I know you neednot agree with him at all), it will be far worsethan the Great Depression. If we all aregoing to have to become subsistence farm-ers again, then the unemployment rate inhis scenario will surely exceed 75%. So, doyou believe, for example, it will rise to (say)the Great Depression’s height of 25%?The reason why in part I’m feeling confi-dent is that the Detroit Edison Spokesmanin a recent Detroit News article really was-n’t hedging any. He merely said we expectto have power, but there will be extra per-sonnel on hand in case anything does hap-pen. It was definitely a less hedged state-ment than (say) the one you quoted fromConsumers Power in the SN or Shelter inthe Word. This article was interesting forshowing how much money various largeMichigan Corporations were spending onY2K, such as GM was spending $600 mil-lion, Consumers Energy $30 million, andDetroit Edison, $65 million. Ford wasspending something like $400 million.

I know not all of what Gary North hassaid has proven true. For example, he waspredicting that since 99 means “end of run”in older main frames, we would start hav-ing crashes in late 1998 of various state

Jul/Aug 1999

SERVANTS’ NEWS

government or business computersbecause of when their fiscal years endedand started. Needless to say, nothing hap-pened that I’ve noticed.

It’s not that I haven’t done some prepa-ration myself, such as buying a lot ofcanned food from Aldi’s beyond what I nor-mally have. I bought a kerosene heater forabout $100 and even a cheap inverter forabout $40. (That’s an interesting gadget—I never heard of them before they werementioned in the Shelter in the Word articleon Y2K). It’s not as if, as you yourselfobserve, this stuff is by any means use-less. For example, if the power goes out inwinter for any reason, Y2K or not, it wouldbe good to have a source of heat indepen-dent of a utility since I know the natural gasfurnace in my house has a blower and ther-mostat powered by electricity. If the powergoes out, regardless of what natural gas Ihave, there’s no heat besides the old ghet-to trick of leaving the oven open and on.But, despite I’ve made some preparations(alas! going into debt to do so, due to mydismal self-inflicted financial situation), I’vebecome more convinced that not manymore are necessary.

So, again, I understand where you’recoming from, and that you have profession-al expertise in this area I most certainlydon’t have. But, then again, I’m reminded ofthe thesis of John Henry Newman’s “TheIdea of a University,” which describes howpeople who are experts in various areastend to take their expertise or professionaldiscipline’s principles into areas where theyare inapplicable or incorrect. The solution,for him, was to set up a situation where theexperts are gathered together into one insti-tution where their tendencies to outrun theirboundaries are restrained by the experts inother fields catching them, and serving andchecks and balances. In the field of medi-cine, for example, there are reasons tobelieve the experts don’t always get thingsright. We shall see if this proves to be trueabout Y2K as well.

Sincerely,—Eric Snow, Michigan

[email protected]: Herbert Armstrong did

accept, even encourage, people to take outloans on their homes and send it into “thework”. He encouraged people who could notgive to loan “the Work” money, then laterasked them to turn it into a gift. He did dis-courage people from buying things for them-selves because the “tribulation would be herein a few years, anyway”. You are right thathis ministers probably went beyond what hesaid, and I don’t know how much he knewabout it. If Mr. Armstrong were aware that

his ministers were scaring members intogreater contributions with prophetic state-ments, then he is responsible for not restrain-ing them. I do not have that problem becauseI do not have ministers whom I control in anyway. If you walk up so someone, hand thema Shelter in the Word, say, “Y2K is going tobe bad, buy this $10,000 generator orfreeze”—that person should be able to tellthat you are representing yourself and not me.

I think your Y2K preparations are quitesound. They take care of your basic needs.You are single, flexible, and could go some-where else for a while if necessary (to anarea that is not experiencing as many prob-lems if your area is). A person with his ownsupply of food would probably be welcomein a number of households or relief places. Iwould not encourage you to buy all kinds ofexpense stuff to power your house—that isexpensive for one person.

Gary North was predicting mainframeproblems due to false “end of files” in 1999.This is where his lack of computer expertiseis a factor. There have been such glitches,and there are likely to be more on 9/9/99.However, most of these never reach the pub-lic. The kinds of programs that would fail are“batch” systems that run overnight, not “on-line” systems. What happens? The program-mers immediately get to work on the prob-lem and fix it—it is not too difficult. Theymay be a day late putting statements in themail, but they do not have to tell anybody.

All of the truly difficult problems will nothit until very close to 2000 where there sim-ply is not room in some systems to adequate-ly store the date. Also, some date calculationswill fail, producing negative numbers or erro-neous numbers. These are many times hard-er to fix than the “end of file” problem. Also,you must realize that most automated deci-sions that have major impact are based onpresent or past, not future events—whichalways have some uncertainty. This is espe-cially true with embedded chips. Powerplantsare rarely automatically shut down oraccounts are rarely automatically closedbecause of something planned to take placesome number of days into the future. But ifan automated fire protection system erro-neously concludes that none of its heat sen-sors have returned a reading for the past 100years, it may turn on the sprinklers every-where. This could be messy and expensive.

Problems are occurring, though. I haveexperienced more banking and billing errorsin the last 2 years than I have in the last 20. Inone case, $10,000s of dollars were added tomy account, only to be taken out a few dayslater. When I have called to correct errors, theoverworked-sounding customer service peo-ple sometimes knew the exact nature of the

problem even before I told them who I was orwhat I was calling about. This is a sure signof a computer problem where some aspect ofprocessing was consistently wrong for a largenumber of people.

It does not make sense to me to make pre-dictions of unemployment or grid operationalpercentages. Nobody has the data. Rightnow, I believe the high employment now ispartly due to people and governments gettingready for Y2K. Because of the seriousness,businesses are going into savings, if neces-sary, to buy extra supplies and make sure thatnecessary work is done. This high employ-ment could continue into 2000 to fix Y2Kproblems, or it could backfire—muchdepends upon government policy and theattitude of people (largely steered by TV).

There is no doubt that many people willbuy generators and other things that theywill not use. On the other hand, there arepeople who have used their Y2K genera-tors during summer power outages. Lastnight, we were out of the inexpensivehealth-food soup that we buy in Lansing.So, we pulled some out of the Y2K supply,and will more than replenish it next timewe are at the store. We can get it nearby, butit costs more. Having extra supplies can bea money saver at times. I think there is ahigh likelihood of other disasters during thenext few years, for which Y2K prepara-tions will be very helpful.

—NSE

Leave WCG, Find New InformationLETTER: July 8, 1999Dear Norm,

[paragraph about e-mail address delet-ed]

In answer to your question, my husbandwas baptized in 1974 and I in 1981. Prior toour baptism into the name of the Father,Son and Holy Spirit I was a Methodist whowas merely sprinkled and he was an atheis-tic Catholic dabbling in Rosecrucian. Wejust left the ‘New Worldwide Church of God’because we realize that what is finally beingsaid and that took a while to understandbecause of the innuendos and deceits andfinger pointing, that Joe Jr. is not only not thetrue head of the church, but is espousing thesame lies that the Methodist church was try-ing to convince me were true. God is not atrinity, the law is not done away so weChristians can just do as we please, the holydays and the true 7th day Sabbath are sanc-tified and set apart for our purpose andeverything found in the Bible is true andinspired of God as is, without embellishmentfrom mankind. We have returned to the KJVas the best English translation that we have

Jul/Aug 1999

SERVANTS’ NEWS

and have left this church led by Satan to bea part of a growing number of Living RoomChurches of God. We are happier in ourworship than for many years in the corpo-rate system. I finally understand thanks toyour web site what the real and true mean-ing of Nicolaitanes is and many other things.I do wish to be placed on your regular mail-ing list and I have received some of the backissues that you have promised especiallythe issues pertaining to HWA.

