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VOL. XXIII, NO. 13JULY 4,1995

Recalling the final sermon ofHerbert W. Armstrong

Virtue and sin lists of the NewTestament

Minister's wife recovering fromgunshot wound in South Africa

....•............•................................

Russell Duke namedinterim AU president

Unity in the gospel requires patience,tolerance and understanding

Thank you for your many cards, prayers and your expressions of love.I am comforted by your concern. Thank you al 0 for your outstandinggenerosity in the Pentecost offerings! They were very much needed.

Although we've reduced our expenses dramatically, our regularincome has been reduced even more than our expenses. That's whythe Holy Day offerings were particularly appreciated. We ha\'e beenconsidering various additional cost-cutting measures. We'll updateyou further after the decisions have been made..

Our financial straits have forced us to focus on the things of great­est importance. Even in the mes age we preach, we have to discernwhere our focus needs to be. Our commis ion is twofold: to preachthe gospel and to teach those who believe. For that reason, our finan­cial priorities include The Plaill Truth, The Worldwide j lews, the localchurche and pa tors, and Ambassador Universit..

I believe that these aspects of our operation are central to ourChrist-given commission. We especially want to strengthen the localcongregations, since the' are the salt and light in their communities.

I am therefore happy to hear that many congregations are findingnew enthusiasm-becoming a tighter-knit famil " supportive of thegospel and vigorous about setting a good example among their neigh­bors. Although we grieve because friends have left our fellowship, we areconfident in Christ and we pray to be more effective tools in his hands.

Thank you again for your love and concern, which encourages megreatly. "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, theFather of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us inall our troubles, so that \ 'e can comfort those in any trouble with thecomfort" 'e ourselves have received from God. For just as the uffer­ings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our com­fort overflows. If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salva­tion; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produce inyou patient endurance of the arne sufferings we uffer. And our hopefor you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our suffer­ings, so also you share in our comfort" (2 Corinthians 1:3-7).

I am recuperating reasonably well, but I don't yet have the stamina Iused to. Therefore, in lieu of any more comments from me, please readmy son's letter below. He has written about how our members should beconsiderate of members who have differences of opinion on doctrine.

With deep gratitude, in Christ's name,Joseph W. Tkach

I have been dreaming of the future when the volume of rumorswill dwindle to nothing. There are numerous false reports circulatingabout my dad's health condition, doctrinal corrections and people.Most of these false reports come from people who belong to dissidentorganizations, and it becomes very difficult to warn our membersabout their false reports. Some accuse us of being less than Christianwhen we use the arne words u ed in Acts 20:29.

My dad is steadily improving and has been on a soft food diet. Hefeels this is an improvement over having only an LV. in his arm. Thedoctor gave my dad a very good report and said that he has yearsahead of him. He left the ho pita! and returned home June 11 and,follO\ving a few weeks of recuperation, should be able to return towork and begin his chemotherapy. He had hoped to return to Sabbathservices June 24. He was unable to do so, but he telephoned thePasadena P.M. congregation to congratulate a childrens' group thathad just performed a musical rendition of oah and the Ark, which heviewed from his home on clo ed-circuit television.

Even as we plan for this year's Feast of Tabernacles, rumors con­tinue to circulate that we are abandoning it and changing to Sundayworship. This is false. It seems obvious to me that this is said to polar­ize people emotionally and entice them to leave our fellowship.

See Personal, page 3

By Reginald Killingley

BIG SANDY-Ambassador Univer­sity's board of regents, in their regu­lar semiannual meeting June 16,accepted the resignation of Donald L.Ward as president of the university.The board named Russell K. Duke,chair of the Theology Department, asinterim president.

Joseph W. Tkach, board chairman,said: "We deeply appreciate themany years of dedicated ervice thatDr. Ward has given to AmbassadorUniversity. He has made a significantc'ontribution to the growth of theinstitution and to the education ofthousands of students."

Dr. Ward, who had been presidentsince 1988, came to Ambassadorwith hi \ ife, anda, 26 years ago.

Donald Ward

During his tenure, the institutionconsolidated its California and Texasoperations into one campus in BigSandy, achieved accreditation andbecame a university.

Dr. Duke, 47, an associate profes­sor of theology, has sen'ed on theAmbassador faculty since 1984 andas Theology Department chair since1990. He holds a Ph.D. degree inpractical theology from The UnionInstitute in Cincinnati, Ohio. Hereceived his bachelor's degree fromAmbassador in 1970 and his master'sdegree from Ambassador in 1974.

Dr. Duke said: "Thi certainlycomes as a surprise, but I'm gratefulfor the confidence shown in me bythe board of regents, and I welcomethe opportunity to serve the universi­ty during this time of tran ition.

"We appreciate Dr. Ward's leader­ship in achieving accreditation. I planto work closely with AU's administra­tion, faculty, staff and tudents tocontinue and enhance Ambassador'stradition of excellence in educationas a Christ-centered university."

Dr. Duke, a native of San Gabriel,California, and his \vife, Phyllis, have

two children: Chris, 23, and Tracy, 20,a junior at AU. Before joining theAmbassador faculty in 1984, Dr. Dukeserved as a church pastor in Topeka,Kansas, and Kansas City, Missouri.

In an all-employee -meeting June16, Dr. Duke discu ed his goals forthe next few weeks. "We have a lot ofchallenges ahead of us," he said, "andwe can meet them if we all maintainour commitment to the universityand to its principal sponsor."

Dr. Duke also told faculty and ·taffthat the university plans to extendenrollment to a Christian publicbeyond the Worldwide Church of God.

"We stand for very high standards,for Christian values, and we want toemphasize that we are a Christianuniversity, and we are also an acade­mic institution that provides youngpeople with a top-notch education."

"We are in a period of transition,which we should look at as a two­year project," he aid. "We will haveto sacrifice for a while, but we willdo this in a spirit of Christian devo­tion to God and Jesus Christ and inChristian love and enice."

According to Thomas Delamater,director of Institutional Advancement,Ambassador's board met to name aninterim president so that universitybusiness could continue as usual.

Mr. Delamater explained that theearch process for a permanent pres­

ident would begin hortly and thatthe board of regents would probablyname the new president before thestart of the fall semester Aug. 21.

The board of regents are Joe Locke(also secretary), vice president ofAmbassador Foundation; Thomas H.Grede, a local church elder in the We tBend, Wisconsin, church; Michael P.Harkins, a local church elder in theVineland, ew JerseY, church; HelenJackson (widow of evangelist HaroldJackson), who attends the PasadenaAuditorium P.M. church; and JohnPayne, a member who attends theGlendora, California, church.

2 The Worldwide News Tuesday, July 4, 1995

FROM THE PASTOR GENERAL REPORT

James 2:10 says that whoeverbreaks one commandment in effectbreaks them all. This "law" con­tains various "points." Doesn'tverse 11 prove that James is talkingabout the Ten Commandments?

Verse 11 does quote two of the TenCommandments, but it is wrong toassume that James is thinking specifi­cally of the Ten Commandments as aspecific code of laws. This is shown inverse 8-9.

The royal law, James says, is to loveyour neighbor as yourself. This isquoted from Leviticus 19:18 and isnot one of the Ten Commandments.And in verse 9 James refers to a lawagainst favoritism-which is statedmore clearly here than it ever was inthe Old Testament. This is not in theTen Commandments, either.

Verse 11, in this context, meansthat if a person keeps most of theroyal law but shows favoritism, suchas giving better treatment to rich peo­ple, then that person is actually break­ing the royal law. It is impossible toshow favoritism when you really loveevery neighbor as yourself. If youbreak even a small law, you are a law­breaker in the sight of God. Verse 12then illustrates the point with two ofthe Ten Commandments. If we breakone but not the other, we are law­breakers.

However, there is no evidence any­where that James treats the Ten as aspecial group of laws that are especial­ly authoritative. He does not point outthat these two laws happen to beincluded in the Ten. Actually, this pas-

FOUNDER:Herbert W Armstrong (1892-1986)

PUBUSHER & EDITOR IN CHIEF:Joseph W ll<achASSISTANT TO THE PUBUSHER:J MIchael Feaze

sage indicates that James does notconsider these two points as part of alO-point package. They are simply"points" included within the royal law,and the law against favoritism isanother one of those points.

God's law include dozens of rulesabout how we ought to love ourneighbors. If we break anyone ofthose rules, then we are failing tokeep the royal law. Although the TenCommandments contain six conciselystated guidelines for loving our neigh­bors, and all six are quoted in the

ew Testament, there is no evidencethat all of the Ten must remaintogether. We cannot assume thatJames is proclaiming the eternalvalidity of all Ten when he quotesonly two and doesn't even commenton the others.

He who forbids adultery also tellsus not to judge our brother regardingdisputable matters, including days(Romans 14:1-13). If you avoid adul­tery but you judge your brother, thenyou still are a lawbreaker. You arebreaking the royal law. That is not theright way to treat your neighbor.

Therefore, James says, "speak andact as those who are going to bejudged by the law that gives freedom,because judgment without mercy willbe shown to anyone who has not beenmerciful" (James' 2:12-13).

