Volume 3

August 2013

E-Herald of the Coming Kingdom

The time has come, and the Kingdom of God is near. Change the way you think and act, and believe the Good News. Mark 1:15 GW

In This Issue:
Ephesus: You Got mail 10 ways to kill your church They call it a difficulty The results of zealous ignorance Preparing for the third temple Apostate church 10 Reasons why I am a bibilical unitarian And More..

DEDICATED TO SPREADING THE GOOD NEWS OF GODS COMING KINGDOM TO BE ESTABLISHED WHEN CHRIST RETURNS

Contents

Ephesus: You got Mail

Wally Winner
Page 5

Target Your Talents

Joe Myers
Page 16

They Call It a Difficulty

Anthony Buzzard
Page 25

The Results of Zealous Ignorance

Kent Ross
Page 27

Making of an Apostate Church

Mark DeYoung Page 32

Ten Reasons I Am a Biblical Unitarian

Kent Ross
Page 38

Editorial...Page 3 10 Ways to Kill Your Church...Page 12 By This Time You Ought to Be TeachersPage 13 The Pine Woods Bible Class..Page 18 Curious Headlines.Page 22 Airman DisciplinedPage 23 Preparing for the Third Temple.Page 29 Facebook and Evangelism...Page 37 Heritage ConferencePage 41
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Editors Note
Co-Editors: Kent H. Ross Wally Winner

Peace With Israel in Nine Months That's what Secretary of State Kerry hopes as he brings Israel and the Palestinians to the table to talk peace. So far the only concessions bandied about seem to have come from Israel and that was to release over 100 prisoners, and the possibility of ceding Israel land to the Palestinians. Though doubtful, perhaps peace, a peace of sorts, will be achieved, but it won't last. We know that by it being broken and a great war will come to pass pitting all the nations of the world against tiny Israel. Israel will fight fiercely, but will appear to go down in defeat, but then . . . His feet, those of the messiah, will come and descend on the Mount of Olives and the Age-to-Come will have begun. No, not now, but that is the scenario in the pages of the Bible/ Watch, and again we say watch. "Excellent Conference," We're Told All reports indicate there was a warm spirit of fellowship, and quite an excellent attendance, especially at the evening services. Through the remarkable technology that has come, thanks to "Cogcast" and its "Winners", we were able to watch some of it. Our congratulations to the two new Directors elect, Christ James (SC) and Dan Knowlton (IN) who were elected. As was said last month any of the three nominees, the other being Valerie Sharp (also of IN), would serve with distinction. Greg Demmitt (TX) will function as Chairperson this year. Need for Educational Material The expectation was to see the crying need for new Christian Education materials addressed, but though there was some reporting on the issues involved, evidently very little action could be taken. The difficulties are many: 1) Preparing quarterlies for at least four age groups is a large task, 2) Needing to be done for each quarter is daunting, 3) With shrinking church membership, the pool from which writers can be drawn also is shrinking, and 4) The sales level needed to make it economically feasible would take support from contributed funds, which themselves appear very tight. But it clearly is a need. We have a capable committee researching it. We look forward to their recommendations, and to the Board's attempt to respond. Evangelism, New Churches and Church Growth Needed NOW We need these three issues in and amongst our churches . . . and, in fact, outside our churches. The call for Evangelism is not ours to make. It is from the Lord, Himself. "Go and make disciples of all nations." That is happening abroad, but it needs to happen here. We need to see and hear of many coming to faith, being baptized for the remission of sins, learning to explain the faith, and going themselves. There have been "Four Spiritual Laws," the "Roman Road," and "Six Steps to a New Life," all posited as tools, each with their strengths and weaknesses. It's interesting when we hear criticism of any of them, remembering one pastor's comment, "Well, we like our way of doing it (evangelism) better than your way of not doing it!" With evangelism happening, we concurrently would see new churches being planted and existing church expand, even exponentially. `Yes, it can happen that way, not because of our strength and vigor but because: 1) God still wants lost people found, 2) Jesus' promise to "build His church" has not been rescinded, and 3) A people yielded to the Lord can seed amazing things transpire. I believe in the Book of Acts!

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Heritage Conference (sponsored by the Church of God History Com.) Rather exciting program is planned for this year's Heritage Conf., is to be held at the North Hills Church of God, 2950 Moorefield Rd., near Springfield, Ohio. One of the planned presentations is "Back to Mack" a retrospective on some wonderful years of Youth work, but we'll follow the Mack years down to John Brown Univ., and back up to Indiana and the FUEL years. Many who led those years are coming back to share their experiences with us. Well respected author Mildred Dennis, whose background was in the Church of God, will be with us bring her stories, as will Ivan Magaw with his father, Sydney Magaw's book. Meals are provided and it begins Thursday, September 19 after lunch, and goes through Saturday, Sept. 21's lunch. A special event in which you can share. Joseph Marsh Memorial The Church of God, in conjunction with the and cooperation of the Church of God General Conference, have established a Marsh Memorial Fund, to place a marker on the Joseph Marsh burial site up in Michigan. Private funds are solicited to help pay for the approximate $2500 cost of the red granite marker. Several, including some of the Marsh family who have come to the Heritage Conf. have already indicated their desire to participate. Checks for this project, which is not in the Conference budget, could be sent to the Conference made out and marked Marsh Memorial. That address is: CHURCH OF GOD GENERAL CONFERENCE, 2020 Avalon Parkway, Suite 400, PO Box 2950, McDonough, GA 30253; 678-833-1839; 800-347-4261; Is Insistence on Sound Doctrine Pharisaical? A well-known clergy person, Al Maxey, wrote: "George Crabbe (1754-1832) was an English surgeon, clergyman and poet who, in 1810, penned the following observation of the local Vicar in his classic work The Borough, "Habit with him was all the test of truth; 'It must be right; I've done it from my youth.'" For too many people, especially when it comes to matters of religious conviction, one's habits or traditions often, in time, become elevated to the level of divine truths. These then become the accepted conditions and tests of both fellowship and salvation in the eyes of those individuals and sects who cherish them as infallible tenets of the divine will. All other disciples, and all other groups, are carefully scrutinized and measured by these markers. If you pass inspection, you are welcomed into their midst; if you fail, you are shunned and regarded as bound for hell." But if doctrine isn't sound (solid ad true), should there be compromise to keep the peace. In fact, is it loving to pretend, or even tacitly ignore what you believe is erroneous based upon Scripture. Perhaps it is Pharisaical, though Paul left these lines to those young church leaders: 2 Timothy 4:3 "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;" or Titus 1:9: "Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers.", and again, Titus 2:1 "But speak thou the things which become sound doctrine:" Come to think of it Paul himself was a Pharisee. Acts 23:6 "Men and brethren, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee." It depends on what you really mean when you charge one with Pharisaim.

Theology of the Holy Spirit We have, almost from our inception, have a weak understanding of God working His Holy Spirit, now through His Son. Some have left because the understanding they had was not received well by the church at large. In years gone by, many insisted that the work of the Holy Spirit was only evident through study and result of knowing the Word, the Bible. There were seemingly desperate attempts to explain away much of the teaching evident in the New Testament. There was also a fear of "pentecostalism," meaning, usually "speaking in tongues" and "working of miracles." But were those legitimate fears, or was the fear that which generated the theology, such as it was. It appears to be time to investigate the New Testament itself, and that will be addressed in future issues.

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s u s e h Ep
By Wally Winner "I will tarry in Ephesus until Pentecost. For a great and effective door has opened to me" (1 Corinthians 16:8-9). This is what you must write to the angel (messenger = pastor, shepherd of the flock) of the church in Ephesus: (Rev 2:1a CEV) The city played an important role in the early Church. ACTS 18, 19, 20 record Pauls work in Ephesus. Paul spent three years here. Aquilla and Priscilla, Appollos, Timothy and John all labored in Ephesus.

Ephesus was used as the outreach for the rest of the churches in Asia. It was a city of about 300,000 residents with a beautiful seaport .The main street of the city was the Arcadian Way which led from the harbor to the theater. The street was over 100 feet wide and paved with marble slabs. The street was often used for parades and ceremonies, and was flanked on either side by rows of columns 50 feet deep. The street was named in honor of the emperor Arcadius (A.D. 383-408) who enlarged and restored it. At night the street was lit by lanterns The constant flow from the Cayser River silted the port closed around A.D. 300. A wide marble road sloped down to one of the largest libraries of the ancient world. Between 12,000 and 15,000 scrolls were housed in the grand Library of Celsus in the Roman city, Ephesus.