Please see the attachments to see a let-ter forwarded to me that I am personallysending to many of my church friends. Mr.Joe is not going to allow Sabbath keeping(many think he will relent and permit them toworship freely, but this letter proves other-wise) for very much longer and so there willbe many more of us who will need healing.It [the attachment] was forwarded to meregarding the meeting that took place inearly June with the so-called undergroundWCGers of about 100 or so brothers andsisters with Joe Tkach Jr. asking to be per-mitted to worship God freely during the HolyDays and Sabbaths, but Joe’s originalremarks were sympathetic, but later he dis-fellowshipped them all with no apologies, Hesaid that their statement of beliefs was vileto him. So much for loyalty and truth.

Mr. Fred Coulter has been sending mecare packages of healing after I learned ofhim on your web site. His material has beena God send and we thank him profusely. Idownloaded nearly all of your articles andalthough some may be not quite right doctri-nally, Carl Franklin’s articles were well done.My only request is that the authors alwaysput page numbers on them as we can’t editmost of them and to copy them is a night-mare when the document is a long one.

I did not realize there was a controver-sy of Sacred Names, but after readingCarl’s work I see some are stuck on this tothe point of not seeing the love of that Godwhose names they cherish so much. Let’slook at the forest not just the trees. For uswho have just left WCG, the idea of gettingbogged down in non basic doctrine is atime wasting effort. Let us just realize thatthere are more important fish to fry andtime is surely running out. We thank Godeveryday that our eyes are now open andour lamps are being trimmed and hopeful-ly we have enough oil to get us through thisnext few years of bad news.

Fred has brought to our attention howfast the world is coming together to form aone world religion and one world govern-ment. Another web site although not put outby Sabbatarians is worth looking into. It isthe URL address:http://watch.pair.com.Nearly all of the secret societies and other

organizations one needs to be aware of arelisted on that site with reports of their morerecent activities. I am sick to death of theUCG. GCG, and other CoG infighting andone sided thinking that they are better whenin fact they all have much repenting to do.God is on time and the bridegroom nears hisreturn. Be ready I pray and thank you foryour efforts. Another site that helped uswhen we were starving to death, was thesite in Stewarton Scotland. It is at URLwww.rmplc.co.uk/eduweb/sites/sbs777. Mr.Loughran is somewhat in need of learningsome things, but the basics he does havedown and is good for the high school edu-cated person. He does not get into the intel-lectual eschatology and other philosophicaldebates and teaches on the basics as foundin the Bible, KJV. If one stops worrying aboutall the “cemetery” (seminary) education andtheir big words and gets to the basics of theBible as taught by the Holy Spirit then onecan get back on track. Most of these semi-nary trained people, including Ambassadorgraduates) do not show that they are beingled by the Holy Spirit and let their ego andvanity lead the sheep astray. And if they arenot being led by God’s Holy Spirit they aredead and in need of a real cemetery. Howcan the dead lead the living?

Thank you for your efforts in bringingus a wide array of ideas that among themcan be found the truth and when you seethat someone is abusing the truth, youhave the courage to black list them as youdid with one of your people recently. I havenot kept up with the politics or the Who’sWho of the several Churches of God anddo not need to know other than to knowwho is telling what God wants us to hearand not what they want us to hear.

Thank you again,—Charlotte A. Grantham, Ohio

(soon to be disfellowshipped, I supposewe quit so they can’t fire us.)

RESPONSE: Thank you for sharing yourstory. It is good that you are seeing yourown responsiblity to find and do theEternal’s will in your life, rather than letthe leader of one Church organization do itfor you. However, we are sure that you arefinding that once you begin looking atmany sources, you will see that some con-flict with others, and some turn out to benot quite reliable all of the time. (I can’tendorse every source that you mentioned.)Nevertheless, you are better off with amind open to hard-to-find truth, than onelocked into certain error.

—NSENEXT LETTER BY THE SAME PERSON:

July 31, 1999Dear Norm,

Sure I am glad that you thought mythoughts worthy of publication. We receiveda letter from Joe [Tkach] before this groupmet with them concerning the keeping of theSabbath and Holy Days and told me whenasked a WWJD (What Would Jesus Do?)question. I asked if Jesus were to come backtoday which day would he keep as a worshipday, Saturday or Sunday? He replied that (Iam paraphrasing here) he hoped he wouldnot shock me when he said that Jesus wouldsurely keep Sunday since that was the daythat everyone else in this society is keeping.I was not only shocked and angry, but thelight began to dawn right then and there andI refused to go back to that organization. Wequit paying our offerings to them and begankeeping Sabbath Day worship at home. Sofar, although several understand the impor-tance of this move, have not joined us. Wepray that they too will make that move, but itis in God’s hands.

But yes you may certainly publish theletter and if you like this follow-up messageto you. And I do thank you for sending usto Fred. His tapes and literature are justwhat the confused brethren need, to heal.

When our Lord and Master returns, wecan be assured that all of these little splin-ters will be put back together again as longas they continue in their faith to God andJesus Christ. This had to be done in orderto protect us as it was allowed in the earlyChurch when they fled Jerusalem andwent to the uttermost parts of the worldtaking their way of life with them.

Thank you for your work also, God willbless you as you continue in His will.

Love in Jesus Christ.—Charlotte and Ken Grantham, OhioRESPONSE: Thank you for sharing your

story. I know Fred Coulter (PO Box 1442;Hollister, California 95024-1442; 831-637-1875) deeply studies the Bible for his writ-ings and speacking in a way that most cor-porate church leaders do not. I don’t agreewith all of his conclusions, but then he doesnot agree with all of mine either. I wouldhope that Mr. Coulter would work withother indpendent Sabbatarians more. Hespecifically asked me not to list his Feastsites in Servants’ News—he seems to dis-courage those in his group from fellowship-ping with those that have doctrinal differ-ences. But at least he does not “disfellow-ship” people for studying other things. FredCoulter has certainly helped many peoplewho have left the WCG.

No teacher is perfect, and I believe thatthe Eternal steers the people who are seek-ing Him to the teachers that are strong inwhat they need at the time.

—NSE Jul/Aug 1999

SERVANTS’ NEWS

Christians and Jews been victims ofcensorship of true Scripture inspired bythe Eternal? Is the Old Testament anincomplete document, which would beimproved by the addition of the Bookof Enoch and others like it which pur-port to be written by the patriarchs andprophets? Does the New Testamentcontain just a fraction of the authentic,divinely-inspired material availableabout the life and teachings of Jesusand the acts of His Apostles both beforeand after His death?

A num-ber of arti-cles andtapes circu-

lating inSabbatarian cir-

cles in recent yearshave begun makingstrong claims for

some of what arecalled the “Non-

Canonical Books”.Sermons and writings

use material from some ofthese books to “prove” various doctri-nal, prophetic, and historical points.Have you wondered if you shouldinvestigate these claims, perhaps buy anumber of these books for your owntheological library?

It is not our intent in this article tocover the topic of how the current col-lection of 66 books in our Bible werechosen and “canonized”, as that is acomplex topic in itself. The word“canon” is derived from a Greek wordrelated to the concept of a measuringstick. There are a certain set of bookswhich have been almost universallyrecognized over the past 2,000 years asbeing authentic writings, inspired byGod Himself, of the patriarchs,prophets, Apostles of Jesus, or theirimmediate co-workers. This set hasbecome the “canon”—the measuringstick—against which other writings areevaluated. If such writings are at vari-ance with the content of those “canoni-cal books”, they are evaluated as notbeing worthy being considered“inspired by God” in the same way. Wemay cover in a future issue of Servants’News or Shelter in the Word the processwhereby the current canon of scripturewas arrived at.

In this article, we offer a brief

overview of this class of “non-canoni-cal” literature so that you may under-stand some of the issues involved inthis question. We are not suggestingyou should avoid these books, or beignorant of their existence and contents.But we will provide an evaluation ofthe contents of some which you maywish to take into consideration if youstudy other literature based on thesenon-canonical books.

