I'm just hoping I can sweep a door step somewhere in the Kingdom.. As long as I get there.. I don't know what UCG church you went to but it wasn't the same one I know. As far as HWA is concerned, I never met the man but I have listened to hundreds of stories over the years about him and his teachings.. His mistakes.. His sins.. His great accomplishments.. His betrayals at the hands of those closest to him... His story sounds fairly similar to most every man on this earth.. Even some from a group of 12 many years ago. Was he.. I don't know.. Only God does.

29 Aug:  Self proclaimed COG prophet William Dankenbring  died today from congestive heart failure and renal failure, he had been living in Omak, Washington. 

False prophet William Dankenbring had numerous prophetic failures and many obviously false doctrines, which were as unscriptural and as utterly fantastic as Dave Pack’s or Ron Weinland’s.   He left the WCG to form Triumph Ministries, establishing himself as a sacred names enthusiast.   Most COG folks saw through him but he did have a small following.

William Dankenbring was a prolific, though often inaccurate, writer. He used to write for the old Radio and Worldwide Church of God until he left and went out on his own. 

Although I heard about him originally in the 1970s, my first encounter with William Dankenbring was about 25 year ago. I wrote to him then objecting to some of his writings and asking to be taken off of his mailing list–a mailing list I had never asked to be on. Well, he was not pleased and wrote a tirade against that which he published. All my encounters with him over the years were negative. 

William Dankenbring made many false predictions over the years that I have denounced. He was always in error and time proved that.

But perhaps the most egregious negative experience I had with him was when I informed him that a written source he claimed proved at 15th, and not 14th of Nisan, Passover did not say what he claimed it did. He refused to even look at the actual proof when I offered it.

He, like many, had an opinion, and did not want to believe facts that did not support that opinion. 

Wired into WCG culture was a notion that individual initiative on anything that actually mattered, such as with social or creative consequences, was not to be done outside the control of a top-down hierarchy. Even something as innocuous as a member organizing a book discussion group or an Amnesty International letter-writing group was unthinkable. A person feeling an internal calling to become a teacher or counselor or clergy to others, no matter how good and pure their intentions might be (to help people), would also be regarded as a threat by the hierarchy unless the hierarchy wanted to invite them. Was this why the concept of listening inside for one's "personal calling" was deemed illegitimate?            

As far as God controlling the weather goes, in my view, weather was one of the reasons that Mitt Romney lost against Barack Obama in 2012 (cf. Daniel 4:17). There was a major storm, ‘superstorm Sandy’ that hit the north-east and that seemed to be the time more polls started to reduce Mitt Romney’s chances. Here is something I posted about that November 10, 2012:

I believe, for example, that God allowed superstorm Sandy which likely affected the election, in the favor of Barack Obama.  Others may disagree, but for the past 2-3 years I felt that something would occur within a week or so of the 2012  US presidential election.  And while superstorm Sandy was still going on, I discussed this with some I work with prior to the election, and mentioned that I felt that the superstorm would affect the election.

The Bible clearly teaches, “the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomever He chooses” (Daniel 4:25).

God controls the weather.

Weather events should serve as a wake-up call.

Things in the USA will not remain as they have been.

Sadly, many will be complacent and not really think that disaster will happen, but that will be a mistake:  Rain and floods continue to affect Texas and Louisiana: Who controls the weather?

But first, let’s go back to Hebrews 11 one more time. I’m having my faith tested. I guess, in some ways, it’s testing your faith that…my health. I regret that, but if God is putting us all through a little bit of a fire because of my health, my heart, you can see I’m preaching, I don’t fear. I don’t! I remind myself of Paul preaching on the island…Was it Melita?…and a viper bit him and he just shook it off into the fire and kept going. That’s the way I feel about it. I remind myself, and talk to my wife about that verse. We’ll see how it all plays out. If God for His own reason does not choose to heal me any more than He chose to heal Paul or Mr. Armstrong, I’m in good company. We’ll see.

But whether it heals naturally or…regarding these problems. I am told that with a simple procedure…I could possibly walk out and never have a problem again. So I’ve got an interesting two weeks ahead of me. I trust God, not men, but I’m going to go ahead with it. So I’m living by faith and I know we’re all in the saddle together. 

And I’m going to say what Paul did—because I know what Paul believed was right, in the wrong time setting. I look out and see wars, rumors, commotions of all kinds and I know time is close! And it is my job to proclaim it, because nobody understands Habakkuk or all of the verses. Have you heard anyone else on Earth explain the Antichrist? This horrific monster—no one understands him. One man read plain on the tables—that’s the reading part—and I rushed, I literally preached it at the conference over a year ago, the day I discovered it. And of course, I discovered much, much more and presented it to the Church the day before Pentecost a year ago.