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It was designed by the Roman architect Vitruoya. It was built in memory of Celsus Polemeanus, who was a Roman senator, General Governor of the Province of Asia, and a great lover of books. Celsus' son, Julius Aquila, began the construction in 110 AD. The library was completed by Julius Aquila's successors in 135 AD. Celsus was buried beneath the ground floor in a lead container inside a marble tomb. Ephesus was also a sanctuary for the criminal, a kind of city of refuge, for none might be arrested for any crime whatever when within a bowshot of its walls. There sprang up a village in which the thieves and murderers and other criminals made their homes. The Apostle Paul wrote in the Epistle to the Ephesians: 1:1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, To the saints who are in Ephesus, and faithful in Christ Jesus: 2:1 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 2:11 Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh--who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands-2:12 that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 2:13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. In his letter to the Ephesians, the Apostle Paul makes clear that the Church was built on the foundation of the apostles (plural) AND the prophets, with Jesus as the CHIEF cornerstone, and including all the members in the church as well: Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, Having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, In whom the whole building, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, In whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit (Ephesians 2:19-22). And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head--Christ-- from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love (Ephesians 4:11-15). Thus, it was to the Church of Ephesus that the foundations and offices of the true church were discussed. When Paul was returning from his mission trip and anxious to get to Jerusalem for the Passover Feast, the elders of Ephesus came to Miletus to meet with him while the ship was being loaded. His farewell and warning to the church is recorded in Acts 20:29-31: I know that after I am gone, others will come like fierce wolves to attack you. Some of your own people will tell lies to win over Page 6

the Lord's followers. Be on your guard! Remember how day and night for three years I kept warning you with tears in my eyes. (Acts 20:29-31 CEV) Each one of the communities named in Revelation 2 and 3 had a god or goddess that aided their local economy. In Ephesus it was Artemis. "Great is Artemis, the goddess of the Ephesians! Finally, a town official made the crowd be quiet. Then he said: People of Ephesus, who in the world doesn't know that our city is the center for worshiping the great goddess Artemis? Who doesn't know that her image which fell from heaven is right here? (Act 19:34b, 35 CEV) In fact, the Temple of Artemis (Diana) was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Actually, this was one of seven temples or reconstructed temples built here. A previous one was destroyed by fire. This one would be destroyed by fire, reconstructed and again demolished by earthquakes, rebuilt and at last looted by Goths one year later. The temple Paul saw was 450 long, 220 feet wide, was 60 feet high and had 127 columns. This temple was sponsored by the Lydian king Croesus, designed by the Greek architect Chersiphron, and decorated with bronze statues sculpted by the renowned Pheidias, Polycleitus, Kresilas, and Phradmon. The statue of many-breasted fertility goddess Artemis was the symbol of the temple but also of abundance, hunting and wild life. The genuine statue of Artemis, removed during the fire, is today exhibited in the Selcuk Museum. Many copies of this statue found during the latest excavations date back from the Roman period. Not only did the temple bring vast numbers of pilgrims to the city, but it employed hosts of people apart from the priests and priestesses; among them were the large number of artisans who manufactured images of the goddess Diana, or shrines to sell to the visiting strangers. The conversion to Christianity was cutting into the economy: A certain silversmith named Demetrius made silver models of the temple of the goddess Artemis, and his business brought a great deal of profit to the workers. So he called them all together with others whose work was like theirs and said to them, "Men, you know that our prosperity comes from this work. (Acts 19:24, 25 GNB) Demetrius continued: Now, you can see and hear for yourselves what this fellow Paul is doing. He says that hand-made gods are not gods at all, and he has succeeded in convincing many people, both here in Ephesus and in nearly the whole province of Asia. There is the danger, then, that this business of ours will get a bad name. Not only that, but there is also the danger that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will come to mean nothing and that her greatness will be destroyed---the goddess worshiped by everyone in Asia and in all the world!" As Page 7

the crowd heard these words, they became furious and started shouting, Great is Artemis of Ephesus!" (Acts 19:26-28 GNB) So, they grabbed Gaius and Aristarchus and brought them to the 25,000 seat amphitheater. For two hours the people shouted Great is Artemis of Ephesus. Finally, the city clerk convinced them to dismiss. Paul left town after encouraging the believers. Two moral errors open practice of immorality and open eating of foods offered to idols. At least two moral errors were possible in this atmosphere. An open practice of immorality and open eating of foods offered to idols. Both were warnings from the Council at Jerusalem. Instead, we should write a letter telling them not to eat any food that is ritually unclean because it has been offered to idols; to keep themselves from sexual immorality; and not to eat any animal that has been strangled, or any blood. (Acts 15:20 GNB) The name Ephesus means Maiden of Choice or Darling. A love relationship is implied. I am the one who holds the seven stars in my right hand, and I walk among the seven gold lampstands. Listen to what I say. (Revelation 2:1b). Christ holds like a coin or stone. He stood in chapter one, now he walks. He walks among the churches. He knows everything about each one. There are no secrets He does not know. I know everything you have done, including your hard work and how you have endured. I know you won't put up with anyone who is evil. When some people pretended to be apostles, you tested them and found out that they were liars. You have endured and gone through hard times because of me, and you have not given up. (Revelation 2:2, 3) The report card is in and everybody is feeling pretty good about themselves. The Ephesians are energetic, patient, doctrinally sound. The Ephesian church had worked hard and born a consistent load of service. Ignatius (A.D. 98-117), leader of the church of Antioch, in letter written to the Ephesians mentions this commendable characteristic of the church: But I have learned that certain people . . . have passed your way with evil doctrine, but you did not allow them to sow it among you. You covered up your ears in order to avoid receiving the things being sown by themIgnatius, The Letter of Ignatius to the Ephesians. They had applied the false prophet test of 1 John 4:1-3: Dear friends, don't believe everyone who claims to have the Spirit of God. Test them all to find out if they really do come from God. Many false prophets have already gone out into the world, and you can know which ones come from God. His Spirit says that Jesus Christ had a truly human body. But when someone doesn't say this about Jesus, you know that person has a spirit that doesn't come from God and is the enemy of Christ. You knew that this enemy was coming into the world and now is already here. Page 8

Yes, they were clear as ice, but just as cold. But I do have something against you! And it is this: You don't have as much love as you used to. (Revelation 2:4 CEV) But there had been silent and almost unperceivable erosion. There was a tragic flaw love for one another. The standard was: If you love each other, everyone will know that you are my disciples. (John 13:35 CEV) There is a conflict here between deeds and toil. The church was so busy doing the Kings business; they had no time for the king. Restore unto me the joy of my salvation. (Psalm 51:12) What if I could speak all languages of humans and of angels? If I did not love others, I would be nothing more than a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. (1Corinthians 13:1 CEV) Think about where you have fallen from, and then turn back and do as you did at first. If you don't turn back, I will come and take away your lampstand. (Rev 2:5 CEV) The call here is to Remember, Repent, and Repeat. Remember and keep it up. Repent and do it now. Repeat and do it right. It is never too late to do what is right. In A.D. 431 Emperor Theodosius II called a Church Council at the request of Nestorius, Patriarch of Constantinople. The dispute was over the teachings of Nestorius' doctrine which emphasized the disunity between Christ's human and divine natures. He proposed Christotokos (Bringer forth of Christ) as a more suitable title for Mary. However, the majority of the 200 bishops declared it heresy developed the doctrine of Theotokos (God-bearer). The virgin Mary became the mother of God. The attention was diverted from Jesus as the Son of God. Mary was deified and was worshipped. Where is Ephesus lampstand today? Not only is the church gone, the whole city is ruins. But there is one thing you are doing right. You hate what the Nicolaitans are doing, and so do I. (Rev 2:6 CEV) Nikao = to conqueror and Laos = the people. It is a conqueroring of the people. Maybe a church hierarchy that robs them of spiritual freedom is alluded to here. We do know that it take the church long before it added levels of authority. Jesus showed us servant leadership. So Jesus told them: Foreign kings order their people around, and powerful rulers call themselves everyone's friends. But don't be like them. The most important one of you should be like the least important, and your leader should be like a servant. (Luke 22:25, 26 CEV) Page 9

He not only talked about servant leadership, he displayed it. And if your Lord and teacher has washed your feet, you should do the same for each other. I have set the example, and you should do for each other exactly what I have done for you. I tell you for certain that servants are not greater than their master, and messengers are not greater than the one who sent them. (John 13:14-16 CEV) Do you want to be a leader? Do not try to rule over those who have been put in your care, but be examples to the flock (1Pe 5:3 CEV). To serve, not to be served. The dangerous trends from leader-servanthood were beginning to show. Revelation 2:7 (CEV) If you have ears, then, listen to what the Spirit says to the churches! To those who win the victory I will give the right to eat the fruit of the tree of life that grows in the Garden of God. The story of Noah or a flood is found in all cultures. So, also, is a story about a Tree of Life. The Persians have the haoma tree. The white haoma is the sacred tree of eternal life created by Ahura Mazda which grows up in the middle of the Farakhard ocean (unbounded ocean or the waters of space), surrounded by the ten thousand healing plants, created by Ahura Mazda to counteract the 99,999 diseases created by Angra Mainyu. By the drinking of the Gokard men will become immortal on the day of the resurrection, according to the Bundahish. From the white haoma was also cut the sacred baresma of the Mobeds. The fruit of the haoma was the fruit of the tree of knowledge and wisdom (later transformed into the forbidden fruit). The Hindus have the most revered and considered tree of life, the tuba tree from where the water of immortality flows. In Norse mythology they have the yggdrasill, a mighty ash, in the center of the world reaching up to heaven. That axis, around which all life revolved, was the World Tree. Here is where Odin, the supreme Norse god, learned divination. In Egypt it was the tamarisk tree that was sacred to the god Osiris. In Greece it was the olive tree that was sacred to Athena and it was the cypress tree sacred to Artemis. In the Near East the oasis tree of life was beside a spring of water in the midst of a desert where men Page 10

would die of thirst if not for the water that gave the desert trees life. In Asia Minor the pine tree under which Adonis died was central to the cult of Cybele. Adoniss mainly female devotees would join with Astarte each year weeping for her lost son slain by a boar. They then rejoiced when he was restored to life. Attis was a comely young shepherd whom Cybele loved. The worship of Attis was always linked with that of the Great Mother of All Things, Cybele, the supreme deity. Every spring, the death of the god was mourned until he was resurrected by the Great Mother, when grief turned to joy.

This Sumerian Clay tablet is dated c. 2, 500 BCE. The original Sumerian (Indo-Iranian) concept was that wisdom is likened to a tree whose fruit endows those who eat it with health and longevity. This 4,500 year old clay tablet shows a man and a woman seated below the Tree of Life. Behind the woman is seen a serpent allegedly tempting the woman.

