Church of God News

COGwriter

Herbert W. Armstrong, the late Pastor General of the old Worldwide Church of God, wrote the following article of warning:

Some of You May Not Make It Into God’s Kingdom – Does It Mean YOU?

MOST PEOPLE who follow this world’s traditional “Christianity” take it for granted that, if sometime in their life they “accept Christ,” they will go to heaven when they die. But in GOD’S Church we talk about “making it into God’s Kingdom.”

I wonder if YOU really do understand the difference! This world is SATAN’S world — not God’s. Satan is a DECEIVER! This world is DECEIVED! But often I wonder, dear brethren, how many of YOU have really come to see the difference! How many of OUR brethren just substitute “the Kingdom” for going to heaven, and think we “get into the Kingdom” the same way they think they shall go to heaven — just by having somehow professed to have “accepted Christ”!

This deceived world lives the way of “GET.” And “GET” is the way that TRANSGRESSES God’s LAW! They want to “GET” salvation. They “RECEIVE” Christ — they profess to “ACCEPT” Christ. And they think that’s ALL THERE IS TO IT. Once they have declared they “accept” — that is, “GET” Christ — there is nothing more to do. It is all settled. They go to church once in a while and sing that old hymn, “It Was All Settled Long Ago.” They were THEN “saved.” They are never told to REPENT. They are not instructed on what REPENTANCE really is. Instead they are taught that if they obey God’s law they will be “LOST.” Obeying God’s spiritual LAW, they are taught, is “works,” and their preachers quote Ephesians 2:8-9:

“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: NOT OF WORKS, lest any man should boast.” But the preachers NEVER read right on the next words, verse 10, which says, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus UNTO GOOD WORKS, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”
They MISS God’s whole PURPOSE in saving us. Do NOT SOME OF YOU, ALSO? Just WHAT is this important matter of salvation all about?

The first created man, Adam, disobeyed God. He followed his wife Eve in choosing SATAN’S “GET” way of life, rejecting God’s spiritual LAW, which is God’s WAY OF LIFE love to God and outflowing LOVE to other people!

God had, long before creating Adam, set the super archangel LUCIFER on the THRONE with power to RULE over all the earth. When Lucifer rejected God’s LAW — God’s WAY OF LIFE — he abrogated the GOVERNMENT OF GOD on earth, and he became SATAN THE DEVIL. But it is the law of God’s government over the universe that SATAN must remain on that throne, with SUPERNATURAL POWER OVER ALL THE EARTH, UNTIL the government of God is restored, and CHRIST is sitting on that throne with supreme POWER to rule all the earth — when Satan shall be banished from the earth.

So Satan was still there to deceive Eve and lead Adam into SIN. After the beginning of the New Testament Church, SATAN was still there. The apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthian church: “But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted” (II Cor. 11:3). Satan is still on that throne today, deceiving, misleading the world. And I have to often wonder, as Paul did in writing the church at Corinth, if Satan is deceiving some of YOU dear brethren? So I appeal earnestly to you to listen and to THINK ABOUT THIS!

Adam cut himself and HIS FAMILY off from God — from God’s LAW — from God’s GOVERNMENT! Now WHAT IS GOD’S PURPOSE? WHY did He create humans and put us humans here on earth? LISTEN! UNDERSTAND THIS! God is reproducing Himself! He is begetting human PEOPLE as HIS very own CHILDREN. His children together with Him and with Christ will become the GOD FAMILY! There will be, in His Kingdom, God the FATHER, Christ the SON and we of the Church as Christ’s WIFE — married to Christ at the time of the resurrection at His Second Coming to earth — at the final making of the NEW COVENANT, which is the NEW Covenant! It will make us of the Church — then made immortal GOD BEINGS composed of immortal spirit — both the children of God and the Wife of Christ — the GOD FAMILY — and called also THE KINGDOM OF GOD!

Now we talk about “making it into the Kingdom.” What do we mean? We mean making it into God’s own FAMILY! We shall be a FAMILY — the GOD FAMILY!

Now to train us to be a part of that divine FAMILY, God made us male and female. God ordained the marriage union and the human FAMILY. God intended us to LEARN HIS KIND OF FAMILY RELATIONSHIP in our own FAMILY LIFE here in this present life! Now keep that in mind. I’m coming back to it. But keep also in mind something else.

Since Adam failed to resist Satan and to restore the GOVERNMENT OF GOD, none of Adam’s children could overcome Satan and qualify to replace Satan on that throne over all the earth and to RESTORE the government of God. So finally God sent His OWN Son, His only-begotten Son, to become human as well as divine. Jesus was GOD in human flesh — God as well as MAN. He was the ONLY human ever able to obey God’s great spiritual LAW perfectly, resist and conquer Satan and QUALIFY to RESTORE the GOVERNMENT OF GOD on earth!

More than that, He was able to set us an example of living THE WAY of God’s spiritual LAW, to die for us, paying for us the penalty of our sins, and to be resurrected by the FATHER, thus making our resurrection and immortal life possible — so that WE may become God’s CHILDREN in GOD’S FAMILY, and born GOD BEINGS.

We together with God and with Christ shall form THE KINGDOM OF GOD, RULING ALL THE EARTH WITH THE GOVERNMENT OF GOD. Satan then shall be banished.

Now Adam cut himself and HIS family OFF from God and from receiving God’s Holy Spirit. God made Adam’s decision BINDING on Adam’s FAMILY who form the whole world — UNTIL the GOVERNMENT OF GOD is RESTORED and Satan is banished, so Satan cannot lead humanity any longer AWAY FROM GOD! And that means UNTIL the Second Coming of CHRIST and restoration of GOD’S GOVERNMENT by the Kingdom of God.

Meanwhile God made an exception in cutting Adam’s FAMILY off from God. God called Abraham out of Satan’s world, and 430 years later Abraham’s children to become God’s NATION. To them He gave the OLD Covenant — a marriage covenant that made them the wife of Yahweh who was to be born as Jesus later. God gave them His spiritual law but they, like the first Adam, refused to obey it. Only the prophets of Israel obeyed, and only they shall be in God’s KINGDOM WITH GOD’S CHURCH!

Then when Jesus came and QUALIFIED to depose Satan and RESTORE the GOVERNMENT OF GOD and for Himself to sit on that THRONE with power to rule the whole earth, God the Father called certain ones HE chose. He called them to come OUT OF THIS WORLD — out of SATAN’S world — to receive His Holy Spirit. This begat them as His CHILDREN, in His BEGOTTEN FAMILY.

He called us out of the world, to be SEPARATE FROM the world. To Live a FAMILY LIFE to prepare us for the FAMILY LIFE that shall be HIS KINGDOM!

Now UNDERSTAND THIS! I’m afraid many of you have NOT understood it!

The KINGDOM is the divine FAMILY of God. If we cannot live as a FAMILY should live, according to God’s SPIRITUAL LAW, now, while in God’s Church, WE SIMPLY WON’T MAKE IT INTO God’s KINGDOM (which is His divine FAMILY!).
Now PLEASE! PLEASE, dear brethren, HEED THIS! Many of you are NOT living the kind of FAMILY LIFE that is preparing you for God’s Kingdom. And if you DON’T repent, and reorder your whole FAMILY life, YOU SIMPLY WON’T MAKE IT INTO THE KINGDOM! I MEAN THAT! It is LIFE AND DEATH for ALL ETERNITY!
We found at the summer SEP camp at Orr, Minn., that in many cases the children DO NOT EAT WITH THEIR PARENTS AT HOME!

It is reported to me that many of you are LAX in child training and in teaching your little children! You ARE NEGLECTING YOUR FAMILY LIFE. And you may be NEGLECTING SO GREAT SALVATION.
Listen to what God SAYS! “How shall we [we in the Church] escape, if we NEGLECT so great salvation?” (Heb. 2:3).

… many of you are NEGLECTING your very salvation!

God says to YOU: “For the time IS COME that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if… the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?” (l Pet. 4:17-18). (Good News, January 1981)

Five years after the above was published Herbert W. Armstrong died.

In the radio broadcast he did, titled End Time Falling Away, Herbert Armstrong taught that the New Testament shows there will be falling away related to the Church of God in Acts 20:28-29, as well as a massive turning aside towards fables for the world in 2 Timothy 4:3 (note, all oral quotes in this document are from my notes and may not always be verbatim but do accurately convey what he taught):

Men to turn away from the truth … Acts 20:29 and 30 … Paul … wanted to meet with the leaders of the church … What church? The Church of God! … “For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them. Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears.”

See what the prophecy was? Falling away. Departing from the truth!

And then go to second Corinthians eleventh chapter and the 13th, 14th, and 15th verses.

For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. “And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light… Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.” Many false prophets will deceive many…Second Timothy fourth chapter third verse…

For the time will come when they will not endure—THAT’S the PEOPLE the Western world—sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables” the world will fall away after fables. (Armstrong HW. End Time Falling Away, HA103A.MP3)

His successor was NOT faithful and led what was perhaps one of the largest ‘falling aways’ in the history of the Church of God (see The Falling Away: The Bible and WCG Teachings).

Thus, Herbert W. Armstrong was correct to warn people who thought they were Christians that they may not make it into the Kingdom of God.

There is a prophecy in Zechariah that may be relevant here. Notice:

7 “Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd,
Against the Man who is My Companion,”
Says the Lord of hosts.
“Strike the Shepherd,
And the sheep will be scattered;
Then I will turn My hand against the little ones.
8 And it shall come to pass in all the land,”
Says the Lord,
“That two-thirds in it shall be cut off and die,
But one-third shall be left in it:
9 I will bring the one-third through the fire,
Will refine them as silver is refined,
And test them as gold is tested.
They will call on My name,
And I will answer them.
I will say, ‘This is My people’;
And each one will say, ‘The Lord is my God.'” (Zechariah 13:7-9)

While the above seems to have other applications, the fact that two-thirds of those in the old WCG accepted total apostasy after the death of Herbert W. Armstrong, and about one-third did not, makes the possible application of the Tkach apostasy seem to fit.

Nowadays, most remaining Christians do not accept proper church governance–even though Herbert W. Armstrong emphasized that a lot in his final years on Earth for Philadephian Christians.

He also taught about those who would not fully fall away, but would be Laodicean:

… the final generation of the Church shall be LUKEWARM — not less emotional, but more ‘liberal,’ more secular and less spiritual — less strictly biblical –” “Speaking of the present ‘Philadelphia’ era, it says … because we have kept God’s Word faithfully, not liberalizing nor watering down, God will keep us from the ‘hour of temptation, which shall come upon all them that dwell on the earth’ to try and test them. (Armstrong HW. Personal from Herbert W. Armstrong. Plain Truth, August 1980).

But, the BAD NEWS, as it appears today, my dear brethren, is that we, undoubtedly of the Philadelphian era…are in serious danger of BECOMING also the Laodicean era. I am personally much concerned about that. If YOU are NOT concerned, then indeed we are in mortal DANGER. (Armstrong HW. Personal from Herbert W. Armstrong. Good News, August 1979).

Now, here we find, while it’s pictured as seven churches, it’s really seven stages of the one True Church … in seven successive times. Also, you’ll find every one of the seven conditions in the church at all times but, in the early years, the Ephesus condition dominated and the tail end of it the Laodicean condition is to dominate on the earth and there you are. (Armstrong HW. History of the True Church – Part 4. Radio broadcast, transcript)

Well, now then, I have said that the Laodicean condition will dominate at the tail end. But I have said that all of those conditions—all the way from Ephesus up to Laodicea, all seven—are present at all the time in the Church; but that now, in the Philadelphian Era, we have the Laodicean condition. That’s what I am talking about today. It’s here. (Armstrong HW. Warning To The Church. Sermon, July 1, 1978)

These seven messages DO apply to seven successive church eras. BUT they also apply to the WHOLE CHURCH through ALL eras. In other words, the Ephesus characteristics DOMINATED in the first era, and the Laodicean will dominate in the last, but SOME of these characteristics are found in EVERY era. (Armstrong HW. Human Nature, Did God Create It? 1976)

You may have to give your present life in order to make the Kingdom of God. Are you going to try to live on and save it? Or are you willing…? There is one place in the 12th chapter of Revelation where, after Satan has had the battle in heaven once again and has been sent back down to earth, where the “saints loved not their lives unto death.” And that’s speaking of our time, and our people, and those of the Laodicean Church to follow us almost immediately. And the Laodicean Era of the Church has not yet come, but it will; and I think that we are doing a whole lot to raise it up. (Armstrong HW. Mark of the Beast. Sermon, December 11, 1982)

The Apostle Peter wrote:

10 Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble; 11 for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. (2 Peter 1:10-11)

After Herbert W. Armstrong’s death, not only was there a falling away (see The Falling Away: The Bible and WCG Teachings), it has become clear that the Laodicean era has been upon us.

Sadly, most who did not fall away from Christianity have drifted into Laodiceanism.

Jesus told those Christians to repent:

14 “And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write,

‘These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God: 15 “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. 16 So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth. 17 Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’ — and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked — 18 I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see. 19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent. 20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. 21 To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.

22 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”‘” (Revelation 3:14-22)

In the end times, MOST true Christians will be Laodicean. It is not that the Laodiceans cannot enter the Kingdom of God, but they have issues that they need to change–and risk severe chastisement in this life if they do not repent.

Do not remain Laodicean.

To answer the question, JUST WHAT IS THE WORK?, Herbert W. Armstrong personally wrote:

But Christ said to His Philadelphia era Church, that because we have but little strength, He would OPEN THOSE DOORS TO US (Rev. 3:8)” (Letter 11/19/76).

The PURPOSE for which Christ built the Church exemplifies its WORK … 1) To ANNOUNCE to the world for its witness the coming Kingdom of God…2) To prepare the people to whom God adds to the Church…God has always worked with humans. He has worked with O N E M A N at a time … The WORK consists of proclaiming the Gospel, by radio, by television, in print (Armstrong HW. JUST WHAT IS THE WORK? PASTOR GENERAL’S REPORT – VOL.3, NO.6 February 6, 1981)

God has always, in dealing with humans, worked through ONE MAN at a time — one who believed God! Some in ancient Israel challenged this one-man leadership. Some, like-wise, have challenged it today! … In founding God’s Church, Jesus worked primarily through one man, Peter, even though He originally chose His 12 disciples. Few have ever noticed how Peter was the real leader. Jesus had told His disciples to go NOT to the gentiles, but to the “lost sheep of the House of Israel.” … Notice now PETER’S preeminence. Few have ever put all these scriptures together as I shall now do. This shows PETER was leader. … And, though there were other apostles, God worked primarily through ONE man –PETER! Has God changed? Or is He the SAME still today? … The Jerusalem conference (Acts 15) showed that PETER was predominant over even Paul, although Paul was the ONE MAN God worked through primarily in the ministry to gentiles. The CHURCH is GOD’S Church. (Armstrong, Herbert W. And NOW Christ Sets Church Back On Track Doctrinally. Good News, April 1979).

Notice that Herbert Armstrong believed that God mainly worked through the leadership of one man at a time to lead various phases of the work. Scripture, shows for example, that the mantle passed from Elijah to Elisha (2 Kings 2:9-15). The ‘mantle’ would currently be with the person/group that truly functioned as the ‘pillar and ground of truth’ (1 Timothy 3:15).

For fifty years in the second century, according to Herbert W. Armstrong, that man was Polycarp:

It is significant that after his release John trained Polycarp elder of Smyrna, a city near Ephesus in the province of Asia. … At neighboring Smyrna, Polycarp presided over the Church of God for half a century after John’s death. Polycarp stood up boldly for the truth while many fell away and began having fellowship with the Catholic bishops of Rome. History relates that following the example of Peter, Paul and John, Polycarp wrote many letters to congregations and individuals, though all these have perished, save one in an edited version. (Armstrong HW. The Church They Couldn’t Destroy. Good News, December 1981)

For over 50 years in the 20th century, it was Herbert W. Armstrong.

And in the 21st century, that one man is not in any of the independent or more structured Laodicean groups (see also Herbert W. Armstrong, the Philadelphia Church, & the Mantle).

Support the remnant of the Philadephian era and God’s work today.