Non-canonical books are typicallydivided into two large categories:

Pseudepigrapha and Apocrypha

The PseudepigraphaThis word is derived from the Greek

words “pseudes” (false) and “epigra-phien” (to inscribe). It means thosewritings which are attributed falsely toa famous person. There is a collectionof writings, mostly dated from 200 BCto 200 AD, which, by their titles,appear to be written by patriarchs orprophets or Apostles. But almost allscholars admit that these names were“assumed” by the real authors to givecredibility to their writings. This doesnot mean that all scholars agree that thematerial in the books was not inspiredby God. For there is in some circles thenotion that this using of a “pseudonym”in ancient times was acceptable prac-tice, and that perhaps God evenapproved of it.

The ApocryphaThis word comes from a Greek

word meaning “hidden”. It is particu-larly used to describe a collection ofbooks written in Hebrew or Aramaicfrom about 300 BC to 100 AD, andincluded in some Bibles, includingCatholic versions of the Bible, as a sup-plement to the Old Testament. Thesebooks were never accepted as “canoni-cal” by the Jews, but were popular assupplementary reading in many Jewishcircles outside of Palestine. Andalthough they are included in someChristian Bibles, it is usually noted inthe accompanying commentary thatthey were not accepted as of the samelevel of “inspiration” as the canonicalbooks. Rather, they are included forother reasons, such as providing histor-ical details of the period between thetime of the Book of Malachi and thebirth of Jesus. For instance, the first andsecond books of Maccabees are consid-

ered by most scholars to be accuratehistorical accounts.

In addition to the “special” use ofthe word Apocrypha to designate thosebooks mentioned above, the word isalso used in a broad way to cover awide variety of non-canonical booksthat purport to consist of hidden infor-mation not found in the canonicalbooks.

Some sample titles of OldTestament pseudepigraphical or apoc-ryphal books are:

First Esdras, Fourth Ezra, Tobit,Judith, Additions to Esther, TheWisdom of Solomon, Sirach, Baruch,Letter of Jeremiah, Prayer of Azariah,Daniel and Susanna, Bel and theDragon, The Prayer of Manasseh,Maccabees 1-4, Psalm 151, The Bookof Jubilees, The Books of Adam andEve, The Martyrdom of Isaiah, variousversions of a “Book of Enoch”, TheApocalypse of Adam, The Testament ofAbraham, The Book of Jasher.

New Testament non-canonical“gospels” include ones purportedlywritten by Thomas (including onecalled the “Infancy Gospel of Thomas”which claims to reveal stories about theyouth of Jesus), James, MaryMagdalene, Nicodemus, Bartholomew,Peter and Philip.

New Testament “Apocalypses”(books claiming to be prophetic revela-tions) include those purporting to beattached to famous New Testamentpeople like Peter, Paul, James, Stephen,Thomas, and Mary the mother of Jesus.

The Book of JasherOne particularly popular book in

some Sabbatarian circles in recentyears is the Book of Jasher. It wouldappear from the articles and sermonswhich quote this book that its populari-ty has been particularly related to theway in which it purports to add detailsto the obscure Biblical reference inGenesis about the “sons of God” whotook wives of the “daughters of men”.The Book of Jasher boldly describesthis in great detail as the actual physicalintercourse between supernaturalbeings—fallen angels—and humanwomen.

The Book of Jasher was somemonths ago used by a Sabbatarianteacher to establish some historicalpoints that could never be derived from

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the Biblical chronology. The sameteacher has also used the book to spec-ulate on the issue of the Genesis storymentioned above. As a result, a numberof people have written rebuttals ques-tioning the validity of using the Bookof Jasher.

Below we share some excerpts fromone such article, “The Book of JasherDebunked”, by Loyd Hohertz. If youfind this topic of interest and wish toread the entire article, you may contacthim at: Loyd Hohertz; 1479 ValenciaAve.; Pasadena, CA 91104.

Following are a few other inter-esting statements made by the Bookof Jasher:

1. An angel tells Enoch that he isto be taken to heaven to rule overthe sons of God (Jasher 3:23).

2. The Book of Jasher statesthat Abraham was reared by Noahand Shem for many years and yetfor a while he worshipped the sun asGod (Jasher 9:11-14).

3. The builders of the Tower ofBabel shot arrows from its top andall the arrows fell back covered withblood. So they said, “Surely we haveslain all those that are in heaven”(Jasher 9:29).

4. Abraham placed meat in frontof his father’s idols thinking perhapsthey might eat (Jasher 11:29).

5. During the time that Abrahamwas on his way to sacrifice Isaac,Satan turns himself into a largebrook and almost drowns Abrahamand Isaac (Jasher 13:34)…

7. Rebecca marries Isaac whenshe is only ten years old (Jasher24:39). God directed Abraham's’servant in finding Rebecca as abride for Isaac, and the entireepisode [in the Bible] depicts her asa grown woman (Genesis 24).Nowhere in the Bible do you findGod promoting child marriages!

8. Animals are described that,from the middle down, are the shapeof men, but the top half, are likebears and other animals. Some hadtails that reached from their upperback to the ground (Jasher 36:32)…

15. During the time that theEgyptians were killing the maleIsraelite newborns, the Israelitewomen were delivering their babies

in the fields. The Israelite womenwould leave their male babies in thefield, and God took care of them.God gave the babies a rock in eachhand. From the one rock theysucked milk, from the other rockthey sucked honey. God ordered theearth to receive the babies until theywere full grown, at which time theyreturned to their families (Jasher67:54-59)…

20. When the Egyptians lockedtheir doors to keep the insects andbeasts out, God ordered theSulanath which was in the sea, tocome up and go into Egypt. This ani-mal took the roofs off the housesand with its 15 foot long armsremoved the locks and bolts fromthe door so the beasts and insectscould come into the houses.

21. The Israelites fight theEgyptians and give them a severebeating before crossing the Red Sea(Jasher 81:17). This is completelycontrary to the Bible (Exodus 14:10-14)…

These are only some of the“gems” to be found in the Book ofJasher. A close scrutiny reveals thatmost of the statements in the Bookof Jasher are fraudulent, and addi-tionally many of them are ridiculous,absurd, ludicrous, and preposter-ous. And, most of its statements thatseem plausible, based upon asuperficial reading, can easily bedisproved with a conscientious com-parison with those from the Bible.Under these circumstances, whywould anyone be tempted to accepton blind faith any statements fromthe Book of Jasher that mightappear credible, even if they cannotreadily be disproved by the Bible?Why are some people so willing toignore the simple statements of theBible and its overall character struc-ture and yet are so willing to eager-ly and fervently grasp onto decep-tive, confusing, and surreal paganfables?

So, is Jasher a book of pricelessknowledge and insight that is neces-sary reading in order to fully under-stand the Bible, as proclaimed byProphecy Flash [a Sabbatariannewsletter available from PO Box292; Altadena, CA 91003] or is it apseudospiritual book that misleads,

distorts, perverts, and preventsproper understanding of the Bible? Itis very important to know which isthe truth!

The Book of EnochAnother popular book among some

in COG circles is The Book of Enochthe Prophet. Again, this book also con-tains a description of the “fallenangels” marrying human women andbearing evil offspring. And it appearsthat this is one of the primary reasonssome use it as documentation.Unfortunately, many such authors andspeakers then take the topic one stepfurther and declare that these offspringwere the ancestors of one or more racialgroups on earth today, usually includ-ing Jews and Blacks.

We are quite aware that Jude 1:14quotes a prophecy of Enoch and thatthis prophecy is recorded in the Book ofEnoch. Also, Old Testament eventsinvolving Enoch are nearly alldescribed in great detail in the non-canonical book. But are these signs oflegitimacy, or are these signs that some-one was going out of their way to try tomake this book “look legitimate”?