In Matthew 19, didn't Jesus tellthe man to keep the Ten Com­mandments if he wanted eternal1!£ ')Llle.

o. You are reading the word Teninto the text. It is true that Jesus quot­ed five of the Ten Commandments,but he also quoted a commandmentthat is not part of the Ten (verses 18­19). He was not treating the Ten as aspecial package. He did not refer tothem by any collective term, and helisted another commandment withthem \vithout any suggestion that itwas.in a different category.

Mark 10:19 lists a different com­mandment; Luke 18:20 does not.These variations show that the wordcommandment does not imply whatwe now know as the Ten Command­ments. That's why the rich young manhad to ask which commandmentsJesus meant (verse 18). By Jewishreckoning, the Torah had 613 com-

mandments, not just 10. It was there­fore reasonable for the man to askwhich ones Jesus meant.

The answer Jesus gave is not a com­plete guide to eternal life. For exam­ple, he did not list the command toworship God. In fact, in this passagehe said nothing about the greatestcommandment, which is to love Godwith all our heart, mind, soul andstrength.

Presumablv Jesu knew that theman did not ~eed any further encour­agement in worship duties, so Jesuslisted only commandments regardinghow to love neighbors. That's whatthe man needed improvement in.When he asked for further details,Jesus told him to give his wealth tothe poor. This i not one of the TenCommandments, but it is preciselythe commandment that the manneeded to obey.

Jesus knew exactly what the man'sweakness was. When Jesus said, "Ifyou want to enter life, obey the com­mandments," he wasn't singling outthe Ten. Rather, he was thinkingspecifically of the more comprehen­sive commandment to love yourneighbor as yourself, and its morespecific application in this man's caseto give his wealth to the poor.

But even if the man gave away allhis wealth, that would still not earnhim salvation. Jesus did not stop hisinstructions at that point. What theman needed to do was "follow me"(verse 21). He needed to become adisciple of Jesus. He needed to trustand obey Jesu . It is only through himthat we may be given eternal life.

The entire passage can be under­stood in greater depth when we noticethat the rich young man asked, "Whatgood thing must I do to get eternallife?" (verse 16). The man was askingfor a way to earn salvation, as if itcould be obtained by some externalaction.

The law say , "Keep my decrees andlaws, for the man who obeys themwiII live by them" (Leviticus 18:5;Galatians 3: 12). If a person couldkeep the law perfectly, he would begiven eternal life.

Jesus, of course, knew that the manhad not kept the law perfectly, andJesus knew that the man would notkeep the law 'perfectly in the future.Indeed, Jesus knew that humans areunable to keep the law perfectly.

So why did Jesus give this answer?First, he was answering the manaccording to his folly. The man askedhow he could earn eternal life, andJesus told him the textbook answer,

the answer the rich young man proba­bly knew. Second, Jesus knew theman's sin, and he was leading theconversation to pinpoint his sin. Hegave a general answer, kno""ing thatthe man would ask for more detail.

So the man asked, Which com­mandments are you referring tospecifically? And Jesus listed six com­mands. The man had the audacity (orthe blindness) to think that he- waobeying them all, but he till asKed ifthere were more. TO doubt he \ 'ahoping that Jesus would say: "Welldone, good and faithful man. Youhave eternal life guaranteed. Go inpeace."

But Jesus did not give the man thereassurance that he wanted. He didnot let the man think that he haddone enough for eternal life. He toldhim to share his wealth with the poor,which the man was unwilling to do.That was the man's problem. He didnot love his neighbor as himself. Hemight have been keeping the otherfive commands, but he was failing inthat one.

The way Jesus had directed the con­versation helped the man realize thathe did indeed fall short. That is whyhe went away sad (verse 22). All of us,if we rely on the law for eternal life,will go away sad. We will fall short.What we need to do is quit relying onexternal things and put our faith inJesus, giving our lives and allegianceto him, following him as his disciples.If there's anything that comesbetween us and Jesus Christ, we needto get rid of it so we can follow him.. It doesn't matter whether we arerich or poor, it is impossible for us tosave ourselves (verses 23-26). Thepoint of the story is that salvation ishumanly impossible, but divinely pos­sible (verse 26). We must seek salva­tion as a gift, not as something \"ie getby doing some "good thing."

If God doesn't require Christiansto tithe, why does Mr. Tkach stilltalk about tithing in the co-workerletters? Why does he still thankpeople for their "tithes and offer<ings"-isn't everything that is sentin an offering?

Tithe is an Old English word mean­ing 10th. If people send in a 10th oftheir income (which is the practice ofmost of our members), they are send­ing in their tithes. It is appropriate forMr. Tkach to thank them for doing so.Whether it is a demand of the law ornot, it is still a tithe.

Christians have become heirs of thepromises given to Abraham, and they

See Q&A, page 4

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squalid conditions, nursing a deadly infec­tious group of people in a forgotten part ofthe world. Their love and service to othersbrought about the most honific and agoniz­ing form of death anyone could imagine froma most destructive virus: their flesh peeledoff, their internal organs dissolved and theydied, within four to 10 days. from massivehemorrhaging from every ;'rifice-they hadcontracted the Ebola virus.

ow I have to seriously ask myself a perti­nent question: Do I really believe that Godwill raise up those dedicated nuns in the sec­mid resurrection to inform them that regard­less of their lifetime of good works, love andtotal sacrifice, they didn't qualify for the firstresurrection because they ate pork and didnot keep the Sabbath and Holy Days; andthat before they can qualify to become spiritbeings they must obey certain dietary regula­tion and learn how to obsel"l'e the Sabbath ait was done back in ancient Israel.

If this is the case, why didn't Christ say inJohn 15:13 at the Passo\'er supper, "Greaterlove has no man than to abstain fromunclean foods and keep the physical require­ments of the Sabbath dav?"

To me the mere thought of this scenario isutterly absurd. And to even contemplate this

See Letters, page 5

following old covenant practices we believedwe were the only true Christians; and thatthese external custom qualified us to receivepreferential treatment from God over otherpeople we considered only professing Chris­tians.

There is no getting awa\ from the fact. Wemeasured ourselve against other Christianpeople and judged that our physical tradi­tions made us superior. We believed that ourSabbath and Holy Dav observance wouldgive us the exclusive privilege to be in thefirst resurrection: and concluded that peoplefrom other denominations, who have dedi­cated their lives to God (maybe even dying inthe process), were considered less worthy byGod because they did not set a particular dayaside to worship him in the way we thoughtit should be done.

We can all apply human reason and arguescripture to fit whatever our belief system is:but I feel the heart of the matter is this:Recently four nuns died in Zaire. As health­care workers (no doubt working seven days aweek), they dedicated long hours, working in

Loving neighbor not as easy as following codeI felt a compelling need to write to you

regarding the Church's new direction. Godcalled me 11 years ago, and like other mem­bers, I zealously and faithfully tithed,abstained from unclean foods, and religious­ly observed the Sabbath and Holy Days. I sawthat the Worldwide Church of God had solidlines of direction; they knew where they weregoing. And I truly believed that in order tohave a close relationship with God it wasnecessary to fulfill a set of physical require­ments. As a Church, we built our faith onthese physical requirements. Consequently, itis no wonder that some people feel insecureon being taught that we can no longer boxGod within a certain set of parameters.

On reflection I find it incredulous-that by

Letters for this section should beaddressed to "Letters to the Editor." Theeditor reserves the right to use letters soaddressed in whole or in part. and to includeyour name and edit the letter for clarity orspace. We welcome your comments.

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Continued from page 1

evertheless, as we endure theas aults of the rumoring, we are res­olute in our commission to preachthe gospel. Paul clearly tells u themost important part of the gospelmessage: "I want to remind you ofthe gospel I preached to you, whichyou received and on which you havetaken your stand. By this gospel youare saved, if you hold firmly to theword I preached to you. Otherwise,vou have believed in vain.- "For what I received I passed on toyou as of first importance: that Christdied for our sins according to theScriptures, that he was buried, thathe was raised on the third dayaccording to the Scriptures" (l Corin­thians 15:1-4).

If we want to hold on to the faithonce for all delivered to the Church,then here i an apostle reminding usof what it is: faith in Jesus Christ.That's the core of the Christian gos­pel, the key to salvation and thefoundation of all other doctrines. Aswe know, faith leads to action. Faithin Christ lead to Christlike behavior.

For example, the most basic Chris­tian behavior is love, and this is aresult of faith in Christ. We love Godbecause he first loved us. We are tolove our neighbors because Christgave himself for us when we werestill his enemies. We are to forgiveothers because he forgives us. We areto serve others because he served us.

"Be imitators of God, therefore, asdearly loved children and live a lifeof love, just as Christ loved us andgave himself up for us as a fragrantoffering and sacrifice to God" (Ephe­sians 5:1-2). It is because we are onebody in Christ that we are to quitlying and speak the truth (Ephesians4:25). All Christian behavior is builton Jesus Christ, the foundation.

Christ was tolerant, patientPart of Christian behavior is toler­

ance of others. Jesus certainly set agood example in this. He was sur­rounded by sinners-not only hostilesinners but also friendly sinners. His

own disciples frequently misunder­stood what he was talking about.They argued among them elves evenas Jesus walked toward his crucifix­ion. H.e was betrayed by one anddeserted by them all. But he waspatient with them all.