Do not delay (cf. Zephaniah 2:1-3).

COGwriter

Back in 1963, the old Radio Church of God published the following titled The Gospel – In the Old Testament from David Jon Hill.

What has the Old Testament to do with the Gospel? Why is it even included in the Bible? How did Jesus, Peter and Paul preach the Gospel?

JESUS CHRIST never read the New Testament! Yet He preached the Gospel. He quoted from Scripture!

John the Baptist preached the Gospel of the Kingdom of God. The Apostle Peter on the day of Pentecost in 31 A.D. preached a sermon of salvation that brought three thousand people to repentance — he quoted many scriptures, yet not one was from the New Testament. After his conversion, the Apostle Paul preached the Gospel of Jesus Christ — yet through most of his ministry he did not have access to any of what we recognize as the New Testament today — in fact, he himself was responsible for writing fourteen books of it!

The only Bible that Jesus and Peter and Paul were conversant with and preached from was what we regard today as the Old Testament!

Old Testament Useless?

The Bible is a consistent best seller year after year! It has been translated into nearly every language and dialect used by mankind! Yet this most translated and consistent best seller is the least read and studied of any of the best sellers! And even those who do read and study the Bible consistently ignore the largest part of it — the Old Testament.

Somehow the term “Old” Testament as opposed to the “New” Testament has made most people feel that it is not necessary to read the Old — almost as if it had nothing to do with the New, or as if it were a completely useless part of the Bible. Yet, consistently, millions upon millions of copies of the Bible, including the Old Testament, are reproduced and sold.

The Bible has 66 books in the King James Version. Comparing it to a novel or a textbook, if each of these books were just a long chapter — wouldn’t it seem strange to begin reading a book at chapter 40? There are 39 books in the Old Testament and the book of Matthew beginning the New Testament is the 40th book of the Bible — comparable to the 40th chapter of a textbook or novel!

Are those first 39 chapters of God’s book unnecessary — or did God have a reason for inspiring them?

How Did the Apostles Preach the Gospel?

How did Jesus Christ preach the Gospel? To what authority did He appeal? Where did He get His ideas of love and grace — of forgiveness and salvation — of the message of the Kingdom of God? When Peter preached about grace and salvation, upon what authority did he base his statements? When the Apostle Paul expounded and proclaimed to the Gentiles about the Gospel of the Kingdom of God, from what books did he preach?

New Testament Answers!

Certainly the “Golden Rule” is accepted as summing up the basic teachings of Jesus Christ — of New Testament theology. “Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them” (Matt. 7:12). But how many of you read the last part, of this verse — or heard the last part of this verse explained and expounded — the last part of this verse which, in the words of Jesus Christ, explains where He got the idea of the Golden Rule? The LAST PART of this verse reads, “for THIS [the Golden Rule] IS THE LAW AND THE PROPHETS!” (Matt. 7:12).

Jesus Christ was NOT doing away with the Old Testament! His very life and Gospel message was an explanation of the Old Testament — a clarification, a magnification. When the Pharisees and Sadducees would ask Him a trick question, He would consistently ask them, “Have you not read…?” (Matt. 12:3, 5, etc) He was more conversant with the Old Testament than the ablest of scribes!

Yes, the Gospel of Jesus Christ is a Gospel of love — but what kind or love? Let Jesus Christ Himself explain this to you — when a hypocritical lawyer of the Pharisees asked Him a question to tempt Him, asking which was the greatest commandment, Jesus Christ answered him saying, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy might… Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thy self [this is the great commandment of love that Jesus Christ gave — the “new” commandment, see I John 2:7-8]. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets” (Matt. 22:37-40). And Jesus quoted His answer from Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19: 18! When Christ was tempted by Satan the Devil, He pointed out the over-all precept, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God” (Matt. 4:4 — also Luke 4:4).

But this was not an idea that Jesus Christ thought up independent of the Old Testament — this was not changed, New Testament theology. This tool that Jesus Christ used to resist Satan the Devil was taken directly from the pen of Moses and is quoted from Deuteronomy 8:3!

Peter’s Theology

The Apostle Peter plainly showed that the whole purpose of the writing of the prophets of the Old Testament was for the use of those who are called to the Gospel of Jesus Christ! (I Pet. 1:10-12). In closing off his second epistle he warned all those who were followers of Jesus Christ that they should watch out for individuals who twisted the meaning of the epistles of Paul — but comparing this deceitful use of Paul’s epistles to the practice of those who also deceitfully use the other scriptures, the Old Testament! (II Pet. 3:15-16). The very authority of Paul’s writings, Peter showed, rested on the Old Testament!

The source of the Gospel that Paul preached, is recorded for us in the book of Acts! “And when they had appointed him a day, there came many to him into his lodging; to whom he [Paul] expounded and testified the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus, [the Gospel] both out of the law of Moses, and out of the prophets, from morning till evening” (Acts 28:23). This historic statement regarding the teaching of the Apostle Paul was recorded at the very end of his ministry — long after he had turned from the Jews and begun to concentrate on the Gentiles.

Paul Commanded Old Testament Preaching

Paul was the apostle in charge of carrying the Gospel to the Gentiles. As an apostle he held a very high office and was also responsible for the training of many men under him. These evangelists and elders were responsible for carrying the same Gospel message to the local churches that Paul raised up, after his departure. Paul’s personal instruction to the Evangelist Timothy is preserved for us to this day so that we will be able to tell how the Apostle Paul instructed the Evangelist Timothy, and all of those elders under him, to conduct their preaching, and from whence to get their information.

Using all of the power of his office, Paul said, “I charge ye therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; PREACH THE WORD”! (II Tim. 4:1-2) The expression “the word” is the common reference to the Old Testament — The Holy Scriptures. Just a few verses before this Paul had instructed Timothy, “Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth (II Tim. 2:15). Urging and ex-honing Timothy to study the Old Testament in order to preach Christ! Is this the kind of instruction being given in the theological seminaries today?

Or has the prophecy of Paul which he gave to Timothy in this same book already come to pass — “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; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth [“Thy word is truth” — John 17: 17], and shall be turned [from the Gospel truths of the Old Testament] unto fables [the teaching of men having turned a deaf ear to the Word of God and thought up their own theology!] (II Tim. 4:3-4).

No, Paul did not think up a new “Pauline theology” — he didn’t disagree with Moses, or any of the prophets, or Jesus Christ — his instruction was, again to Timothy, “And that from a child you have known the holy scriptures which ARE ABLE TO MAKE THEE WISE UNTO SALVATION THROUGH FAITH which is in Christ Jesus. ALL SCRIPTURE [all of the Bible that today’s Christians regard as the Old Testament] is given by inspiration of God [not the ideas of men about God, but the writings of holy men inspired by the Holy Spirit prior to the time of Jesus Christ, see II Peter 1:21] and IS PROFITABLE [Paul under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and using the full authority of his apostleship states in a letter of instruction to a fellow minister, in the fulfillment of his duty in the ministry that the Old Testament IS PROFITABLE] for DOCTRINE [the doctrines of the Apostle Paul were not “Pauline theology” at all, but the same basic truths that were preached by Noah, a preacher of righteousness, by Abraham, by Moses, by Elijah, by John the Baptist, and by Jesus Christ — and their source was the Old Testament!], for REPROOF, for CORRECTION, for INSTRUCTION IN RIGHTEOUSNESS [there is a way to be righteous, and that way is described in the Old Testament]” (II Tim. 3:15-16).

And this quote, you will notice, is just directly prior to the first verse of chapter four in which Paul tells Timothy what to preach!

Lay Members Urged to Read Old Testament

The Apostle Paul had, no doctrines contrary to any single verse written from Genesis to Malachi. He never urged any — even of his Gentile converts — to ignore the Old Testament. In fact the historic record of his preaching to Gentiles at Berea, tells us that he was highly pleased by those citizens of Berea who checked up by daily Old Testament Bible reading on the things that he proclaimed to them — the Gospel of Jesus Christ! “These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and SEARCHED THE SCRIPTURES DAILY, whether those things were so” (Acts 17:11). There is one reference in the New Testament of Paul in his preaching referring to one of the poets. You know how common it is for ministers to quote from Shakespeare, Tennyson, Shelley and Keats. When Paul was speaking to the Athenians on Mars Hill he said, “For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said” (Acts 17:28). But his use of poets’ clever sayings is nil in comparison to the dozens and dozens of times, in the book of Acts, and in the many epistles which he wrote, in which he quoted word for word and used as his authority the Old Testament scriptures.

In his letter to the Gentile Corinthians the Apostle Paul commanded that church to be familiar with the Old Testament — “Now all these things happened unto them for examples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come” (I Cor. 10:11).

Shall We Desert the New Testament?

Since the examples of Jesus Christ, the Apostle Peter and the Apostle Paul show that their theology, ministry and Gospel were derived directly from the Old Testament, shall we assume that we should do away with the New Testament and not read it?

God forbid!

No, since the New Testament is just as much a part of God’s Word as the Old (II Pet. 3:15-16) then we should read and study it with equal diligence. Once we understand that the New Testament is Holy Scripture just as much as the Old Testament is, then we must apply the very statement that Jesus Christ made to Satan the Devil when He was resisting him in the temptation on the Mount, and agree that we must live by EVERY WORD OF GOD — both the Old and the New Testaments.

It is only by the Spirit of God that any man is able to understand either the Old or the New Testament. There were preachers in Jesus Christ’s day — the Sadducees and Pharisees, and many other splits and denominations, but they did not understand the scriptures of the Old Testament — any more than most of the ministers of today understand the New! When Paul instructed Timothy to study the Old Testament, the Holy Scriptures, he explained to him that these Holy Scriptures contained the wisdom that would bring him to salvation, but only through the FAITH OF JESUS CHRIST! (II Tim. 3:15).

New Testament Example

Is there then an example in the New Testament of an individual, ordained by God to preach the Gospel of the Kingdom of God, who used as the sole basis for his preaching the Old Testament?

YES!

The eighth chapter of the book of Acts, beginning verse 26, portrays the history of how Philip brought the Gospel of God to an Ethiopian eunuch. In verse 28 it is explained that the eunuch was reading out of the book of Isaiah. “And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? Of himself, or of some other man? Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and PREACHED UNTO HIM JESUS!” (Acts 8:34-35).

Surely God was working with this Ethiopian eunuch, and causing him to read in this particular verse in Isaiah. However there are more than three hundred specific prophecies regarding Jesus Christ recorded in the Old Testament — both concerning His first coming, as the humble carpenter of Nazareth to be sacrificed for the sins of the world, and regarding His second coming to be King of kings and Lord of lords ruling over the entire earth in the Kingdom of God — soon to come!

Philip’s Gospel Message

Let’s turn to the scripture that he was reading from in the book of Isaiah, and see just how Philip could preach Jesus Christ, Him crucified and the Gospel of the Kingdom of God — of salvation — from the Old Testament! Isaiah 53:7 was the scripture that the Ethiopian eunuch was reading: “He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth” (Isa. 53:7). In answer to the Ethiopian’s question Philip, began to explain that this referred to the Son of God, sent by the Almighty Father in heaven to become a human being, to live a perfect life, and then to be sacrificed for the sins of mankind.

Beginning at the very verse the eunuch was reading, he went on to explain how all the verses of Isaiah 53 applied to Jesus Christ — but Isaiah 53 is not the only chapter in the Old Testament that applies to Jesus Christ, many more were needed for Philip to explain completely the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the eunuch-out of the Old Testament.

As any commentary will explain, and as I am sure Philip explained, he would have either turned to or explained to the Ethiopian eunuch about Genesis 3:15. This prophecy regarding Jesus Christ, the seed of the woman, Eve, was to redeem mankind from his sin! This would show how the Savior of mankind was expected from the very beginning — from the time immediately after Adam and Eve committed the first sin of mankind in disobeying their God and His instructions in the Garden of Eden.

He explained Genesis 12, and Genesis 15, and Genesis 22 about the promise that the God of heaven and earth had made to Abraham, the father of all the Israelites — of how He had promised him a particular Seed that would be the joy, the glory, and the solace of all mankind — of how He was prophesied so many centuries ago! That this Seed would fulfill the promise of eternal inheritance of the whole earth, made to Abraham.

Since it was on everybody’s mind at that particular time, Philip mentioned the 70 weeks’ prophecy of Daniel 9, verses 24 through 27, which had everybody expecting that the Messiah would appear. He pointed out how other verses in The Old Testament explained that this Messiah when He came at first — in His first coming — would NOT be the King of kings and Lord of lords, to restore a mighty kingdom to Israel — but would be a humble man, Who would be persecuted and despised by all mankind (referring again to Isaiah 53), Who would be sacrificed, sold as a slave, rejected, Who would speak in parables, Who would suffer, Who would be betrayed by a friend, Who would be dead three days and three nights — and be RESURRECTED! Explaining these things Philip showed that since this same Jesus was now alive He would fulfill the prophecies in the future which portray Him as King of kings and Lord of lords — at His second coming, to establish the Kingdom of God on earth forever!

Using the book of Zechariah, Philip read, “Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts” (Zech. 4:6). Then Philip would pause and explain again to the Ethiopian eunuch that the Savior of mankind did not come first as a conquering hero and king to restore a physical kingdom to a physical Israel — not by any physical strength or might, but by the very power of the Holy Spirit this Savior came with the strength to overcome the physical pull of human nature, and live a perfect life by the strength of that Spirit. That He would cry, “Grace, grace unto it” (Zech. 4:7) regarding Jerusalem, and Israel, and the whole world!

Philip would turn over quickly (or quote from memory) to chapter 9 of Zechariah and read in verse 9 — “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding … upon a colt …” (Zech. 9:9).

Philip would explain to this Ethiopian that despite the fact that this Being had been God, in heaven, that yet He had emptied Himself of being God and become JUST A MAN (Phil. 2:5, 6, 7), a lowly man, not regarding Himself as any great Being, not trying to take over the kingdoms of the earth, but living an example — an example of perfection, living according to the laws of God, and pleasing the Creator of heaven and earth in everything that He did.

He would point out to the eunuch that, just as Herod had been told (Matt. 2:5-6) that the Savior was to be born in Bethlehem, that He was eventually to be Ruler in all Israel and that He had really existed from everlasting, that He had been God from the beginning — Micah 5:2!

More from the Book of Zechariah

Philip would again refer to the book of Zechariah and explain to the Ethiopian eunuch how it had been prophesied long ago that the One Who would come and fulfill the prophecies of the Messiah in His first coming would be sold for 30 pieces of silver — the price of a slave — (Zech. 11:12-13).

It had been prophesied long ago that Jesus Christ would not be accepted by the multitudes but rejected completely, that it was no mistake that the Son of God had been rejected of mankind — “The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner. This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes” (Ps. 118:22-23).

Going back to the book of Zechariah Philip would explain how it had long ago been prophesied that this Messiah would bring grace to mankind, forgiveness for their sins — unmerited though it might be, and sacrifice Himself completely for their sins! “And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, THE SPIRIT OF GRACE and of supplications” (Zech. 12: 10): Philip would explain to the Ethiopian eunuch that there was a new covenant, that this Individual brought — “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah… I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people” (Jer. 31:31-33). He would show the eunuch — before Paul had a chance to write in the book of Ephesians (Eph. 6:10-17) — how Jesus Christ, the Captain of our salvation, was to have righteousness as a breastplate, salvation as a helmet and zeal as a cloak! (Isa. 59:16-17)

Philip would turn to Psalm 22 and read the first verse — the last words of Jesus Christ on the stake as He suffered death for the sins of mankind! “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Ps. 22:1).

He would turn to verse 16 and show how Jesus Christ had had His hands and feet pierced with spikes, to verse 17 and show how Christ had hung in desperation on that stake, in humility and ignominy! He would turn to verse 18 and explain how the Roman soldiers had even gambled and cast lots to see who would be the owner of the fine cloak that Jesus wore.

In explaining all these things that had been prophesied so long ago, and only fulfilled recently in the Person of Jesus Christ, Philip would mention Psalm 41 verse 9 which explains, “Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me.” Recounting again for the Ethiopian eunuch he would explain how that when Jesus hung on the cross He was offered gall to drink when He said that He was thirsty — but he would explain patiently to the eunuch that this had been prophesied, that Christ had expected it — “They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink (Ps. 69:21).