On the other hand, there are sectionsof the Book of Enoch that do not paral-lel any biblical account—and they doappear very different fromn any Biblepassages. Judge for yourself from thefollowing sample passages and com-pare them to your knowledge of theBible:

3 A cloud then snatched me[Enoch] up, and the wind raised meup at the extremity of the heavens.4 There I saw another vision; I sawthe habitations and couches of thesaints. There my eyes beheld theirhabitations with the angels, andtheir couches with the holy ones.They were entreating, supplicating,and praying for the sons of men;while righteousness like waterflowed before them, and mercy likedew was scattered over the earth.And thus shall it be with them forever and for ever (Enoch 39:3-4).

The following is an excerpt from atotally contrived symbolic “prediction”of the history of the world, supposedlygiven to Enoch, covering the time fromAdam to Christ, using the symbolism of

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cows and other animals. The translatorof the version from which we quotesupplied the supposed “Biblical” refer-ences in parenthesis, below, to “vali-date” this “vision”. Quoting from“Enoch”, chapter 84:

1 After this I saw another dream,and explained it all to thee, my son.Enoch arose and said to his sonMathusalah: To thee, my son, will Ispeak. Hear my word; and inclinethine ear to the visionary dream ofthy father. Before I married thymother Edna, I saw a vision on mybed; 2 And beheld a cow sprungforth from the earth (cattle a symbolof mankind—Ezek. 34:22); 3 Andthis cow was white (white=right-eous—Rev. 19:8) 4 And afterwards afemale heifer sprung forth; and withit another heifer; one of them wasblack and one was red. 5 The blackheifer then struck the red one, andpursued it over the earth (Cain killedAbel). 6 From that period I could seenothing more of the red heifer; butthe black one increased in bulk, anda female heifer came with him (Cainmarried Sister Aswan). 7 After this Isaw that many cows proceededforth, resembling him and followingafter him. 8 The first female youngone also went out in the presence ofthe first cow; and sought the redheifer; but found him not. 9 And shelamented with a great lamentation,while she was seeking him. 10 ThenI looked until that first cow came toher, from which time she becamesilent, and ceased to lament.11 Afterwards she calved anotherwhite cow (Seth). 12 And againcalved many cows and blackheifers. 13 In my sleep also I per-ceived a white bull, which in likemanner grew, and became a largewhite bull. 14 After him many whitecows came forth, resembling him. 15

And they began to calve many otherwhite cows, which resembled themand followed each other (Noah’sfamily) (Enoch 84:1-15).

Chapter 85:

1 Again I looked with my eyes,while sleeping, and surveyed heav-en above. 2 And behold a single starfell from heaven (fallen angels).

3 Which being raised up, ate and fedamong those cows. 4 After that, I per-ceived other large and black cows;and beheld all of them changed theirstalls and pastures, while theiryoung began to lament one withanother. Again I looked in my visionand surveyed heaven; when behold Isaw many stars which descended,and projected themselves fromheaven to where the first star was(Gen. 6:1-6). 5 Into the midst of thoseyoung ones; while the cows werewith them, feeding in the midst ofthem. 6 I looked and observed them;when behold, they all protruded theirparts of shame like horses, andbegan to ascend the young cows, allof whom became pregnant, andbrought forth elephants, camels andasses. 7 At these all the cows werealarmed and terrified; when theybegan biting with their teeth, swal-lowing and striking with their horns. 8They began also to devour the cows;and behold all the children of theearth trembled, shook with terror atthem, and suddenly fled away(Enoch 25:1-8).

This kind of nonsense goes on forten more pages. There is no attempt to“interpret” the dream. It is just left tothe reader to do what the translatordid—be amazed at how “accurate” theprediction was. We leave it to ourreaders to evaluate how this com-pares with the predictive visions inthe Bible, and whether or not this bookwas actually written as anciently as itclaims to be.

Here is a description of the birth ofNoah, from near the end of the book:

1 After days, my son Mathusalahtook a wife for his son Lamech (Lk.3:36-38). 2 She became pregnant byhim, and brought forth a child, theflesh of which was white as snowand red as a rose; the hair of whosehead was white like wool, and long;and whose eyes ere beautiful. Whenhe opened them, he illuminated thewhole house, like the sun; the wholehouse abounded in light. 3 And whenhe was taken from the hand of themidwife, opening also his mouth, hespoke of the Lord of righteousness.Then Lamech his father was afraidof him; and flying away came to his

own father Mathusalah, and said: Ihave begotten a son, a changedson. He is not human; but resem-bling the offspring of the angels ofheaven, is of a different nature fromours, being altogether unlike to us.4 His eyes are bright as the rays ofthe sun; his countenance glorious,and he looks not as if he belongedto me, but to the angels.

Infancy Gospel of ThomasThe kind of fabulous yet pointless

claims made above for Noah at his birthalso show up in some of the NewTestament non-canonical books. Hereare some samples from the InfancyGospel of Thomas:

The stories of Thomas theIsraelite, the Philosopher, concern-ing the works of the Childhood of theLord.

I. I, Thomas the Israelite, tellunto you, even all the brethren thatare of the Gentiles, to make knownunto you the works of the childhoodof our Lord Jesus Christ and hismighty deeds, even all that he didwhen he was born in our land:whereof the beginning is thus:

II. 1 This little child Jesus whenhe was five years old was playing atthe ford of a brook: and he gatheredtogether the waters that flowedthere into pools, and made themstraightway clean, and commandedthem by his word alone. 2 And hav-ing made soft clay, he fashionedthereof twelve sparrows. And it wasthe Sabbath when he did thesethings (or made them). And therewere also many other little childrenplaying with him.

3 And a certain Jew when he sawwhat Jesus did, playing upon theSabbath day, departed straightwayand told his father Joseph: Lo, thychild is at the brook, and he hathtaken clay and fashioned twelve lit-tle birds, and hath polluted theSabbath day. 4 And Joseph came tothe place and saw: and cried out tohim, saying: Wherefore doest thouthese things on the Sabbath, whichit is not lawful to do? But Jesusclapped his hands together andcried out to the sparrows and said tothem: Go! and the sparrows tooktheir flight and went away chirping.

Jul/Aug 1999

SERVANTS’ NEWS5 and when the Jews saw it theywere amazed, and departed andtold their chief men that which theyhad seen Jesus do.

III. 1 But the son of Annas thescribe was standing there withJoseph; and he took a branch of awillow and dispersed the waterswhich Jesus had gathered together.2 And when Jesus saw what wasdone, he was wroth and said untohim: O evil, ungodly, and foolishone, what hurt did the pools and thewaters do thee? behold, now alsothou shalt be withered like a tree,and shalt not bear leaves, neitherroot, nor fruit. 3 And straightway thatlad withered up wholly, but Jesusdeparted and went unto Joseph’shouse. But the parents of him thatwas withered took him up, bewailinghis youth, and brought him toJoseph, and accused him ‘for thatthou hast such a child which doethsuch deeds.’

IV. 1 After that again he wentthrough the village, and a child ranand dashed against his shoulder.And Jesus was provoked and saidunto him: Thou shalt not finish thycourse (lit. go all thy way). Andimmediately he fell down and died.But certain when they saw what wasdone said: Whence was this youngchild born, for that every word of hisis an accomplished work? And theparents of him that was dead cameunto Joseph, and blamed him, say-ing: Thou that hast such a childcanst not dwell with us in the village:or do thou teach him to bless and notto curse: for he slayeth our children.