I proclaimed it! And I’ve been doing it and you’re going to find hundreds and hundreds of thousands and millions of people are going to watch this. At some point, it’s going to go viral. We had more good financial news this month, without getting into it, besides the Pentecost offering. That’s not the only good thing that’s happened and we’re only on the 10^th of the month. And a lot of it happened before anybody even heard last week’s sermon, never mind this week.

And one of the wonderful things that my condition brought about is…In these wonderful letters from people that are wishing me well and saying encouraging things and talking about their children and grandchildren, is also the fact that so many of them take occasion to tell me how this has opened up questions they could never see before; things that are just amazing to watch it all come together; they don’t want the series to end, and on and on. I’ve been hearing that all along but when you get a stack of cards…I mean, I sat last night, yet again, reading my latest stack of cards and some of them go two pages. And I’ve read every word.

I open them up, and here’s little butterflies that a little girl wrote me, who couldn’t spell her own name right. So cute. She had to be a little bitty thing. But there…but cute! “Get better Mr. Pack!” You know, and every letter in the word “Get better” is different size…You know how that is…and it trails off down the corner because they didn’t plan for spacing…It’s the cutest thing. And there’re drawings and flowers and pictures of me…not look-alikes, obviously…not photographs. But you know, I love it! It’s wonderful!

People love the things that they’re hearing and I’ve even had some children say they like the sermons which is…which is wonderful. “Now, say to Mr. Pack you like those sermons”…I can sort of hear that from the parents in the background. Maybe that’s the way that it gets in there. But I actually have had a few do that, so that’s wonderful, too.

The purpose of this article is not to convince anyone to believe these concrete attributes, though we will provide scriptural support to show why the Living Church of God believes and teaches these truths. The purpose is to provide four of the weightier objective, distinguishing qualities of the Living Church of God, which are provable from the word of God. If a person has proven these things from the Bible, and believes them, it becomes clear where he or she needs to be.

Revelation chapters 2 and 3 exhibit letters to seven Churches extant during the first century—each of them led by Jesus Christ (Revelation 1:9–20). While they were all God’s Churches, they were not all the same. They each had distinct characteristics, and if we have “an ear, [to] hear what the Spirit says to the churches”—something we see repeated several times in Revelation 2 and 3—we realize it does matter where we are, and what we are a part of! 

In the November-December 2010 Living Church News, Dr. Roderick C. Meredith wrote an article entitled, “We are Different!” In it, he explained:

"Leaders in several groups seem eager to “dance” around these fundamental issues—to avoid clear answers, or even to deny the answers long taught by God’s Church and His word. The result of such spiritual neglect, and of their clever avoidance of these issues, is that their groups and the members become unsure about the nature of God, and about many other key issues that certainly are of importance to Almighty God! "

So, in an effort to accommodate personal tastes, sidestep confrontations, and thereby avoid losing congregants who disagree, some reject or avoid various truths found in God’s word that were opened to the Church’s understanding through Mr. Armstrong. A few of these easily provable truths that some dismiss are proper church government, the identity of Israel’s descendants, who and what God is, and the Church eras of Revelation 2 and 3. God’s Church should be teaching all of the truth of the Bible. It should not evade certain truths because of personal taste, or to avoid conflict.

The second concrete, scriptural commission that the Living Church of God proclaims and seeks to fulfill, is the obligation of the Church to preach the Gospel of God’s coming Kingdom, as well as the Ezekiel Warning message. Claims that this Work has been “finished” and no longer needs to be done or that we only need to preach it to the members of the Church to “prepare the bride” are simply not compatible with Scripture. They deny the very mission of the Body of Jesus Christ!

God’s people would be neglectful if they knew the “sword was coming” but didn’t say anything! “If the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, and the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at the watchman’s hand” (Ezekiel 33:6). As God’s people, if we know what’s coming and do not say anything, the world’s blood will be on our hands (Ezekiel 33:1–11)! The Living Church of God believes and teaches it is our job to preach the Gospel to the world and warn of the coming troubles, before God sets up His Kingdom!

Christ says that “this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come” (Matthew 24:14)! However, not all of God’s people will be doing this in the end time (Revelation 3:14–22). Yet those who do participate in God’s Work to bring the Gospel to this dying world can reflect on the promise made through Daniel, that “those who turn many to righteousness” shall shine “like the stars forever and ever” at the resurrection to everlasting life (Daniel 12:3).

In explaining to His disciples how to execute God’s form of government mentioned above, Jesus said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave—just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:25–28). Peter also explained how the ministry is to serve the brethren: “Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers… not for dishonest gain but eagerly; nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock…” (1 Peter 5:2–3).

Love includes keeping God’s Church clean of sinful practices (breaking of God’s Law, 1 Corinthians 5:1–8). At the same time, it does not include the invention of extreme and ungodly rules and regulations, such as the Pharisees added, that, if broken, will lead to disfellowshiping. We are not to be dictatorial or harsh in our approach. “And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, in humility correcting those who are in opposition…” (2 Timothy 2:24–25).