The early Church had flaws, too.They did not understand the gentilemission. They did not treat everyonefairly. Things went wrong-andChrist allowed his Church to be falli­ble. He was patient with them. Thechurch in Corinth had problems­disorderly worship meetings, law­suits, factions and jealousies-andPaul dealt with them patiently. FromJerusalem to Rome, problemsaccompanied the churches.

Christ's people were not perfect.There were wolves among the sheep,tares among the wheat, and bothwere allowed to develop together.Christ was patient, and he has beenpatient throughout Church history.

In our own history, we see Christ'spatience with us all. We predicted thatChrist would return before 1980. Thepoint is that Christ allowed us to be\\Tong. He allowed us to trumpet anerroneous message to millions of pe0­

ple. He allowed us to make doctrinalmistakes, even the divorce-and-remar­riage decisions that inflicted great hurton many people. He allowed us to dis­tort the gospel message away from itstrue focus. There is no need to catalogour errors-the point is that Christ hasbeen patient with us all.

Brethren, we need to be patient withone another. This is part of our wor­ship of and service to our Savior. AsHebrews 6:10 says, we show love toGod through our behavior towardone another. People who do notunderstand the Church's doctrinalchange need to be patient and waitfor Christ to reveal this to them.Those who do understand need to bepatient with those who don't.

Brethren, we have many obliga­tions to one another. Let me quote afew verses that bring this out:

"In Christ we who are many fonnone body, and each member belongsto all the others.... Be devoted toone another in brotherly love. Honor

one another above yourselves.... Livein hannony with one another. Do notbe proud, but be willing to associatewith people of low positiort. Do notbe conceited" (Romans 12:5, 10, 16).

"Each of us will give an account ofhimself to God. Therefore let us stoppassing judgment on one another.Instead, make up your mind not toput any stumbling block or obstaclein your brother's way.... Each of usshould please his neighbor for hisgood, to build him up. For evenChrist did not please himself.. ..Accept one another, then, just asChrist accepted you" (Romans 14:12­13; 15:2-3, 7).

Kind, compassionate, forgiving"Carry each other's burdens, and in

this way you will fulfill the law ofChrist" (Galatians 6:2). "Be com­pletely humble and gentle; bepatient, bearing with one another inlove.... Be kind and compa sionateto one another, forgiving each other,just as in Christ God forgave you"(Ephesians 4:2, 32). "Bear with eachother and forgive whatever griev­ances you may have against oneanother. Forgive as the Lord forgaveyou" (Colossians 3:13).

God appointed us "to receive salva­tion through our Lord Jesus Christ.He died for us so that ... we may livetogether with him. Therefore," Paulsays-because Christ has died for us,we should for that reason "encourageone another and build each other up,just as in fact you are doing" (l Thes- I

salonians 5:9-11).Because God gives us salvation, we

should edify each other, helping us alltoward the goal we all want. "Warnthose who are idle, encourage thetimid, help the weak, be patient witheveryone. Make sure that nobody paysback wrong for wrong, but always tryto be kind to each other and to every­one else" (verses 14-15).

"Encourage one another daily,"Hebrews 3: 13 says. "And let usconsider how we may spur oneanother on toward love and gooddeeds. Let us not give up meetingtogether, as some are in the habitof doing, but let us encourage one

another" (Hebrews 10:24-25).Sad to say, there are people who

have ignored these biblical com­mands. What is their excuse? Is thereany excuse for di obedience? En­courage one another, it ays. Are wedoing that? Or do we repeat the neg­atives, the anxieties, the fears? En­courage one another-and we can'tdo that if we are not meeting withone another!

"All of you, live in hannony withone another; be sympathetic, love asbrothers, be compassionate andhumble. Do not repay evil with evilor insult with insult, but with bless­ing, because to thi you were calledso that you may inherit a blessing" (lPeter 3:8-9).

"Above all, love each other deeply,because love covers over a multitudeof sins. Offer hospitality to oneanother without grumbling. Eachone should use whatever gift he hasreceived to serve others" (1 Peter 4:8­10).

All these command , of course, aresummed up in the great command:Love your neighbor as yourself(Romans 13:8-9). "This is the mes­sage you heard from the beginning:We should love one another" (l John3: 11). "Dear friends, since God soloved us, we also ought to love oneanother" (l John 4:11). This is thegodlike way.

Freedom with responsibilityBrethren, since we are surrounded

by these scriptural witnesses, it sad­dens me to learn that some membershave not been acting responsiblywith the freedoms that the newcovenant gives us. For example,some people have eaten meats thatoffend the people they are with.

They have the right to eat suchmeat in private, or with memberswho are not bothered by such meat,but I am disappointed that a fewhave deliberately eaten it in a waythat disturbs their brothers-indirect violation of what Paul wrote:"If vour brother is distressed becauseof ~hat you eat, you are no longeracting in love. Do not by your eating

See Personal, page 6

Choir directors announced for the Feast of TabernaclesThe Festival Office named special

music coordinators (SMC), Festivalchoir directors (DIR) and children'schoir directors (CCD). Those inter­ested in performing should contactthe appropriate person listed belowand request copies of the music to beused. Prospective choir membersshould list the voice part they singand their experience level.

Instrumental or vocal soloistsshould contact the SMC for the sitethat they plan to attend unless aninstrumental ensemble is noted sepa­rately. Soloists should submit severalpossible numbers for consideration.

Choir members are expected toknow their music before arriving atthe Festival site, as rehearsals duringthe Festival will be sufficient onl totune up the choir for perfonnance.

Anchorage, Alaska: Doug Han on(SMC), (DIR), (CCD), 5109 LionheartDr., Anchorage, Alaska, 99508, tele­phone 1-907-333-4390. Also neededare pianists for hymns and accompa­nists for the choir and soloists.

Big Sandy: Allen Andrews (SMC),(DIR), (CCD), 350 S. Oakland Ave.

0.308, Pasadena, California, 91101,

telephone 1-818-440-0482.Chattanooga, Tennessee: Tom

Hammett (SMC), (DIR), (CCD), 3107Elmore Ave., Chattanooga, Ten­nessee, 37415, telephone 1-615-877­7270.

Dayton, Ohio: Bernie Andzik(SMC), (DIR), (CCD), 940 ChestnutSt., Xenia, Ohio, 45385, telephone 1­513-376-4215.

Daytona Beach, Florida: CarlDayhoff (SMC), (DIR), (CCD), 2724SW 12th Place, Cape Coral, Florida,33914, telephone 1-941-574-3911.

Fort Worth, Texas: Byron Griffin(SMC), (DIR), (CCD), AU Music Depart­ment, Box 111, Big Sandy, Texas,75755, telephone 1-903-636-2170.

Hot Springs, Arkansas: Pat Henry(SMC), (DIR), (brass ensemble), 13Donnell Dr., orth Little Rock,Arkansas, 72120, telephone 1-501­834-0945; Holly Pilgrim (CCD), c/oPat Henry.

Kona, Hawaii: Dennis Pelley(SMC), (DIR), (CCD). WorldwideChurch of God, 300 W. Green St.,Pasadena, California, 91123, tele­phone 1-818-304-8178.

Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri:Ramon Taylor (SMC), (DIR), (CCD),

1925 S. First St., Springfield, illinois,62704, telephone 1-217-522-3618.

Myrtle Beach, South Carolina:Gary Pendergraft (SMC), (DIR),(CCD), 3112 Old Medina Rd., Jack­son, Tennessee, 38305, telephone 1­901-422-2770.

iagara Falls, ew York: PhilBaldwin (SMC), (DIR), (CCD), Box1315, 6 Margaret Court, St. Mary's,Ontario, Canada, 4X 1B8, tele­phone 1-519-284-0717.

Norfolk, Virginia: Floyd Satter­white (SMC), (DIR), (CCD), Box 561,Mechanicsville, Virginia, 23111, tele­phone 1-804-746-7948.

Palm Springs, California: KevinCox (SMC), (DIR), (CCD), 2008Vawter St. o. 304, Urbana, illinois,61801, telephone 1-217-384-9017.

Pasadena: Ella-Marie Schatz(SMC), (DIR), (CCD), WorldwideChurch of God, 300 W. Green St.,Pasadena, California, 91123, tele­phone 1-818-304-6000.

Pensacola, Florida: Brent Fiedler(SMC), (DIR), instrumental ensem­ble, 125 Cloudland Dr., Bristol, Ten­nessee, 37620, telephone 1-615-968­5456; Jan Flynn (CCD), c/o BrentFiedler.

Rapid City, South Dakota: MikeLane (SMC), (DIR), (CCD), youthchoir, 3190 Sunset Lake Rd.,Amherst Junction, Wi consin, 54407,telephone 1-715-677-3885.

Saratoga, New York: Serge Volpe(SMC), (DIR), (CCD), instrumentalensemble, 696 S. Third Ave., MountVernon, ew York, 10550, telephone1-914-667-4344.

Seaside, Oregon: Ruth Myrick(SMC), (CCD), AU Music Depart­ment, Box 111, Big Sandy, Texas,75755, telephone 1-903-636-2170;Bill Samuelson (DIR), 5028 48th AveNE, Seattle, Washington, 98105, tele­phone 1-206-522-3563.. Spokane, Washington: DavidBilowus (SMC), AU Music Depart­ment, Box 111, Big Sandy, Texas,75755, telephone 1-903-636-2170;Dwain Sanders (DIR), (CCD), Box175 Southworth, Washington, 98386,telephone 1-206-871-3074.

