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03/12/07 a.m. David Havir at The Journal's website announced:

United Church of God announces plans to move
headquarters from Cincinnati to Texas
By Dave Havir

The United Church of God an international Association (UCG), which has had its headquarters in the Cincinnati suburb of Milford, Ohio, since 1998, has begun a process to move its home-office facilities to the Dallas, Texas, area by 2010.

On Monday, March 5, President Clyde Kilough, who resides in the Cincinnati area, sent out a special announcement to the more than 300 men who form the church's general conference of elders (GCE).

Mr. Kilough explained that the governing 12-man council of elders, while meeting in San Diego, Calif., on Feb. 26, 2007, viewed a short video presentation about the proposed move that staff and elders at headquarters saw a few days later on March 4.

As of 7:00 am PDT today, UCG had no announcement at its two main official news URLs (but I presume this will be forthcoming). Also, this was not publicly reported in the notes from UCG's recent COE meetings the end of February. However, it was supposed to have been announced in Cincinnati on March 10, 2007.

More details on this matter are at the following link http://www.thejournal.org/issues/issue116/ucg-announces-plans-to-move-headquarters-to-texas.html

UCG moved to Cincinnati in 1998, essentially from Southern California.

03/11/07 a.m. COGaic posted the following Reuters' story:

BERLIN, March 10 (Reuters) - The European Union's adoption of measures to fight climate change this week could set an example for the United States, China and India, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Saturday.

Under Germany's presidency, EU leaders set a binding target on Friday for renewable sources to make up 20 percent of EU energy consumption by 2020 and agreed to cut greenhouse gas emissions by the same amount in the same period.

"We think that Europe could set an example for others to implement more attractive and better climate protection goals," Merkel said in her in weekly video "podcast" available for download on her Internet site.

"By this I mean, for example, the United States and developing countries India and China. We want to discuss this at the G8 summit in Heiligendamm in June."

In addition to its six-month EU presidency which runs until July, Germany is president of the Group of Eight (G8) club of industrialised nations for the entire year. Merkel has focused on climate change in both presidencies.

The new EU targets will form the basis of the 27-nation bloc's negotiating position for an international agreement to extend the Kyoto Protocol on climate change and emissions reduction targets past 2012.

The EU produces about 14 percent of the world's greenhouse gas emissions, while the United States, the world's largest polluter, produces some 25 percent.

Since the EU has a larger population, that means on a per person basis, it produces about 1/2 as much greenhouse gas emissions as the USA. However the bigger picture is that this is likely to be part of the rational as to why the entire world should adopt the EU's standards for everything (this was essentially publicly proposed by the EU recently--please see the article Europa and the Beast).

I visited Giving & Sharing's website this morning and it still states:

Richard Nickels died  peacefully on June 4, 2006 with his wife Shirley by his side...

I have bought a variety of printed materials from G&S in the past and plan to do so again soon. That portion of Richard Nickel's legacy still exists, even though the website still needs some updates.

On other matters, the USA switched to Daylight Savings Time this morning. I noticed that although the computer has the correct time, many items that are supposed to automatically change did not. This is because the USA changed its rules (again) on when to change the time and that certain existing electronic items were not programmed for this change.

03/10/07 a.m. UCG announced:

Writers Needed for New Publication Approved by Council

A new electronic publication has been approved by the Council of Elders that will focus on alcoholism, eating disorders, substance abuse, sexual addictions, mental illness and other forms of dysfunctionality. The purpose of the magazine is to help people in their daily struggles and to help those who help them.

We are looking for writers on these subjects. Articles may be written by people who struggle with these issues, family members and friends who have helped them and people who are professionally qualified to help. Only articles from members of the United Church of God will be accepted. Writers may request to use a pseudonym, if preferred, but the material must be submitted in the person's actual name.

Please send articles to Melvin Rhodes at the home office address. You may also e-mail them to him at melvin_rhodes@ucg.org.

Articles should not exceed 1,500 words.

Suggestions for a name for the publication are also welcome by the end of March.

On other matters, CG7, Denver changed its home page again. I have had trouble accessing it again and presume this was the reason. Anyway, its president Whaid Rose wrote:

 Many of you have been around long enough to remember the Conference’s news magazine of an earlier era, The Harvest Field Messenger. I recently came across a special informative edition published in 1959...