Just as Peter did on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:27-28) Philip would explain to the Ethiopian eunuch about the prophecy in the book of Psalms regarding the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, “For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption” (Ps. 16:10). He would point out the assurance of Job, when he said, “For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth” (Job 19:25).

The Purpose of the Gospel

In explaining these things — and many more we do not have room to refer to here — Philip would point out to the Ethiopian eunuch that this was not the end but only the BEGINNING of a great plan of salvation that God Almighty had envisioned for mankind. Turning back to Zechariah 9 he would show him that even though the King would come as a lowly individual riding upon the colt of an ass at first, that He would also come in a SECOND COMING as King of kings and Lord of lords to rule the entire earth — “And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow shall be cut off: and he shall speak peace unto the heathen: and his dominion shall be from sea even to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth” (Zeck. 9:10).

There are so many books and chapters that he could refer to in prophecies regarding the second coming of Jesus Christ that it is difficult to tell which of these chapters and verses Philip may have referred to in explaining the Gospel of the Kingdom to the Ethiopian eunuch. Surely he turned to Zechariah 14 and explained that when Jesus Christ returned again He would put His feet on the very Mount of Olives (Zech. 14:4) — that He would be Lord and King over all the earth (verse 9) and that at that time He would require all nations on the surface of the earth to keep His Holy Days in remembrance of the plan of the salvation of mankind! (Verses 16-19)

The AIM AND PURPOSE OF THIS GOSPEL (good news) he would point out to the eunuch is the establishment of the Kingdom of God!

Today’s Good News Also

Mankind has suffered so long under the rule of fellow man, that it is certainly good news — and particularly in this age when mankind is about to destroy himself from off the face of the earth — to know that the same One Who had the compassion, love and mercy to sacrifice Himself, for the sins of mankind on this earth, some 1900 years ago, is going to return to this earth in a very short time to establish His rule of peace, His Kingdom of joy and enforce the laws that govern happiness, health and prosperity! (see the entire chapter, Isa. 11).

We lack space to explain how even all of the sacrifices of the Levitical priest-hood (especially Lev. 1-6) picture and typify the many ways in which Jesus Christ was a sacrifice for mankind. We do not have room to explain how Moses, the author of the first five books of the Bible, anticipated the coming of Jesus Christ when he was inspired to write, “I will raise them up a Prophet [Jesus] from among their brethren, like unto thee [Moses], and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him” (Deut. 18:18).

Moses even knew that there would come some individuals who would have the gall to preach in the name of God and claim that they were His prophets, and yet speak lies in His name — “But the prophet, which shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die” (Deut. 18:20).

False Prophets of Both Testaments

God knew there would be scoffers, individuals who would agree to take some of the Word of God but not all of it! God knew that the great majority of mankind until the coming of His Son as King of kings and Lord of lords, would not accept the principle that Jesus Christ resisted Satan the Devil with: “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by EVERY WORD that proceedeth out of the mouth of God” (Matt. 4:4).

God knew this — that’s why He prophesied through His servant John that He was allowing Satan the Devil to deceive this whole world (Rev. 12:9). But that time is nearly over now — the prophecies which Philip preached to the Ethiopian eunuch about the second coming of Jesus Christ are just about to be fulfilled! They’re going to be fulfilled in your lifetime and mine! The same Jesus Christ who walked this earth {2000} years ago as the humble son of a carpenter of Nazareth is going to return in the clouds in glory and in power and in majesty.

He is going to ask where your talent is! He is going to ask what you have done with the information that has been given to you. He is going to ask whether you believe the Gospel of the Kingdom of God — both Old and New Testaments — He is going to ask you if you have been living by EVERY WORD OF GOD!

What will YOUR answer be?

What YOU Can Do

Exercise the wisdom and nobility of the Bereans mentioned by the Apostle Paul in Acts 17. Read over these many verses that have been quoted in this article, and ask the living God, Creator of heaven and earth, to help you see that He has not written one scripture in vain, that not one word He has uttered or inspired for mankind to write down will be allowed to drop to the ground unfulfilled or unheeded, but that every word that He has inspired from Genesis 1 to Revelation 22 will be required especially at the hand of all those who claim to be Christians. Search these Scriptures whether these things be so!

More about the Gospel of the Kingdom of God from the Old and New Testaments is in the free online booklet: The Gospel of the Kingdom of God.

Some additional items of possibly related interest may include:

The Gospel of the Kingdom of God This free online pdf booklet has answers many questions people have about the Gospel of the Kingdom of God and explains why it is the solution to the issues the world is facing. Here are links to four related sermons:  The Fantastic Gospel of the Kingdom of God!, The World’s False Gospel, The Gospel of the Kingdom: From the New and Old Testaments, and The Kingdom of God is the Solution.
Proof Jesus is the Messiah This free book has over 200 Hebrew prophecies were fulfilled by Jesus. Plus, His arrival was consistent with specific prophecies and even Jewish interpretations of prophecy. Here are links to seven related sermons: Proof Jesus is the Messiah, Prophecies of Jesus’ birth, timing, and death, Jesus’ prophesied divinity, 200+ OT prophecies Jesus filled; Plus prophecies He made, Why Don’t Jews Accept Jesus?, Daniel 9, Jews, and Jesus, and Facts and Atheists’ Delusions About Jesus. Plus the links to two sermonettes: Luke’s census: Any historical evidence? and Muslims believe Jesus is the Messiah, but …
Should the Church Still Try to Place its Top Priority on Proclaiming the Gospel or Did Herbert W. Armstrong Change that Priority for the Work? Some say the Church should mainly feed the flock now as that is what Herbert W. Armstrong reportedly said. Is that what he said? Is that what the Bible says? What did Paul and Herbert W. Armstrong expect from lower level leaders?

COGwriter

Did Jesus have physical children when He was on the earth?

Notice information about a book with false claims about Jesus and the gospels:

A … book claims even Jesus had his secrets.

It’s called “The Lost Gospel” and it’s based off of manuscripts found in British Library dating back more than 1,400 years written in Syriac – the language spoken by Jesus himself. It claims Jesus had a secret family made up of two sons and a wife.

The mystery woman is none other than Mary Magdalene – one of his closest followers, who attended his crucifixion and burial.

Their alleged romance has been suspected before. A writer for the Daily Mail points out in the ’50s, the book “The Last Temptation Of Christ” suggested that they married after Jesus was taken down from the cross. Martin Scorsese turned the idea into a film in 1988.

The significance of this latest book is that it’s based off of manuscripts. The authors studied it for six years and believe it has an “embedded meaning” and that they’ve uncovered a missing fifth gospel.

Experts are already lining up to dispute the controversial assertions that are being compared to the fictional storyline created by Dan Brown for his novel, “The Da Vinci Code.”

Mark Goodacre, a professor of religious studies at Duke University, told ABC News, “I don’t think that there is any credibility in these claims at all. There is simply no evidence in this text or anywhere else that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene, much less that they had a couple of children.” http://www.aol.com/article/2014/11/11/book-claims-jesus-had-a-wife-and-kids/20991803/?icid=maing-grid7%7Chtmlws-main-bb%7Cdl21%7Csec1_lnk3%26pLid%3D561654

Later update:

two authors came out with a book about a … translated ancient text — a “Lost Gospel,” as the book calls it. The text has been in the possession of the British Library since 1847 but only in recent years attracted scholars’ attention. It suggests that Jesus was not only married but had two children, and that Mary Magdalene — long viewed as a close friend of Jesus — was indeed the Virgin Mary.

The text described in this newest “Lost Gospel” is said to be a translation from an original Greek manuscript, according to a letter dating to the sixth century that accompanied the Syriac text in the British Library, says a Daily Mail article on the book.

The Syriac story isn’t even directly about Jesus. It’s written in code, centering on a man called Joseph, a kind of Jesus substitute. His wife is called Aseneth and is said to stand in for Mary Magdalene. In this tale, Joseph is called the “son of God,” and there are passages that seem to parallel the language of Holy Communion.

Joseph and Aseneth are married by the Egyptian pharaoh, who pronounces at their wedding: “Blessed are you by the Lord God of Joseph, because he is the first-born of God, and you will be called the Daughter of God Most High and the bride of Joseph now and for ever.”

It’s worth recalling that many gospels were composed in the decades, even centuries, after Jesus — not only the four that Christians acknowledge. http://www.cnn.com/2014/11/12/opinion/parini-new-text-jesus-married-with-kids/

The Bible does not teach that Jesus went to Egypt as an adult nor that he got married (for more information watch Jesus: Married with Children?). The Bible also teaches that Mary Magdalene was not the same person as Jesus’ mother Mary (John 19:25). There was no such thing as ‘holy communion’ then as that term did not originate until later.

Others have claimed that the gnostic ‘gospels’ teach Jesus was married–but those ‘gospels’ did not come out until after the New Testament was written.

As far as an “embedded meaning” goes, the following is all that I have seen from the false Gospel of Mary Magdalane that mentions “two” anything:

5:10) I said to Him, Lord, how does he who sees the vision see it, through the soul or through the spirit?

5:11) The Savior answered and said, He does not see through the soul nor through the spirit, but the mind that is between the two that is what sees the vision and it is […]

There are some mentions of “two” in the false Gospel of Philip, which also does not state Jesus had two children. The false Gospel of Philip is sometimes cited as ‘proof’ Jesus was married (see also The Da Vinci Code: Some Good, Most Bad). That ‘gospel’ was not written by the Apostle Philip, nor does it claim to be.

Jesus was not married to any human female and did not have human offspring while on earth. In addition to the fact that the Bible does not teach that He was married, when He was dying, He made provisions for the Apostle John to take care of His mother Mary:

25 Now there stood by the cross of Jesus His mother, and His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing by, He said to His mother, “Woman, behold your son!” 27 Then He said to the disciple, “Behold your mother!” And from that hour that disciple took her to his own home. (John 19:25-27)

If He was married to Mary Magdalene and/or He had young children, Jesus obviously would have tried to make provisions for them, but He did not. Jesus did not have any children nor was He married to Mary Magdalene. The gospels record that people like Peter had a wife, and it would be logical that if Jesus had one that this would have been mentioned.

Perhaps I should mention that I have read what was released in the past about the so-called ‘Gospel of Mary Magdalene” as well as many other false gospel accounts that have circulated. False gospel accounts were sometimes created in the second century by those that did not hold to Church of God doctrines.

There is a 10th-11th century Arabic Islamic manuscript that has one chapter that reports about those considered to be Judeo-Christians. Shlomo Pines translated much of that chapter into English. The translation of one section of it (the term “Christian” below refers to apparently Latin supporters) about something that seems to have happened in Jerusalem in the 130s A.D.:

(71a)…(And the Romans) said: “Go, fetch your companions, and bring your Book (kitab).” (The Christians) went to their companions, informed them of (what had taken place) between them and the Romans and said to them: “Bring the Gospel (al-injil), and stand up so that we should go to them.”

But these (companions) said to them: “You have done ill. We are not permitted (to let) the Romans pollute the Gospel. In giving a favourable answer to the Romans, you have accordingly departed from the religion. We are (therefore) no longer permitted to associate with you; on the contrary, we are obliged to declare that there is nothing in common between us and you;” and they prevented their (taking possession of) the Gospel or gaining access to it. In consequence a violent quarrel (broke out) between (the two groups). Those (mentioned in the first place) went back to the Romans and said to them: “Help us against these companions of ours before (helping us) against the Jews, and take away from them on our behalf our Book (kitab).” Thereupon (the companions of whom they had spoken) fled the country. And the Romans wrote concerning them to their governors in the districts of Mosul and in the Jazirat al-‘Arab. Accordingly, a search was made for them; some (qawm) were caught and burned, others (qawm) were killed. (As for) those who had given a favorable answer to the Romans they came together and took counsel as to how to replace the Gospel, seeing it was lost to them. (Thus) the opinion that a Gospel should be composed (yunshi`u) was established among them…a certain number of Gospels were written. (Pines S. The Jewish Christians of the Early Centuries of Christianity according to a New Source. Proceedings of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, Volume II, No.13; 1966. Jerusalem, pp. 14-15)

True Christians (called ‘companions’ above) did not create nor accept the false gospel accounts that ones influenced by Roman authorities did back then (see The New Testament Canon – From the Bible and History and also The Ephesus Church Era).

Anyway, there are no LOST GOSPELS that Christians need to believe are missing from the New Testament (for details, check out the free online book: Who Gave the World the Bible? The Canon: Why do we have the books we now do in the Bible? Is the Bible complete?).

There are many who want to challenge the Bible and what it teaches about Jesus.

Some items of possibly related interest may include:

Jesus: Married with Children? Was Jesus the Christ married? Did He have two children as some claim the so-called “Lost Gospel” teaches? Was He married to Mary Magdalene as the “Da Vinci Code” and others have stated? How many gospels are there? Are the supposed ‘historical records’ that Jesus was married, simply false? When were the gnostic gospel accounts written? Did Polycarp of Smyrna list any of the extra or so-called “lost gospels” in his letter? Does the Bible clearly contract the assertions of the book “The Lost Gospel”? This is a video.
Jesus: The Son of God and Saviour Who was Jesus? Why did He come to earth? What message did He bring? Is there evidence outside the Bible that He existed? Here is a YouTube sermon titled Jesus: Son of God and Saviour.
Proof Jesus is the Messiah This free book has over 200 Hebrew prophecies were fulfilled by Jesus. Plus, His arrival was consistent with specific prophecies and even Jewish interpretations of prophecy. Here are links to seven related sermons: Proof Jesus is the Messiah, Prophecies of Jesus’ birth, timing, and death, Jesus’ prophesied divinity, 200+ OT prophecies Jesus filled; Plus prophecies He made, Why Don’t Jews Accept Jesus?, Daniel 9, Jews, and Jesus, and Facts and Atheists’ Delusions About Jesus. Plus the links to two sermonettes: Luke’s census: Any historical evidence? and Muslims believe Jesus is the Messiah, but … These videos cover nearly all of the book, plus have some information not in the book.
Who Gave the World the Bible? The Canon: Why do we have the books we now do in the Bible? Is the Bible complete? Are there lost gospels? What about the Apocrypha? Is the Septuagint better than the Masoretic text? What about the Textus Receptus vs. Nestle Alland? Was the New Testament written in Greek, Aramaic, or Hebrew? Which translations are based upon the best ancient text? Did the true Church of God have the canon from the beginning? Here are links to related sermons: Let’s Talk About the Bible, The Books of the Old Testament, The Septuagint and its Apocrypha, Masoretic Text of the Old Testament, and Lost Books of the Bible, and Let’s Talk About the New Testament, The New Testament Canon From the Beginning, English Versions of the Bible and How Did We Get Them?, What was the Original Language of the New Testament?, Original Order of the Books of the Bible, and Who Gave the World the Bible? Who Had the Chain of Custody?
Jesus is God, But Became Flesh Was Jesus fully human and fully God or what? Here is information in the Spanish language¿Es Jesucristo Dios?.
The Old Testament Canon This article shows from Catholic accepted writings, that the Old Testament used by non-Roman Catholics and non-Orthodox churches is the correct version.
The New Testament Canon – From the Bible and History This article, shows from the Bible and supporting historical sources, why the early Church knew which books were part of the Bible and which ones were not.
The Da Vinci Code: Some Good, Most Bad Does The Da Vinci Code properly discuss Christianity? What does it have right and what does it have wrong about early Christianity and other gospel accounts?
The Gospel of the Kingdom of God This free online pdf booklet has answers many questions people have about the Gospel of the Kingdom of God and explains why it is the solution to the issues the world is facing. Here are links to three related sermons: The World’s False Gospel, The Gospel of the Kingdom: From the New and Old Testaments, and The Kingdom of God is the Solution.
Where is the True Christian Church Today? This free online pdf booklet answers that question and includes 18 proofs, clues, and signs to identify the true vs. false Christian church. Plus 7 proofs, clues, and signs to help identify Laodicean churches. A related sermon is also available: Where is the True Christian Church? Here is a link to the booklet in the Spanish language: ¿Dónde está la verdadera Iglesia cristiana de hoy? Here is a link in the German language: WO IST DIE WAHRE CHRISTLICHE KIRCHE HEUTE? Here is a link in the French language: Où est la vraie Église Chrétienne aujourd’hui?
Continuing History of the Church of God This pdf booklet is a historical overview of the true Church of God and some of its main opponents from Acts 2 to the 21st century. Related sermon links include Continuing History of the Church of God: c. 31 to c. 300 A.D. and Continuing History of the Church of God: 4th-16th Centuries and Continuing History of the Church of God: 17th-20th Centuries. The booklet is available in Spanish: Continuación de la Historia de la Iglesia de Dios, German: Kontinuierliche Geschichte der Kirche Gottes, French: L’Histoire Continue de l’Église de Dieu and Ekegusii Omogano Bw’ekanisa Ya Nyasae Egendererete.
The History of Early Christianity Are you aware that what most people believe is not what truly happened to the true Christian church? Do you know where the early church was based? Do you know what were the doctrines of the early church? Is your faith really based upon the truth or compromise?