There were sacred groves in India. Typically, such groves are associated with the concept of a "presiding deity". The Druid priests of the Celts are typically associated with oak trees. The tree of life or crann bethadh possessed special powers. They held assemblies in sacred groves and prized the mistletoe growing on the oaks and worshipped the trees themselves. The designs of the tree of life were depicted in a manner of emerging from a pot. The pot is a symbol of Mother Earth - the source that nourishes all forms of life. The Oracle of Jupiter in Elis was at an oak grove. It was chiefly consulted by those intending to take part in the Olympic games. The responses, in sounds produced by the rustling of the wind in an oak tree ("the speaking oak"), were interpreted in early times by men, but afterward by old women In medieval Europe the Trees of Knowledge and of Life were represented in a mystery play about Adam and Eve by a fir tree. The trees were decorated with apples, the fruit of sin, and wafers, the fruit of life. Mystery plays were forbidden in the 15th century. This Paradise Tree with the apples and the wafers were eventually set up in homes on December 24th. Could the Menorah be a symbol of the Tree of Life? The section to Ephesus ends with a promise to overcomers. What is an overcomer? Because every child of God is able to defeat the world. And we win the victory over the world by means of our faith. Who can defeat the world? Only the person who believes that Jesus is the Son of God. (1 John 5:4, 5 CEV). Next time we will open the email to Smryna.

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Church Members, Here Are 10 Ways to KILL Your Church

by Tejado Hanchell

1. Dont come. 2. If you do come, make sure its late. 3. Only show up when the weather is good. 4. Find fault with everything (and/or everyone). 5. Never accept a leadership role or responsibility. 6. Get mad if youre not appointed to a leadership position. 7. Never give your opinion in a meeting wait until AFTER the meeting. 8. Do nothing more than absolutely necessary. 9. Hold back on your giving to the Lord. 10. Dont reach out to the unchurched.
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 By This Time You Ought to Be Teachers":

A Critique of Typical Adult Sunday School
After meditating on that passage, I A couple years ago, as I was reading through the book of Hebrews, I stumbled thought about many Bible-adoring evanover a verse that forced me to reevaluate gelical churches I had attended or visited some key assumptions I had unquestion- over the years. Then it hit me. There are ably inherited from my Bible church tra- classes at my own church in which some dition: both the necessity and validity of of the members literally double the thirtyyear mark of the book of Hebrews. Many adult Sunday school classes. more have been learners for fifty years, The verse? Hebrews 5:12 For though by this time you ought to be more for forty, plenty for thirty or twenty teachers At that point I stopped. I years. In such Bible-believing churches the thought about the audience to whom the author was writing. The book of Hebrews function of those older saints is to show was written sometime around A.D. 65. up Sunday mornings, plug into an adult The Jewish churchthe probable audi- Sunday school class, and build on their ence of the bookwas founded at about thirty years of Bible training. The goal of A.D. 35. So the believers addressed in the adult education program is more BiHebrews had been part of the faith for a ble study with practical application for maximum of thirty years (many of them the believers livesThe Bible as it is for people as they are. The goal is not to less). Having been believers for twenty to equip those saints to teach younger bethirty years, the Hebrews ought to have lievers in the church the elementary prinbeen teachers, not students; experts, ciples of the faith. I wonder what the author of Hebrews not novices; doers, not hearers; mature, not children (Heb. 5:1314). The de- would say if he were to critically evaluate cades-old believers were expected to be the Sunday morning program of many of training the younger believers in the ba- our churches. I wonder if he would say to sic principles of the oracles of God half our adult classes, By this time you the foundational doctrines of the faith ought to be teachers. Most of you have been believers for 25-plus years. Whats contained in Holy Scripture (Heb. 5:12). They were expected to be skilled in wrong with you? Will you ever step out of the word of righteousness, passing on the role of unskilled novice and into the this skill to those who were yet unskilled role of mentoring disciple-maker? The (5:13). They were to be examples of dis- model of church ministry defined in cernment, able to lead the younger, less Ephesians 4 is pretty clear: The pastors mature believers to distinguish good and teachers of the church (those enfrom evil (5:14). In short, they were to gaged in teaching and preaching) are to be the disciple-makers of the church, equip the saints for the work of ministry. Yet in many of our churches the teachprimarily engaged in teaching, not in ing leads to knowledge and practical aplearning.

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lievers in the church. This pulpit ministry plicationgood things, but not quite should be the primary biblical exposition ministry work specifically designed for building up of the body of Christ. Pauls and practical exhortation for all members instructions to the pastor-teacher, Timo- of the church. If the pulpit is functioning thy, was to entrust the beliefs and prac- this way, then Sunday school should tices of the church to faithful men, who strive to do something that complements will be able to teach others also (2 Tim. this pulpit ministry, not competes with it. Second, consider grouping adult Sun2:2). day school classes by spiritual maturity, Yet in many of our churches the teachers entrust the things of God to not physical age. The New Testament distinguishes the spiritually mature in men and women who are not always themselves involved in any intentional Christ from infants or children in disciple-making instruction. This isnt Christ (Eph. 4:14, 15; 1 Cor. 3:1; 13:11; true of everybody, of course. Some be- 14:20; Heb. 5:1214). The young in the faith are to be engaged in basic training, lievers who grow in the faith do move learning the fundamentals of the faith, the into disciple-making ministries. But far too many get stuck in the rut of the eter- story of Scripture, and the basics of Chrisnal student, growing fat and sedentary in tian living. Some of this initial training should more and more biblical and doctrinal occur prior to baptism and admission knowledge used only to enrich their own into membership in a local church; some lives or the lives of their families. should occur in the first several years of So, what can we do to realign our a believers new-found faith. Yet this trainadult Sunday school classes with a more ing should be deliberately geared for the biblical model of discipleship? spiritually young, regardless of physical First, consider harmonizing Sunday school classes with the rest of the Sun- age. After passing through spiritual day morning ministry of the church. Too grade school and graduating from spirituoften adult Sunday school classes be- al high school, believers should be headed toward honing their spiritual gifts to come mini-churches, mirroring at a smaller scale what goes on in big engage in a body-building ministry of the church. They sometimes have mini-wor- church. In other words, after a certain period ship, mini-offerings, mini-sermons, and of time, believers should transition from mini-prayer time. Then those same minichurch members shuffle on to big a mentee role in the church to a mentor church where they get a more general- role, from student to teacher. Of course, believers will always need intimate fellowized version of the same activities. This ship, accountability, and additional trainis called redundancy. ing. But at some point early in the We need to rethink the role of the Sunday school in the overall vision and Christian life, the maturing believer should be weaned from their dependency program of the church. If there are things on constant instruction, and they should that arent being done during Sunday worship, they should be done during get their spiritual nourishment from the churchs pulpit ministry and from personSunday school, and vice versa. The normal Sunday morning worship should al Bible reading. In a discipleship model, sixty-year-old include Scripture reading, teaching, and preaching from the pulpit that substan- Christians have no business being in a tially nourishes the faith of growing be- senior adult class taught by expository

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teachers unless they are still children tematic theology, church history, leaderin the faith who need to learn for the first ship skills, and training in teaching and time Scripture, doctrine, and Christian preaching. Those in the early phases of living. this process would serve the church in Third, consider restoring a simple the office of deacon. This process may structure of beginners classes for new take five to ten years, and only after such or young believers, ministry training for leadership training and service should growing believers, and leadership train- believers submit to an ordination examiing for mature believers. Regardless of nation and appointment as pastors or elwhether Sunday school classes are divid- ders of a local church. ed into age groups, each one should be Fourth, consider including short-term dedicated to one of these three body- elective classes to meet special needs building tasks of the church. in the congregation. The changes sug1) Beginners classes should be de- gested above in no way hinder a church signed for those who have been believ- from periodically or regularly offering ers for a short time or who have never special classes, conferences, or semiformally experienced a Christianity 101 nars dealing with biblical, doctrinal, hiskind of instruction. The emphasis of torical, or practical issues. such classes should be rudimentary bibIn fact, one should expect that such lical content, essential doctrines of the supplementary programs should be part Christian faith, and basic Christian living. of the normal teaching of the church. Members of this class should typically Marriage conferences, financial semibe in the process of preparation for bap- nars, refresher courses on Bible doctism or church membership. trine, a series on church history, 2) New believers or newly-initiated parenting classes, divorce recovery members of the church should graduate groups, a young married classall of to ministry training courses, regardless these can be offered on a short-term of their physical age. These classes basis and taught or facilitated by memshould equip church members for evan- bers of the church involved in ministry gelism, discipleship of believers younger training described above (category 2). than them in the faith (i.e., assisting in The author of Hebrews castigated his the classes under category 1), or partici- readers who had been believers for twenpation in outreach or other ministries of ty-plus years because by that time they the church. This training should involve should have been teachers (Heb. 5:12). not only biblical and theological truth, Im concerned that many of our Biblebut also practical ministry experience believing churches have failed to graduhearing and doing. ate their long-time believers from the 3) After many years of demonstrating status of student to that of teacher. faithful service in the ministry of the Instead, they have institutionalized a church, mature believers should be se- model of adult Sunday school designed lected for leadership trainingfirst as to perpetuate a nursery of needy spiritual deacons, then as elders. Such training children without transitioning them into may involve formal education at an ac- responsible, mature, and productive spircessible Bible college or seminary, but it itual adults. If we consider the four sugcan also involve a specialized training gestions above, our churches will begin program in the local church itself. to reflect the biblical emphasis on disciSuch preparation should include pleship rather than the cultural emphasis broad and deep biblical knowledge, sys- on personal enrichment. Page 15

Einstein 160

Galileo 185

"Target Your Talent"