V. 1 And Joseph called the youngchild apart and admonished him,saying: Wherefore doest thou suchthings, that these suffer and hate usand persecute us? But Jesus said: Iknow that these thy words are notthine: nevertheless for thy sake I willhold my peace: but they shall beartheir punishment. And straightwaythey that accused him were smittenwith blindness. 2 And they that saw itwere sore afraid and perplexed, andsaid concerning him that every wordwhich he spake whether it weregood or bad, was a deed, andbecame a marvel. And when they(he ?) saw that Jesus had so done,Joseph arose and took hold upon

his ear and wrung it sore. 3 And theyoung child was wroth and said untohim: It sufficeth thee (or them) toseek and not to find, and verily thouhast done unwisely: knowest thounot that I am thine? vex me not.

Do these passages from this “lostbook of the Bible” line up with whatyou know of the character of JesusChrist? Or do they paint Jesus as a car-nal person who has to “get back at hisenemies”? Does the Bible indicateJesus drew great attention to himselfwith miracles as a youngster? Or did heshun public miracles until his “time hadcome”? (John 2:4).

The Gospel of ThomasThe Gospel of Thomas is another

non-canonical book (unrelated to theInfancy Gospel of Thomas describedabove). This purported “gospel” isunlike the canonical Gospels—it doesnot give a chronological description ofthe life of Jesus. It rather claims to be acollection of His sayings. Some are thesame or similar to sayings in the canon-ical Gospels. But there are a numberwhich are either at variance with whatis said in those Gospels, present a muchdifferent view of the thinking of Jesus,or are almost ridiculously obscure, withno attempt to give any kind of meaningto the parables offered.

Sample excerpts from the Gospel ofThomas:

7 Jesus said, “Lucky is the lionthat the human will eat, so that thelion becomes human. And foul is thehuman that the lion will eat, and thelion still will become human.”

12 The disciples said to Jesus,“We know that you are going toleave us. Who will be our leader?”Jesus said to them, “No matterwhere you are you are to go toJames the Just, for whose sakeheaven and earth came into being.”

13 Jesus said to his disciples,“Compare me to something and tellme what I am like.”

Simon Peter said to him, “Youare like a just messenger.”

Matthew said to him, “You arelike a wise philosopher.”

Thomas said to him, “Teacher,my mouth is utterly unable to say

what you are like.”Jesus said, “I am not your

teacher. Because you have drunk,you have become intoxicated fromthe bubbling spring that I have tend-ed.”

And he took him, and withdrew,and spoke three sayings to him.When Thomas came back to hisfriends they asked him, “What didJesus say to you?”

Thomas said to them, “If I tellyou one of the sayings he spoke tome, you will pick up rocks and stoneme, and fire will come from the rocksand devour you.”

18 The disciples said to Jesus,“Tell us, how will our end come?”

Jesus said, “Have you found thebeginning, then, that you are lookingfor the end? You see, the end will bewhere the beginning is.

Congratulations to the one whostands at the beginning: that one willknow the end and will not tastedeath.”

22 Jesus saw some babies nurs-ing. He said to his disciples, “Thesenursing babies are like those whoenter the kingdom.”

They said to him, “Then shall weenter the kingdom as babies?”

Jesus said to them, “When youmake the two into one, and whenyou make the inner like the outerand the outer like the inner, and theupper like the lower, and when youmake male and female into a singleone, so that the male will not bemale nor the female be female,when you make eyes in place of aneye, a hand in place of a hand, afoot in place of a foot, an image inplace of an image, then you willenter [the kingdom].”

The Bible does contain many deepparables and analogies of Jesus, but themeaning is nearly always explained,either in context or elsewhere. Theabove stories seem like a combinationof Mystery Religion ideas, oriental phi-losophy and wild human imaginationwritten down and falsely labeled truth.

Book of TobitThere are so many of these pseude-

pigraphical and apocryphal books thatJul/Aug 1999

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we cannot possibly give excerpts fromeven a small percentage of them. So inconclusion, here is one sample from theBook of Tobit which is part of theApocrypha.

1 Now as they proceeded on theirway they came at evening to theTigris river and camped there. 2 Thenthe young man went down to washhimself. A fish leaped up from theriver and would have swallowed theyoung man; 3 and the angel said tohim, “Catch the fish.” So the youngman seized the fish and threw it upon the land. 4 Then the angel said tohim, “Cut open the fish and take theheart and liver and gall and put themaway safely.” 5 So the young man didas the angel told him; and theyroasted and ate the fish.

And they both continued on theirway until they came near toEcbatana. 6 Then the young mansaid to the angel, “Brother Azarias,of what use is the liver and heartand gall of the fish?” 7 He replied,“As for the heart and liver, if ademon or evil spirit gives trouble toany one, you make a smoke fromthese before the man or woman,and that person will never be trou-bled again. 8 And as for the gall,anoint with it a man who has whitefilms in his eyes, and he will becured.”

There is nothing here about thepower of God to defeat the evil spirit,only a ritual. Occult and witchcraftbooks are full of these kinds ofrecipes—but not the Bible!

Common Problems with MostSome people will still say, “the

Bible contains many things that aremiraculous or hard to understand, sowhy shouldn’t we look at these otherbooks with miracles and things ‘hard tounderstand’?” The answer lies in thepurpose of these “deep” and miraculousthings. The Bible always has the under-lying purpose to teach people to lovethe Eternal and love their neighbor.

Pseudepigraphical and Apocryphalbooks nearly always deviate from theBible in one or more of these ways:

1. Many contain astounding“miracles” that seem to do nothing butmake a big show. There is no effort to

show that the miracles convict peopleof the power of the Eternal, as the mir-acles delivering Israel from Egypt did.There is no record that people repentedbecause of these miracles, as many didwith the miralces of Christ. Nor is theresymbolic content to the miracles suchas the apostle’s miraculous catch of fish(they were to become miraculous fish-ers of men).

2. Many purport to reveal elabo-rate details about the spirit world—what scholars refer to as an extensiveangelology and demonology—whichare not in the Bible. However, theauthors usually claim no authority fromthe Eternal to teach this information,nor do they deal with the clear scrip-tures in the Bible that tell us not to seekafter these things (Lev 20:6; Deut18:10-11; Isa 8:19; Jer 10:2).

3. Many contain long, drawn-outmetaphors or dreams or visions with noapparent purpose, either in clarifyingthe work of God among mankind, orteaching a useful lesson. These often donot even have an “interpretation”offered in the book itself. These areoften incredibly similar in nature tolong, drawn-out dreams and visionsthat one can read in today’sCharismatic literature. There are fewstories of these kinds of extensivedreams and visions changing anyone’slife for the better or predicting thefuture in any kind of helpful way. (Whymight someone go to such an effort toproduce a long writing if they knowthat it may not be from God? Theanswer is that “big lies” often havemore credibility than little ones. Aninvestment scam with a fancy buildingand lots of employees is likely to attracta lot more money than one man work-ing from a rented office. As people tendto believe that a “business that big mustbe legitimate”, so they tend to believethat “a book that long must be legiti-mate”.)

4. Many cover extravagantdetails about matters covered onlysparsely in the Bible—with no real pur-pose to the details outside of satisfyingcuriosity. It is easy to suspect thatsomeone specifically wrote these topicsto stir the interest of those who knowthe Bible—to make people want to readthe book they had concocted.

5. The Bible clearly teaches thatGod is not a respecter of persons—that

He will judge the small and the greatbased on what they do with their life,not on who they are or what “specialknowledge” they have. False religionusually teaches the opposite and thiscomes out in many of thePseudepigraphical and Apocryphalbooks. They tend to teach that certainpeople, often by knowing certain secretthings, have power (often claimed to beof God) that others do not have. Theytend to have an “us vs them”, “goodguys versus bad guys” mentality.Indeed, many Bible teachers claim thatIsrael were God’s “good guys” in theOld Testament and that “Christians” arethe “good guys” in the New Testament.But notice what the Bible says:

“Do not think in your heart, afterthe LORD your God has cast them[other nations] out before you, say-ing, 'Because of my righteousnessthe LORD has brought me in to pos-sess this land'; but it is because ofthe wickedness of these nations thatthe LORD is driving them out frombefore you (Deut 9:4).