Browsing this magazine gave me not only a glimpse of an earlier era in our church’s history but also a timely reminder of the long journey of this movement. It was in 1858 that Gilbert Cranmer began his independent work in Michigan, giving birth to what is now known as the Church of God (Seventh Day). Since that time, it has been a church on a journey through history, organizational change, and doctrinal and theological development. As we look toward the one hundred and fiftieth year (2008), it is fitting that we celebrate the journey.

A celebration is scheduled for July 2-7, 2007 at the Sheraton Hotel and Convention Center in Over-land Park, Kansas, and you are cordially invited. The occasion is our church’s biennial convention, ap-propriately themed “Celebrate the Journey.” We will celebrate the journey of our church, our individual journeys, and the journey of salvation, along with the journeys of our nation and our world...

 Reviewing our history makes us grateful for God’s faithfulness. It helps us value the sacrifice and commitment of earlier generations, without which this movement might not exist today. Our history gives us a sense of identity and calling.

I am frequently amazed, as well as frustrated, that CG7 has essentially re-written its history to make it appear to the world that they only claim to have begun 149 years ago. Those interested in its current teachings should read the article Church of God, Seventh Day: History and Teachings, while those interested in more of its prior history may wish to read the article The Sardis Church Era (as well as the other articles on The Churches of Revelation 2 & 3).

03/09/07 a.m. The March/April 2007 issue of UCG's United News is now out. The lead article is:

Council Approves $25 Million Budget and Plan

Big increase over this year's $21.3 million budget includes $1.6 million more for media and money to hire as many as five ministerial trainees. The Council also approves plans for investment in future growth of the Church to be presented to GCE and outlined at Sabbath services on March 17.

by Don Henson

The Council of Elders met Feb. 23 to 28 in San Diego, California, to review and finalize the 2007-2008 Operation Plan and budget to be presented to the General Conference of Elders for approval at the annual meeting in May.

In his opening remarks Feb. 23, Chairman Robert Dick reviewed the positive income trend. He pointed out that from 1998 until two years ago the Church experienced an income growth rate in the 2 to 4 percent range. Over the past two years the income has tracked in the 7 percent range.

He commented that United's original priority of providing pastors for every congregation created a certain amount of overhead expense. Over time the fixed expenses became a smaller portion of the whole, allowing the Church to move money into other areas such as public proclamation...

• In June, Mr. Kilough, Richard Pinelli and Lyle Welty will travel to Chile to provide a ministerial development seminar for all the elders in South America.

• The 2007 Ambassador Bible Center academic program started on Jan. 7 with a class of 54. The class is described as excited and very responsive. The administration continues to focus on character development, emphasizing to the students that ABC is of little value unless it changes the way they live. A new elective speech class and a class called Foundations of Faith have been added to the curriculum. The Foundations class is being recorded and will be made available to congregations on CD. This will complete the class recording project, making all core classes available to Church members.

• A new online magazine will soon be launched to replace Anchor. The as-yet-unnamed e-magazine will cover all areas of focused education...

Good News Subtitle

The subtitle for The Good News is "A Magazine of Understanding." At the recent managing editors conference there was discussion of changing the subtitle. Mr. Kilough pointed out the dilemma that, though the magazine is titled Good News, the witness and warning message of the gospel sometimes includes "bad news." A different subtitle can help clarify the seeming discrepancy.

The editors offered several suggestions for the Council to consider, including:

• The Good News —Hope Beyond Today's Troubled World.

• The Good News—Hope Beyond Today's World.

• The Good News—Beyond Today's Troubled World.

Using the phrase beyond today ties the magazine to our television program.

After discussion Feb. 25 and 28, Larry Salyer commented that it would be better to take more time to make this decision. Mr. Kilough agreed that, while a change does need to be made, it is not urgent that it be done at this meeting. He tabled the topic until the next Council meetings.

The Council also spent time in closed session hearing details of a proposal to prepare for the future needs of the Church. The proposal was unanimously approved and is being sent to the GCE for approval. It will also be presented in UCG congregations March 17.

The Council unanimously approved the Strategic Plan, Operation Plan and budget to be sent on to the General Conference of Elders.