By Joe Myers
"Talent hits the target no one else can hit. Genius hits the target no one else can see." Arthur Schopenhauer. I wonder how many readers of this article consider themselves to be geniuses. Probably not many. However, if I were to ask, how many believe they carry the seeds of genius within them, I have a hunch, most would agree with that possibility. So the question begs to be asked, if the seeds of genius resides within, why are we all not geniuses? Perhaps we are and we just fail to recognize it. Let's define the word, "genius". Psychologist, Lewis Terman, inventor of the Stanford/Benet IQ test, says that anyone who scores 140 points or above on the test is a genius. 67% fall into the average category with a score in the 100 point range. Some notable IQ's are: Einstein at 160; Galileo at 185; Ronald Reagan at 105; Hilary Clinton at 140 and JFK at 119. However the highest recorded score ever achieved, according to the Guinness Book of World Records, is 228 by Marilyn Vos Savant whom I believe is living in New York. But rather than looking at a number on a chart to determine genius, I prefer Arthur Schopenhauer's definition. Let me repeat it. "Talent hits the target no one else can hit; while genius hits the target no one else can see". Henry Ford could barely read, and yet he envisioned the day when every garage would house two cars, while everyone else saw horses and buggies. Thomas Edison was thought an idiot by many of his teachers, but Edison saw houses lit with his light bulbs, while everyone else could only see kerosene lamps. From music to math, from cars to computers, from people to politics, from sky scrapers to the bottom of the sea, all great accomplishments began with seeing a vision that on one else could see. So important is vision that Solomon tells us, that without a vision, "the people perish". Without vision, we die! Page 16

Reagan 105

Clinton 140

Kennedy 119.

Vos Savant 228

To pursue the genius of vision takes courage and I'm convinced that is the reason most never allow their genius to blossom. For no one enjoys being laughed at, mocked, ridiculed and scorned. As Abe Lincoln once said, "Better to remain quiet and thought a fool, than to speak up and remove all doubt!". But without the courage to pursue vision, our world would be dramatically different. Imagine a world with no cars or air planes or light bulbs or cell phones. Imagine plowing fields with horses and wooden plows. Imagine living in fear of the black plague or any number of diseases that have long since been eradicated. Imagine a world driven by superstition and fear. But for the courage of a few, we would still be in the dark ages and they didn't call the 5th-10th centuries dark for no reason. We have all been commanded to be, "strong and of good courage". We need to know and believe, that the Lord our God is with us wherever we go. Whatever vision we follow. The world depends on it! One of the best stories I can share to illustrate my point on the importance of having courage to pursue a vision is the story of James and Carol May. In 1982 James was introduced by a Peace Corp worker to a plant grown in Paraguay. So significant was James vision of the potential of this plant that James and Carol invested their entire life savings and most of their possessions in order to travel to Paraguay and bring back what we know today as Stevia. Stevia is 30 times sweeter than sugar cane and on certain parts of the plant, 300 times sweeter than sugar. After 3 years in 1985, the makers of aspartame tried to stop the Mays from marketing the plant. When that didn't work the FDA wouldn't allow James May to market stevia in the United States even though in other parts of the world, Japan for instance, it was already being marketed. After an 8 year battle, Mr. May sought the assistance of Senators John McCain and Jon Kyle. When contacting the FDA, these Senators received separate letters basically telling them to stay out of FDA business. Can you imagine 2 of the 100 most powerful individuals in the country being told by the FDA to, "take a hike"! But finally in 1994 Congress did pass a law allowing Stevia and other products to be marketed by Mr. May into the United States. I have never met Mr. May. I do not know his IQ, but to me, the man and his wife are both geniuses, because they had the courage to pursue their vision. Since 1994 Stevia world wide is a Billion dollar industry and Mr. May in known in the industry as the "Father of Stevia". But I believe there is one final component to genius. And that might be the most difficult component of all. And that is to have the fortitude to persevere until the vision becomes a reality. To do or to die trying is the real essence of genius. To go over or under or around or through any obstacle which, might stand in the way of making the vision a reality. And this we all can and must do. For our world depends on us. It depends on you. Let me ask one final time. What vision are you housing that the rest of us cannot yet see? I beg you. Find the courage to ignore the doubters, the skeptics, the mockers and pursue your vision with all your heart and not stop until it becomes flesh and blood, alive ad living, something we can all see. Who knows, you just might change our world forever. And one day people will use the word, genius to describe you. "Talent hits the target no one else can hit. While genius hits the target no one else can see. Page 17

The Pine Woods Bible Class

By W. H. Wilson

LESSON VI.

Teacher. Is not this a beautiful moon light night? I am pleased to ee you all ready for business once more. I think that Carrie proposed a topic at our last gathering, to be studied tonight. Please introduce it Carrie. Carrie. I would express the topic in the following language: YOU NEED TO BE BORN OVER AGAIN. Q. What suggested the topic to your mind, Carrie? A. It is this. I find so many people who stumble over Jesus words to Nicodemus: Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. I would like to have a critical stud of the above text. Q. Who are to experience this new birth? A. The language of the Savior puts it like this: Except a MAN be born again he cannot see the kingdom of God. Q. What are we to understand by the use of the word man? A. It is from the Greek word anthropos, and signifies an existing human being, without regard to sex. Q. What is man in his natural or unchanged condition? A. Nothing higher than flesh and blood, an animal man. Q. Can the flesh and blood, or animal man, inherit Gods eternal kingdom? A. No. Paul says: Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. Q. Why cannot the flesh and blood nature inherit the kingdom of God?

This is lesson six from the book The Pine Woods Bible Class by W.H. Wilson. They are the result of many years of careful and critical study, being an honest endeavor to arrive at a more accurate understanding of Holy Scripture, unbiased by the creeds and opinions of men. These lessons were prepared more especially for the instruction of YOUNG PEOPLE. An effort has been made to make the lessons very simple and plain. For more information on W.H. Wilson and the first lessons , see previous issues of the eHerald.

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A. Because the flesh and blood nature is subject to corruption. Q. How, then, can the new or everlasting nature be secured? A. Only in one way. Q. What is the one way? A. By re-birth. Q. What does the re-birth really consist of? A. Says Jesus: Except a man be born of WATER and of the SPIRIT, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. Q. What is the modus operandi of this new birth? A. To my mind, John iii. 8, as given by the Twentieth Century Translation, expresses the true idea more clearly. Q. Please read it from that Translation. A. It reads as follows: Believe me, Jesus answered, unless a man owes his birth to water and Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. All that owes its birth to human nature ALONE is ONLY human, and all that owes its birth to the SPIRIT is spiritualor Spirit.Do not be surprised at my telling you that you all need to be born over again. The wind blows where it wills and you can hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from, or where it goes; and it is the same with every one that owes his birth to the Spirit. Q. Did you ever hear any person claim that the birth of the Spirit has already taken place in their case? A. Why certainly, that is quite frequently claimed. Q. Could they prove it by the phenomena just quoted from John iii. 8? A. No, not one of them. Q. That being the case, what must we conclude? A. That they are deceiving themselves.

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Q. Is it not the birth of the Spirit a necessary prerequisite, in order to qualify a person to inherit the kingdom? A. Most assuredly it is; I Cor. xv. 50 says: This, brothers, I declarethat mere flesh and blood can have no share in the kingdom of God, nor the perishable share in the imperishable. Q. What nature is perishable? A. The flesh and blood. Q. And what the imperishable? A. The Spirit. Q. Were those people who claimed to be born of the Spirit perishable? A. They were. Q. Well, then, how about their claim to have experienced the birth of the Spirit? A. They were mistaken. Q. Then, these two opposite natures owe their origin to two different sources, do they not? A. Certainly they do. Q. Please give them separately. A. All right. They are as follows: 1. All that owes his birth to human nature alone is only human. 2. All that owes his birth to the Spirit is spirit. Q. Should not begettal precede the Spirit birth? A. It should, as no birth could ensue without it. Jesus says: Unless a man owes his birth to water and Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. Q. Are we to understand by the use of the phrase, water and Spirit, that two births are indicated, one of water, and the other of Spirit? A. No. It is only one birth; but we owe that one birth to the two agencies. Q. How are people begotten that desire the Spirit birth? A. See James i. 18: Of his own will BEGAT he us with the WORD OF TRUTH. Q. What is the Word of truth? A. See 1 Cor. xv. 15: In Christ Jesus I have BEGOTTEN YOU THROUGH the GOSPEL. Q. Can a person be born of the Spirit, before begettal? A. Why no, that is impossible. Q. And begettal takes place, by and THROUGH THE GOSPEL? A. Yes, that is what the Scriptures affirm. Q. Well, then, suppose a person does not know what the gospel is, what then? A. No begettal can take place until he does. Q. Well, suppose a person simply understands and believes the gospel, and takes no further step, is he begotten? A. Why no. Q. What is lacking?