For we ourselves were also oncefoolish, disobedient, deceived, serv-ing various lusts and pleasures, liv-ing in malice and envy, hateful andhating one another. 4 But when thekindness and the love of God ourSavior toward man appeared, 5 notby works of righteousness which wehave done, but according to Hismercy He saved us, through thewashing of regeneration and renew-ing of the Holy Spirit (Titus 3:3)

ConclusionEven with these problems some

believers still may find themselvesattracted by these “hidden books”.Why? Some possible reasons:

1. A curiosity to know detailsabout Biblical events and characters notprovided in scripture

2. A desire to “know things” thatmost other brethren do not

3. A desire to support a doctrinalidea that cannot be established from theBible alone

While there may be some merit tosome of these points, these are probablynot things that will make our lives suf-ficiently better or affect how we will bejudged later. Please read the articles onEternal Judgement in future issues.

—Pam Dewey & Norman EdwardsJul/Aug 1999

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he had attended. Since that time he hasdone some research and has becomeconvinced that the Sabbath is the sev-enth day of the week. Arlo came by aswe were closing up, and they were ableto talk a while.

This trucker is now in the process ofselling all his equipment and plans tomove to Saudi Arabia to “make tents”.He feels a call to mission work. He does-n’t know what he is going to do specifi-cally in Saudi Arabia, but is just going to“show up”. He fully realizes the “chal-lenges” of that nation, even life threaten-ing challenges, but says he’s not afraid.Arlo cautioned him to praying and fast-ing over this, but not to have his mindmade up before praying and fasting.Otherwise the prayer and fast won’t doany good.

The bulk of the Bible study was achallenge. This trucker had some distort-ed views of the roles of men and womenand on child discipline that I franklyfound repulsive. So did the other truckerwho, when he left, was obviously dis-tressed. I turned to a number of scripturesfamiliar to us all regarding the obligationmen have to love their wives, and whileGod does tell wives to submit to theirhusbands and that man is head of thewife, God also tells men to love theirwives, and that godly leadership is not to“rule over” as the gentiles do. And neveris there justification scripturally for awoman to remain in an abusive situation.

I ended by reading Proverbs 31,which the other trucker seemed to appre-ciate.

We run into all kinds of strangeideas. The disappointing thing abouttoday is that a budding Sabbath keeperhas some of these attitudes, and the othertrucker had to hear such things.

August 8, 1999: Today’s was one ofthe more rewarding Bible studies, and Iwonder how God will use it.

We had one trucker, who is fromMississippi. As often happens, he want-ed to relate the story that led to his walkwith God. Such stories are usually inter-esting, and I always enjoy hearing them.His relates to a childhood baptism, aroad through hippy and rock culture,drug abuse, and potential suicide (oneday while under the influence he tradedhis truck for a gun, and to this day does-n’t know if his intent was to kill himselfor someone else), and a plea to God for

a miracle. Just after that prayer his sisterfound him and deposited him in anChristian-run institution, who dried himout from drugs and gave him Bible-based teachings. This was in July 1998.Today he brought in a well-used andmarked-up Bible.

He mentioned how he felt like Satanhad sifted him as wheat, but even asJesus had prayed that Peter’s faith wouldfail not, he knows that God was watch-ing out for him. He then referred to therest of the verse: “When you are con-verted strengthen your brethren”, andrelated his feelings of inadequacy onhow to fulfill this. He feels like he is nota teacher, etc. We went through1 Corinthians 12 and discussed spiritualgifts, and that each of us has unique giftsthat God is willing to use.

It became obvious as the Bible studyprogressed that he had a profound lovefor the Scriptures. He could turn backand forth in his well-marked Bible toscriptures we all know, but which I canonly locate with a concordance, and heseemed to have a grasp of their meaning.I made it a point to tell him before weadjourned that he had some gifts that hedidn’t recognize in himself, such asknowledge and possibly even teaching.How hard it is sometimes to see our owngifts that others can often see clearly.

The conversation turned to a friendof his who was going to be baptized as aSeventh Day Adventist, and heexpressed his dismay about someonegoing back to the ritualistic law and theOld Testament. Needless to say this wasan opportunity that I couldn’t pass up. Itold him that I am not an SDA, but Iagree with much of what they teach,including the seventh-day Sabbath. Hestated that Christians keep Sunday inhonor of the resurrection, and that thespecific day isn’t important anyway, butonly that there should be a day of wor-ship.

I asked him what day of the week weshould worship God, and he said everyday. I then asked him which day of theweek we should rest, according to theBible. The answer of course is the sev-enth day, which he knows. We shouldworship God every day, but rest on theseventh. He also seemed to absorb theconcept that it is impossible to get threedays and three nights between Fridayafternoon and Sunday morning. We dis-cussed the concept of law from aHebrew perspective (Torah is teaching

or instruction in the Hebrew mind whileto the European mind it is restricting offreedom). I pointed out that the ten com-mandments are a great law of freedom.What if everyone kept just one of thoselaws? What a great world it would be!However, the law doesn’t save you: it ismerely a standard of conduct.

We read Jeremiah 31:31 and context,which relates that in the new covenantthe law is written on our hearts andbecomes a part of our very being. AChristian would never think of stealingor killing or cursing God, and theSabbath is a part of that same law, a dayeach week to celebrate freedom. I toldhim that I had some literature with meon the Sabbath, and if he wanted it, Iwould give it to him after the study.

In thinking through his conversation,I can only wonder what transpiredbeforehand to lead him to want to talkabout the Sabbath. Apparently his SDAfriend had told him some things abouthow Sunday came to be the day. He saidsomeone had told him that churchchanged to Sunday later, and that he sawthe Sabbath throughout the NewTestament. But more than that, I wonderif his friend asked him some questionshe couldn’t answer, and whether he real-ly is wondering about the Sabbath ques-tion. He mentioned at least twice thatkeeping the Sabbath would be difficultbecause it would cost him his job and hewould have to depend on others for sup-port. God wouldn’t want that, would he?

The conversation went to otherareas, and after the study was concluded,he asked me for the literature on theSabbath, which I was delighted to givehim.

I wonder where this will lead andhow God’s hand is and will be involvedin the man’s journey, and whether theseeds that are planted will grow. And Iwonder if I’ll learn of what road thisman takes.

August 29, 1999: We had five peo-ple join us today. One of them was not atrucker, but someone who was on a tourbus that had made a stop. He heard ourannouncement and joined us. Before hehad finished telling us his story, tearswere running down my cheeks.

The gentleman came to this country13 years ago from Ethiopia. He was theson of an Orthodox priest, and a teenag-er when Haile Selassie was deposed andthe communists took over the country.

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He told us of death squads and betrayals,being taken to jail by former friends, ofthe subversion of the YMCA by athe-ist/communist philosophy, of torturesinflicted in the prison. He remembershearing his father awaken at 3AM, whothen cried out to God asking how suchcould happen to his country.

It was in prison that he finally criedout to God for answers. Although nomi-nally Christian, he had an experiencethat led to a conviction, and his life hasbeen dedicated to God ever since. It wasat this time that a religious revival beganto take shape in his country.

After things calmed down a bit, hereceived a scholarship in India, and fromthere ended up in the United States.

After hearing him speak, it is obvi-ous how we take for granted what wehave in this country. Unfortunately hehad to leave early to get back on his

tour bus. It’s certainly a story I’ll neverforget.

The other four participants todaywere actually two couples, one of whomwas at one time a church pastor. All fourhave been students of the Bible for manyyears, and we had a mature discussionon many topics, including being a light,how to impact the culture around us,sharing one’s faith with others, churchsplits (these are not unique to theChurches of God - quite the contrary),and what about all those who never hada chance in this life? There was food forthought all around today.