(Pixabay photo)

COGwriter

Pocket recommended the following:

How to Be More Hopeful

We all go through times when we see the world through cloudy-colored glasses. …

Shift your expectations.

At times, it can seem impossible to stay optimistic in the face of the day’s headlines. However, you can gradually start to change your brain by leaning into what cognitive neuroscientist Tali Sharot calls our “optimism bias.”

As she explains, “Optimism changes subjective reality. The way we expect the world to be changes the way we see it. But it also changes objective reality. It acts as a self-fulfilling prophecy.”

What this means: when you wake up and think it’s going to be a blah day, you’re helping set yourself up to have just such a day. So the next time you catch yourself making a gloomy prediction, first congratulate yourself for noticing. …

Recognize that you can change your life at any point.

Do you feel like it’s hard to be look forward to the future because it seems all too predictable? Choice #1: resign yourself to the inevitable (and while you’re at it, why not pick out the inscription for your tombstone?). Choice #2: open yourself up to the possibilities that exist for everyone, at every age. https://getpocket.com/explore/item/how-to-be-more-hopeful?utm_source=pocket-newtab accessed 04/18/21

Yes, you can change.

Related to that, we put together the following video:

16:02

‘How to Change Your Life in 5 Seconds’

Inc. magazine posted an article online titled ‘How to Change Your Life in 5 Seconds.’ In it, Mel Robbins explains how she developed a technique to be more productive. She observed that 95% of decision are based on emotion instead of logic, and how and why adding a five second countdown helped her life. She mentions that fear, anger, and other factors often interfere with our ability to be better people. In this video, Dr. Thiel quotes a lot from that article, including some of the science behind the technique. He also quotes Jesus as well as many passages from the Bible. He also teaches a 5 second statement to say and pray to use as a five second spiritual statement to help Christians change.

Here is a link to the video: ‘How to Change Your Life in 5 Seconds’.

Christians are supposed to have hope. The NKJV has the word “hope” 68 times in the New Testament. The Apostle Paul mentioned hope 6 times in the following:

18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. 19 For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; 21 because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. 23 Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. 24 For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance. (Romans 8:18-25)

Getting back to the Pocket recommended article, it also had the following:

Look for meaning in the most challenging moments.

For some, pessimism is not a passing inclination but a near-constant outlook shaped by difficult, maybe brutal times. Even negative events can end up having positive effects, according to writer Andrew Solomon.

“Avoidance and endurance can be the entryway to forging meaning,” he says. Solomon transformed a childhood marked by bullying and emotional torment into a life of helping others communicate their own stories of growth.

Christians most certainly are to endure. As Jesus said:

22 And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved. (Matthew 10:22)

Yes, we should expect difficulties. But Christians are to endure and have hope.

Getting back to the Pocket recommended article, it also had the following:

Return to your home base.

Does your discouragement stem from being knocked down one too many times. …

How can you find your own center amid life’s sturm und drang ? Identify the thing or things in this world that you love more than you love yourself, says Gilbert.

For Christians, that should be the love of God and seeking His Kingdom.

As Jesus taught:

37 ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ (Matthew 22:37-39)

Jesus also taught not to worry:

25 “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?

28 “So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; 29 and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

31 “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. (Matthew 6:25-34)

The great hope for humanity is the good news of the coming Kingdom of God.

Getting back to the Pocket recommended article, it also had the following:

Think about your death (yes, really).

This doesn’t need to be a morbid activity;

For a Christian, facing the reality that this life is temporal and that we have the hope of the resurrection and Jesus’ return should comfort us:

13 But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus.

15 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. 16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore comfort one another with these words. (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18)

The time coming will be fantastic. We can have hope and comfort other believers.

How fantastic will the time coming be?

The Apostle John was inspired to record:

1 Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. 2 Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. 4 And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” (Revelation 21:1-4)

The Apostle Paul reported that it was so fantastic, it was somewhat indescribable:

7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory, 8 which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

9 But as it is written:

“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard,
Nor have entered into the heart of man
The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”

10 But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. 11 For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. (1 Corinthians 2:7-12)

Yes, it will be beyond normal comprehension.

Now, perhaps it should be pointed out that God’s plan is actually a mystery to almost everyone–irrespective of the religions they do or do not follow.

We produced a book on that.

Here is a link to our free online book: The MYSTERY of GOD’s PLAN: Why Did God Create Anything? Why did God make you?

Yes, Christians have, and should realize that they have, real hope. This also works with faith and helps us share the love of God.

Related to this, the Continuing Church of God (CCOG) put together the following related video on our Bible News Prophecy YouTube channel:

Here is a link to our sermonette video: How to Be More Hopeful.

Some items of possibly related interest may include:

The Gospel of the Kingdom of God This free online pdf booklet has answers many questions people have about the Gospel of the Kingdom of God and explains why it is the solution to the issues the world is facing. Here are links to four related sermons:  The Fantastic Gospel of the Kingdom of God!, The World’s False Gospel, The Gospel of the Kingdom: From the New and Old Testaments, and The Kingdom of God is the Solution.
Hope of Salvation: How the Continuing Church of God differs from most Protestants How the real Church of God differs from mainstream/traditional Protestants, is perhaps the question I am asked most by those without a Church of God background. As far as some changes affecting Protestantism, watch the video Charismatic Kenneth Copeland and Anglican Tony Palmer: Protestants Beware! [Português: Esperança do salvação: Como a igreja do deus difere da maioria de protestantes]. Several related sermon are also available: Protestant, Baptist, and CCOG History, The First Protestant, God’s Command, Grace, & Character, and How Does the Church of God Differ from Protestantism?
Is God Calling You? This booklet discusses topics including calling, election, and selection. If God is calling you, how will you respond? Here is a link to a related sermon: Could God be Calling You? A short animation is also available: Is God Calling You?
What is the Origin of the Cross as a ‘Christian’ Symbol? Was the cross used as a venerated symbol by the early Church? Two related YouTube videos would be Beware of the ‘Ecumenical Cross’, The Chrislam Cross and the Interfaith Movement, and Origin of the Cross.
Where is the True Christian Church Today? This free online pdf booklet answers that question and includes 18 proofs, clues, and signs to identify the true vs. false Christian church. Plus 7 proofs, clues, and signs to help identify Laodicean churches. A related sermon is also available: Where is the True Christian Church? Here is a link to the booklet in the Spanish language: ¿Dónde está la verdadera Iglesia cristiana de hoy? Here is a link in the German language: WO IST DIE WAHRE CHRISTLICHE KIRCHE HEUTE? Here is a link in the French language: Où est la vraie Église Chrétienne aujourd’hui? Here is a link to a short animation: Which Church would Jesus Choose?
Continuing History of the Church of God This pdf booklet is a historical overview of the true Church of God and some of its main opponents from Acts 2 to the 21st century. Related sermon links include Continuing History of the Church of God: c. 31 to c. 300 A.D. and Continuing History of the Church of God: 4th-16th Centuries and Continuing History of the Church of God: 17th-20th Centuries. The booklet is available in Spanish: Continuación de la Historia de la Iglesia de Dios, German: Kontinuierliche Geschichte der Kirche Gottes, French: L Histoire Continue de l Église de Dieu and Ekegusii Omogano Bw’ekanisa Ya Nyasae Egendererete.
The MYSTERY of GOD’s PLAN Why Did God Create Anything? Why did God make you? This free online book helps answers some of the biggest questions that human have. Here is a link to two related sermons: Mysteries of God’s Plan and Mysteries of Truth, Sin, Rest, Suffering, and God’s Plan.
Universal OFFER of Salvation, Apokatastasis: Can God save the lost in an age to come? Hundreds of scriptures reveal God’s plan of salvation Will all get a fair chance at salvation? This free book is packed with scriptures showing that God does intend to offer salvation to all who ever lived–the elect in this age, and the rest in the age to come. Here is a link to a related sermon series: Universal Offer of Salvation 1: Apocatastasis, Universal Offer of Salvation 2: Jesus Desires All to be Saved, Mysteries of the Great White Throne Judgment (Universal Offer of Salvation part 3), Is God Fair, Will God Pardon the Ignorant?, Can God Save Your Relatives?, Babies, Limbo, Purgatory and God’s Plan, and ‘By the Mouth of All His Holy Prophets’.

COGwriter

Aeon put out an article that Pocket recommended that contains the following:

Does life have a purpose?

Nobody expects atoms and molecules to have purposes, so why do we still think of living things in this way?

There’s no sense for most scientists that a star is for anything, or that a molecule serves an end. But when we come to talk about living things, it seems very hard to shake off the idea that they have purposes and goals, which are served by the ways they have evolved.

As I have written about before in Aeon, the chemist James Lovelock got into very hot water with his fellow scientists when he wanted to talk about the Earth being an organism (the Gaia hypothesis) and its parts having purposes: that sea lagoons were for evaporating unneeded salt out of the ocean, for instance. And as Steven Poole wrote in his essay ‘Your point is?’ in Aeon earlier this year, the contemporary philosopher Thomas Nagel is also in hot water since he suggested in his book Mind and Cosmos (2012) that we need to use teleological understanding to explain the nature of life and its evolution.

Some have thought that this lingering teleological language is a sign that biology is not a real science at all, but just a collection of observations and facts. Others argue that the apparent purposefulness of nature leaves room for God. Immanuel Kant declared that you cannot do biology without thinking in terms of function, of final causes: ‘There will never be a Newton for a blade of grass,’ he claimed in Critique of Judgment (1790), meaning that living things are simply not determined by the laws of nature in the way that non-living things are, and we need the language of purpose in order to explain the organic world.

Why do we still talk about organisms and their features in this way? Is biology basically different from the other sciences because living things do have purposes and ends? Or has biology simply failed to get rid of some old-fashioned, unscientific thinking — thinking that even leaves the door ajar for those who want to sneak God back into science? https://aeon.co/essays/what-s-a-stegosaur-for-why-life-is-design-like?utm_source=pocket-newtab accessed 05/16/20

Yes, life has a purpose and there really is a God.

Before getting to that it should be pointed out that REAL scientists, those actually willing to believe the facts of biology, realize that evolution is NOT science.

Those who claim that evolution is the origin of life are not being logical as that is impossible.

Consider the following admission from Nobel Prize winner Dr. George Wald, from Harvard University:

The reasonable view was to believe in spontaneous generation (life from nothing); the only alternative, to believe in a single, primary act of supernatural creation. There is no third position . . . One has only to contemplate the magnitude of this task to concede that the spontaneous generation of a living organism is impossible. Yet here we are, as a result I believe, of spontaneous generation. (Scott I. The God Solution: Are You Ready? Xlibris Corporation, 2013, p. 41)

This is an astounding admission. Dr. Wald is saying that he chose to believe the impossible. And “scientists” claim that those who believe in a Creator have blind faith with no proof, but instead believe the impossible!

Merriam-Webster’s dictionary defines impossible as “incapable of being or of occurring.”

It is a falsehood to believe in something that is impossible–it is illogical.

Consider the following from the Bible:

¹⁴ Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city. ¹⁵ But outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie. (Revelation 22:14-15)

Would not professing belief in something you know is impossible be loving and believing a lie?

The fact is that evolution functions as a false religion that many cling to. Therefore, many who hold to it do not bother to look into the truth about why they are on this planet nor what their life really is supposed to be about.

The Continuing Church of God put out two short animations related to this general topic on our CCOG Animations channel:

Here is a link to our video: Big Bang: Nothing or Creator?

Here is a link to our animated video: A Lifegiver or Spontaneous Evolution?

The Apostle Paul warned:

²⁰ O Timothy! Guard what was committed to your trust, avoiding the profane and idle babblings and contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge — ²¹ by professing it some have strayed concerning the faith. (1 Timothy 6:20-21, NKJV)

20 O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called: 21 Which some professing have erred concerning the faith. (1 Timothy 6:20-21, KJV)

Problems of contradictions of what is called ‘knowledge/science’ exist to this day. If there ever is an apparent contradiction between the Bible and what is called ‘science’ remember that the Bible teaches:

⁴ … Indeed, let God be true but every man a liar. (Romans 3:4)

The Bible is scientific and reliable. Not all scientists are. Nor are all theologians.

But God’s plan is a mystery to most.

God’s purpose for His creation is for eternity to be better. Sadly, even most Christians do not realize that.

His purpose for individual human beings is for them to be able to give love in a unique way to make eternity better for themselves and everyone else. Sadly, most Christians do not realize that either.

Scriptural and other details are in the free online book: The MYSTERY of GOD’s PLAN Why Did God Create Anything? Why did God make you?

Regarding why this world needs you, you might find the following Continuing Church of God sermon helpful:

1:14:43

The Mystery of YOU

Why did God make YOU? What is the biblical meaning pf life? Are you supposed to do good? Is there a place for works? What will you be rewarded for? What about love and the commandments? Does God have a specific role for you personally? Do you really trust God? Will you be able to give love in a unique manner in order to make eternity better for yourself and others? What about character and deification? Why did God create anything? This is third part of a three-part sermon series by Dr. Thiel.

This sermon series is based on the following free online book: The MYSTERY of GOD’s PLAN Why Did God Create Anything? Why did God make you?

Here is a link to the sermon: The Mystery of YOU.

But what about wars, COVID-19, etc.?

Hopefully, the results of world matters is helping wake you up and motivating you to realize that you should have a role in supporting the true Philadelphian work.

The time to do so is now, before it is too late (cf. Zephaniah 2; watch Zephaniah’s ‘Gather Together’ Prophecy).

We produced a short video related to this:

16:03

‘Get Ready: The World is About to Need You’

According to a secular source, related to COVID-19, Matt Smith wrote, “We could have been better prepared.” He also went over many issues, including lockdowns, illness, and deaths that should be anticipated related to COVID-19. But he then said, “Get ready. The world is about to need you.” Are you willing to step up spiritually and support the Philadelphian work? Most end time Christians are prophesied not to do so. Do the words the Mordecai passed on to Queen Esther have meaning for you today? Could you have been called into the Kingdom of God for a time such as this? What are the plans that God might have for you? Are you one who may have been prophesied to “instruct many” in the end time? Are you watching and praying? Are you cold or lukewarm when it comes to God’s work? Are you mainly a hearer of the word of a doer? Dr. Thiel goes over these subjects.

Here is a link to our video: ‘Get Ready: The World is About to Need You’.

We also put out the following video:

14:22

Could God be Creating Something Beautiful in You?

A report based on CDC data showed a massive increase in hopelessness and sadness in American teenage females. Plus, 30% reported considering suicide. Does God have a plan for you? Jared Dyson asserted that God is creating something beautiful in you.” Is that possible? Is there really a God? Can you prove if God exists? If so, does His purpose for you involve something beautiful? Do all the tests, sufferings, and trials you have been through in this life have any eternal purpose? Could they be preparing you to give love in a unique manner in order for you to make eternity better for yourself and everyone else? Does God actually consider all the works and issues you have faced? Do you, as an individual, have a unique role that God knows? Can Jesus help you when you are facing difficulties? Could your purpose in this life be to build character so that you can maximize your potential and increase how much you can make eternity better? Steve Dupuie and Dr. Thiel address these issues.