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A. The WATER is lacking in order to produce a vital begettal. Q. What does Jesus say about the water? A. Unless a man owes his birth to water and Spirit he cannot enter the kingdom of God. Q. That which operates in producing the birth of the Spirit, would exist prior to the birth, should it not? A. It should. Q. What is it that assists in producing the birth of the Spirit? A. Unless a man OWES his birth to WATER and SPIRIT, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. Teacher. I want to ask how you like the quotations being made from the Twentieth Century Translation. Lud. I think it quite an improvement, it makes matters plainer. Q. When does a person come in contact with the water, as far as it relates to the new birth? A. See 1 Pet. i. 22: By your OBEDIENCE TO THE TRUTH, you have purified your lives, so that there is now growing up among you a genuine brotherly affection. Therefore love one another earnestly with all your hearts. Your new life came from a imperishable not a perishable source, at the Word of the everlasting God. Ella. In this connection I will read Titus iii. 5: He saved us not in consequence of any righteous actions we have done, but in the execution of his merciful purposes-how?by that WASHING which was a new birth to us. Q. How does it read in the Diaglott? A. It reads: The BATH of the new birth. In other words, the bath which precedes or leads to the new birth. Q. When does the new life begin to develop? A. When we rise from the bath of the new birth. Q. Please give some Scripture authority? A. See Rom. vi. 4: Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death; that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so, we should also walk in NEWNESS of life. Q. In what sense do we owe the new birth to the Spirit, as well as the water? A. By walking after the Spirit, and Sowing to the Spirit. Q. What will result from Sowing to the Spirit? A. Shall of the Spirit, reap life everlasting. Q. Is not that the same as being born of the Spirit? A. Exactly the same. Teacher. The time has arrived for us to draw our study to a close. I trust that we have arrived at some satisfactory conclusions on the subject of the Birth of the Spirit. NEXT: LESSON VII CHRISTIAN BAPTISM

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ws e N e only h t h t n i n mo nes i t ich l s h d a a p w e s n ld i us H lines thi r o i o r w ur u o C x d e a n l i e p m fh nta i o o a c e , r m e u ixt ang and r m t y s r s t i e h T ies th which we ocus. f i l p an f exem e, and in i t s g i r h v i C earin l W e d l w o
ile g Wh n i l i n a i sS ity t Wa ivers a n m U te iplo a Sta o. .S. D m U o p n o ? To At So ss Is Tab ation dmit N A s n o r e a C Aid risti rry's a Ch e s K A s il l ate r ge U ife B of St orsi Fell a L . h c o C e r S tP To t's M Figh ence o d i T Egyp v t hE men . noug xc r e E E n U.S e g i r t n e i o r h B N rs Is T stors , But ache e a e t y T o n r d e P me nK bort w Ar r ID i o e l t l Pro-A o A V o d With ate T t K S t thoo O s n r a i e F r m Pa es Oba ecom nned B a l a P t ko By ired h Da H s r Sout ste g d pyin Prote S t rhoo ge n n e n a e t h a t m a h lS rn B ro 't C Hai Gove slim Won u o t h M vl c i r t a ta Se tippor n ail M s Chu i u a n l S h t S s T re to Ad d t of A f Civic In u uals: s s x e s e e s w o Pr th eo Hom ow s , Nor al Declin rogram V o A t t G e p , P gy or ta Pop ariet to the M Scouting r to E o M d n a i This' rch ars Due n to the bass r u m o h f C A e d e y r ist le US e Ki l Bapt After 68 ual Child B t sm e n e a r x s C r i a ni St se ut u l a o l o t o c e c m Y S e n? rS Rosw es With itting Ho ristia od fo h i o C T m h r d s a A er he re Brot ns i n ou A Y m i l s s s tutio ation o nf e e Mu N C r m o u a f l o sB i ng 'Do Y tivist over c C A Iran: s ; od lled s t Ki eks G e e i r S P t ic en Copt resid P n tia Chris : a y Ken T dent u t S ornia C al i f

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Airman Punished For Objecting To Gay Marriage In Military Chapel

A 27-year veteran of the Utah Air National Guard said he was reprimanded after he wrote a letter objecting to a gay wedding in the West Point chapel and was later told to prepare for retirement because his personal beliefs about homosexuality were not compatible with the militarys policies. The military is trying to make examples of people who have religious beliefs that homosexual conduct in the military is wrong, said John Wells, an attorney representing TSgt. Layne Wilson. The end game is to force conservative Christians out of the military. Last December Wilson wrote a letter to a person believed to be a chaplain at West Point. He stated his displeasure at news of a same-sex ceremony held in the Cadet Chapel. This is wrong on so many levels, Wilson wrote. If they wanted to get married in a hotel that is one thing. Our base chapels are a place of worship and this is a mockery to God and our military core values. I have proudly served 27 years and this is a slap in the face to us who have put our lives on the line for this country. I hope sir that you will take appropriate action so this does not happen again. Instead of responding to the private email, the Commandant of Cadets notified the Utah Air National Guard leading to an accusation that he had brought disgrace and discredit upon the Air National Guard and his conduct was inconsistent with the United States Air Force. The Air National Guard determined that Wilsons email failed to render the proper respect to a commissioned officer. You are hereby reprimanded, read a letter from Lt. Col. Kevin Tobias. As a noncommissioned officer you are expected to maintain a standard of professional and personal behavior that is above reproach. You have failed! A public affairs officer with the Utah Air National Guard told Fox News they could not comment on pending litigation. Ironically, Wells pointed out, the Defense of Marriage Act was still the law of the land and TSgt. Layne was simply reporting what he believed was a violation of the law. In addition to his reprimand, the Air National Guard terminated a six-year reenlistment contract. Instead, they gave Layne a one-year extension. Due to the fact that I expressed my views on homosexuality in uniform; Lt. Col. Tobias stated that I was no longer compatible with further military service, Wilson wrote in a letter detailing the discrimination allegations. Tobias confirmed Wilsons allegation in a memorandum dated June 19, 2013 and obtained by Fox News. We talked about his feelings about DADT and how he doesnt agree with it, Tobias wrote. I then told him that maybe this is a good time for him to move on because weve been ordered to not have an opinion about Gays in the military and we need to treat them as we would treat anyone else in the service of our country. I also reiterated that I respect his feelings but Im not comfortable reenlisting

If they wanted to get married in a hotel that is one thing. Our base chapels are a place of worship and this is a mockery to God and our military core values.

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him with his strong feelings about this matter, he additionally wrote. Col. Ronald Blunck concurred with Tobias noting that Your right to practice your religious beliefs does not excuse you from complying with directives, instructions and lawful orders. Lt. Col. Tobias is correct in demanding that TSgt. Wilson refrain from expressing opinions contrary to Air Force guidance while in uniform, Blunck wrote. The Repeal of Dont Ask Dont Tell was directed by law. Wilson also discussed concerns he had about a Dont Ask, Dont Tell, repeal briefing in 2011. He told his superior officers he found the briefing to be very disturbing and conflicting with my moral rights of conscience. My issue is so much about homosexuals serving in the military, but rather that it is being forced upon as an acceptable lifestyle abandoning our traditional values, he wrote. He said the military has created an atmosphere where those who do not approve of homosexual conduct must remain disapprovingly silent or face reprisal to our careers. It is evident those who refuse to affirm homosexuality and openly oppose it are being severely punished, he wrote. Attorney Wells told Fox News he wants the military to rescind the reprimand and reinstate the original six-year reenlistment contract. This was an executed contract, he said. But they just went in, tore it up and issued a new one. Wells said his clients only crime was registering his opinion that a gay marriage in a military chapel was a violation of the law that existed at that time. His actions were proper within the scope of the Uniform Code and the Manual for Courts-Martial, Wells said. While his interpretation of the law may or may not have been correct, his actions should not have given rise to the firestorm of reprisals that he has suffered. Wells said he believes the military is trying to send a message to other troops- and incidents like this are just the tip of the iceberg. Theyre trying to make examples of people early on who have religious beliefs that homosexual conduct in the military is wrong, he said. When these people assert their First Amendment rights, they are getting slapped down and slapped down hard. Wells isnt alone in his fears. Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, said there is a clear and present danger to religious liberty within the military. Christians who choose to live out their faith find themselves incompatible with the secular view of this administration, said Perkins. Were establishing a beach head for religious liberty and the evidence points to a very deliberate attack. Representatives of 14 groups concerned about religious liberty joined Reps. John Fleming R-La., Jim Bridenstine R-Okla., and Louie Gohmert R-Tex. on Capitol Hill to urge support for Flemings military religious freedom amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act. The amendment protects the rights of servicemembers to not only hold religious beliefs but to act on them and speak about them. Flemings amendment has bipartisan support but the Obama Administration issued a statement strongly objecting to the legislation. The amendment comes as more than 170,000 Americans signed petitions calling for Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel to protect the religious liberties of military personnel through policies that guarantee those liberties. We want to make this the first key battle to restore religious liberty back to the American people, Fleming told Fox News. It sets the tone for a broader war to fight back against this government that is infringing on our religious liberty. Perkins and Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Jerry Boykin, the FRCs executive vice president, released a nine-page document detailing anti-religious behavior in the military. Unfortunately, pressures to impose a secular, anti-religious culture on our nations military services have intensified tremendously during the Obama Administration, the FRC report states. We will stand with servicemembers who wish to exercise their First Amendment rights of religious liberty, Boykin said. We must do all we can to ensure that our service members have the right to practice the very freedoms that they risk their lives to defend. Page 24

They Call It a "Difficulty"