I have long felt that UCG would finally get somewhat serious about public proclamation.

Speaking of UCG, an article of related interest may be Differences between the Living Church of God and United Church of God.

Since the Spring Holy Day season is approaching, another article of interest may be UCG and Its Unleavened Bread Study Paper

Yesterday, Zenit.org reported:

Date: 2007-03-08

Benedict XVI Highlights 1st Century Papal Primacy

Begins Audience Series on Apostolic Fathers

VATICAN CITY, MARCH 8, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Already in the first century, popes exercised their primacy over the other Churches, Benedict XVI says.

The Holy Father explained this on Wednesday at the general audience, which he dedicated to Pope St. Clement of Rome, the third successor of Peter.

Speaking to some 16,000 people gathered both in Paul VI Hall and St. Peter's Basilica, the Pontiff began a new series of catecheses on the Apostolic Fathers.

Benedict XVI mentioned that Clement's Letter to the Corinthians was given "[a]n almost canonical characteristic."

Certainly Benedict XVI must realize that the letter to the Corinthians was anonymous. For more information, please see the following articles Clement I and What Do Roman Catholic Scholars Actually Teach About Early Church History?

03/08/07 a.m. The following was in the news:

While I agree that the Bible teaches the value of a proper church hierarchy, it needs to be understood that Catholic scholars realize that there were no bishops of Rome prior to the middle of the second century, thus Clement was not a bishop nor is there any proof that he wrote any letter (please see the articles What Do Roman Catholic Scholars Actually Teach About Early Church History? and Clement I?).

Interestingly, in the Letter of the Romans to the Corinthians, which Roman Catholics normally call I Clement, it begins with:

The Church of God which sojourneth in Rome to the Church of God which sojourneth in Corinth, to them which are called and sanctified by the will of God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

This is interesting because the term "Catholic" was not used for the church in Rome at the beginning (though it was common-place by the early fourth century). One can search history in detail and find that both the Bible teach that the Christian church was properly called the Church of God. We in the COGs retain that as our name, while the Roman Catholics tend to only rarely use that term. Furthermore, those really interested in the truth of Christianity may also wish to read the articles The History of Early Christianity and Apostolic Succession.

Other than searching for COGwriter, the number one search bringing people to this site is "Ronald Weinland". Interest in his writings at this time is fairly high considering the small size of his group Church of God-Preparing for the Kingdom of God. This may be because he announced a new book after the last FOT that predicts the death of certain COG leaders and essentially the end in 2008.

I also noticed that when I searched something at the site that has The Catholic Encyclopedia yesterday, an ad for Church of God-Preparing for the Kingdom of God as well as RCG came up. Both groups seem to be using a lot of Google ads.

Two popular articles at this site now include Brief Article on Church of God-Preparing for the Kingdom of God and Why Not the Restored Church of God? .

03/07/07 a.m. The March 2007 cover article of PCG's Philadelphia Trumpet states:

The Myth of “Safer Sex”

Information handed to students from official college sources about sexually transmitted diseases runs through a distorting filter.

Consider. First, these pamphlets and websites tend to overpromise on the amount of protection offered by “safer sex” precautions like using prophylactics and “limiting” your number of partners (what does that mean, exactly?). Thus, many students engage in terribly risky behavior and think they’re safe.

At the same time, these materials play down the harmful health costs of stds. And as a result, millions of college students are shocked when they end up with diseases that often have uncomfortable, painful and disgusting effects—and sometimes irreversible consequences like infertility, cancer and death. Human Papilloma Virus (hpv), a highly contagious infection rapidly spreading on college campuses, afflicts 43 percent of college women getting annual check-ups, according to one study. The American Social Health Association says one out of two stds occur in people younger than 25.

Many clinicians would have you believe that such diseases are just part of growing up. For example, of hpv, health center pamphlets say, “hpv infection is very common … almost everyone gets hpv at some time. … [H]aving only a single lifetime partner does not assure protection. … [A]nyone who has ever had sexual relations has a high chance of being exposed to this virus … most men and women are infected with hpv at some time in their lives.”

Reassuring as these statements may be, they are misleading at best, false at worst. There are people who need not fear such terrible diseases at all: those who wait until marriage, and marry someone who waits until marriage.