Here is a link to our video: Could God be Creating Something Beautiful in You?

Yes, life has a purpose!

And if you are willing, you can make eternity better for yourself and all who will later hear God’s call.

Some items of possibly related interest may include:

Is God’s Existence Logical? Is it really logical to believe in God? Yes! Would you like Christian answers to give atheists? This is a free online booklet that deal with improper theories and musings called science related to the origin of the origin of the universe, the origin of life, and evolution. Two animated videos of related interest are also available: Big Bang: Nothing or Creator? and A Lifegiver or Spontaneous Evolution?
The MYSTERY of GOD’s PLAN Why Did God Create Anything? Why did God make you? This free online book helps answers some of the biggest questions that human have, including the biblical meaning of life. Here is a link to three related sermons: Mysteries of God’s Plan, Mysteries of Truth, Sin, Rest, Suffering, and God’s Plan, and The Mystery of YOU.
Why Were You Born? Why did God make you? Herbert W. Armstrong wrote this as a booklet on this important subject. You may also wish to read the article What is Your Destiny? or watch the video, also titled What is Your Destiny?
Building Character: Going on to Perfection Once you have accepted Jesus, do you need to strive for perfection and build character? A related video sermon is available: Going on to perfection and building character.
What is the Meaning of Life? Who does God say is happy? What is your ultimate destiny? Do you really know? Does God actually have a plan for YOU personally? If you would like to watch videos covering subjects of this article, you can click on the following links: Why YOU? Why Do YOU Suffer? and What is the meaning of your life?
Is God Calling You? This booklet discusses topics including calling, election, and selection. If God is calling you, how will you respond? Here is a link to a related sermon: Could God be Calling You? A short animation is also available: Is God Calling You?
Physical Preparation Scriptures for Christians. We all know the Bible prophecies famines. Should we do something? Here is a version in the Spanish language Escrituras sobre Preparación física para los Cristianos. Here is a link to a related sermon: Physical preparedness for Christians.
Persecutions by Church and State This article documents some that have occurred against those associated with the COGs and some prophesied to occur. Will those with the cross be the persecutors or the persecuted–this article has the shocking answer. There is also a YouTube video sermon you can watch: The Coming Persecution of the Church. Here is information in the Spanish language: Persecuciones de la Iglesia y el Estado.
Does the CCOG have the confirmed signs of Acts 2:17-18? Does any church have the confirmed dream and prophetic signs of Acts 2:17-18? Should one? Here is a link in the Spanish language: ¿Tiene la CCOG confirmadas las señales de Hechos 2: 17-18? Here is a link in the French language: Est-ce que l’Église Continue de Dieu confirme les signes d’Actes 2:17-18?
Church of God Leaders on Prophets Have there been prophets throughout the church age? Are any supposed to be around in the last days? What have COG leaders stated or written about prophets? Here is a link to a related sermon: Church of God Leaders on Prophets.
What About Romans 11:25 and the Full Number of the Gentiles? Some in the West discount God’s calling of Gentiles, but the Apostle Paul wrote about the need for them to come to the truth before Jesus returns.
What is the Ezekiel Warning? Should the end-time descendants of Israel and Joseph be warned? What should the watchman warn about?
Preparing for the ‘Short Work’ and The Famine of the Word What is the ‘short work’ of Romans 9:28? Who is preparing for it? Here is a link to a related video sermon titled: The Short Work.
The Final Phase of the Work What is the final phase of the work? Who will lead it? Do you have the courage to support it? Here is a related YouTube video titled The Final Phase of the Work. The written article has been translated into Spanish La Fase Final de la Obra.

pic.twitter.com/ED2S0WV203

— PETA (@peta) May 9, 2023

COGwriter

PETA is opposed to scripture as the tweet above suggests as God’s word promotes what PETA disdains as “specieism.” Notice the following article as well:

PETA Resorts to Extreme Blasphemy, Literally Rewrites God’s Words to Support Their Agenda

May 9, 2023

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, perhaps better known by their acronym PETA, has always just been an eminently dislikable bunch. … This latest “grievance” from PETA, however, is beyond the pale …

You see, PETA thinks that it, for some inexplicable lapse in sanity, has the authority to rewrite the Bible that, according to those loons, is “used to justify all forms of oppression.”

“The Bible has long been used to justify all forms of oppression, so we’ve used ChatGPT to make it clear that a loving God would never endorse exploitation of or cruelty to animals,” PETA President Ingrid Newkirk said in a news release.

Specifically, PETA announced that it was using ChatGPT, the AI chatbot, to give the Book of Genesis a “modern makeover.”

“In the beginning, all animals were treated with respect, according to PETA, which has given the Bible’s Book of Genesis a modern makeover using ChatGPT to send a can’t-be-missed animal rights message filled with vegan teachings,” the release stated. “PETA hopes the new, cruelty-free Story of Creation will appeal to Generation Z, 73 percent of whom identify as animal rights activists.

“In THE BOOK: PETA’s Version of the Creation Story, animals are referred to as ‘beings’ rather than ‘beasts’ or ‘creatures’ — and plant fibers, like hemp and bamboo, are used in place of animal skins for clothing, as no one with any fashion or moral sense would wear animal skins in the 21st century.

“Among other new interpretations, in Genesis Chapter 22, Abraham travels to the land of Moriah and befriends a gentle lamb to show his reverence and respect for God’s creation, rather than slaughtering a ram to demonstrate his faith — much as human sacrifice, once a reality, is now outlawed all over the world.”

“It took God only six days to create the entire world, but we realized it would take us years to rewrite the whole Bible, which is why we’ve started with just the first book,” Newkirk added. https://www.westernjournal.com/peta-resorts-extreme-blasphemy-literally-rewrites-gods-words-support-agenda/

Let me add that PETA does not want people to eat meat, so it will not like what Leviticus and Deuteronomy teach –and the New Testament endorses eating animals as well (see also The New Testament Church, History, and Unclean Meats).

PETA’s blasphemy follows others who have hate for scripture. A couple of years back, World Net Daily (WND) posted comments from a Jewish group who believes that the so-called Equality Act will essentially result in a banning of the Bible:

Holy Bible blasted as ‘bigoted document’: Equality Act ‘explicitly targets’ Scripture

… warns Yaakov Menken, the managing director of the Coalition for Jewish Values. … the bill classifies virtually all venues, from restaurants to catering halls and funeral homes as “public accommodations,” subjecting them to a mandatory ban on division by sex.

“This directly forbids traditional Jewish practice in any such location,” he said.

“Lest you imagine that such a Jewish event would be protected by its religious nature, the act goes out of its way — for the first time in history — to prohibit recourse to the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA). That law was specifically to shield religious practice from ‘laws ‘neutral’ toward religion [which] may burden religious exercise as surely as laws intended to interfere with religious exercise,'” Menken said.

“Stripping this protection from religious practice cannot be described as incidental. The Equality Act claims the notion that marriage is between a man and a woman is merely a ‘sex stereotype,’ and that opposition to same-sex marriage is inherently discriminatory. Any ‘discrimination’ on the basis of ‘gender identity’ is likewise prohibited, even in the private sector,” said Menken.

“Thus, the Equality Act explicitly targets the Bible, calling it a bigoted document filled with discriminatory stereotypes. These include the idea that male and female sexes are biological, not psychological (Genesis 1:27), created with procreation in mind (1:28), and that marriage is the unique, holy contract between man and woman forming the environment in which that procreation is intended to take place (2:24). And one cannot forget that which the Bible proscribes as an ‘abomination’ in Leviticus 18:22. …” 03/22/21 https://www.wnd.com/2021/03/holy-bible-blasted-bigoted-document-equality-act-explicitly-targets-scripture/

I have repeatedly warned about the Equality Act.

Here are some more comments from Yaakov Menken:

The Equality Act explicitly targets the Bible, calling it a bigoted document filled with discriminatory stereotypes. It would also ban observant Jews from religious ceremonies.

The Founding Fathers recognized freedom of expression and religious liberty as core elements of diversity and tolerance. Now, nearly 250 years later, Congress is acting to stamp them out, ushering in a new era of government-sanctioned anti-religious bigotry. …

With the Equality Act, Congress is waging a legislative effort to prohibit the next Siyum, scheduled to take place in June 2027, and other such “discriminatory” violations of human rights. Under the Act, observant Jews will no longer be legally permitted to gather to celebrate religious education, or any other occasion, in accordance with their beliefs.

The reason is simple: not only prayer services, but family lifecycle events of all kinds — from circumcisions to bar mitzvahs to weddings to funerals — are commonly divided by biological sex in traditional Orthodox Judaism. This is true whether or not ceremonies are held in synagogues. …

The Siyum held on New Year’s Day 2020 brought a level of decorum unheard of in a sports stadium: an absence of fights, drunkenness, and disorderly conduct. Police, who maintained a high level of security, said they never felt such appreciation from the public as they did then. Combined with its educational focus, the celebration exhibited values that America has long cherished.

Congress, to the contrary, would now grant antisemites a powerful legal tool with which to prevent such public displays in the future. Yet President Biden has committed to putting his name to it. If bigots were bent on eliminating Orthodox Judaism from American soil, it is difficult to imagine a more ruthlessly efficient tool than the Equality Act. https://thefederalist.com/2021/03/23/the-equality-act-would-legalize-religious-bigotry/

The Equality Act is anti-Christian, anti-Jewish, and anti-Bible.

Furthermore, because the Bible teaches that homosexuality is an abomination (Leviticus 18:23; 20:13) and that homosexuals can change (1 Corinthians 6:9-11), and the current LGBTQ+ propaganda does not want that to be considered, several years ago a bill was introduced in California that, if taken to its logical conclusion, would ban the Bible.

We also made a video that discusses it and put that on our Bible News Prophecy YouTube channel:

12:15

Banning the Bible?

Could we see a ban of the Holy Bible in North America? Have there been partial bans proposed and enforced by government officials in Canada? Do any USA politicians consider any biblical teachings as fraudulent and hence banning them is NOT a violation of the 1st amendment to the Constitution of the USA? Are there risks associated with AB 2943? Have politicians like Hillary Clinton and California Assemblyman Al Muratsuchi called for long-held religious beliefs to change and “evolve with the times”? What about Jude 1:3 and 2 Timothy 3:14? Are there biblical prophecies about not being able to hear the word of God? Might we see more restrictions on explaining teachings of the Bible on the Internet and other forms of media? What are some of the verses that various government people do not want made public? Dr. Thiel provides facts on these issues and more.

Here is a link: Banning the Bible?

While the USA likes to act like it is the bastion of free speech and freedom of religion, more and more restrictions keep getting proposed.

Attempting to rewrite the Bible is blasphemous and wrong.

Additionally, it should be pointed out that Canada has a de facto ban on parts of the Bible.

Related to that, the Continuing Church of God put out the following video on our Bible News Prophecy YouTube channel:

 
15:57

Canadian censoring of the Bible

The Bible warns against the rise of despisers of good in the last days:

1 But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come:

2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,

3 unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good,

4 traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,

5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!

6 For of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts,

7 always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. (2 Timothy 3:1-7)

Those of us who hold to the idea that sexual relationships are only to be between a man married to a woman are considered to have “ugly narrow-mindedness” by supporters of the LGBTQ movement.

What PETA is doing is in line with the following prophecy:

13 But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. (2 Timothy 3:13)

There are also now various false versions of the Ten Commandments (e.g., see Digital ‘Ten Commandments’ heresy and the coming Beast of Revelation). The Bible warns that more censorship is coming:

11 “Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord God,
“That I will send a famine on the land,
Not a famine of bread,
Nor a thirst for water,
But of hearing the words of the Lord.
12 They shall wander from sea to sea,
And from north to east;
They shall run to and fro, seeking the word of the Lord,
But shall not find it. (Amos 8:11-12)

The Bible is not a book that should be censored nor rewritten by those who oppose it.

Later update: We put together the following PETA-related video:

Here is a link to our video: PETA’s Preposterous Preaching.

Some items of possibly related interest may include:

Front Cover of the First (1949) Edition of ‘1984’

COGwriter

David Kupelian wrote the following posted by World Net Daily:

The greatest betrayal of our lifetime

May 8, 2023

If a competition were held to determine what is the most egregious betrayal of America perpetrated by the Marxist left, which has infiltrated and subverted pretty much every major institution in the nation, there’d be many candidates. …

But there’s one betrayal – by virtue of its sheer magnitude and the egregious harm it inflicts on so many millions of young people over such an extended period of time – that is arguably the worst of all. …

Today, what are still euphemistically called “public schools” – and remember, “public” means “government” – have been transmogrified into far-left ideological, political and religious indoctrination centers aimed at reprogramming and completely transforming America’s children.

Does that sound exaggerated? Sorry, but if anything it’s understated.  …

Children increasingly are programmed, via various anti-American curricula – including the notorious “1619 Project” K-12 curriculum already in use in at least 4,500 U.S. public schools – to loathe and feel ashamed of their own country as white supremacist, racist and even genocidal. They’re indoctrinated to regard all white people as intrinsically racist, or at best as unjust beneficiaries of “white privilege” and therefore still personally guilty for America’s deeply entrenched “systemic racism.” That of course is the central premise of Marxist “critical race theory,” …

This starts, almost unbelievably, in preschool when confused and intimidated parents take their highly impressionable young children – even babies – to “drag queen” events, during which obviously mentally deranged – and in truth, demonically possessed – men dressed as women corrupt society’s most vulnerable members with degenerate, and often overtly sexual, indoctrination and “entertainment.”

Fast forward a few short years: Frequent news stories document the overt LGBT grooming craze now sweeping the nation’s public schools. Openly activist LGBT teachers post recruitment videos of themselves on social media platforms like TikTok, their greatest desire being to shepherd new young recruits into the fold. Then, to complete the job, there are the after-school “support clubs” or “GSAs” – formerly called “gay-straight alliances,” but more recently, as the transgender craze has metastasized, rechristened “gender and sexuality alliances” – which in reality are straight-up, in-school recruitment hubs.

Often teachers “protect” the children they have seduced into gender “transitioning” from meddlesome parental interference by purposefully keeping mom and dad in the dark. Indeed, almost 6,000 public schools have adopted policies of concealing students’ “gender transitions” from their own parents.  …

Even the most essential – and in the case of mathematics, purely logical – subjects are being corrupted at breakneck speed, in the service of the new American Marxism. … So, going against the official state orthodoxy and insisting that “two plus two make four,” as did Winston Smith, the main character in George Orwell’s “1984,” makes one a “white supremacist” in today’s America. …

“The concept of mathematics being purely objective is unequivocally false,” declares the course’s “toolkit,” “and teaching it is even much less so. Upholding the idea that there are always right and wrong answers perpetuate objectivity as well as fear of open conflict.”

All of this, of course, is utterly and droolingly deranged. …

Protect your family and loved ones. Find and contribute to a decent Christian subculture in which to raise your children and grandchildren.

Most urgently, take them out of the public school system. https://www.wnd.com/2023/05/greatest-betrayal-lifetime/

While our children did all go to public schools, public schools have now become much worse. The good news for our family is that our grandchildren do not attend them, but instead go to a private school–and then NOT in the State of California, which has been pushing an early LGBTQ+ for quite some time now.

That said, now notice something posted by the Associated Press last Spring related to the State of Maine and its education department:

June 4, 2022

“The T stands for transgender,” a teacher explains in a video on a Maine Department of Education website launched during the coronavirus pandemic.

“A transgender person is someone who the doctors made a mistake about when they were born,” the teacher says in the lesson plan targeted at kindergartners. “But some people, when they get a little bit older, realize what the doctors said was not right.” https://apnews.com/article/paul-lepage-maine-government-and-politics-elections-religion-dc91a04e5fcb68ed2eb07c83d8bac2d2

No, calling oneself transgender does not make the doctor who examined anatomy wrong.

For thousands of years, billions of people have been assigned sex at birth based on genitalia.

Yet, falseness is openly being pushed as science.

Furthermore, with modern technology there is another scientific way to determine gender. Notice the following from LiveScience.com:

How sex is determined

Humans have an additional pair of sex chromosomes for a total of 46 chromosomes. The sex chromosomes are referred to as X and Y, and their combination determines a person’s sex. Typically, human females have two X chromosomes while males possess an XY pairing. This XY sex-determination system is found in most mammals as well as some reptiles and plants.