Vail, Colorado: Craig Coulter(SMC), (DIR), (CCD), 3989 S. FundyCircle, Aurora, Colorado, 80013, tele­phone 1-303-766-1519.

Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin:David Kroll (SMC), (DIR), (CCD),

See Choir Directors, page 7

4 The Worldwide News--------------------------------- .~~_.-~~-~~~ ~__Tuesday, July 4, 1995

~Ul..0...~eQ.

Recalling the final sermon of.Herbert W. Armstrong

A prayer for unityThese are momentous times for

God's Church. They are exciting, butthey also have a sad aspect. Relationbetween friends, relatives, even fami­ly members have cooled becausesome do not accept new biblicalunderstanding.

For several years now I was antici­pating this coming Aug. 1. That daywill mark 40 years since a summerbaptizing tour from Pasadena cameto our family home in Milwaukee,Wisconsin, and I was baptized in thebathtub.

I was looking forward to sendingthank-you cards to the team. I wantedto remind them of the occasion and inso many words say: "Here I am, still inthe Church, 40 ye~ and counting!"

Unfortunately, however, my joywas diminished a few days ago whenI learned that both ministers haveleft our fellowship.

I think to myself, what would theyhave said if I could have foretold thisoutcome to them as they sat on thesofa in our living room that hot sum­mer day so long ago?

And I've asked myself that aboutmany people I've become acquaintedwith down through the years~won­

derful people who are no longer inour fellowship.

And 1 pray that they will be givenunderstanding and that the day willsoon come when Mr. Armstrong'sfinal plea may yet become reality:that we may be one and remain one.

Worldwide Church of God, why arethere more than one dissident group?

The major doctrines of most ofthese groups are identical. So whyare the groups themselves separate?Why aren't they united under oneleadership? Could it be that there ismore involved in their formationthan mere questions of doctrine?Like who is in charge, for example?

Jesus is the Head of the Church,and our faith must be in him, Mr.Armstrong declared. God is in con­trol. He does things in his time, inhis way and through instruments ofhis choosing.

Remain one"You will remain united, and you

will remain one," Mr. Armstrongurged. Another of his instructionssome have failed to preserve.

About two years ago, a nationalmagazine featured an article aboutchanges in the Worldwide Church ofGod. The article quoted a ministerwho expressed disappointment thatdis enters were breaking away toform their own groups. He said, "Weregret there are people who decide totake these courses of action."

ow he himself has decided totake a similar course of action. Heheads one of several different groupsthat have broken away.

The fact that there are severalgroups, that the aren't even at oneamong themselves, is in itself instruc­tive. If the only i sue is the supposed"errors" in the teachings of the

pends on that. Everyone of you.Don't you forget it."

Certain groups that have brokenaway from the Worldwide Church ofGod- claim to faithfully preserve theteachings of Mr. Armstrong. Oneteaching they have forgotten to pre­serve, though, is this final admoni­tion of Mr. Armstrong: "You will fol­low that pastor general."

Apparently the leaders of some ofthese groups have even forgottensome of their own words. The personwho now leads one such group, in anarticle titled "Loyalty to God'sChurch: Are You Backing God'sChoice?", once wrote: "Finally,before his death, Mr. Armstrong­after much prayer---chose Jo eph W.Tkach to succeed him as pa tor gen­eral of the Worldwide Church ofGod.

"Mr. Tkach was chosen directlythrough God's government in hisChurch. Jesus Christ-the living,active Head of the Church-haspromised to guide and inspire him inthis very important office. Along \\riththe entire Advisory Council of Eldersand several other leaders in God'sChurch, 1 was a witness to Mr. Arm­strong's decision."

Clayton Steep is a contributing writerfor The Plain Truth.

By Clayton Steep

t was the voice that once thun­dered from radios around theworld. It captivated audienceson television and in person. Atone time it boomed nightlyfrom the huge speaker in ourold floor model Philco.• TOW,

however, the voice was strained,punctuated by labored breathing.

''I'm in my 94th year now." Thewords came slowly, but deliberately."I don't know how long God willextend [this] life, that's up to him.And you brethren had· better under­stand that. There is no guaranteethat he is going to extend it on andon and on and on. I'm going to hopehe will. As long as he wants to useme, 1 think he will."

The person speaking was HerbertW. Armstrong. The occasion was theFestival of Trumpets, Sept. 16, 1985.Mr. Armstrong was giving whatwould prove to be his final sermon.

The subject of his mortality wasobviously much on his mind. He con­tinued: "When David was old andstricken with years~at 23 yearsyounger than I am-[God] let kingDavid die, and David was a man afterhis own heart, and David was rulinghis people. So God determines a lotof these things. We can't by our wish­ful thinking do it either. And we needto realize that and take it a little bitseriously, brethren."

Especially worth remembering inthis present time of turmoil in theChurch is the following admonitionMr. Armstrong gave: "Your faithmust not be in me; it must be inJe us Christ. He is the Head of theChurch, I am not. And if I were nothere there would be another who'dbecome the pastor general. And ifthat should ever happen, if you wantto get into God's kingdom, you willfollow that pastor general. And youwill remain united, and you willremain one. And your eternity de-

Questions & Answers: Giving, Holy Days, the SabbathContinued from page 2

are his children through faith inChrist. They imitate the faith of Abra­ham, and therefore also imitate hisexample of tithing. As we becomemore like Christ in our thoughts, webecome more generous \l. ith thephysical things God has given us.

Most members are able to donate a10th of their income. Man' can givemore, and some cannot. God leads usto give all we responsibly can. ForChristians, 10 percent is a minimalguideline. If we can give more, wehould. If we cannot give 10 percent,

we give all we are able.The old covenant demanded 10

percent. The new covenant demandswholehearted allegiance to Christ,which includes a generous heart thatreplaces old covenant demands withjoyful giving commensurate withGod's generosity toward us. God hasgiven us eternal life, and hi Spiritmotivates us to give all we can to fur­ther his work of the gospel.

Since the Bible does not call the

annual festivals Holy Days, and theNew Testament does not call anyday holy, why do you still refer tothe festivals as Holy Days?

Since we have designated thesedays for worship meetings, designat­ing them for a sacred purpose, wecan legitimately call them HolyDay -days set apart for holy use.Even though some member mayhave to use the day for secular needs,we can still call the days holybecause they are days designated forchurchwide worship. However, wedo not use the term in the arne waythe Old Testament does.

The Sabbath study paper (May 23WN) said that the Christian Sabbathis "the regenerated life of faith inJesus Christ," (page 26, last para­graph of study paper version). Bythat definition, of course, we are aSabbath-obseIVing Church. But howcan we also talk about Christianswho do not keep the Sabbath, andhow can we say that we conductchurch services "on the Sabbath"?

The word Sabbath, like many otherwords, has more than one possible

meaning. The context normally helpsus understand which meaning isintended. When we say that Chris­tians are not required to keep the Sab­bath, we are referring to the day ofrest designated in the old covenant.

When we say that we meet on theSabbath, we ~efer to a day of theweek. Although the term Sabbathcame from a word meaning re t, Sab­bath usually means the day ratherthan the rest. People can speak about"working on the Sabbath" withoutany contradiction of terms. Eventhough phy ical rest is not a Chris­tian requirement, we can still call theseventh day of the week a Sabbath.

When the study paper defined theSabbath as our regenerated life, itwas referring to the spiritual signifi­cance, the meaning that the Sabbathday pointed to. Similarly, David gavea spiritual definition when he said,"The sacrifices of God are a brokenspirit" (Psalm 51:17). And Paul aidthat circumcision is "of the heart, bythe Spirit, not by the written code"(Romans 2:29).

When we talk about Christians who

do not observe the Sabbath, we arenot referring to unregenerate Chris­tians. And, when we talk about Chris­tians who keep the Sabbath, we arereferring to the old covenailt mandateto rest on the seventh day of the week.

Various Christians-probably mostof our members-do observe the Sab­bath day as a da) of rest. They setaside the seventh day of the week forworship and family -activities. This isgood-a spiritually useful practicethat we want to encourage. It is souseful, in fact, that if a member can­not set aside the sunset-to-sunset sev­enth day, we encourage that memberto designate some other block oftime. But if that is not feasible, either,we do not condemn.

In summary, we can continue touse the same familiar terms we havealwavs used. The . are useful tools ofcom~unication.The new covenantdoes not require individual tochange their terminology or theirpractices. But it does require that wecease condemning Christians whofail to do things that are not requiredin the new covenant.

Tuesday, July 4, 1995 The Worldwide News_._-------_.- 5

I Additional virtues are listed in the rest of the chapter, but not In the literary form of vice andvirtue lists.

Virtue and Sin lists of the New Testament

Editor's note: For additional mformatlon on the literary forms of vice and virtue lists, consultJames L. Bailey's and Lye D. Vander Broek's Uterary Forms in the New Testament (Westmin­ster/John Knox Press, 1992).