You probably won’t hear this in a school health clinic, but some stds, notably the dreaded hiv, almost exclusively affect homosexuals and drug users—not because the virus is politically incorrect, but because it spreads primarily through behaviors engaged in by homosexuals and drug users. That is a proven fact that gets papered over because some people consider it “judgmental,” and because certain powerful segments of society simply refuse to consider curtailing their behavior.

Information about hiv and aids says that everyone is at risk—that no one is safe. Wrong. If you don’t use illegal drugs and don’t sleep with anyone other than the person you’ve married, and your spouse has done the same, you are approximately 100 percent safe. That’s the truth.

And in late yesterdays' news was this NY Times article:

When Laura Sessions Stepp warned of the potentially damaging effects of "hooking up" in a new book, some people scoffed -- particularly those who believe they were unscathed by their own unfettered years of casual sex.

Others, though, were incensed.

In "Unhooked: How Young Women Pursue Sex, Delay Love and Lose at Both" (Riverhead), Ms. Sessions Stepp, a Washington Post reporter, writes about how smart, ambitious young women do emotional damage to themselves by getting physical -- making out to having sex -- with men they are not dating or may have met for the first time...

This culture of sexual aggression, she said, often leaves young women physically and emotionally unsatisfied. It leads them to gamble with their health. And by never taking the time to get to know and care about one man, she said, young women may be rendering themselves incapable of forging stable, loving relationships.

The Bible clearly teaches, "Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body" (1 Corinthians 6:18). And it tends to be worse for women than men.

An article of possible interest may be What Did Paul Actually Teach About the Ten Commandments?

Christianity Today had the following article:

March 6, 2007

Gordon MacDonald's 2008 Questions

What I really want to know from the candidates before I make my choice.

The other day I read this headline in our newspaper: “Christian Right Leaders Struggle to Find a Strong Candidate for President in ’08.”

It turns out that, a few weeks ago, there was an unpublicized meeting in Florida at a five-star hotel during which “Christian leaders” discussed who they would support in the upcoming presidential race. I worry about a situation in which a few people who are very adroit at seizing the microphone presume to make a movement out of all of us and then speak on our behalf.

I was not raised (by parents or mentors) to think politically or to participate in public political dialogue. My generation of men and women who felt called to the Christian ministry were told that our task was to develop deeply rooted Christians who would transform our discipleship into action items such as work ethics, family strength, financial responsibility, moral choices in entertainment, and responsible political decisions. It was not “ours,” we were taught, to form or join political organizations and use our privilege as Christian influencers to pick and tout candidates from our pulpits or TV/radio shows or print publications...

But the rules seem to have changed.

After reading the list that he provided, I concluded that the above writer was not supportive of the current US President. Anyway, the question that neither the Protestant right or left rarely seems to think about is Should a Christian Vote?

03/06/07 a.m. COGaic's Peter Nathan wrote:

Have archaeologists uncovered the tomb of Jesus? A highly publicized new book (The Jesus Family Tomb by Simcha Jacobovici and Charles R. Pellegrino) and documentary (The Lost Tomb of Jesus, produced by James Cameron and directed by Jacobovici) claim to provide evidence to that effect. But perhaps even more compelling in the post–Da Vinci Code world is that ossuaries found in the tomb are said to have held the remains of not only Jesus but Mary Magdalene and “Judas, the son of Jesus.” One of the conclusions this team offers is that Jesus of Nazareth was married to Mary Magdalene, and that they had a son named Judas.

Discovered during foundation work for an apartment building near Jerusalem in 1980, the tomb was surveyed, and various artifacts, including 10 ossuaries, were removed by the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA). The excavation yielded little that was considered especially noteworthy at the time, as the IAA subsequently reported in its journal, ‘Atiqot.