Whether a person has XX or XY chromosomes is determined when a sperm fertilizes an egg. Unlike the body’s other cells, the cells in the egg and sperm — called gametes or sex cells — possess only one chromosome. Gametes are produced by meiosis cell division, which results in the divided cells having half the number of chromosomes as the parent, or progenitor, cells. In the case of humans, this means that parent cells have two chromosomes and gametes have one.

All of the gametes in the mother’s eggs possess X chromosomes. The father’s sperm contains about half X and half Y chromosomes. The sperm are the variable factor in determining the sex of the baby. If the sperm carries an X chromosome, it will combine with the egg’s X chromosome to form a female zygote. If the sperm carries a Y chromosome, it will result in a male. accessed 04/30/21 https://www.livescience.com/27248-chromosomes.html

Those claiming to be ‘transgendered’ are confused and in scientific error as the overwhelming majority of them are not ‘transgendered’ biologically, but confused mentally and spiritually.

Schools are to pass on real knowledge, not pretend error is knowledge. Notice something that the Apostle Paul wrote:

20 Guard what was committed to your trust, avoiding the profane and idle babblings and contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge — 21 by professing it some have strayed concerning the faith. (1 Timothy 6:20-21)

Parents need to guard their children from that which is falsely called knowledge (cf. Deuteronomy 6:1-7).

Notice also the following:

4 May 2017

Researchers have revealed a breakthrough is how the sexes really differ from each other.

A groundbreaking genetic study pinponted 6500 genes that differ between men and women.

Experts say it could have a profound effect in the way we identify and treat everything from disease to fertility. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-4475252/There-6-500-genetic-differences-men-women.html#ixzz4l2KCqvLW

May 7, 2017

A biological male can take hormones, surgically alter his body and identify as “female,” but the procedures still won’t make him a woman, according to new evidence found by Israeli researchers.

That’s because there are at least 6,500 genes that contain sex-specific instructions for males and females.

For the study by Israel’s Weizmann Institute of Science, professor Shmuel Pietrokovski and Dr. Moran Gershoni, both researchers from the institute’s Molecular Genetics Department, “looked closely at around 20,000 protein-coding genes, sorting them by sex and searching for differences in expression in each tissue. They eventually identified around 6,500 genes with activity that was biased toward one sex or the other in at least one tissue, adding to the already major biological differences between men and women.” …

The new findings are further evidence that biological males cannot simply “transition” into females and vice versa, argues Mat Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel.

“This recent study from Israel’s Weizmann Institute of Science further proves that you cannot fool Mother Nature,” Staver said. “The saying, ‘I think, therefore, I am’ is best left to philosophy and not science. Gender confusion is mental, not physical or biological. God made male and female, and no amount of protestation will change the natural created order.”

Staver called the idea that a person can choose his or her gender “fiction.”

“These Israeli scientists identified over 6,500 genes with activity that was biased toward one sex or the other in at least one tissue,” he said. “That clearly validates the genetic differences between men and women.” http://www.wnd.com/2017/05/study-more-proof-a-man-can-never-become-a-woman/

Another difference between males and females has to do with the brain.

Proof that girls and boys are born to be different: Controversial study finds that brain differences between the sexes begin in the womb

25 March 2019

In a scientific first, researchers claim to have found that differences between men’s and women’s brains start in the womb.

The conclusion is likely to be controversial, with some experts claiming social influences are more important.

But scientists who did brain scans of 118 foetuses in the second half of pregnancy to analyse the links between gender and the connectivity of a developing brain believe the differences are biological. …

According to the US study, published in the journal Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, female brains growing in the uterus produced ‘long-range’ networks.

Professor Thomason said this was less true of boys, who were ‘more susceptible to environmental influences’. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-6845991/Controversial-study-finds-brain-differences-sexes-begin-womb.html

While I do not think that the above is “a scientific first” (as others noted brain development differences between male and female brains in utero), it is at least additional proof that boys and girls are biologically different in a way that is not clearly visually seen.

Since this study involved the unborn, it also helps negate the false narrative that ‘gender’ is not biological, but the result of societal environmental factors.

Of course, many ‘moderns’ want to act like there is no difference, but the Bible is clear that men and women are different. God warned that there would be those “who suppress the truth in unrighteousness” (Romans 1:18). But the truth is still the truth.

Yet public schools in the USA and many lands do not want the truth taught.

We are getting closer to ‘1984’ where one is supposed to spout beliefs that are false and to go along with them.

Calling oneself transgendered does not change one’s chromosomes. Nor does surgery, hormone therapy, or cross-dressing.

“Cross-dressing” is condemned as an abomination in the Bible:

5 A woman shall not wear anything that pertains to a man, nor shall a man put on a woman’s garment, for all who do so are an abomination to the Lord your God. (Deuteronomy 22:5)

The Bible clearly condemns cross-dressing. It does not consider it to be harmless like school board member Falk claimed.

The Bible also condemns males acting effeminate:

9 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, 10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. (1 Corinthians 6:9-10, KJV)

Cross-dressing is not something that children (or adults) should be doing. Nor are males to be intentionally effeminate.

Schools should not be able to teach such blatant falseness about transgenderism. Nor should teaching about transgenderism have any place in kindergarten.

The LGBTQ+ agenda will not end well of the USA (cf. Romans 1:18-32).

COGwriter

The May 2023 edition of the Sabbath Sentinel put out by the Bible Sabbath Association, which is not a Church of God group (though it has members that are in the COGs, as well as members who are not), has the following:

Peter Waldo, Waldensians, and the Sabbath

By Dr. Bob Thiel

Some have asserted that those who have called themselves some version of the term Waldensian (sometimes also referred to as Vaudois) always kept Sunday.

Did any of the Waldensians keep the seventh-day Sabbath?

Did all of them?

What about Peter Waldo?

Seventh-day Adventist scholar Gerard Damsteegt has stated:

Although there is no record that Waldo and his followers observed the seventh-day Sabbath, we know that several movements related to the Waldenses were reported to observe this custom. [i]

Actually, the above scholar actually provided evidence that Peter Waldo and his followers kept the Sabbath in the same article, more of which will be cited later.

Now, let it be made clear that scholars who have looked into the Waldensians have concluded that at least some of them kept the seventh-day Sabbath—despite the fact that they do not today.

Here is an old report from old English (where the letter ‘f ’ was often used instead of the letter ‘s,’ so it is changed below) from a Baptist historian in the 18th century:

Some of the inhabitants of the Pyrenees, and of the adjacent states, and not those of the vallies of Piedmont, were the true original Waldenses, … Some of these christians were called Sabbati, Sabbatati, and Insabbatati, and more frequently Inzabbatati. … one says, they were so named from the hebrew word sabbath, because they kept the saturday for the Lord’s day. Another says, they were so called because they rejected all the festivals, or sabbaths, in the low latin sense of the word, which the catholick church religiously observed.[ii]

So, there were multiple types of Waldensians, and many kept the seventh-day Sabbath.

Notice the following:

One of the primary sources of evidence of Waldensian Sabbathkeeping during the first half of the thirteenth century comes from a collection of five books written against the Cathars and Waldensians about 1241-1244 by Dominican inquisitor Father Moneta of Cremona in northern Italy.

Moneta passionately defended himself against criticism from Waldensians and Cathars that Catholics were transgressors of the Sabbath commandment. In the chapter De Sabbato, et De Die Dominico he discussed the significance of the seventh-day Sabbath of Exodus 20:8, “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy,” and contrasted it with the value of the Lord’s day, his term for the first day of the week. …

Sabbathkeeping among Waldensians was most widespread in Bohemia and Moravia, places to which they fled during papal persecution.

A fifteenth-century manuscript, published by church historian Johann Döllinger in History of the Sects {Beiträge zur Sektengeschichte des Mittelalters (Munich: Beck, 1890), Vol. II, p. 662} reports that Waldensians in Bohemia “do not celebrate the feasts of the blessed virgin Mary and the Apostles, except the Lord’s day. Not a few celebrate the Sabbath with the Jews.” [iii]

Here is a report from the Lutheran historian Johann Mosheim concerning a group in the 12^th century with Waldensian connections and two of their tenets:

the denomination of the Pasaginians … The first was a notion, that the observance of the law of Moses, in everything except the offering of sacrifices, was obligatory upon Christians; in consequence of which they circumcised their followers, abstained from those meats, the use of which was prohibited under the Mosaic economy, and celebrated the Jewish sabbath. The second tenet that distinguished this sect was advanced in opposition to the doctrine of three persons in the divine nature. [iv]

So, they kept the Sabbath, abstained from unclean meats, and were opposed to the trinitarian view. While not all the views that Mosheim had about the Pasaginians were Church of God views, apparently some called by that name were Church of God Christians. It should also be noted that Mosheim believed that there were two types of Waldnesians. One considered that the Church of Rome was a real Christian church, whereas the other considered the Church of Rome to be the harlot of Revelation 17.[v] Others have written that one type of Waldensian was fairly close to the Greco-Romans, whereas the other type was much more independent of them.[vi]

In the 17^th century, Peter Allix reported about beliefs of the early Waldensians from a critic and then made his own comments:

That the Law of Moses is to be kept according to the letter, and that the keeping of the Sabbath, Circumcision, and other legal observances, ought to take place. They hold also, that Christ the Son of God is not equal with the Father, and that the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, these three Persons, are not one God and one substance; and, as a surplus to these their errors, -they judge and condemn all the doctors of the Church, and universally the whole Roman Church. Now, since they endeavour to defend this their error by testimonies drawn from the New Testament and Prophets, I shall, with assistance of the grace of Christ, stop their mouths, as David did Goliah’s, with their own sword. [vii]

But here, first of all, we are to take notice, that the Waldenses and Albigenses had both of them the same belief… the difference between the Waldenses and the Church of Rome was not so small, that they could be looked upon only as schismatics, as the Bishop of Meaux has been pleased to imagine … the Waldenses, or disciples of Waldo, having been particularly famous for their refusing to swear, … Peter Waldo’s translating of the Bible, which must have been done before the year 1180, shews, that in France there was already a language different from the Latin tongue, [viii]

The above suggests that they held several Church of God doctrines including: binitarianism, non-swearing of oaths, and Sabbath-keeping.

The Petrobrusians (considered related to the Waldenses) kept the Sabbath and were condemned for it by the Roman Catholic saint Bernard in the 12th century.[ix] Notice the following from a Sunday-keeping writer (where I have typed it as originally written–knowing that now, the ‘f ’characters below would have been an ‘s’ in modern writing):

the feventh day Sabbath … In S. Bernard’s dayes it was condemned in the Petrobufiani. [x]

So, yes, some of the immediate predecessors of Peter Waldo and the Waldensians kept the seventh-day Sabbath and were condemned for it. Peter Waldo likely was in contact with some considered Petrobrusians.

The Patarenes (considered related to the Waldenses) kept the Sabbath and were condemned for it by Cardinal Damian around the same time. [xi]

Now what about Peter Waldo himself? Here is more from SDA scholar Gerard Damsteegt:

With few exceptions, Waldensians today deny that the ancient Waldenses kept the seventh-day Sabbath. However, historical evidence indicates that many did observe Sabbath during the Middle Ages. During the early part of the seventeenth century, the Swiss histo-rian Melchior Goldastus (1576–1635) commented on Emperor Frederic II’s Constitution of 1220 against heretics. He reasoned that the label insabbatati was used to describe heretics during the thirteenth century “because they judaize on the Sabbath,” that is, they kept the Sabbath like the Jews. He mentioned that the “Valdenses” were often called “Insabbatati,”indicating that during that time there were Waldenses who kept the seventh-day Sabbath (Saturday) as a day of rest. …

Primary sources show that, in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, there were two groups of Waldenses–one group that observed Sunday as the Lord’s day, the other that kept the seventh-day Sabbath of the Bible. Our research reveals that the title insabbatati could apply to (1) Waldenses who rejected Catholic festivals and holy days, or sabbaths, and observed only Sunday as the Lord’s day and (2) Waldenses who, in addition, rejected Sunday as a Catholic institution and kept the seventh-day Sabbath of the Bible. The title sabbatati, as applied to heretics, was used to characterize Waldenses who stood out because of their observance of the seventh-day Sabbath. (Damsteegt PG. The ancient Waldenses: Did the Reformation predate Luther? Ministry, October 2017, pp. 23,24)

The Waldensian historian, Emilio Comba, admits that northern Italy was a stronghold of various dissident groups associated with the Waldenses, some of which kept the Sabbath and often influenced and merged with the various groups of the Poor of Lyon and Poor Lombards. Sabbath keeping among the Waldenses was most widespread in Bohemia and Moravia. An inquisitor’s manuscript from the fifteenth century reports that Waldenses in Bohemia “do not celebrate the feasts of the blessed virgin Mary and the Apostles, except the Lord’s day. Not a few celebrate the Sabbath with the Jews.” … Most historians identify Tourlupins with the Picardian branch of Waldenses. A company of them was arrested in 1420. Well-preserved manuscripts mention that they “upheld that the Saturday must be celebrated instead of Sunday.”

From the end of the twelfth century, opponents of the Waldenses called them insabbatati, insabbatatis, xabatati, xabatenses, sabbatati, sabatatos, inzabattati, insabbatatorum, and insabbatatos. These words can be traced back to the basic forms of insabbatati and sabbatati, because of Latin declensions. … The first time the word insabbatati appeared in the existing Latin literature is in an edict issued in 1192 against heretics by Alfonso II, King of Aragon, (1152–1196), Count of Barcelona, and Count of Provence. This edict warned against the Valdenses (Waldenses) and identified them as Insabbatatos and Pauperes de Lugduno (Poor of Lyon). The edict, however, did not explain why Waldenses were called Insabbatatos. The next use of this term was in an 1197 edict issued by the son of Alfonso II, Peter II, King of Aragon, (1174–1213) and Count of Provence. This document called them Sabatati and Pauperes de Lugduno. …

From the various accounts of Waldenses rejecting holy days, festivals or sabbaths, it is not surprising that, as late as the time of archbishop James Usher (1581–1656), there were many who believed that insabbatati referred to those Waldenses who worshiped by judaizing on the Sabbath. Concerning the word insabbatati, Jesuit Inquisitor Pegne also admitted that “many used to think it came from Sabbath, and that they [Waldenses] observed the Sabbath according to the custom of the Jews.” …

Since the Middle Ages, historians have characterized the Waldenses by the uncomplimentary names insabbatati and sabbatati to indicate their unique attire by the type of shoes they wore, or their unique belief in rejecting Catholic holy days or festivals and practices. The research underlying this article has tried to decode the confusion surrounding these names. This has led to the following insights for historiography, previously unnoticed. From the analysis of the shoe theory, the research brought out that the wearing of perforated shoes was not introduced by or was not the custom of the Waldenses or the Poor of Lyon, but it was a custom introduced by the Poor Catholics and the Reconciled Poor. …

The term sabbatati also could have been used to describe some groups of Waldenses who followed the Jewish practice of resting on the Sabbath. This fits the meaning of both Insabbatati as depicting the rejection of Catholic holy days, Sabbaths, and teachings, and sabbatati describing the observance of the seventh-day Sabbath. Primary sources show that one inquisitor in the thirteenth century wrote a book against the Waldenses and Cathars in which he refuted their criticism that Roman Catholics observed Sunday instead of the seventh-day Sabbath. This is evidence that there were Waldenses and Cathars who kept the seventh-day Sabbath during the high Middle Ages. Additional evidence shows that several groups closely associated and considered part of the Waldensian movement did indeed keep the seventh-day Sabbath as early as the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. [xii]

While there may be debate regarding the precise year of Alphonso’s decree, notice the following:

Again to the South-West, about AD. 1190, we read of a public discussion between certain Valdenses and Catholics near Narbonne:and in 1194 of a Decree of Alphonzo II of Arragon against them …

[596] “Waldenses sive Insabbatatos, qui alio nomine se vocant Pauperes de Lugduno,…ab omni regno nostro, tanquam inimicos crucis Christi,…et regni publicos hostes, exire ac fugere praecipinius.” [xiii]

I have translated the above as follows:

“The Waldenses, or the Insabbatatos, who call themselves the Poor of Lyons by another name, … from all our kingdom, as enemies of the cross of Christ, … and the public enemies of the kingdom, to go forth and flee from the headlands.”