Based on NRSV Matt. 5:3-11 Gal. 5:22-23 Eph.4:32 Eph. 6:14-20 PIIi1.4:8

General poorness In love, JOY, peace, faith thinking on truth,attitudes spirit, mourning, patience honorableness,

meekness, purity justice, pureness,In heart pleasing things,

commendablethings, excellentand praiseworthythings

General to hunger and self-control righteousnessapproach to thirst formorality righteousness

General merciful, •kindness, kindness. prayingapproach to peacemaking generosity, tenderhearted- for othersothers faithfulness, ness, forgiving

gentleness

General rejoicing whenapproach to persecuted forpersecution righteousness

and Chnst

General Girded Withapproach truth,to the gospel proclaiming the

gospel, taking onsalvation and theWord of God

Table 21-.

Based on NRSV Col. 3:121 1 TIm. 3:2-13 TItus 1:6-9 Heb.7:26 James 3:17

General humility, sensibleness, not not arrogant, notattitudes meekness. loving money, debauched, not

patience not greedy for rebellious, notmoney, lack of greedy for gainconceit,seriousness

General being above blamelessness, holiness. purity, haVIngapproach to reproach, not quick- blamelessness, good fruits, nomorality blamelessness. tempered. loving being undefiled hypocrisy

living such that goodness. beIRgoutsiders thIR prudent, upright,Iwellofyou devout and self-respectability, controlledtemperateness,not double-tongued,faithfulness

General compaSSion, hospltableness, hospitableness, peaceable,approach to kindness apt at teachIRg, having believing gentle,others gentleness. not children, not Willingness to

quarrelsome, violent yield, merciful,good household no partialitymanagement,maintainingsubmission andrespect of one'schildren

Specific virtues marrying once, marrying once.not being drunk, not beingnot indulging in addicted to winemuch wine, notslandenng

General holdIRg fast to having a firmapproach the mystery of grasp of "theto the gospel the faith with a word that is

clear conscience trustworthy inaccordance Withthe teachIRg •sound doctrinalpreaching,refuting thosewho are contrary

Sin lists of the New Testament

Also see 1 Peter 2:1. LIsted there are malice, guile, Insincerity, envy and slander.

Editor's note: For additional mformation on the literary forms of vice and virtue lists, consultJames L. Bailey's and Lyle D. Vander Broek's Literary Forms in the New Testament (Westmin­ster/John Knox Press. 1992).

INRSV Marll7:21-22 Rom. 1:29-32 Rom. 13:8-14 Gal. 5:U-21 1Cor.5:!H1 1 Cor. 6:9-10

Sex sins fornication, adultery, formcation, sexual fornication,adultery, licentiousness Impurity, immorality adultery, malelicentiousness licentiousness prostitution,

sodomy

Improper envy malice, jealousy enrnity, stnfe,feelings envy, strife, jealousy,. heartlessness, anger,

ruthlessness dissensions, -envy

Bodily harm murder murder murder

Property theft stealing robbery theft, robberyharm

Sins of the deceit. slander deceit, gossip, quarreling quarreling reviling reVilingtongue slander,

boastfulness

Self-abuse reveling. drunkenness. drun enness drun ennessdrunkenness, carousingdebauchery

Greed and avarice, pride covetousness, covetousness fac ons greed greedself-cen- insolence,teredness haughtiness

Denying or God-hating, idolatry, Idolatry Idolatrydishonoring faithlessness sorceryGod

Nonspecific wickedness, WIckedness, works of things r e wrongdoingand miscel- folly evil, darkness, theselaneous sins craftiness, fleshly deSires

invention ofevil, rebelliontowardparents,foolishness

Table 2

NRSV Eph, 4:25·31 Eph.5:3·5 Col. 3:5·9 21im.3:1-5 Rev. 9:20-21 Rev. 21:8, 27

Sex sins fornication, fornication, fornication fornicationImpurity Impurity,

paSSion, evildesire

Improper anger, anger, malice,feelln s bitterness, wrath

malice. wrath

Bodily hann abusiveness, murder murderInhumanity,brutality

Property theft theftharm

Sins of the falsehood, obscene, Silly 'slander, boasting, lying,tongue evil tal and vulgar abusIVe slanderers falsehood

wrangling, talk language,slander lying

Self-abuse profligateness,recklessness

Greed and greed greed lOVing of self,selfcen- loving ofteredness money,

arrogance,ingratitude.implacability,treachery,conceit

Denying or idolatry Idolatry unholiness, worshiping cowardness,dishonoring lOVIng demons, faithlessness,God pleasure idolatry, sorcery,

rather than sorcery Idolatry,God, denying practicingGod's po er abomination

Nonspecific disobedience pollutedand miscel· to parents,laneous sins hatred of good

ew TestamentVirtue lists of the

Compiled by Dave Molnar,a local church elder in Columbus, Ohio

LettersContinued from page 2

as truth fill me with shame and humilitAfter all, what is ea ier to practice: follo\ inga code of physical rules and regulations-orto love, ne and sacrifice unto death? Th enuns ere alread) ob 'ening the Sabbath-inthe pirit-even dav of their live. Thevunderstood and lived the 100'e of God.

• '0, our change of directIOn should notmake us feel insecure. God i leading u . to eea far greater picture than we could e er have

een before under the old covenant (whichwas merely a ph)sieal e 'pre sion of God's lawgiven to a ph) 'ieal people who needed every·thing pelled out imph for them).

nder the ne\ cmenant. God is hining apiercing light into our hearts to reveal whatwe reall are and what h now expect fromus. And with thi light orne greater com­mitment, tronger faith and an aversion toelf-righteoush taking it upon oursehe to

judge others and their relation hip with Godfrom a uperior tandpoint.

Once we embrace the e humbling anddeepl) thought-provokmg teaching in faith,any in ecurity e rna have felt disappears,to be replaced with a deeper understanding

of God's infinite love for all mankind,Thank vou .\-ir. Tkach for your courage, m

Yielding and powerfully follo\\iing God'instruction on our ne\' direction, You aretrul a leader in the real sen e of the \ orc!.E\er) day it become clearer and clearer thatCoo t i guiding us through ,our leadership.

Zoe Krauseewport Beach, Australia

Revealed tn.IthI have been a member for 38 'ears. All thi

time I have been truggling, t'i'ying to findab olute proof in the ew Testament thatcertain Old Covenant commands (Hoi Dav,Sabbath, tithes) were binding on Coo ti.i'n

today. I could ne\'er prove it to my O\vn satis­faction. So I took the mini trY's word for it,after all they were clo e to God.

Last fall' I started praying, pray ing andpraing that I'd fmd proof for the e thing. Itwas fro trating. I ju t couldn't find a com­mand in the, ew Te'tament that taught that',e must obsene the e thing for al\ation.

ot long aIter this God revealed this truth toMr. Tkach. It' as if a huge eight has beenlifted off m, houlders. I'm ure there mu thave been other going through the samething I did. I give m) wholehearted supportto Mr. Tkach.

KP.OI enTemple City, California

;:;.6_. ~ ._-_._~-~----,~_---~---_-~-~c~-------Th-'-'--'-'e:c-W-'--'--"o'--'-rl-=-dw'-'-'-=id'-=e'--'-N--'--e::..cw--'--s'--- Tuesday, July 4, 1995

Personal: Unity in the gospel, not other beliefsContinued from page 1

destroy your brother for \ -homChrist died. Do not allow what ouconsider good to be spoken of asevil" (Romans 14:15-16).

"It is better not to eat meat ordrink wine or to do anything elsethat will cause your brother to fall.So whatever you believe about the ethings keep between yourself andGod" (14:21-22).

There is a time to speak up forfreedom, and a time to be silent.When Peter came to Antioch andshrank awa ' from the gentile , Paulrebuked him in public. Thatshouldn't happen very often, ofcourse, but sometimes it is necessaryto tand up for the truth of thegospel. Since gentiles are aved with­out following Jewish customs, theyare brothers in the faith. It is wrongto i olate them as if the' were ub-standard. •

And, on the other side of the coin,Christians who observe Jewish cus­toms are not substandard, either. Weare all sinners, saved by gracethrough faith in Jesus Christ. We areall substandard, so to speak. Thepoint is that we must accept oneanother on the basis of faith inChri t. We are not to call each otherunconverted or condemn one anoth­er to the lake of fire for not believingcertain doctrines. Those who usesuch spiritual clubs upon one anoth­er are not acting in love, to say theleast.

There are beha\ioral standards forthe Christian faith, of cour e. Paultold the Corinthian Christians toavoid people who claimed to belie\'eand yet were immoral, greedy, idol­aters, drunkards or swindlers (1Corinthians 5: 11).

Such sins-and they are not theonly ones-keep people out of God'skingdom and out of his Church. Weare also told to avoid those whocau e dissension within the Church(Romans 16:17). But there are manyother behaviors on which we cannotmake such clear-cut judgments, andon such matters we must exercisesome patienc~ and tolerance ratherthan creating a long list of rules,

A few have asked why we disfel­lowship splinter-group leaders andnot those who join Presbyterian orBaptist groups. The difference, ofcourse, is that the Presbyterians andBaptists are not targeting our mem­bers and are not trying to grow atour expense.

Our splinter groups, in contrast,exist precisely because they haveencouraged our members to leave usand join them. In other words, theyare causing division and dis ension,and Scripture commands us to avoidsuch people. They cause harm \1 ithinthe Body of Christ, damage people 'faith and divert energies away fromthe go pel and into self-promotion.