By Anthony Buzzard

For those who doubt the Biblical account of the existence of demons, note how Christadelphians struggle and concede: Another distinguished Christadelphian writer, Thomas Williams, who deals with the Kingdom of God and the mortality of man in a most logical manner, finds himself in serious difficulty when trying to explain the demons, while not believing in their existence. The section in question is headed "A difficulty" (The World's Redemption, p. 370). How to avoid the demons proves to be a greater problem than Thomas Williams can cope with. He says: "The greatest difficulty in understanding some of the New Testament accounts of casting out demons is in the fact that the language sometimes seems to make them appear to speak independently of the person whom they are supposed to possess" (emphasis mine). This analysis tells its own clear story. Williams shies away from facing the facts which would, if believed, force him to change his thinking. "Seems to speak"? "Supposed to possess"? Luke does not share Thomas Williams' uncertainty: "Now there was a man in the synagogue who was under the power of an unclean demon, and he screamed with a loud voice, 'Ha! What do you want of us, Jesus, you Nazarene? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are. You are God's Holy One.' But Jesus reproved him saying, 'Be quiet! Come out of him!' So the demon threw him down in their midst and came out of him without doing him any harm" (Luke4:33-35). This account simply states that Jesus addressed the demon as a personality distinct from the man ("Come out of him!"). It is also quite dear that the demon speaks as one of a class ("What do you want of us?"). The evidence before us shows that Jesus understood the demon, not the man, to be the author of the outburst, "Ha! What do you want of us, Jesus, you Nazarene? I know who you are. You are God's Holy One." The student of Scripture who "trembles at the Word of God" must decide between a theory which denies the existence of demons, and Luke's account which presents Jesus as responding to a personal articulate being, the demon, who is not the human sufferer, though the demon speaks through the victim. A refusal to face the evidence of Scripture can amount to nothing but unbelief. If demons exist, no explaining is necessary; the narrative is in harmony with the facts. Tragically, the Christadelphians have mounted a theory by which the facts of Scripture can be avoided. The Christadelphian theory, however, implies that the biblical narrative is not in harmony with the facts. It places their own authority above that of the Bible, a technique which they have rightly detected in so much "theology" which avoids the Kingdom of God or even the Resurrection. Ultimately the Christadelphian theory commits them to the belief that a being uttering articulate sentences and displaying intelligence and emotion does not exist! In Luke 4:40 Luke makes his usual careful distinction between healing Page 25

and exorcism, and reports that "even demons came out of many people, [the demons] shrieking and saying, 'You are the Son of God.' But he reproved them [the demons] and would not let them [the demons] speak, because they knew that he was the Christ" (Luke4:41). Once again Luke records intelligent speech on the part of the demons, as distinct from their victims. This fact is even more strikingly conveyed by the Greek text, in which the participles "shrieking" and "saying" are neuter to agree with the demons which are grammatically neuter. They cannot refer to the men who are grammatically masculine. It is also the neuter demons whom Jesus reproves, not their masculine victims ("he would not let them speak"). These important texts will put an end to Thomas Williams' ambivalence when he says that the language "sometimes seems to make the demons appear to speak independently of the person they are supposed to possess." One might as well say that if I tell my child, "Give him the book" I seem to be in the presence of more than one person! Or that I appear to be addressing one person in the company of another! Language has no means of demonstrating the independent personality of the demons other than that employed by Luke (and other New Testament writers). Luke simply states that a demon speaks and that Jesus answers him, not the man under the demon's control. These are the facts of the Scriptural record, and they demand our belief. Demons do exist. The Bible says they do! Faced with this overwhelming evidence Thomas Williams is frank enough to concede: "Allowing that this difficulty forces the conclusion that the demons were entities and that they actually did speak" (emphasis mine). It is a relief to find him admitting that the evidence "forces that conclusion." But he is unable to face his own findings; he quickly sidesteps the conclusion to which, he says, the evidence points. It is exasperating that he then completes his sentence: "The question will arise, Why is the same phenomenon not to be found in similar afflictions today?" That, of course, is a quite separate issue, and the assumption underlying the question is open to argument. The point to be underlined, however, is that the "difficult" evidence in Williams' words "forces the conclusion that the demons were entities and that they actually did speak" Which is to admit that Jesus and Luke believed in the existence of demons as creatures having the power of speech as well as intelligence, emotion and will. May Christadelphians bow before the Scriptures and abandon a theory which opposes the veracity of the inspired record. The Scriptural record is to be accepted, not explained away. In conclusion we note that Robert Roberts, another Christadelphian writer, wrestled unsuccessfully with the theory imposed upon him by his denomination. The widespread theory of "accommodation" by which Christadelphians (and many others) "read out" the demons from the New Testament is found in the work of Robert Roberts, whose verbal gymnastics have trapped the unwary (this is not for a moment to underestimate his lucid explanations of other biblical topics): "The statement that the devils (demons) made request, or cried out this or that must be interpreted in the light of a self-evident fact that it was the person possessed who spoke and not the abstract derangement" (Christendom Astray). Note the amazing dogmatism! Must be interpreted!! But he has changed the meaning of the word DEMON to mean a demonized human.

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"The Results of Zealous Ignorance"

By Kent Ross

Life Need: 1. I grew up in the faith - Pastors Wiggins, Jones, Wachtel Macy and most of all my Dad & Mom 2. But I was challenged in school regarding my non-traditional faith. Two school friends - Sonny & Wayne who scorned our church and my faith. There was the Lutheran pastor in released time class that urged me to discontinue coming knowing our Pastor/ 3. Those challenges drove me to go deepen and become surer of why I believed what I believed! 4. So "Stop, Look, Learn & Listen," they said, and so I did. Bible Learning: 1. Paul's experience - Romans 10:1,2 - Brothers and sisters, my hearts desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved. 2 For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. 2. But zealousness, even with knowledge, can be detrimental to our witness 1 Peter 3:15 - But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect 3. While our knowledge may come from many sources, we learn from the Bereans Acts 17:11,12 (NASB) - Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so. 12 Therefore many of them believed, along with a number of prominent Greek women and men. 4. We must accurately handle the Word of truth - 2 Timothy 2:15 - Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth 5. But even that needs balance, for knowledge of the Scripture has as its purpose to drive us to Him, something the Pharisees never understood - John 5:3940 - You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, 40 yet you refuse to come to me to have life

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6. But be convinced above all else that what you know to be true, is indeed true Jude 1:3 - Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt compelled to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to Gods holy people. Bible Application: 1. These are days of Great Danger: a. Ephesians 6:11-13 - Our battle is not against just flesh and blood Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devils schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. b. 1 Peter 5:8 - as a roaring lion - Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour c. Revelation 12:12 - great wrath - Therefore rejoice, you heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you! He is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short. 2. But they are also our day of Great Opportunity a. John 4:35 - Aren't the fields white unto harvest? - Dont you have a saying, Its still four months until harvest? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. b. John 9:4 - Jesus told us to work for the night is coming. - As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. Life Response: 1. We had an old song, really a chorus written for our youth work by Dolena Shaw titled "Now Is the Time." Some of the words included "Now is the time to serve the Lord, and now is the time to heed His Word. That's right: "If Not Now, When?" "If Not You, Who?" 2. We need to return again to Jude 1:17-23 - But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. 18 They said to you, In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires. 19 These are the people who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit.20 But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, 21 keep yourselves in Gods love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life. 22 Be merciful to those who doubt; 23 save others by snatching them from the fire; to others show mercy, mixed with fear hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh. 3. And finally - Jude 1:24,25 - To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy 25 to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.

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Preparing For The Third Temple

"I went to visit the Jewish Quarter in the Old City of Jerusalem to see how the preparations for the establishment of the new temple were getting on. For hundreds of Israelis, the task of renewing the temple has become the job of their lives. It is about time, so they believe, to establish the Third Temple in its proper place right on the site where the First Temple and the Second Temple were once standing before being destroyed. "Yehuda Glick is one of the elite soldiers of the temple who dedicate their lives to the mission. Since moving to Israel, he has been preparing for the great day, waiting to see the construction of the edifice that is to become the holiest place on earth for the Jewish people. A black skullcap adorning his head, his Hebrew flavored by an Anglo-Saxon accent, Glick spends his time as a tourist guide, escorting visitors to the Temple Mount. "I met Yehuda at the entrance gate to the Temple Mount. There is no greater thrill in his life than to walk on the soil of the Temple Mount. While he has visited the place hundreds or even thousands of times,, his heart still beats with excitement on each visit. As far as I see it, an amazing divine move is manifested here, he explained while we were waiting in line at the gate. The state of Israel is a part of this divine move, which will culminate in the establishment of the Third Temple. How is it going to be built and who will build it? I asked him. A broad smile spread across his face. He may have felt sorry for me or, perhaps, considered the question to be out of place. The notion that the Temple will be built by itself, under divine directions, is the sort of idea typical of Diaspora Jews, my interlocutor noted. He had left New York for Israel at the age of 8, settling with his family in Otniel, south of Hebron. "When I started visiting the Temple Mount 15 years ago, you could hardly gather a minyan the quorum for prayer. These days, hundreds of thousands of Jews are coming to pray on the Temple Mount. They expect us to rebuild the temple, and God willing, it will be built. Page 29

"Hundreds of tourists, most of them Christians, were standing in line under the scorching sun, waiting for the security check that every visitor seeking entry to the Temple Mount is required to pass. Jews are not allowed to bring in scrolls of the Torah, prayer books, copies of the Book of Psalms or any other article of worship that could be used to establish a mystical association between the Temple Mount and the holy Jewish Scriptures. "Under the current arrangements agreed on between Israel and the Kingdom of Jordan, Jews visiting the Temple Mount are banned from openly praying on the premises or swaying in worship. One single event of deviation from the set rules could be enough to spark an international incident. "In fact, precisely such an incident occurred while I was waiting at the entrance gate to the Temple Mount. All of a sudden, shouts were heard from inside the enclosure. The policemen standing on guard at the gate went on alert and hurried to lock it. "It turned out that a Muslim worshipper accused an Israeli policeman of knocking down a Quran she was holding in her hands. She started yelling "Allahu Akbar!" and within minutes, dozens of worshippers at the scene rushed to her aid, and some of them even tried to attack the policeman. "The Temple Mount was closed to visitors right away and the incident was promptly brought to the attention of the top echelons in Israel, the Palestinian leaders in the territories and the Jordanian king's palace. "The commanding officer in charge of the Temple Mount site told me that incidents of that kind were an everyday matter. The policeman on duty reported that the worshipper had thrown down the book on purpose, to stir up a provocation and, needless to say, I believe him, he said, adding: Even a minor event is liable to trigger an international incident. "As the gates to the Temple Mount were closed, Yehuda and I headed for the Jewish Quarter, where the Temple Institute is located. Hundreds of tourists visit the Temple Institute store daily to see at close hand the preparations for the establishment of the temple. "Fifty percent of the visitors are not Jewish, recounted Reuven Cohen, the store manager, who immigrated to Israel from England 34 years ago. The Jews are coming here to look for the roots of the temple, whereas the visiting evangelists are deeply involved in the establishment of the temple. They are well aware that their process of redemption is closely interwoven with ours. They actually believe that the path of return of Jesus Christ to this earth passes through our temple. "The articles of worship intended for use in the new temple, once it is erected, are on display in the store. Kits that include guidelines for proper conduct in the holy site are offered for sale alongside a variety of jigsaw puzzles of the temple some comprising 24 pieces, for Page 30