Afterwards both couples mentionedhow they miss having a place to “go tochurch” while they are on the road andexpressed appreciation for the chance toget together with other Bible believers.That comment (and the story of theEthiopian) was well worth the price of

admission today.

September 5, 1999: Today markedthe two-year anniversary of these stud-ies, and maybe what happened todaywas more than time and chance.

I was not able to be there due to acamping trip, but Arlo relayed thestory, and it was an encouraging oneindeed. His truckers today were a hus-band and wife driving team from Texas.They were using a Messianic JewishBible (Old and New Testaments). Andthese people are trying to becomeSabbath keepers. In fact that is all theywanted to talk about.

They are familiar with HerbertArmstrong and his US and Britain inProphecy book, and have friends in theUnited Church of God. This is one ofthose days when I wish I could havebeen there, if for no other reason than tolisten in and to be a part of the experi-ence.

Arlo is going to send them more lit-erature and information by mail.

In thinking back over the past cou-ple of months, I am struck by the inter-est several truckers have had in theSabbath, to some extent by our prod-ding, but in at least two instances (thisbeing the second) someone had planteda seed before us, and we were allowedto water it. It is humbling beyonddescription to see the hand of Godworking in a very real way with peoplewhom we see face to face. We ask yourprayers that we can continue to use thetruck stop and that God will continue touse the Bible study to teach peopleabout him.

—Lenny Cacchio 705 Ne BryantDr; Lees Summit, Mo 64068;[email protected]

[Even though I have said it before, Iwill say again that I believe these truck-ers studies contain vauable lessons withhow to reach others with the Gospel.Sometimes they are extremely encourag-ing for all involved. At other times, thereare problems to overcome. But it is quitepossible to see that two men with donat-ed time, a donated room and somedonated literature are able to help manyto personally seek the Bible and Christ’sdirection in their life. The help providedwill have lasting value—it is not point-ing the students to any one group or

Jul/Aug 1999

Break Room Bible StudyFor a comfortable, informal, neutral spot to listen to Ron Dart's Sunday morn-

ing Born To Win broadcast, my musician buddy who owns the resort where we livehas been providing his maintenance shop breakroom. It has become a regularoccurrence every Sunday. We had originally tried forming a Sabbath gathering butran into several conflicts and more or less gave up on it. We would find ourselvesin the shop at 9:30 am listening to Born to Win. Mike V., my musician buddy, hasbecame very fond of Ron Dart's manner of addressing topics, now the shop benchis covered with Dart tapes. There are several of the “regular” resort residents whoare also frequenting our sessions. This past two weeks the captain of the Lodge ofthe Four Seasons cruise boat who works with Mike has been sitting in with us.

There is something more inviting to people who are uncomfortable in regularchurch formats, to be able to be in an environment that lets them feel comfortableparticipating in what is usually a spectator sport in other church sponsored studiesor services. I know that all who have attended in our garage sessions haven'tattended church in years, but definitely possess a zeal for inquiring into the deep-er things of God and life. Many of their questions may come off sounding ignorantor stupid in a church setting, but there on the stools in the shop, the questions andthe comprehension just seems to flow.

A nice facility is nice, but I've seen a lot happen in the old shop building thissummer!

—Paul Kleiss, (Originally posted on the CEM forum.)

The Bible does contain commands for the Eternal’s people to assembletogether on the Sabbath. But I do not know of any verse that says Sabbathassemblies are the primary place to “teach truth”. Their are Scriptures thatsupport the concept of teaching truth during our normal daily labor. —NSE

And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. "Youshall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when yousit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and whenyou rise up” (Deut 6:6-7).

Then those who feared the LORD spoke to one another, And the LORD lis-tened and heard them; So a book of remembrance was written before HimFor those who fear the LORD And who meditate on His name (Mal 3:16).

Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you mayknow how you ought to answer each one (Col 4:6).

The following is some new infor-mation that I have come to understandabout the Sabbath. My first understand-ing regards the word “rest” in Hebrews3:11, 3:18, 4:1-3, 8, 10. These verseshave the same word “rest” eight differ-ent times, which is defined in Strong’sGreek Dictionary as “a place of rest”(#2663 and #2664). However, inHebrews 4:9 there is another and differ-ent word “rest”. Here the word “rest” isdefined as “a Sabbath day rest” (#4520and #4521). The verse reads, “thereremains therefore a rest for the peopleof God”. I believe the true rendition ofthis verse is, “there remains therefore aSabbath day rest for the people ofGod”. This distinction shows there isstill a keeping of a Sabbath day forGod’s people today.

For 27 years I felt the Sabbath had aricher and deeper meaning, but Godhad not yet revealed its full meaning tome until now. I did a further Bible studyabout the words “place of rest” and“Sabbath day rest”, and I discoveredthe true purpose of the Sabbath day.The words “rest” in Hebrews 3 and 4mean a rest from sin through JesusChrist in us, empowering us to stop sin-ning. As we physically keep theSabbath day and as we allow Christ todwell in us, we are resting from sin.Christ told his disciples in Matt 11:28,“Come to Me, all you who labor andare heavy laden, and I will give yourest”. King David wrote, “Commit yourway to the Lord, trust also in Him…andHe shall bring forth your righteousnessas the light…Rest in the Lord and waitpatiently for Him” (Ps 37:5-7).

Just as the seven annual Feast Daysare a shadow of God’s plan for salva-tion of mankind, the Sabbath day is ashadow of Christ living in us and giv-ing us rest from sin. We keep the week-ly Sabbath because we need a weeklyreminder that Christ gives us rest fromsin. When we rest on the Sabbath dayfrom our physical works, we picture arest in Jesus Christ from the works ofthe law. As we come to this new under-standing, we rejoice in keeping theSabbath because it means keeping thespirit of the Sabbath law and restingspiritually from the works of the lawthrough Christ’s grace. “It shall come topass in the day the Lord gives you restfrom your sorrow, and from your fear

and the hard bondage (bondage of sin)in which you were made to serve…”(Isa 14:3) God is more interested in ourspiritual condition than our physicalcondition. God even mentions that ifyour hand or your eye causes you tosin, you are to remove them. Therefore,keeping the Sabbath day is much morethan a physical rest, it is God’s com-mand and desire that we rest spirituallyfrom sin.

The Sabbath day is our work of faith(“faith without works is dead”, Jas2:20) pointing to Christ in us and giv-ing us this rest. In Heb 3 and 4, theIsraelites did not go into the place ofrest because they did not have the need-ed faith. We also need the faith ofChrist so we can enter into His spiritu-al place of rest. God promises rest tothose who are faithful, (Rev 14:12-13),“Here is the patience of the saints, Hereare those who keep the commandmentsof God and the faith of JesusChrist…Blessed are the dead who diein the Lord from now on…Yea, says theSpirit, that they may rest from theirlabors and their works follow them.”Resting from our labors is Christ givingus rest from sin, and the works are thefruits of God’s spirit. The Sabbath daywas part of the physical law of the OldCovenant, but today we are in the NewCovenant and under the “spirit of thelaw” (Christ’s laws are written in ourhearts). This means that keeping theSabbath day pictures Christ enabling usto keep the spiritual law of God.