Paul told the Corinthians to disfel­lowship blatant sinners; on anothermatter he counseled the same peopleto live in harmony with one another.Apparently some of the Corinthianswere claiming, in effect, that Chris­tians can do anything they want to (1Corinthians 10:23). That's not true,Paul responded.

Some things are simply not goodfor us. Our bodies are not our own­they have been bought with a price.We are to be slaves of righteousness,not of selfishness. We are given theHoly Spirit to serve others, not ourown selfish pleasures. " obodyshould seek his own good, but thegood of others" (10:24).

Paul then went on to illustrate

what he meant. In Corinth, somemembers believed they could eatmeat that had been sacrificed to anidol. Other members thought this""'Tong. Paul aid it was permissible(l0:25)-but he quickly qualifiedhimself, aying that a membershould stop if another person voicesconcerns (10:28).

If we can eat the meat, someonemight ask, why should we stop?Shouldn't we simply inform ourbrother that it's OK, and then goahead and eat it? Well, life isn't thatsimple. The Church has many typesof people in it, and we don't alwaysunderstand the same things in thesame way even when we are taughtin precisely the same words.

We have differences of opinion

We need tolerance, notlegalism from eitherend of the spectrum.We need to tolerate adiversity of understand­ing and Imd our unityin Christ. Eternal life isworth much more thandietary practices! Ibelieve that Paul'sepistles give us thisapproach.

that cannot be fixed simply by wordsof wisdom from people who thinkthey know it all. ''I'm strong andyou're weak; I'm smart and you'restupid; so let me do it my way." Thissort of approach is destructive andnot Christlike.

How Paul handled differencesPaul de cribes the better approach:

"Food does not bring us near to God;we are no worse if we do not eat, andno better if we do. Be careful, howev­er, that the exercise of your freedomdoes not become a stumbling blockto the weak" (8:8-9). "When YOU sinagainst your brothers in this ~ay andwound their weak conscience, yousin against Christ. Therefore, if whatI eat causes my brother to fall intosin, I will never eat meat again, sothat I will not cause him to fall"(8:12-13).

"Though I am free and belong tono man, I make myself a slave toeveryone, to win as many as possi­ble," Paul wrote (9: 19). All Christiansare slaves to one another. Whoeverwants to be trong must become theservant of all.

"To those under the law I becamelike one under the law:' Paul ""'Tote(9:20), and we would do well to imi­tate him. When we are with peoplewho want old covenant customs, wewould be wise to do as thev do. Wedo not want to offend. W~ need toput some self-control on our free­dom, because the most importantlaw-love-takes priority over ourfreedom. That doesn't mean that wehave to hide our beliefs on the mat­ter-Paul made his own positionclear (10:25).

"Do not cause anyone to stumble,"Paul says, "even as I try to pleaseeverybody in every way. For I am notseeking my own good but the good ofmany, so that they may be saved"(10:32-33). Avoid offense, Paul says,even as I do, by serving others. It isin this very context that Paul says,

"Follow my example, as I follow theexample of Christ" (11: 1). Christ setan example of serving others.

Brethren, do not cause offense. Donot use the new covenant as a badgeof self-importance. "I understandand you don't. I ee and you areblind. I'm supportive and you arenot." And on the other side of thecoin, do not use our traditions as abadge of (self-)righteou ne s. "I amfaithful and you are not." These judg­mental approaches are condemnedthroughout the T eVo Testament.

We need tolerance, not legalismfrom either end of the pectrum. Weneed to tolerate a dh'ersitv of under­standing and find our unity in Christ,not in an enforced agreement onevery point of doctrine.

We want to welcome pork-eaters inour fellowship. We want to welcomepork-avoiders, too. We do not wantto drive either group away. Our unityi in Christ, not in our diets! Buteven as I say that, I know that somepeople will be offended that theChurch would actuall invite pork­eaters to attend our services.

If that offends you, I am sorry. Iwould hope that 'ou would rejoicefor every sinner who turns to Christfor salvation. Eternal life is worthmuch more than dietary practices! Ihope my letter prevents offenserather than causes it, and I believethat Paul's epi ties give us thisapproach. Personall , I do not eatpork. However, I do not feel a com­pulsion to avoid tho e who do.

We must have unit. in the gospel(not in other beliefs)-but that verygospel tells us to have tolerance forpeople who have different customsand beliefs about matters that arenot essential to salvation. We do notwant the Church to degenerate intosmall cliques of people who agreewith each other.

Love works both waysWe don't want an old covenant

clique who fellowship only amongthemselves and a ne\\ covenantclique who fellowship only amongthemselves. Rather, we should behospitable to one another and beconcerned for one another, respect­ing each others' preferences, just aswe would want them to do for us.The command to love our neighborapplies just as much to the people weagree with as tho e with hom wehave differences of opinion.

A few people have expressed a littlefrustration at members who don't vetaccept the new covenant. That'sunderstandable, but be patient, myfriends! How many years did it takefor us to learn? S~~e people simplydon't understand it yet, but thatdoesn't mean the person is uncon­verted. Rather, it means that we ha\'ean opportunity to learn patience andself-sacrificing love. We all ha\'emuch to learn-and many opportuni­ties!

''I'm getting tired of hearing aboutthe covenants," a few have said."Let's just get on with it and go for­ward. If people don't understand itby now, maybe they are better offsomewhere else." ow, it may betrue that they will be temporarilymore comfortable some\ 'here else,but I do not think they will be betteroff.... or do I think that the Churchought to fragment itself into littlegroups that all think alike and are allcomfortable with each other and arethereby isolated from opportunitiesfor growth.

One of our pastors illustrated ourspiritual journey like a family hikingtrip. There's Mom and Dad and theteenagers and the 5-year-old. ow,

what would happen to the family tripif the teenagers decided that Momand Dad were going too slowbecau e of the 5-vear-old?

What if they just took off, goingmiles ahead, camping in differentplaces, never concerned about the 5­year-old? Wouldn't the 5-year-oldfeel left out? Wouldn't the parents beright in feeling that the teenagerswere failing to grasp an}1hing aboutfamily unity and mutual support?

ow, on orne hiking trips it's per­missible for the teenagers to go onahead. But I think the analogy doesillustrate the need for the faster folksto be concerned about the slowerones. We have a responsibility tohelp each other, rather than each ofus independently pleasing ourselves.

Fast people need to keep comingback to the group to show the wayand to share the burdens to makethings easier for others. Slow peopleshould do their best to keep up thepace instead of digging in their heelsand camping before the trip is done.Above all, we need to have love forone another.

Called to freedom, not selfishnessThe new covenant gives us free­

dom, but it is not a freedom for elf­ishnes . "Lh'e as free men, but do notu e 'our freedom as a cover-up fore\il; live as servants of God" (1 Peter2:16). As servants of God, we are freeto serve one another. "You, mybrothers, were called to be free. Butdo not use your freedom to indulgethe sinful nature; rather, serve oneanother in love. The entire law issummed up in a single command:'Love your neighbor as yourself' " .(Galatian 5:13-14). The Christlikeway is self-sacrifice and service.

Knowing about the new covenantis not enough. Even demons knowabout the new covenant. What weneed is to be transformed by the newcovenant. We are to be led by theSpirit into love and peace and self­control. Our faith must be accompa­nied by works-good works-love­service to others.

Paul wrote that grace teaches us tobe self-controlled (Titus 2:11-12).Grace is not a license to sin or to beselfish. Rather, it is an obligation toserve the people for whom our Sav­ior died. We are united with Christ,and so are many other folks. We areunited with the~, too, and we mustbe careful as to how we treat them.

Our relationship with Christ oughtto tran form the way we deal withother people-not just the peoplewho think like we do, but also thosewho don't. This is the challenge towhich we have been called: To seektheir good and not our own. Christwill take care of us. What he wantus to do is take care of others.

Love i the context of the newcovenant. I hope we are all growingin our understanding of this mostfundamental point. Some of u aredoing just great in this; others are abit slow to learn. We each need tobear with one another's weaknesses,and each use our strengths to helpone another, and set a good examplefor each other. "Spur one another ontoward love and good deeds. Let usnot give up meeting together, assome are in the habit of doing, butlet us encourage one another" (He­brews 10:24-25).

Thanks for your support of me andmy father. We all have trials that arelearning opportunities, and we lookto Christ to shape us and use us as he\\ishes. Many of you have trials. too,and although I do not know the cir­cumstances you all face, I pray thatChrist will intervene for you as well.

Tuesday, July 4, 1995 The Worldwide News 7

7-95

by a daughter Carolyn Dunn

LANA WEINBERG

WEI BERG, Lana. 52 of MontroseCal fornla. d ed unexpectedly May24, She is surVived by two sonsArchie and Doug as Wong a daug ­ter-In-Iaw. May ba. and two grand­children, Chnstopher and Jeffery

KI G. Kevn and Jesse, were bornApnl 14 durmg the fifth month oforegnancy, and lived for 30 m nutes,They are survIVed by the r parents,Ben and Kendra K ng. grandpar­ents, Gene and Judy Francello. andMary Smith great-grandparents.James and Gladys McDowell andan uncle and aunt. John and KatrinaHanson. (See Birth announcement)

EDWARDS Sh rley Myrll, 66. of Tal­hape, New Zealand, died May 2 ofcancer, She s surVIVed by threessters, Val Jan and Jo f e sonsand daugnters-ln-Iaw, S'II and San­dra. Bob and Karen, Grant andDaphne, DaVid and Clare, and Ianand Oebb e: and by 10 grandchil­dren She was preceded n deat byher husband Klein

Birth AnnouncementWe'd like to let readersknow about your newbaby as soon as itarrives. Just fill out thiscoupon and send it to theaddress given as soon aspossible after the baby isborn. Baby announce­ments should be no morethan six months old.