In the meantime, however, Israeli-born writer and filmmaker Jacobovici launched an investigation of his own. The lynchpin in his identification of the tomb is his interpretation of the name on one of the ossuaries as “Mary Magdalene.” In Greek, as opposed to the Hebrew of the other inscriptions, is the name Mariamenou, followed by Mara. Mariamenou is a diminutive form of the Greek Mariamene and is a term of endearment. It is derived from the Hebrew Miriam, which we know in English as either “Maria” or “Mary.” Mara is normally a contraction of “Martha” (L. Rahmani, A Catalogue of Jewish Ossuaries). The two names are separated by a stroke, which was used in place of a preposition when two names appeared. Mariamenou is in fact the genitive form of Mariamenon and is found only here in the extant evidence for ancient Jewish names. It is a specifically Greek formation, not used in Hebrew or Aramaic, and indicates that this woman came from a Greek-speaking family, perhaps generations removed from her Hebrew or Aramaic relatives in the tomb. This point is overlooked by the documentary team, who present all the names (except for the other Mary, whom they identify as the mother of Jesus, and “Judas, the son of Jesus”) as belonging to a single generation. In fact, the IAA archaeological report notes that at least 35 bodies had been interred in this grave, indicating that it was at best a multigenerational family tomb...

Talpiot, the site of the so-called Jesus tomb, is some five kilometers south of the Old City of Jerusalem and the Temple Mount. Another first-century burial site is at Sanhedriyya, about five kilometers north of the Temple Mount. The Garden Tomb, which was established by Protestants in the 19^th century as a rival to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, has been dated to the seventh century B.C.E. and accordingly could not have been “a new tomb” at the time of Jesus’ death.

Then what about the legitimacy of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher as Jesus’ burial site? According to the Mishnah (Rosh Ha-Shanah 2:5), it appears that the Sanhedrin, the governing council of the Jews under Roman rule, established a limit on the proximity of burial to the Temple Mount by establishing a perimeter 2,000 cubits (a little more than 900 meters, or about 3,000 feet) from the temple. This area was to represent the Camp of Israel. Burial, by definition, had to take place outside this limit. The problem is that the Church of the Holy Sepulcher falls within the 2,000-cubit radius and thus could not have been used as a burial site.

Perhaps the real value of the tomb at Talpiot is that it can encourage us to reexamine some of the myths that have been imposed on Christianity.

There are many myths that have been imposed upon what passes for mainstream Christianity. Three articles of possible interest may be The Da Vinci Code: Some Good, Most Bad, What Do Roman Catholic Scholars Actually Teach About Early Church History?, and History of Early Christianity.

COG CDs reported:

Just so you are aware, Don Tiger no longer does the "HWA Library". The one who does the "HWA Library" now does not take donations for this service.

Don Tiger did a tremendous amount of work to make a vast quantity of HWA materials available.

03/05/07 p.m. The following was in the news today:

No, Britney Spears is not the Antichrist. Some articles of possible interest may be Europa and the Beast of Revelation, SDA/COG Differences: Two Horned Beast of Revelation and 666, and Some Doctrines of Antichrist.

03/05/07 a.m. Here is something that is to happen today:

I believe that some pope (maybe this one) will make some type of deal that most European Lutherans and Eastern Orthodox will accept that involves accepting some type of leadership role for the Roman Church.

Will salvation be offered to all?

Did Jesus come only to save the relatively few elect like Calvinists and most other Protestants believe or nearly all who ever lived? Since Protestant's claim Sola scriptura it is to the Bible that the answer to that question is to be found (it should be noted that Roman Catholic theology, while normally allowing for a higher percentage of people receiving salvation than what most Protestant and Baptist groups seem to teach, also condemn most who ever lived to eternal torment and torturing).

Here are some scriptures that are part of my first draft of a new article tentatively titled Universal Salvation? There Are Hundreds of Verses in the Bible Supporting True Apocatastasis:

Luke 2:10, states:

10 Then the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people.

Jesus will be joy to all people who will accept Him. Is there joy is in eternal torment and torture? Of course not! And the Bible does not teach some version of the Infernus from Dantes' Divine Comedy.

It is a human tragedy that pagan influence, secular writers, and non-biblical traditionalist have influenced most who profess Christianity to be misled that God's plan is not a source of joy for most, but tortuous suffering for most who have ever lived.

John 12:47, Jesus stated,

And if anyone hears My words and does not believe, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world...

The idea of Jesus coming to save more than a few is clearly being taught. Will He not succeed?

1 John 4:14, John states:

14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world.

Again, can Jesus be Savior of all without offering salvation to all?