3-year-old children, and others of 100 pieces and even 1,000 pieces for the older. Hundreds of books, neatly arranged on the shelves, tell the history of the temples those that were destroyed and the one that is to be built. "There are books on the sacred golden candelabrums, books on the houses that served the Jewish priests who performed their duties at the temple, and others on the ritual sacrifices and prayers, as well as on the way of life that will prevail in Israel after the temple is established. "Last year we had 50,000 visitors, David Schwartz, who heads the Temple Institute, proudly stated. The ever-growing interest shown by tourists reflects the feeling that the days of the Messiah are around the corner. You can sense it in the air in schools, in synagogues, even in the homes of the secular. Everyone feels it coming up. "While we were talking, hundreds of visiting school students were wandering around the Institute, impressed by the sights. Yes, thats true, Schwartz added. As you can see, people are looking for meaning to life. They want to achieve something. We are currently at the stage of preparing people for the construction of the temple. "On display, next to the architectural building plans, are models showing pilgrims getting down from the light rail at the temple gate station. Others are seen parking their cars in an underground garage to be built beneath the temple. Sophisticated elevators would transport the worshippers right into the temple. "Schwartz, Cohen and Glick are all confident that once the Third Temple is erected, the world will become a fundamentally different place. The Lord would then bestow on Earth great abundance and there would no longer be anyone in need of charity. "Those who do not feel what is going to happen are either blind or stupid, or ungrateful, Glick noted, clearly annoyed with me, having noticed the skeptical expression on my face. There has never been anything like that in the history of the human race; the return of an exiled people to its homeland is unique in human annals. It is all written in the Torah. And the last, supreme stage will be the construction of the temple. "However, there is one far from marginal factor left out. In all those plans and photographs and illustrations and puzzles and books put forward by the Jewish believers, the Third Temple is seen at the center of the Temple Mount, rising high up above it. "But there is no trace there of the Dome of the Rock, as if the earth had swallowed it up." Page 31

Ingredients for Disaster or The Making Of An Apostate Church.

By Mark DeYoung

2 Timothy 4:3-4 For the time is coming when people will not put up with sound doctrine, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own desires, (4) and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander away to myths. In the American church there is a spirit moving throughout the churches and the hearts of men and women that make up these churches. Unfortunately, it is not the spirit of God, but rather, borrowing from the Apostle John, a spirit of antichrist. Lets look at the ingredients:

1 Cup of Watered Down Truth As we saw in our Scripture reading earlier people will not put up with sound doctrine other translations use: good teaching, true teaching, healthy teaching and so on. It is easy to say or think, Well, we have all the doctrines right in our church. But that is not the implication in this Scripture. I think it would be similar to the Church in Laodicea; Revelation 3:17-20, You say, 'I'm rich. I'm wealthy. I don't need anything.' Yet, you do not realize that you are miserable, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked. (18) I advise you: Buy gold purified in fire from me so that you may be rich. Buy white clothes from me. Wear them so that you may keep your shameful, naked body from showing. Buy ointment to put on your eyes so that you may see. (19) I correct and discipline everyone I love. Take this seriously, and change the way you think and act. (20) Look, I'm standing at the door and knocking. If anyone listens to my voice and opens the door, I'll come in and we'll eat together. In this passage of Scripture the disciples of Laodicea, basking in their wealth and good fortune had no idea of their perilous position. In the twentieth verse, Jesus says, I stand at the door and knock. Obviously they never opened the door to Christs knocking. Today you can go and visit the ruins of this once great church, and great indeed it must have been to have been given a warning to straighten up. Page 32

Today this fits most of the churches of America, we are a wealthy people, we lack the desire to have our boats rocked, if there is something we want regardless of the consequences, regardless of the dishonesty, regardless of the other people that might be hurt from our actions; we take what we want. Oh, and we do not want anyone making us feel guilty for what we do and how we act. We are our own source of what is right and wrong and it does not matter what God, through the Bible, has stated on any subject. Do we or is our church a place that has accumulated teachers that to suit our desires? Or do we want and prefer those types of teachers? Christendom has done a good job of that to this point.

Our next ingredient: 1 Cup of Political Correctness This still goes along with, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own desires not realizing that they are, miserable, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked. In our churches there are so many people that try to and in some cases tie their pastors up to what is considered acceptable and unacceptable from the pulpit and in person. They do not want to hear the condition of the world, America, where we are on Gods prophetic timetable. They refuse to allow talk of what political parties are for or against the things that God calls sin. All they want to hear is a false gospel that everything is OK, that the world is only filed with plums, lollipops and sugar cookies. That they will never experience anything but good while they serve God, they can claim any desire in prayer and because the prayer is in the name of Jesus, then by showing up for church, at least occasionally and give a little money to ease the conscience.

The final ingredient is: 1 Cup Of A Congregation Of Half Hearted Believers Revelation 2:2-4 I know what you have done-how hard you have worked and how you have endured. I also know that you cannot tolerate wicked people. You have tested those who call themselves apostles but are not apostles. You have discovered that they are liars. (3) You have endured, suffered trouble because of my name, and have not grown weary. (4) However, I have this against you: The love you had at first is gone. Some people have never stopped their activities in the church, maybe reduced them a little, but they are still, at least, moderately active; but many continue to be very active. But their hearts are not in it. They have a job so year after year, month after month, week after week, they continue to do the things they are doing. They wish they did not feel that they have to be there at the church, they long for a life free of the time they have lost to the church. They see friends and family that are not a part of the church and long to be like them. Free to fulfill the lust of the eyes and the lust of the flesh Page 33

Because they are so active many times they become protective of the positions that they hold, anyone that seems to be a threat, must be sanitized and neutralized. So selfishly guarding what they are doing that if they are away, no one else knows what to do or how to do the jobs they have been doing for years and years. Sometimes their guard drops and they let their true feelings show. Even as I say those words there are some here that the times they dropped their guard and let their true feelings show are remembering the times and places and the people that were there to hear or see them drop their guard. Even if it was just a little bit. Conclusion: So often when we use the word Apostate or words Apostate Church we think of people that have traded the truth for a lie. While that is true in one sense, there is also the church that is or is becoming or gaining a country club atmosphere. They dont want their feathers ruffled; they do not want to hear the truth. They want to hear that God only has good intentions for them and their families, regardless of how they live and act. My question for you is this: Is there a time that you loved serving God, wholeheartedly, and without reservation? Do you remember what how much you loved God and His son Jesus Christ, and wanted only give your best for His service? We read in Revelation 2; I know what you have done-how hard you have worked and how you have endured. I also know that you cannot tolerate wicked people. You have tested those who call themselves apostles but are not apostles. You have discovered that they are liars. (3) You have endured, suffered trouble because of my name, and have not grown weary. (4) However, I have this against you: The love you had at first is gone. It is time to return to your first love, the last part of that warning is this:Revelation 2:5; Remember how far you have fallen. Return to me and change the way you think and act, and do what you did at first. I will come to you and take your lamp stand from its place if you don't change. This morning as you leave this place, ask yourself this question are you willing to let God take away your lampstand?

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from www.InternetEvangelismDay.com

Facebook and Evangelism

Is this our biggest digital opportunity?

After several years of rapid growth, Facebook passed 800 million users in 2011. This represents 1 in 3 of all web users (if you exclude China where Facebook is banned). If we compare Facebook users with country populations, it is the third largest country in the world. USA and UK have long been the #1 and #2 in terms of number of Facebook users. Until recently, highly-wired Turkey was #3, but Indonesia has shot up the rankings and is now third, pushing Turkey to fourth position. The Facebook interface is available in approaching 100 languages with more on the way. Many people spend at least half their online time using Facebook, and this includes people accessing Facebook via mobile phones.

The new web within the Web Companies are realizing that Facebook is where many web users spend the majority of their time, and are falling over themselves to develop content which will integrate directly into Facebook, which itself is rapidly rolling out new features to enhance this sort of usability. Expect to see further similar developments in the future as Facebook is almost turning into a standalone web inside the Web. Increasingly, companies are advertising their Facebook Fan Page rather than their own websites, as the landing page they want people to see first. Most other social networking sites (with the exception of some national or regional non-English networks) have receded into smaller specialist niches. Bebo and MySpace are struggling. Just as there is only room for one definitive search engine (Google) or one auction/market site (eBay), people gravitate to the one social networking site where they know they can contact almost anyone. However, these guidelines apply to most other social networking sites too.