The fact that the followers of Peter Waldo may not have been publicly accused of keeping the seventh-day Sabbath until the late 12^th century could possibly suggest that some who were earlier categorized as Waldensians did not then do so.

Yet, since Peter Waldo lived until 1205 in the 13^th century, the fact that his people were called insabbatati by the end of the 12^th century looks to be evidence that Peter Waldo and his followers were keeping the seventh-day Sabbath by then.

As far as Peter Waldo goes, it is my view that he initially (c. 1160-1179) may or may not have been a Sabbath-keeper, but was one, probably no later than 1180, after exposure to some others in his region who held Church of God-type doctrines.

Dr. Thiel has been interested in the Church of God for over 50 years. He was baptized by a Worldwide Church of God minister in 1977. He writes extensively. He is currently the Overseeing Pastor of the Continuing Church of God (www.ccog.org), one of the top four groups (in terms of congregants) whose leaders were once part of the old Worldwide Church of God. Hundreds of thousands know him as “COGwriter” as he writes over 1000 news posts and articles per year at www.cogwriter.com.

End Note References

[i] Damsteegt PG. DECODING ANCIENT WALDENSIAN NAMES: NEW DISCOVERIES. Andrews University Seminary Studies, Vol. 54, 2016, No. 2, Autumn 2016, p. 254)

[ii] Robinson R. Ecclesiastical Researches. Francis Hodson, publisher. 1792, pp. 299-304

[iii] Damsteegt PG. Were Waldensians Sabbath-keepers? Adventist World, September 6, 2017

[iv] Mosheim JL, Coote C, Gleig G. An Ecclesiastical History, Ancient and Modern: In which the Rise, Progress, and Variations of Church Power, are Considered in Their Connexion with the State of Learning and Philosophy, and the Political History of Europe During that Period, Volume 1. Translated by Archibald Maclaine. Plaskitt & Cugle, 1840, p. 333

[v] Moshiem, p. 333

[vi] Froom LE. The Prophetic Faith of Our Fathers, Volume 1. Review and Herald, 1950, p. 831

[vii] Allix P. Some Remarks upon the Eccelisastical History of the Ancient churches of Piedmont. Originally published 1690, Oxford reprint 1831, p. 169

[viii] Ibid, pp. 173, 183, 184

[ix] Andrews J. History of the Sabbath and First Day of the Week. Reprint by Teach Services, 1998, p. 421

[x] White F, Bifhop of Ely. A Treatise on the Sabbath Day …. Richard Badger, 1635, p. 8

[xi] Wilkinson B. Reprint by Teach Services, 1994, pp. 234-235

[xii] Damsteegt PG. DECODING ANCIENT WALDENSIAN NAMES: NEW DISCOVERIES. Andrews University Seminary Studies, Vol. 54, 2016, No. 2, 237–258

[xiii] Elliot EB, ed. The Horae Apocalypticae. Originally finished in 1860. Cross The Border Publishing, reprint 2018, Chapter VII and reference 596

We earlier put together the following sermonette related to the Waldensians:

Waldensian Apostolic Succession

Jesus said that the true church would continue to the end of the age. Did any in the groups called Waldensians (or Waldenses), Vaudois, or Moravians have apostolic succession? Were there such claims over 500 years ago?  Did any group claim to have an actual apostolic succession list of bishops? Was such a list at least partially accepted by the British Parliament in the 18th century or the Greek Orthodox Church in the 15th century or others centuries ago? Could the Waldenses have came from the true church in Antioch or Asia Minor in the 3rd or 4th centuries? Do modern American Waldensians claim to have such a list? What about the ones associated with that church or its Archivo Della Tavola Valdese in Italy? Did Dr. Thiel put together such a list and share it with them? Can such a list be seen today? Dr. Thiel goes over that and some of his research into this topic, while also asking for others to help fill in the gaps or assist in improving the list in this video. Dr. Thiel also discusses its symbol with a candle on a lampstand pointing to the fourth star and Jesus words in Revelation.

Here is a link to our video: Waldensian Apostolic Succession.

The true Christian Church of God, and all of its true ministers, have laying on of hands succession from the original apostles to present.

Some items of possibly related interest may include the following:

Another Look at the Didache, Ignatius, and the Sabbath Did Ignatius write against the Sabbath and for Sunday? What about the Didache? What does the actual Greek reveal?
The Sabbath in the Early Church and Abroad Was the seventh-day (Saturday) Sabbath observed by the apostolic and post-apostolic Church? Here is a related sermon video The Christian Sabbath and How and Why to Keep It.
The Christian Sabbath. This is a series of articles from the Catholic Mirror essentially proving that the biblical Sabbath was Saturday, that the Lord’s day in Revelation 1 is not a reference to Sunday, that the Church of Rome implemented Sunday, and that nearly all Protestants followed Rome.
Early Sabbath Keeping in North America When did Europeans first keep the Sabbath in North America? Did the pilgrims who arrived on the Mayflower keep Saturday or Sunday?
How to Observe the Sabbath How should you keep the Sabbath? This is an old article by Raymond Cole, with updated information for the 21st century.
The Dramatic Story of Chinese Sabbathkeepers This reformatted Good News article from 1955 discusses Sabbath-keeping in China in the 1800s.
Is God Unreasonable? Some have suggested that if God requires Sabbath-keeping He is unreasonable. Is that true? Here is a link to a related article in Mandarin Chinese 一个不合理的神？
Should You Observe God’s Holy Days or Demonic Holidays? This is a free pdf booklet explaining what the Bible and history shows about God’s Holy Days and popular holidays. A related sermon is Which Spring Days should Christians observe?
Is Revelation 1:10 talking about Sunday or the Day of the Lord? Most Protestant scholars say Sunday is the Lord’s Day, but is that what the Bible teaches?
Sunday and Christianity Was Sunday observed by the apostolic and true post-apostolic Christians? Who clearly endorsed Sunday? What relevance is the first or the “eighth” day? A related sermon is also available: Sunday: First and Eighth Day?
Where is the True Christian Church Today? This free online pdf booklet answers that question and includes 18 proofs, clues, and signs to identify the true vs. false Christian church. Plus 7 proofs, clues, and signs to help identify Laodicean churches. A related sermon is also available: Where is the True Christian Church? Here is a link to the booklet in the Spanish language: ¿Dónde está la verdadera Iglesia cristiana de hoy? Here is a link in the German language: WO IST DIE WAHRE CHRISTLICHE KIRCHE HEUTE? Here is a link in the French language: Où est la vraie Église Chrétienne aujourd’hui?
Continuing History of the Church of God This pdf booklet is a historical overview of the true Church of God and some of its main opponents from Acts 2 to the 21st century. Related sermon links include Continuing History of the Church of God: c. 31 to c. 300 A.D. and Continuing History of the Church of God: 4th-16th Centuries. The booklet is available in Spanish: Continuación de la Historia de la Iglesia de Dios, German: Kontinuierliche Geschichte der Kirche Gottes, and Ekegusii Omogano Bw’ekanisa Ya Nyasae Egendererete.
Tradition and Scripture: From the Bible and Church Writings Are traditions on equal par with scripture? Many believe that is what Peter, John, and Paul taught. But did they?
Polycarp of Smyrna: The Heretic Fighter Polycarp was the successor of the Apostle John and a major leader in Asia Minor. Do you know much about what he taught? A YouTube video or related interesy may be: Polycarp of Smyrna: Why Christians should know more about him.
Theophilus of Antioch This is one of the second century leaders of some Christians in Antioch and is considered a Patriarch of the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch.
The Ten Commandments: The Decalogue, Christianity, and the Beast This is a free draft/unedited pdf book explaining the what the Ten Commandments are, where they came from, how early professors of Christ viewed them, and how various ones, including the Beast of Revelation, will oppose them. A related sermon is titled: The Ten Commandments and the Beast of Revelation.

Witch Doctor (photo from Pexels)

COGWriter

We put together the following video on our Bible News Prophecy YouTube channel, the audio portion of which was sent also for broadcast on WRMI shortwave at 5850 kHz at 0130 UTC Monday (which is 8:30 pm Eastern Standard Time on Sunday), the European Gospel Radio station AM 1323 kHz Monday  21:30-21:45 CET (European Central Time), and a WRN network of 12 USA AM/FM stations yesterday:

14:45

Can Witch Doctors Cast Spells on Christians?

Many in Africa, Haiti, the West, and various other parts of the world believe that witch doctors are powerful. Various ones have succumbed to the point they believe Christians can be cursed by them. The Bible opposes the use of witchcraft and casting spells as Deuteronomy 18:10-12 shows. Does the Bible suggest witches, palm readers, and witch doctors could be real? Is it possible that witch doctors can cast spells on Christians to blind them to something? If not, why not? Are non-Christians subject to be blinded by Satan, his demons, and those involved with the ‘dark arts’? What does the Bible clearly teach? Could the teaching that true Christians be deceived by curses from witch doctors be a ‘doctrine of demons’ that the Apostle Paul warned about in the last days? Are Christians to fear humans? Does God limit Satan’s power and those of his henchmen? Will the False Prophet Antichrist perform real signs that many will fall for? Do you, if you are a real Christian, truly believe, “He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world?” What can we learn regarding Job as well as Balaam and Balak? Dr. Thiel and Steve Dupuie go over scriptures to show what the Bible really teaches about this matter.

Here is a link to our video: Can Witch Doctors Cast Spells on Christians?

Here are some links to items of possibly related interest:

Close Encounters of a ‘Spirit’ Kind discusses some experiences I believe were (demon) ‘spirit’ related. A video is also available titled: Poltergeists and Lying Wonders.
Aliens from Outer Space? Are there aliens from outer space? Have any visited the earth? Are they dangerous? Does the Bible teach that an alien army will come to the earth and take over? Here is a link to a related sermon: Alien Beliefs and the Return of Jesus.
The Bible and Astrology Should Christians avoid participating in astrology or did God inspire it? Does the Bible encourage astrology? What does the Bible actually teach? What is astrology? How does astrology differ from astronomy? Should Christians Be Involved In Astrology?
OMENS? DIVINATION? HOROSCOPES? THE ORIGIN OF ASTROLOGY Where did astrology come from? Should you read your horoscope?
Does Astrology Work? Many believe and follow astrology–but does it work? Here is a link to the article in Mandarin Chinese: S`fg/QÆxnTÿ .
The Occult Explosion – What Does It Mean? A booklet by Herbert W. Armstrong which also includes a challenge.
Angels, Cherubim, and Seraphim This is information about various types of angelic beings.
Does the CCOG have the confirmed signs of Acts 2:17-18? Does any church have the confirmed dream and prophetic signs of Acts 2:17-18? Should one? Here is a link in the Spanish language: ¿Tiene la CCOG confirmadas las señales de Hechos 2: 17-18? Here is a link in the French language: Est-ce que l’Église Continue de Dieu confirme les signes d’Actes 2:17-18? A related sermon in the English language is also available: 17 Last Days’ Signs of the Holy Spirit.

COGwriter

A reader send me a link to the following:

America’s Future Being Tested in Singapore With Approval of 16 Insects for Human Consumption

April 29, 2023

Singapore has … approved the packaging and sale of 16 species of insects as foodstuff.¹ In this short video, actress Nicole Kidman demonstrates her secret talent — eating fried insects and live worms. …

Insect-as-food promoters claim humans have a long history of eating insects and “If you think eating insects is gross, you may be in the cultural minority.” Yet, historical mentions of eating insects are mostly for survival and not as a delicacy. National Geographic notes, “Ten thousand years ago hunters and gatherers ate bugs to survive.”⁴

The Smithsonian⁵ notes that in Africa, where poverty is extreme, locusts are consistently eaten …

In October 2022, Yahoo! News⁶ reported the Singapore food agency (SFA) was in the process of considering approving insect imports … April 7, 2023, The Straits Times⁸ reported that 16 species of insects had received the green light from the SFA and would be released for human consumption in the last half of 2023. … In addition to the insects, the SFA is allowing silkworm cocoons …

While the idea of eating insects for food may be repulsive, it’s apparent that globalists are intent on normalizing the behavior. … Although it sounds crazy, they have already started trying to normalize cannibalism. Lab-grown human steak was introduced in December 2020¹⁸ and featured as “art” at the Design Museum in London, U.K. …

Taking this one step further, a company called BiteLabs claimed to plan to sell artisanal salami made from lab-grown celebrity flesh. On their website,¹⁹ which appears to have been taken down in late 2022, they stated the intention to collect biopsy samples from celebrities, isolate the muscle cells and then grow the celebrity meat using a proprietary bioreactor. The flesh would then be cured, dried, aged and spiced according to Italian tradition.

In January 2022, IFLScience²⁰ followed up on the story and noted that “it’s perfectly possible” to create salami from cloned celebrity meet {sic}. … Another example of an ongoing effort to normalize cannibalism is a 2018 article published in the journal Nature,²² which promoted the rejuvenating effects of drinking young people’s blood. A 2.5-liter order was said to cost about $8,000 at the time. …

In a bit of predictive programming, the 1973 film “Soylent Green” — in which the protagonist realizes the government food being handed out is made from humans — was set in the year 2022.²⁴

Another gross answer that globalists have proposed is drinking reclaimed sewage water. https://discernreport.com/americas-future-being-tested-in-singapore-with-approval-of-16-insects-for-human-consumption/

While the Bible seems to allow for the consumption of crickets and grasshoppers, black soldier flies, mealworms, and silkworms are biblically unclean–thus should not be consumed by Christians.

The Bible also warns about cannibalism and we have an article (see Cannibalism is Wrong, But it is Coming!) and video about it (watch  Cannibalism is prophesied!).

That said, a reader also sent a link to an article about some other disturbing news about the food supply:

They Are Literally Poisoning Our Food On A Massive Scale, And Most People Don’t Even Realize What Is Happening

Have you ever heard of neonicotinoids?  Most of you probably have not, and that is exactly what the giant agricultural corporations want.  They don’t want you to know that crops all over the United States are literally being “pre-poisoned” with harmful insecticides that are having a nightmarish impact on the environment. …

If you are not familiar with neonicotinoids, this is how they are defined by Texas A&M…

Neonicotinoids are a new class of insecticides chemically related to nicotine. The name literally means “new nicotine-like insecticides”. Like nicotine, the neonicotinoids act on certain kinds of receptors in the nerve synapse. They are much more toxic to invertebrates, like insects, than they are to mammals, birds and other higher organisms.

One thing that has made neonicotinoid insecticides popular in pest control is their water solubility, which allows them to be applied to soil and be taken up by plants.

Today, many seeds that our farmers use actually come pre-coated with neonicotinoids. …

After seeing the impact that neonicotinoids had on the environment, Europe banned them.

But they are still legal here in the United States even though they have been blamed for killing bees on an absolutely massive scale…

Of course it isn’t just bees that are dying.

According to an incredible article that has just been published by The Intercept, countless other species have been hit really hard as well…

Honeybees have captured almost all the attention for the dangers of neonics, but they are hardly the only species in decline because of the chemical. Studies have tied neonics to the disappearance of native bees, butterflies, mayflies, dragonflies, amphipods, and a range of waterborne insects, as well as earthworms and other insect invertebrates. Several species of bumblebees in the U.S. and Europe are approaching extinction, a die-off researchers say is tied to the use of neonics and other pesticides.

In September, a study released in the academic journal Science revealed that migrating songbirds suffered immediate weight loss following the consumption of only one or two seeds treated with neonics. Previous research had linked disappearing insect life to dwindling food sources for birds in the Netherlands, but the Science study provided the evidence that bird species were directly affected by the chemical.

Another groundbreaking study published in Nature’s Scientific Reports showed that neonics are likely causing serious birth defects in white-tailed deer, the first time research has shown that the chemical compound could endanger large mammals.