BIRTH ANNOUNCEMENTTHE WORLDWIDE NEWSBOX 111PASAOEHA, CAUF. 91129, U.s.A.

Last name Father's first name

Mother's first name Mother's maiden name

Church area or city of residence/state/country IBaby's sexJBoyt:JGirl

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Number of children you have* Boys: Girls: ICJ Check*IOOOO",g newborn box if first

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JUDITlf DeBERNARDI

DeBERNARDI Judith A , 53. ofTrappe. Pennsylvania died Apr I 29of cancer. She is survived by herhusband, AI: a daughter, Deborah. ason, Glenn; two sisters DoloresMurry and Florence Dobies and twobrothers, Lew,s Jr and RonaldHorne. She was preceded ,n death

ure He,s survived by hs wife. Joan'three chIldren, Bob. Esme and Paul;two daughters"ln-law, Gad andChnstlne; a son-in-law, Gary' a 5S­ter, Molly: nine grandch'ldren' andone great-grandchild

DEREK MILLMAN

MILLMAN, Derek, 68, of B"stol, En­gland. died May 1 of acute heart fall-

MARYPUZAK

PUZAK, Mary May 82, of Albu­querque New eXJCQ d ed April 27She IS SUrvived by four sons e ghtgrandch Idren, 14 great-grandch'~

dren and a brother and s ster. Shewas preceded in death by her hus­band, M tchell.

ANGELL, Nina. 89, of Fort Worth,Texas died May 27 She was pre­ceded ,n death by her husband,Jack.

Obituaries

WOLFGANG. Ralph R, Sr 86, ofGllbertsv De. Pennsylvania, died May2, He s SUrviVed by hIS Wife, Sarah;three sons. Ralph Jr., Robert andRandall' three daughters. ShirleyShoemaker, Rochelle Leneave andSarah Flood. 23 grandchIldren: and3B great-grandchldren.

pie live In Youngstown, Ohio,

Ronald and Tennle McCoy of Sl.LOUiS M ssour celebrated thelf40t ann versary MarCh 12 Theyhave four chIldren, Ronald Jr ,Chiton Sharon and Larry. twodaughterS-III-law. Dawn and Cheryl;a son- n-Iaw. Matt, and five grand­ch Idren Am e Jessica Ahc a.Zachary and Molly May,

ERIC & LESLEY·ANN McBURNEY

Lesley-Ann Mooi. daughter of Lionelani;! Sybil Moo, of Oakville. Ontar 0,and Enc C McBurney ofYoungstown. Ohio. were un ted ,nmamage July 3, The ceremony wasperlormed by Robert Morton, pastorof the Brampton. Ontario. churchKathleen Jurabi was rna d of honor,and Peter Bnden was best manAttendants were Andre and DanelleMooi Bonn'e Hoyt. Joel McBurney,Beatnx Norte. Kurt McBurney, KarenMcBurney and Peter Sotus The cou-

KYLE & LAURA JONES

DaflIel Kyle Jones and La ra Rebec­ca Enc nasa were united If1 marriageJan, 8 10 Tampa. Flonda LeslieW ndham. sIster of the b"de. wasmad of honor Tiffany Jones, fatherof the groom. was best man, Thecouple live m Greensboro. NorthCarolina

Annette Cormer, daughter of Mrand Mrs, Alphonse Cormier 0 Cheti­camp. Nova Scotia and DanielJoyal son of Mr, and Mrs. ClaudeJoyal of Berthlerville. Quebec, wereufllted ,n marrage Ap,,1 2 In M IIville,Nova Scolla The ceremony wasperformed by Alan Redmond. pastorof the Sydney, Nova Scot'a, andCorner Brook. Newfoundland,churches, Angele CorJmler. sister ofthe b"de, was maid of honor andDaVid Thomas was best man. Thecouple live In Toronto

Tony Incognito and VIC' Fauldswere uruted 'n marr age March 19 IflToronlo, OntarIO The ceremony wasperformed by George Lee a m n s­ter ,n the Toronto West church Thematron of honor was Mana lncogfll­to, and the best man was Gary Jons­son The couple I e ,n Toror o.

Engagements

WOOD, Bradford and Trudy (Sass)of Cleveland Heights, Ohio, girl,eornne Ellen, May 29. frst ch Id

Mr and Mrs, Elmer Ormiston ofElma. WashlOgton, are pleasedto announce the engagement ofthelT daughter Janalee Melissato Kenneth Richard Swisher,son of Ken and Beverly Swisherof Tyler, Texas A Decemberwedd ng 's planned In B,gSandy

TARKINGTON Beau and An ta (Wil­son) of Jonesboro. Arkansas. boyXaVler Soche, May 20. now 3 boys.

WHEATLEY Brian and Lynne(Wong) of Bendgo Australia. boy,Samuel David Pradeep. Dec 17,now 2 boys.

PHIPPS. Bran and Donna (Levo,,) 0'Kansas Cty, Kansas. boy NathanOlIVer, bOrn Apr 30 adopted May2, now 1 boy, 1 grl.

Sara McNamara, daughter ofWendy McNamara of Victor a. Aus­tralia and L nas Silva of Me,­bourne Austral a, were united nmarnage Feb 12. The ceremonywas performed by Rod King. pas­tor of Melbourne East churchNadia McNamara and Lara Emer­son attended the br de, Brent Silvaand M.tchell McNamara attendedthe groom.

Edward and Donna Rust ofAnoka, Minnesota, are pleased toannounce the engagement ofthe If daughter Andrea Lynne toRobert Allan Davis, son of Robertand Jean Davis of Palmyra. VIT­glOia. An Oct. 1 wedding isplanned in Denver, Colorado.

DEANS Graham and Michelle(WI kins) of Ottawa. Ontario. g rKayle gh Michelle Feb. 14, now 1boy 1 g I.

NEWMAN Gabriel and Maudi (Zorn)of Olympia, Wash'ngton, boyAlexander Scott. May 5. first child

KING Ben and Kendra (Benson) ofEsconddo Cal forn a, tw n boys.KeVIn and Jesse. Ap,,1 14 filSt ch,l­dren, (See Ob tuar es)

aas) of Duluth, Mnnesota. boy. RyanMichael. May 23 now 4 boys, 1 g rl

CHMILAR. Gene and Oebbe (Mor­gan) 01 Edmonton Alberta boy'Matthew Wilram Allan, Ap,,12O. now2 boys,

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enr­zw~wC)<C)zwen:r:r­a:m

Births

CARLSON David and Michelle (Der-

BREIDENTHAL Donald C. and San­dra (Garcia) of San Jose California,boy, Austin Phillip Logan, March la,000N 4 boys,

BESWICK. Malcolm and Chnstne(Day) of Ballarat. Australia girl.Joanna May Apnl 7. f rst child

ALEXANDER Anton and Doratno(Stephen) of Colombo, S" Lanka,g rl. Al'sha CafTlen, Ap,,1 30, now 3grs.

have to a world town meeting."While in San Francisco Mr. Earle

also visited the Oakland and SanFrancisco congregations June 17. Hegave a slide show on the accomplish­ments and editorial philosophy of ThePlain Truth.

Dion (SMC), (DIR), 6, rue Laval, St­Constant, Quebec, Canada, J5A lEI,telephone 1-514-632-5560; RichardCote (CCD), 83, rue Proulx, St-Con­stant, Quebec, Canada, J5A IM6,telephone 1-514-632-9581.

Seniors honored in NewJersey congregation

BRICK, ew Jer ey-Eight octoge­narians in the Brick church werehonored after services April 29.

Those in their 80s were called tothe stage and given boutonnieres andcorsages. Presiding over the ceremo­ny was John Adams, Brick pastor,and John Rupp, a local church elder.

SA FRA CISCO, California­eil Earle, Plain Truth international

editor, met with retired consul Her­bert Spivack of the United StatesForeign Service, June IS, in connec­tion with celebrations marking the50th anniversary of the United

ations.Mr. Spivack spoke on: "The U.

Failed Dream or Hope for theFuture."

"A club of victors (in 1945) hasemerged as a universalist organiza­tion," Mr. Spivack said. "The GeneralAssembly is still the closest thing we

5W8, telephone 1-709-364-6152; Jen­nifer Fudge (CCD), 103 Old Penny­well Rd., St. John's, ewfoundland,Canada, AlB 1A8, telephone 1-709­722-2149.

Sherbrooke, Quebec: Ginette

International PT editorinterviews UN pioneer

Annstrong (SMC), 9391 rue Boisjoli,Pierrefonds, PQ, Canada, H8Y 3M2,telephone 1-514-421-0101; Syd Lucas(DIR), RR I, Richmond, Ontario,Canada, KOA 2Z0, telephone 1-613­838-4838; Undecided (crD).