Why is it so strategic for evangelism? Because: Anyone can set up an account in seconds; no tech knowledge is needed (though there are aspects of Facebook that are rather quirky and hard to use). It is based on relationships and dialogue the key to effective sharing of the good news. Your comments and postings are displayed on friends pages. You can create or join Fan Pages and Groups built around secular topics, and therefore relate to others within a common interest (1 Cor. 9:19-23). It can leverage the power of other online resources such as video clips and outreach websites. Page 35

Opportunities on Facebook There are two overlapping approaches: incarnational and intentional active outreach. However, what you cannot expect Facebook to be is a linear platform for a message. If you imagine Facebook to be a pulpit for preaching, you are wasting your time and likely to upset a lot of people. If you understand it to be a cafe for conversation, you will be in tune with its heartbeat. Live our lives openly and transparently in front of our friends as we do in the physical world, demonstrating unconditional love and the fragrance spoken of in 2 Cor. 2:15. You can respond to other peoples postings with appropriate on-topic comments, sometimes including links to appropriate pages or video clips. Keep a portfolio list of pages and video clips ready to use. Always do this in a sensitive and gentle way (1 Peter 3:15). If many of your friends live within your local community, it may be appropriate from time to time to mention activities at your church. You can upload your own video shorts into the video section of your Facebook profile, or post a link to a YouTube video in the same way as adding a hyperlink to any posting a clickable thumbnail graphic will be automatically displayed. Short video clips a useful way to start discussions, especially if you link to conversation-starting videos rather than preachy deal-closing presentations. Another fruitful area for conversations is popular culture movie releases, music and books. Almost everyone is interested in talking about the latest films or music, and remarkably they frequently contain embedded parallels that point to spiritual truths. Create or join Fan Pages or Groups on topics that interest not-yet-believers and you, and participate sensitively. Look especially at Groups, because these are designed for ongoing member interaction, and are superseding the email discussion groups and bulletin boards that used to be so popular. There are vast numbers of Groups, some of them with very high membership. Use Facebooks search option to find them. Is there, for instance, a Group covering a sport you are interested in, or a life problem or illness that you suffer with? Choose Groups with sufficient members to maintain an interesting ongoing conversation. Other intentional pro-active opportunities include making contact with friends of friends, and inviting people to join Fan Pages or Groups you are a member of. There are very few add-on Applications that enable us to add gently evangelistic areas to a Facebook page here is an opportunity for developers. Learning Facebooks markup language enables additional features to be added to a page. Facebook offers particular opportunities for mission agencies and cross-cultural witness. Churches should consider the potential for creating a Fan Page. A church Fan Page, like a normal church site, should be outsider-friendly (1 Col. 4:5) and jargon-free. Many church youth groups conduct all their discussion and news distribution through a Facebook Group, because its so easy where 100% of young people have Facebook accounts.

Things to avoid If you are in the sort of ministry where most of your Facebook friends are Christian leaders, it may be wise to consider having a separate Facebook profile, so that postings will not be offputting or incomprehensible for not-yet-Christians. (To save constant logging in and out, use a different browser such as Chrome for your second profile, which should be linked with a Page 36

different email address to your first profile.) Always use this secular profile when setting up, or contributing to secular-oriented Fan Pages or Groups. Steer away from politics and social issues: any view you express on these is likely to alienate at least half your page visitors. Consider not entering anything (or at least, anything referencing a party or partisan viewpoint) in the political views section of your profile either. This brings to mind the note, supposedly written by a family to the milk-man in the days when milk was delivered to the community from a cart with open containers: Thank you for your excellent service. But please could you deliver the milk and the water in separate jugs in future. Under religious views on their Facebook profile, many people enter something like Jesus follower or seeker after truth rather than the increasingly pejorative Christian or some denominational label. Dont treat people as gospel fodder. Build unconditional relationships with respect and tolerance. Use integrity. Its dialogue, not preaching. The focus should be on building authentic relationships. Without it, not only do you run the risk of not being effective, but also in ruining any chance that other Christians might have, says Dan King of BibleDude.com. Thats why the most important thing that you can understand about social media is that its social in nature. People will quickly see through insincerity and mixed motives. Cat owners know well the conditional affection shown by their pets when they want feeding. Facebook users will be less tolerant. They will quickly discern that you view them as a project rather than a person. Some strategists have named inappropriate, strident, argumentative, manipulative or impersonal attempts to convince people of the truth with the chilling term un-evangelism. Avoid Chistrianese jargon. Express truths in alternate neutral language. Don't spend too much time on Facebook, or not use that time effectively.

Learn the system Facebook is not always very intuitive to use or edit. It takes time to understand even the privacy settings and their implications. Realize that what you see on your Facebook page is not what visitors see: try viewing your page using a Facebook friends profile, and through the profile of someone who is not your friend, to see the differences. Various Facebook applications can be used to extend what is displayed on your page. Some applications can be quirky to install, and there is only room for a few extra links on the horizontal top menu. (Adding applications to Fan Pages or Groups can be very complicated, counter-intuitive, and in some cases impossible. Yet other applications, only work on Fan Pages!) You can syndicate blog postings so they automatically appear on your page, by registering your blog with NetworkedBlogs.com. (It is quirky but possible to get NetworkedBlogs to display on a Fan Page, and there are some applications which do not currently work within Fan Pages.) Only do this if the blog postings are seeker-friendly though. You can also learn how to use the Facebook Markup Language (FBML) to integrate other features into your Facebook Fan Page. There are daily limits on the number of people you can invite to be friends, and a very low limit on the number of messages you can send to non-friends. Such cold-calling should be done with particular sensitivity. Use Google to find advice on all these areas Facebooks own documentation is often patchy. Some things you may find out by trial and error, for instance: you can only invite limited numbers of friends to a Fan Page at a time or the procedure fails, and that if their picture ceases to be grayed out after you have done this, it means they have rejected (rather than ignored) the request, so do not send it again as it looks like you are spamming them. Page 37

The issue of the Trinity:

"10 Reasons Why I Am a Biblical Unitarian

A Comparison of God, the Father with Jesus, Gods Son
By Kent H. Ross

Life Need: 1. What is a Biblical trinitarian? It is an impossible term. 2. Not a Biblical trinitarian . . . because trintarianism is not be found in the Bible/ 3. We have grown weak in our understanding of the meaning of words and language for 1 + 1 + 1 = 1, is quite clearly a mathematical impossibility, and the explanations for it are ludicrous. 4. There are ten quite plain reasons from the Scriptures why I am not a trinitarian, not should you be. Bible Learning: 1. God is Everlasting (Psalm 90:1,2) - 1 Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations. 2 Before the mountains were born or you brought Page 38

forth the whole world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God. Jesus is Not, He was created (Gal. 4:4,5) - 4 But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship.
2.

God is Immortal : (I Tim. 1:17) - 17 Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen. Jesus was Not. He Died: (John 19:30 - 30 Therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, It is finished! And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.

3.

God Never Slumbers: (Ps. 121:3,4) - 3 He will not allow your foot to slip; He who keeps you will not slumber. 4 Behold, He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. Jesus slept: (Matthew 8:24) - 24 And behold, there arose [v]a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being covered with the waves; but Jesus Himself was asleep God is Prayed to: (John 17:1-3) - Jesus spoke these things; and lifting up His eyes to heaven, He said, Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son, that the Son may glorify You, 2 even as You gave Him authority over all flesh, that to [a]all whom You have given Him, He may give eternal life. 3 This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. Jesus Prayed to Him: (same text)

4.

5.

God is All-Knowing: (Hebrews 4:12,13) - 12 For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 13 And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do. Jesus did not Know Some Things: (Mark 13:32) - 32 But of that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.

6.

God is the One God: (1st Timothy 2:5) - 5 For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus Jesus is not that One God, but the Mediator: (same text)

7.

God is Majesty on High: (Hebrews 1:1-3) - God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, 2 [a]in these last days has spoken to us [b]in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the [c]world. 3 [d]And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His

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nature, and [e]upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high Jesus though is on His Right Hand: (see text above & Romans 8:34) - Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was[l]raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us 8. God is All Powerful: (Revelation 19:4-6) - 4 And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who sits on the throne saying, Amen. Hallelujah! 5 And a voice came from the throne, saying, Give praise to our God, all you His bond-servants, you who fear Him, the small and the great. 6 Then I heard something like the voice of a great multitude and like the sound of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, saying, Hallelujah! For t he Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns. Jesus Power is Granted to Him: (Matthew 28:18) - 18 And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 9. God is the Sender: (John 17:18) - 18 As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. Jesus was the One sent: (John 3:16,17) - 16 For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. 10. God is All-Powerful: (1st Corinthians 15:22-28) - 22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. 23 But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christs at His coming, 24 then comes the end, when He hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power. 25 For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. 26 The last enemy that will be abolished is death. 27 For HE HAS PUT ALL THINGS IN SUBJECTION UNDER HIS FEET. But when He says, All things are put in subjection, it is evident that He is excepted who put all things in subjection to Him. 28 When all things are subjected to Him, then the Son Himself also will be subjected to the One who subjected all things to Him, so that God may be all in all. Jesus Submits to Him: (same text)

Life Response: Biblical Unitarian or Biblical trinitarian You cannot be both. The second term is an impossibility as it is inconsistent with the Biblical evidence. It is an implausible and a weak attempt to placate "orthodoxy," which in fact is not orthodox but heretical.

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COME TO OUR NINTH ANNUAL

Church of God

September 19-21, 2013

Hosted at and by the

North Hills Church of God

2950 Moorefield Road Springfield, OH 45502

Sponsored by COG History Com. Jan Stilson & Arlen Rankin, Greg Demmitt, David Krogh Kent Ross, Coordinator
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Without Analyzing the Past, the Future Will Remain Obscure

"Mr. Sunday School Paul Overholser" by daughter, Joyce Newnam & grandson, Greg Demmitt "Those Years at Salem" Mildred Dennis "Christian Workers Seminar 40 Years of Training Workers" David Krogh From Camp Mack to F.U.E.L. Through the Years" Years of Youth Directors
Thursday Noon Through Saturday Noon Come for All of It or Any of It

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