John 12:32, Jesus stated:

32 And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.

Is Jesus intending to draw all to Him in order to eternally punish most or to save them?

Hebrews 9:28 teaches:

28 so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.

Notice that Christ will bear the sins of many (the word in Greek, polus, implies most). So while not all will accept His sacrafice, clearly many will.

Colossians 1:16, Paul states:

16 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.

Does Jesus intend for most of His creation to suffer eternally? Is God not intelligent enough to plan a creation that will result in nearly all being saved?

Romans 5:15-21, Paul states:

15 But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man's offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many. 16 And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned. For the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift which came from many offenses resulted in justification. 17 For if by the one man's offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ. 18 Therefore, as through one man's offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man's righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. 19 For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man's obedience many will be made righteous. 20 Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more, 21 so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Since Jesus' free gift is for all men, will not all humankind have an opportunity to receive it? Since by one Man's obedience many will be made righteous certainly many does not mean a few. For grace to reign, does this not mean that most will accept it?

1 Corinthians 15:22, Paul states:

22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive.

All died in Adam, all will be made alive in Christ. All will have an opportunity for salvation, not just a few.

Colossians 1:20, Paul states:

20 and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross.

Notice that Jesus will reconcile all to Himself having made peace through His sacrifice. A sacrifice that will be made available to all.

Revelation 15:3-4, states:

"Great and marvelous are Your works,
Lord God Almighty!
Just and true are Your ways,
O King of the saints!
4 Who shall not fear You, O Lord, and glorify Your name?
For You alone are holy.
For all nations shall come and worship before You,
For Your judgments have been manifested."

Notice that all the nations shall come and worship God. Notice that the implication of verse 5 is that only very few will not glorify God's name.

John 5:21-22, Jesus taught:

21 For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will. 22 For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son,

Has your church judged those that even God the Father has not judged? Does Jesus will to give life to the many or to the few?

What does your church teach?

My church teaches that my God is a loving God who has a plan that will offer salvation to all and that nearly all (probably over 99.9%) will accept Jesus' offer of salvation.

1 Timothy 4:9-11, is Paul teaching that is Jesus the Savior of all men or only a few?

9 This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance. 10 For to this end we both labor and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of those who believe. 11 These things command and teach.

Hebrews 7:24-27 teaches:

25 Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. 26 For such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens; 27 who does not need daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the people's, for this He did once for all when He offered up Himself.

Notice that Jesus is able to save the uttermost--they are those that are not now near to Him. Also, notice that Jesus died for all and not just a small amount of elect.

Isaiah 25:6-8 teaches:

6 And in this mountain
The LORD of hosts will make for all people
A feast of choice pieces,
A feast of wines on the lees,
Of fat things full of marrow,
Of well-refined wines on the lees.
7 And He will destroy on this mountain
The surface of the covering cast over all people,
And the veil that is spread over all nations.
8 He will swallow up death forever,
And the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces;
The rebuke of His people
He will take away from all the earth;
For the LORD has spoken.

Notice that this feast is for all people, that the veil over people will be destroyed, and death will no longer occur.

Revelation 21:6 shows:

6 And He said to me, "It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts..."

Does this sound like Jesus intends that salvation will be available to all or only a relative few?

2 Corinthians 5:14-15, Paul teaches:

14 For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; 15 and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.

Notice that Paul clearly teaches that Jesus has died for all. Not a few elect (like the Calvinists teach), not the relative few that accept Christ in this age (as most Protestant/Baptist/Evangelicals teach), not a minority of humankind (as most Roman Catholics teach).

For Jesus to die for all, all must have an opportunity for salvation. And since God is all knowing, certainly He knows how to have a plan of salvation where the most possible will be saved.

2 Peter 3:9, Peter explains:

9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

Click here for previous COG news (includes comments on UCG's COE Meeting, Oasis and ntevangelism, Otto von Habsburg, Rabbis trying to resume animal sacrifices, Larry Salyer's new media role, SDAs and Passover, US Financial Issues, Ronald Weinland, Lessard deaths, Pope John XII against papal infallibility, Religous dress, etc.

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Volume 10, issue 40 COG writer B. Thiel (c) 2007