Penticton, British Columbia:Robert Berendt (SMC), 2624 CopperRidge Dr., Westbank, British Colum­bia, Canada, V4T 2M8, telephone 1­604-768-2722 effective July 10; JimBrandenburg (DIR), (CCD), 3559Morley Trail, "Torthwest, Calgary,Alberta, Canada, T2M 4H5, tele­phone 1-403-282-8981.

Regina, Saskatchewan: ToddWarren (SMC), (CCD), 174 GladmerPark, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada,S4P 2W9, telephone 1-306-522-3100;Tom Jameson (DIR), 2932 WascanaSt., Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada,S4S 2G8, telephone 1-306-585-0249.

St. John's, ewfoundland: FrankGough (SMC), Box 341, Mount Pearl,

ewfoundland" Canada, Al 2C3,telephone 1-709-747-2100; FrankBurke (DIR), Box 5612, EEPO, St.John's, ewfoundland, Canada, A1C

Edmonton, Alberta: Eric Warren(SMC), 52 Maple Bay, Lacombe,Alberta, Canada, T4L IV4, telephone1-403-782-2227, effective July 20;Ron Langlo (DIR), 222 Wood ValleyPlace, Southwest, Calgary, Alberta,Canada, T2W 5T8, telephone 1-403­281-2703; Tamara Moore (CCD).2434 - 115 St., Edmonton, Alberta,Canada, T6J 3S1, telephone 1-403­430-0313.

Halifax, Nova Scotia: CaroleStanley (SMC), (DIR), (instrumental­ist are welcome), HC 77, Box 247,Hancock, Maine, 04640, telephone 1­207-422-6475; Miriam DeVlugt(CCD), 191 Thomas St., Dieppe, NewBrunswick, Canada, E1A 2C3, tele­phone 1-506-859-8889.

Mont Orford, Quebec: Kevin

Continued from page 3

6865 . Burbank Ave., Milwaukee,Wisconsin, 53224, telephone 1-414­353-7970.

Canadian sites

Choir directors for Feast sitesI

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Feast sitecancellations andreassignments

Because of reduced atten­dance projections, fourFeast of Tabernacles iteshave been canceled: CorpusChristi, Texas; Jekyll Is­land, Georgia; Redding,California; and Tucson, Ari­zona

-0 100% recycled paper

Tornado damagesmembers' homes inWest Texas

EAR EOLA, Texas-Atornado May 14 severelydamaged the farm home ofReinhold Jr. and Kather­ine Fuessel, and destroyedthe home of their youngestson, David, and his wife,Janet.

The Fuessels are longtimemembers of the Church inWest Texas, and Mr. Fue selis a local church elder in theSan Angelo church.

The Fue sel were in BigSandy for Ambas ador ni­versitv commencement e. er­cises' \\ hen the tornadostruck. Da\'id and Janet 10 teverything: home, farmequipment, buildings andtrees.

Our cover article for the August issue of The Plain Truth is"Enabled Through Christ." This article by Jeff Zhorne is alook into the world of those with disabilities and how we, asChristians, can more effectively minister to their needs.

In "The Sabbath Rest in Christ," Mr. Tkach explains that"The Christian Sabbath is the redeemed and renewed lifeof faith in Jesus Christ, the One in whom every believerfinds true rest."

Also in the August issue:

Fifty Years in the Shadow-a look at the impact of theNuclear Age on Christians

At Greater Risk-an examination of alcoholism andChristian women

Boundary Marker Chrlstians-a warning against theassumption that beliefs and practices define us asthe people of God

Pastor's wife honoredfor volunteer service

S 'JUA.1, Puerto Rico-­Renee Lopez, \ rife of FredLopez, pastor of the SanJuan church, recehoed a cer­tificate of appreciation,April 26, for her work at Ft.Buchanan military base.

Mr . Lopez, who as i 'ts inthe Army Community Ser­vice Office, was one of ninehonored. The awards werepresented by the wife of SanJuan's mayor and the basecommander.

Olga Gonzalez, a San Juanmember, also volunteers hertime at Ft. Buchanan.

Al' 'ISTO , Alabama-Thechurch here will celebrate its20th anniversary July 22.

Services will be at 3 p.m.in the Ramada Inn in Annis­ton. A dinner and dance willfollow. To make resen'ationsfor the dinner and dancesend 16 per adult and 13per child to Terry Curren,165 Moana Dr., Alexandria,Alabama, 36250, or call1-205-820-0319.

Alabama church tomark 20th anniversary

munity service and wrote ofher experience, received theOutstanding Young Citizenof Missouri award from Lt.Governor Roger Wilson, inJeffer on City, Mis ouri,April 12, Missouri Ser iceDav.

Anna was made an hon­orary page of the 88th Mi ­souri Assembly. She was oneof eight Misso~ri students toreceive this award.

Anna is the daughter ofMarvin and Rita Wrightand attends the Poplar Bluff,Missouri, church.

__coll----'Ing soon In The Plain Truth...

Ken Williams pastors theRochester, New York, church.

our combined prayers makea more complete request."

"The prayers were moreearnest, not so mechanicaLHow can you not pray withvour heart when vou hearthe requests \'e he~rd todaymade 0 frankly, openly andincerely?"

"This has brought us clos­er together and closer toGod."

Our thanks to Mr. Tkachfor bringing the early ewTestament church's exampleto light so we also will bene­fit from this God-given bless­ing.

Youth named honorarypage after 240 hoursof community service

FREMO T, Missouri­Anna Wright, 17, who vol­unteered 240 hours of com-

BO•• , Germany-VasylMondich, a Sabbatarianminister from Ukraine, spoketo the Bonn and Dues eldorfchurch May 13. ValentinaTobert of Singen, German .~

was tran lator.Mr. Mondich accompa­

nied a truck from Ukrainethat picked up furniture,clothing and householdftems donated by the Bonnoffice and church.

Mr. Mondich and Mrs. To­bert left Bonn with the truckMay 14. Later that dav the'picked up donations' fromthe Darmstadt church.

Donations fill truckbound for Ukraine

Thi type of incident has anunsettling effect.

Thank you for remember­ing us. And be encouragedbecau e God has been \\'ithus thu far.

Art Holladay is associatepastor ofthe Pieternwritzburg,South Africa, and Phoetlix,Mauritius, churches.

the meeting with a hymn.Most everyone commented

on how much they appreci·ated the prayer meeting.We're looking forward tomeetings during the weekthat will take place duringour in-home Bible studies.

Members said that theycould pray for others withmore heartfelt earnestnessbecause they heard the per­sonal request. One com·mented that prayer requestsduring services are good, butthis made it personal.

Other comments were:"I feel supported by oth­

ers. I don't feel so alone inmy trial."

"We all pray with the per­son leading in prayer and

from behind, came out underher armpit, and reenteredher body by the chest andtraveled downward, comingto rest in her abdomen. Thesurgery showed that no vitalorgans were damaged.

The doctor said that wehad someone looking outfor her because it narrowlymissed shattering her shoul­der bones (wlrich wouldhave led to amputating herleft arm); it missed a largevein; narrowly missed herleft lung; and only barelycut open her stomach, butdid not penetrate it. Thedamage from such a high\'elocity weapon does, how­ever, do quite a bit of tissue .damage.

We are thankful for theprotection we believe \ ereceived. Ten of us werewatching television when weheard loud popping soundsout ide the sliding glassdoors that Wendy and Iwere sitting against.

Only three rounds weredischarged, two hitting thewall opposite Wendy andme, just above the head ofanother couple, and theother hit Wendy.

Someone shouted foreveryone to get down on thefloor. We got down andturned off the lights andradioed for help.

Police think the AK-47jammed, as they found twospent bullet cases on theveranda outside, both dam­aged. but no sign of thethird. They think the bulletswere jamming as they cameout, \\ith the third one get­ting stuck, firing but notallowing the spent case to bedischarged, and most impor­tantly, not allOWing anymore rounds to be fired.

It could have been a realtraged " but thankfully theperson fled. Our loving Goddid not let Satan get the bet­ter of the situation. God'sprotection has been reassur­ing.

Please pray that Wendy'swounds will heal withoutinfection, and that her stom­ach and bo vel will functionproperly. Please also prayfor her emotional healing.

By Ken Williams

ROCHESTER, ewYork­The church here conductedits first prayer meeting afterservices June 17.

Men and women maderequests and prayed for eachother. Some of the brethrenwho had requested prayersfrom the church during theweek were encouraged to bethere.

The meeting room provedto be too small as one fifthof the congregation crowd­ed together to make re­que ts for empathy andprayers, and others gave thesupport and heartfelt re­quests to God. We closed

Feelings of sharing burdens and communityexperienced at prayer meeting in New York

we "ere visiting friends at adeacon' farm in ruralKwaZulu atai, near Ixopo,June 24 at about 9:30 p.m.

Seven hour and threeho pitals later she hadsurgery to remove the bulletand repair internal damage.

Wendy is in pain, butreceiving excellent care fromthe hospital staff and Churchmembers. She was taken outof intensive care June 26,and 'as placed in a semipri­vate ward. The bullet enteredthe top part of her shoulder

Minister's wife shot inSouth Africa

By Art Holladay

IXOPO, South Africa-My\ 'ife, Wendy, is recuperatingwell after being shot by anAK-47 automatic rifle while