In Heb 4:8, the Bible states, “For ifJoshua had given them rest, then He(Jesus Christ) would not afterwardhave spoken of another day”. Thismeans that when Joshua delivered thepeople to the promised land for physi-cal rest, God still reserved for Himselfanother day for spiritual rest. What isthis other day of rest? I believe Christ isthis spiritual day of rest and that theSabbath day pictures this. In Isa 11:10,the Bible states, “In that day there shallbe a root of Jesse, who shall stand as abanner to the people, for the gentilesshall seek Him, and His resting placeshall be glorious”. The rest from sinthat Jesus gives us is truly glorious.This verse describes the promised mil-lenium found in Isa 11:1-10 and Rev4:20. This 1,000 year millenium restpictures a “day of rest” in Jesus Christ.Likewise, the Sabbath day pictures the

1,000 year millenium rest (II Pet 3:8,“with the Lord one day is as a thousandyears”) when Christ offers spiritual andphysical rest to the entire world. “Forthus says the Lord God, the Holy Oneof Israel, in returning and rest you shallbe saved, in quietness and confidenceshall be your strength” (Isa 30:15). InIsaiah, God is offering rest in Christand salvation to those who turn fromtheir sins.

Although all the commandments areimportant and linked together, I wouldthink the Sabbath day is the greatestbecause without the Sabbath day(which pictures Christ in us) you wouldnot be able to keep the other Nine.When we rest on the Sabbath day, weare acting out Jesus Christ living in usand empowering us to keep all of God’scommands. The Sabbath day is ourphysical rest picturing Christ giving usspiritual rest from sin. Therefore, theSabbath day is a shadow (Col. 2:16-17)that reveals the whole entire salvationof Jesus Christ. It portrays God theFather sending Christ to save us fromsin, it is about grace, it is about faith, itis about salvation through Jesus Christ,it is about the whole gospel of JesusChrist.

The Sabbath is a far greater, power-ful, and inspiring commandment than Iever realized. The Sabbath picturesChrist living in us and giving us “rest”from our sins! In conclusion, let all ofus give God thanks and praise for thiswonderful and exciting understanding!

(For more information about whichday God commands as His Sabbathday, read the Ten Commandments inExodus 20:1-17.)

SERVANTS’ NEWS

“Sabbath a Reminder” from page 1

Jul/Aug 1999

Not the Hearersbut the Doers

Some Protestant groups also teachthat the Sabbath symbolizes “rest fromsin in Christ”, But most see no value inkeeping the Sabbath today. It is interest-ing that many of these same Protestantgroups admit that they have difficultieswith their members being too secular--not diligent to live Christ-like lives. TheEternal obviously knows best. He knowsthat men and women need a whole dayevery week to forget about their workand focus on what Christ has done forthem in the past and what He wantsthem to do in the future. —NSE

Late Feast NewsWe are continuing to receive a large

number of calls and e-mails about peo-ple organizing and looking for Feastsites—even a very few weeks beforethe Feast begins. We have also found anumber of people deciding to stayhome for a great variety of reasons. Wehighly encourage brethren at hometo use the feast supplement includedafter Shelter in the Word as a part ofyour Feast observance. But if youwould still like to go somewhere for theFeast, it is not too late.

The question has come up: “Wheredoes the Eternal ‘place His name’ forthe Feast?” Does He place it onlywhere large groups of people meet?Does he place it on cities, or only cer-tain hotels within cities? If two familiesmeet together at home in the same citywhere a large group is keeping theFeast, are they going where the Eternal“placed His name”? We plan an articleabout these questions for the next issue.

Sites Not Previously ListedSan Antonio, Texas or Anywhere

with a Telephone: The AssociatedChurches of God (pastored by KenWestby) and and the Christian Church ofGod (pastored by Jeff Booth) are sponsor-ing this site. Everyone is welcome. Toattend in person, contact Ken Westby at253-852-2091. To hear services from your

home during the Feast, dial 918-222-7158, then key in code number 0566#when prompted. Daily services are at10:30 AM Central Time (11:30 Eastern,9:30 Mountain and 8:30 Pacific Time).

Catalina Island, California: Thissite is sponsored by the WorldwideChurch of God Restored (consistinglargely of members who left theWorldwide Church of God at Pentecostthis year). Beautiful Catalina Island islocated 26 miles off the Coast of LongBeach, California. Activities include aglass-bottom boat excursion, an eveningtram ride around the scenic island, abeach party and picnic, and a family din-ner dance, to name just a few. These andother activities are sponsored by theWorldwide Church of God, Restored;therefore all costs for these activitieswill be absorbed by WCGR. The pur-pose for this is to ensure that brethren ona limited budget will be able to enjoymany exciting family-oriented activities.

Those in attendance can expectdynamic messages with a Millennialtheme. This truly will be meat in dueseason. Six speakers are scheduled, eachspeaker is a long-time member in God'schurch with a clear vision of the purposeof this very important season.

The Worldwide Church of God,Restored has negotiated an extraordi-nary rate with the convention site, mak-ing this festival location possibly themost affordable in the United States. Allreservations will be made by a FestivalHousing Representative. Please contact

our Festival Office at 805-527-2810. Charleston, West Virginia. The

meeting place is the Innovation Centerat Alum Creek, about 8 miles south ofCharleston. Contact Frank Rogers; POBox 115; Drybranch, WV 25601; 304-595-6648; e-mail: [email protected], contact John Havir; 28 27th St;Huntingon, WV 25702; 304-523-3576;e-mail [email protected].

Columbia, Tennessee: Sponsoredby the Church of God, Fellowship,Nashville, Tennessee, this site is locatedat the Henry Horton State Park. ContactPaul Bell at 615-896-9365 or K.Saulsberry at 931-294-2127

Southern Minnesota & NorthernIowa: Plans include a variety of inter-active Bible studies of topics of groupchoice, songs of worship, intercessoryprayer, children's lessons, fun groupactivities. We have made reservations ata local church camp, complete withcabin accomodations, worship hall, din-ing hall (potluck style), hiking trails,sport courts, and more. Contact DanVander Poel at 253-826-0953 or e-mail:[email protected].

Updated InformationRapid City, South Dakota: The new

phone number for the site coordinator,Bill Buckman, is: 307-746-2018.

Galiano Island, British Columbia:This site has been cancelled due to lackof interest, but plans are continuing foran independent feast site in 2000.

SERVANTS’ NEWS

Jul/Aug 1999

Mature LiteratureAssembling on the Sabbath by Norman S.

Edwards, 16 pages. An exposition of thescriptures regarding our need to fellow-ship on the Sabbath and how to do it.

Biblical Calendar Basics by Norman S.Edwards, 10 pages. Introduction to theissues about the Biblical and Hebrew cal-endars (beginning of months, years,postponements etc.)

Did Christ Reorganize the Church? byHerbert Armstrong in 1939, 8 pages. Verydifferent than his later approach: Christnever set up a hierarchical government.

How Do We Give to the Eternal? by Rich-

ard Tafoya & Norman Edwards, 36 pages.Biblical study of giving and tithing.

How Does the Eternal Govern ThroughHumans? by Norman S. Edwards, 34pages. How the KJV translators alteredScriptures about government to pleaseKing James and an analysis of what theBible says about how we should governin today’s congregations.

The Worldwide Church of God Splits:Their Triumphs and Troubles by AlanRuth, 56 pages. Facts and analysis of thelast 20 years of “Church of God” history.

SSttuuddyy RReessoouurrcceess aanndd IInnffoorrmmaattiioonnFreedom Biblical Information Center

Catalog by Wayne Schatzle, 12 pages. Free,mostly Sabbatarian literature & tapes sources.

Giving and Sharing Order Form byRichard Nickels, 3 pages. Has manyexcellent free items, low prices on hard-to-find religious books, and fine literatureon floppy disk.

The Journal: News of the Churches of Godedited by Dixon Cartwright. One freesample issue. Best single source of newsabout Sabbath-keeping groups. 16 pages.

Servants’ News Statement of Receiptsand Expenses, 2 pages.

Servants’ News Complete Literature List& Index, 36 pages.

Highly Recommended Items Listed Every Issue:

Servants’ News, PO Box 107, Perry, Michigan 48872-0107tel: 517-625-7480, fax: 517-625-7481, e-mail: [email protected] brethren will receive literature more quickly by writing or e-mailing the nearest address on page 2.

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