Because these insecticides are so widely used, there is literally no escaping them. 04/27/23 http://endoftheamericandream.com/they-are-literally-poisoning-our-food-on-a-massive-scale-and-most-people-dont-even-realize-what-is-happening/

As long-term readers of this COGwriter Church of God News page are aware,  I have been warning of  dangers associated with neonicotinoids for over a decade (e.g. see Bees, Pesticides, and Problems). Even though the European Union has taken steps to reduce their use (see EU further bans neonicotinoids to protect bees), notice the following tweet related to Switzerland (which is not actually in the EU):

Deeply concerning: neonicotinoid insecticides (neurotoxins) found in cerebrospinal fluid of 100% of Swiss children tested. https://t.co/frmOAnsjcJ

— Dave Goulson (@DaveGoulson) January 12, 2022

Monsanto’s Roundup and similar products look to have been the main source of glyphosates. Monsanto was also a major supplier of neonicotinoid coated GMO corn seeds. But the name Monsanto was dropped about four years ago, after Bayer bought the company, though its products are still produced.

There are still tensions between the governments of Mexico and the USA related to genetically-modified corn–which is almost always surrounded with an application of neonicotinoids and accompanied by glyphosates:

Environmental groups … accused the Biden administration of putting the profits of big agribusiness over public health and critical pollinators by attempting to obstruct the Mexican government’s ongoing push to ban genetically engineered corn.

“The U.S.’s shameful efforts to strong-arm Mexico into accepting GE corn it has rejected is nothing short of 21st-century imperialism,” Lori Ann Burd, environmental health director at the U.S.-based Center for Biological Diversity. “Our government is working tirelessly to pad the multibillion-dollar profits of domestic agribusiness corporations by pushing GE corn, even though our glyphosate-drenched GE cornfields are playing an outsized role in driving catastrophic declines in vital pollinator populations.”

The group’s statement came after Mexico issued a new decree earlier this week that scraps the country’s original January 2024 deadline to halt imports of GMO corn for livestock feed and industrial use, a move widely seen as a concession to the U.S., which has been pressuring its southern neighbor to drop the ban since Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) first announced it in 2020.

But Mexico—the largest destination for U.S. corn exports—reiterated its intention to prohibit GE corn for human consumption by 2024 in its latest decree. Mexico is also aiming to ban imports and use of glyphosate, a cancer-linked chemical that is often sprayed on genetically engineered corn.

The new decree instructs Mexican authorities to “revoke and refrain from granting permits for the release into the environment in Mexico of genetically modified corn seeds.”

Mexican officials have repeatedly argued that GE corn and the associated use of glyphosate pose threats to human health and pollinators, as well as domestic production.

“We have to put the right to life, the right to health, the right to a healthy environment ahead of economic and business [interests],” Víctor Suárez Carrera, Mexico’s undersecretary of food and competitiveness, told Reuters in 2021. 02/15/23 https://www.commondreams.org/news/mexico-gmo-corn-ban

Viridiana Lázaro, food and agriculture campaigner at Greenpeace Mexico, said Tuesday that “the ban of GE corn is the first step to transform Mexico’s agriculture system from one industrialized, based on pesticides, and dependent on transnational corporations to an agro-ecological system that offers solutions to soil fertility, local pest problems, allows crop diversification and protects biodiversity and health of farmers and consumers.”

“To carry out the gradual substitution of genetically modified corn for animal feed and industrial corn for human consumption, as is stated in the new decree, is a broad challenge and, in order to ensure that it does not remain only on paper, public policies aimed at the agroecological transition must be issued in order to achieve it,” Lázaro continued. “Also, we must ensure that glyphosate and GE corn do not improperly end up in dough and tortillas, which studies have demonstrated has happened before.”

“The United States has refused to respect Mexico’s choice, instead working tirelessly to bully the country into accepting GE corn in order to protect the short-term profits of U.S. agribusiness giants.”

The U.S. government claims that Mexico’s plans, which have also drawn fierce opposition from industry lobbying groups, would run afoul of provisions in the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) and harm American farmers. The Biden administration has threatened to take legal action under the USMCA if Mexico doesn’t reverse course.

The USMCA entered into force in 2020 and replaced the North American Free Trade Agreement, under which U.S. corn flooded the Mexican market.

In a statement on Tuesday, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said he is “disappointed” that Mexico is still pushing ahead with its proposed ban on genetically modified corn. An estimated 90% of U.S. corn production is genetically modified.

“The U.S. believes in and adheres to a science-based, rules-based trading system and remains committed to preventing disruptions to bilateral agricultural trade and economic harm to U.S. and Mexican producers,” Vilsack added. “We are carefully reviewing the details of the new decree and intend to work with [the United States Trade Representative] to ensure our science-based, rules-based commitment remains firm.”

As one with a PhD in nutrition science, I agree with Mexico on this. The “science” related to GMOs and glyphosates point to dangers. Notice something from Wikipedia:

Technical grade glyphosate is a white powder which, according to FAO specification, should contain not less than 95% glyphosate. Formaldehyde, classified as a known human carcinogen, ^{[38] [39]} and N-nitrosoglyphosate, have been identified as toxicologically relevant impurities.^[40] The FAO specification limits the formaldehyde concentration to a maximum of 1.3 g/kg glyphosate. N-Nitrosoglyphosate, “belonging to a group of impurities of particular concern as they can be activated to genotoxic carcinogens”,^[41] should not exceed 1 ppm.^[40] (Glyphosate. Wikipedia, accessed 02/18/23)

GMO corn is without a doubt a threat to native species–which is something Mexico has brought up. Furthermore, the poor who plant native seeds cannot afford to pay for GMO seeds nor the associated herbicide that needs to go with it (Roundup, basically the first commercial glyphosate product, was the original herbicide for GMO-corn).

Mexico has a point, whereas the USA has greed. But the Biden-Harris Administration basically has been threatening Mexico for trying to protect itself.

Let me add that the USA has never proven that GMOs are safe, and there have been reports over the years about GMO corn impacting farmers with non-GMO corn.

Notice the following:

Are GMOs safe?
Most developed nations do not consider GMOs to be safe. In more than 60 countries around the world, including Australia, Japan, and all of the countries in the European Union, there are significant restrictions or outright bans on the production and sale of GMOs. In the U.S., the government has approved GMOs based on studies conducted by the same corporations that created them and profit from their sale. Increasingly, Americans are taking matters into their own hands and choosing to opt out of the GMO experiment…

In the U.S., GMOs are in as much as 80% of conventional processed food. Click here for a current list of GMO risk crops.

http://www.nongmoproject.org/learn-more/

GMOs were developed to increase profits. Politicians receive money from many profit-oriented corporations, and this tends to blind them to listen to opposing views.

The World Health Organization has concerns about GMOs:

What are the potential dangers of GMOs?

according to WHO, the three main issues of concern for human health that are being debated are:

(i). The potentials to provoke allergic reaction (allergenicity);

(ii). Gene transfer (Gene transfer from GM foods to cells of the body or to bacteria in the gastrointestinal tract, especially if the transferred genetic material adversely affects human health); and

(iii). Outcrossing (the migration of genes from GM plants into conventional crops or related species in the wild (referred to as “outcrossing”), as well as the mixing of crops derived from conventional seeds with GM crops, may have an indirect effect on food safety and food security. Cases have been reported where GM crops approved for animal feed or industrial use were detected at low levels in the products intended for human consumption).

Should you switch to organic food? That is a personal decision. … For many people in this day and age, it is simply impossible – too expensive, too time-consuming, too problematic – to make sure that they eat only foods that are verifiably safe in every respect. 01/09/19 https://www.vanguardngr.com/2019/01/are-genetically-modified-foodsgmos-safe/

The above source seems to be implying that GMO foods are not verifiably safe in every respect. As a published scientist, I agree.

Now, related to glyphosates, here is something I posted here a while back:

Eat at your own risk: Almost all grains in US contaminated with glyphosate herbicide

May 22, 2021

Is eating grains healthy? You might think that as long as you stick to whole grains, you have nothing to worry about from a health standpoint, but the sad truth is that America’s wheat supply is extensively contaminated by glyphosate.

Although there is no GMO wheat grown in the U.S. right now – at least, not deliberately, … – most of the country’s wheat is nevertheless contaminated with toxic glyphosate. This is largely because the herbicide is habitually sprayed on wheat crops in a process known as desiccation.

When farmers spray glyphosate, often in the form of the commercial herbicide Roundup, on their wheat, it allows them to harvest it at a time that is convenient for them, such as ahead of the first snowfall in their area. …

Bayer AG, who bought Roundup maker Monsanto, recently agreed to a $2 billion deal to resolve future legal claims against the glyphosate product brought about by individuals suffering from non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a type of cancer that has been linked to the herbicide. They had previously reached a broader $9.6 billion settlement to resolve most of the more than 100,000 lawsuits already filed over the deadly chemical in America. …

When the company Health Tradition found residues of glyphosate while testing their organic grains in 2014, they decided to test all of their foods for glyphosate. They discovered that nearly all of the wheat that is grown in the northern part of the U.S. is contaminated, even wheat that is USDA certified as not sprayed with glyphosate. That’s because the chemical is virtually everywhere these days; it’s in our air, rainwater, groundwater and soil.

The National Agricultural Statistics Service reports that 12.4 million pounds of glyphosate were applied to different varieties of wheat grown throughout the U.S. in 2017. This included 58 percent of the nation’s acreage of durum wheat, which is typically used for making pasta. …

Testing carried out by the Environmental Working Group, meanwhile, revealed that glyphosate was found in every wheat-based food tested, including different types of pasta and cereal. Tests by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency reached a similar finding, with glyphosate contamination reported by the body in 80 to 90 percent of the popular wheat-based products tested, which included crackers, pizza and pasta. Oats don’t fare much better; EWG found glyphosate in more than 95 percent of the oat-based foods they tested. Glyphosate is also commonly used as a desiccant on oat crops, so that finding should come as no surprise. …

From digestion issues to cancer links, there are lots of compelling reasons to be careful when it comes to the sources of the wheat products you buy, whether it’s flour and pasta or crackers and cereal. Organic wheat is always a safer bet than conventional varieties, but keep in mind that glyphosate residues have even been found in organic varieties. https://www.dcclothesline.com/2021/05/22/eat-at-your-own-risk-almost-all-grains-in-us-contaminated-with-glyphosate-herbicide/

Yes, organic is better.

The State of California took steps years ago to identify a key ingredient in its Roundup herbicide as a cancer-causing agent:

June 27, 2017

Glyphosate, an herbicide and the active ingredient in Monsanto Co’s popular Roundup weed killer, will be added to California’s list of chemicals known to cause cancer effective July 7, the state’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) said on Monday.

Monsanto vowed to continue its legal fight against the designation, required under a state law known as Proposition 65, and called the decision “unwarranted on the basis of science and the law.”

The listing is the latest legal setback for the seeds and chemicals company, which has faced increasing litigation over glyphosate since the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer said that it is “probably carcinogenic” in a controversial ruling in 2015.

Dicamba, a weed killer designed for use with Monsanto’s next generation of biotech crops, is under scrutiny in Arkansas after the state’s plant board voted last week to ban the chemical. …

Environmental groups cheered OEHHA’s move to list the chemical.

“California’s decision makes it the national leader in protecting people from cancer-causing pesticides,” said Nathan Donley, a senior scientist at the Center for Biological Diversity. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/california-glyphosate-cancer-causing-chemical-list_us_5951ed4ae4b05c37bb78fc20?ncid=engmodushpmg00000004

Years ago, the USA government had basically protected Monsanto from negative affects of its GMO projects (see H.R. 933 includes pro-GMO provision that some call ‘Monsanto Protection Act’ and Thousands worldwide march against Monsanto).

The Bible warns:

10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. (1 Timothy 6:10)

And that is what is happening in the chemical, GMO, and laboratory food world to a major degree. Financial and other forms of greed are driving much of this.

THE FACT IS THAT THERE IS NO WAY THAT THE PRO-GMO FORCES CAN HAVE ENOUGH DATA TO PROVE WHAT THEY ARE DOING IS NOT DANGEROUS. At minimum, in order to get the kind of data to truly demonstrate safety, studies involving at least a million humans over a period of a couple of centuries would need to be done–and this has never happened. The pro-GMO forces act like they are wise and have facts on their side, but the facts remain that what they are doing is dangerous and when it comes to using human genes, also immoral. They have not, and cannot, test for all possible complications associated with what they are doing.

The Bible warns:

20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, 21 because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Professing to be wise, they became fools, (Romans 1:20-22)

Thousands of years ago, God inspired one of his prophets to pen the following, which encourages people to eat what is good:

2 Why do you spend money for what is not bread, And your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, And let your soul delight itself in abundance. (Isaiah 55:2)

How the USA is treating Mexico about this is not right. It looks to be another factor to push Mexico more towards Europe and away from the USA.

While the consumption of small amounts of GMO ‘foods’ does not appear to be harmful, I personally do not consider that long-term consumption of GMOs by humans is wise nor safe. And it most certainly is not proven to be healthy by science.

The word of God warned that because of the love of money and delays in punishment humans would pursue things that they should not.

The whole overly-processed food industries continue to push for things that are not good.

Some items of possibly related interest may include the following:

Christian Health Matters Should Christians be concerned about their health? Does the Bible give any food and health guidelines? Here are links to two related sermons: Let’s Talk About Food and Let’s Talk About Health.
The New Testament Church, History, and Unclean Meats Are foods considered to have been unclean in the Old Testament considered to be food in the New Testament? This article discusses this from the perspective of the New Testament. It also has a list of clean and unclean animals. It also answers the question, is pork healthy or is pork dangerous? There is also a sermon-length video on this: Christians and Unclean Meats; two short videos are also available: Did Jesus declare all animal flesh food? and COVID, Pandemics, and Unclean Meat.
Cannibalism is Wrong, But it is Coming! Is it logical to eat human flesh? Or is it a curse that will return? Here is a link to a related video: Cannibalism is prophesied!
GMOs and Bible Prophecy What are GMOs? Since they were not in the food supply until 1994, how could they possibly relate to Bible prophecy? Do GMOs put the USA and others at risk? Here are some related videos: GMO Risks and the Bible and GMOs, Lab meat, Hydrogenation: Safe or Dangerous?
Chimeras: Has Science Crossed the Line? What are chimeras?  Has science crossed the line? Does the Bible give any clues? A video of related interest is Half human, half pig: What’s the difference?  and Human-Monkey Embryos and Death.
Europa, the Beast, and Revelation Where did Europe get its name? What might Europe have to do with the Book of Revelation? What about “the Beast”? Is an emerging European power “the daughter of Babylon”? What is ahead for Europe? Here is a link to a video titled: Can You Prove that the Beast to Come is European? See also EU’s Global Gateway, Trade, and War?
Mexico, Central America, South America, Brazil, and the Caribbean in Prophecy [Español: México, América central, Suramérica, Brasil y el Caribe en la profecía] [Português: México, América Central, Ámérica do Sul, e Brasil na profecia] What will happen to those of Latin America? Will they have prosperity? Will they cooperate with Europe? Will they suffer in the future? What role might the various Caribbean nations/territories play? Two videos of related interest are available: Will Mexico Regain USA Territories? and Donald Trump and Mexico’s future. A sermon of related interest is available: Latin America in Prophecy.
Lost Tribes and Prophecies: What will happen to Australia, the British Isles, Canada, Europe, New Zealand and the United States of America? Where did those people come from? Can you totally rely on DNA? What about other peoples? Do you really know what will happen to Europe and the English-speaking peoples? What about Africa, Asia, South America, and the Islands? This free online book provides scriptural, scientific, historical references, and commentary to address those matters. Here are links to related sermons: Lost tribes, the Bible, and DNA; Lost tribes, prophecies, and identifications; 11 Tribes, 144,000, and Multitudes; Israel, Jeremiah, Tea Tephi, and British Royalty; Gentile European Beast; Royal Succession, Samaria, and Prophecies; Asia, Islands, Latin America, Africa, and Armageddon;  When Will the End of the Age Come?;  Rise of the Prophesied King of the North; Christian Persecution from the Beast; WWIII and the Coming New World Order; and Woes, WWIV, and the Good News of the Kingdom of God.