We are not to instill fear of men in God’s people, but we are to strengthen, encourage, build and edify (Ephesians 4:11–16). It is our job to build families, not tear them apart (1 Corinthians 7:10–16; 1 Peter 3:1–5)! Some unconverted family members may be troubled when God first calls us and may even become hostile toward us (Matthew 10:34–39). We should, in no way, be the ones instigating division by shunning our family members if they do not attend the Living Church of God with us (Matthew 15:6; Romans 12:18). God’s ministers should not point the members toward discord, separation and division, but toward peace and unity in the family (Malachi 4:6).

The Living Church of God believes and teaches as part of its mission statement, “Learn and practice Servant Leadership in all our dealings with others.” Dr. Meredith guided us toward a culture of love and servant leadership and wanted us to continue growing in it! We are to exhibit Christ-like leadership in faithfulness, steadfastness, humility, and love. If some want to dispute the truth, we are not to be wishy-washy, but rather we are to be firm—but always gentle and loving. 

God allows each of us to make our own choices, and He does not “make” us do anything. When it comes down to it, each of us must prove what God’s word teaches (1 Thessalonians 5:21), step out in faith, and do what it says. There are many organizations claiming to represent God today, each with its own twist. There are those that keep the Sabbath and the Holy Days, and many of them have at least some of the Truth, but they are not all the same. As Mr. Richard Ames asked in his sermon, “Churches Under Judgment,” we, too, must ask as we consider the churches of Revelation 2 and 3: Which church do we want to be a part of? The dead one? The corrupt one? Which attitude and spirit should we try to emulate?

We will not do it perfectly in this life, but we should strive to reflect the character of the one found in Revelation 3:7–13 and have an ear to “hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” If we claim that we are Philadelphian, what room for improvement is left? We would be wise to heed the warning in Revelation 3:17–18! We must continually examine ourselves, identify the wrong, and cast it out! Dr. Meredith frequently told us, “We are the Church of God in the Laodicean era, trying to do a Philadelphian Work.” It does matterwhere we choose to attend, and with whom. While there are other points that could be addressed, these four points are concrete and easily provable from Scripture. And the Living Church of God fully believes, teaches, and strives to live up to them. 

The 2300 Day Prophecy [see the 2300 Day Prophecy] indicates that the great hour of trial could begin as early as late 2018 or within a few years after that.  Presently the trends indicate that late 2018 is possible. 

Then WITHIN 75 days of being set up doing miracles, this roman pope will go to the holy mount and the radical Jewish Settler Movement will sabotage the peace deal and bring the nations of Psalm 83 down on the Jewish State.  

The New Europe will intervene, perhaps answering calls of Jewish and other leaders to stop the slaughter.  They will secure the massive Israeli weapons caches and the surviving Jews will be crowded into ghettos awaiting deportation.  

1. As for America, the Arabs will join with Europe and abandon the Petrodollar while hiring European countries to do the unimaginably massive rebuilding throughout the region. 
2. During the first winter America will lose economic traction and conditions will begin to decline,  
3. Then during the first spring/summer as the economy fails, a severe drought will gripe the nation,  
4. Large numbers of recent immigrants – many very wealthy – from Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and elsewhere will leave the country taking their wealth with them,  
5. During the second winter a population weakened by a lack of proper nutrition due to the drought and the inability to import provisions, will be susceptible to epidemic diseases greater that the Spanish Flu and other such disasters.  
6. The second summer will be worse than the first, and riots over food, race and other issues will set America ablaze.  
7. The third winter will be worse than the second with even greater malnutrition and many more dying.  
8. Then after the sixth seal has been opened, the first 144,000 [see the 144,000 article] will be called out; 12,000 from each tribe of Israel, to witness that the Eternal is God and if they would only trust and obey him, he would save them.  
9. This 144,000 scattered throughout the nations of Israel will be witnessing as the New Europe goes to attack Asia and the Seven Trumpet Plagues are poured out according to the preaching of God’s Two Witnesses, sometime into the third year.  
10. Then after the final winter God will allow his Two Servants to be killed and then the seventh Trump will begin to sound and these two along with all the chosen, will rise to life eternal as spirit. 
11. This will be seen by all the earth and the Gentile rulers will be angry, but the nations of Israel will remember the preaching of God’s Two Servants and the preaching and witnessing of the first 144,000, and will see the plagues and heavenly signs; and they will begin to repent and turn to the Eternal seeking his deliverance.  
12. A few days later after the Wedding Feast in heaven and the pouring out of the seven last bowls of plagues, Christ will come WITH his chosen and will deliver both Israel and all of humanity from bondage to Satan and sin.  
13. Then Judah and Israel will welcome their Deliverer with great rejoicing

This 42 months of famine, riots and economic collapse will be accompanied by other natural disasters, one of the chief being great earthquakes which will be so great as to  change the surface topography of the earth.  

The State of This Work

At the present time this is an internet work with approximately 2,000 families who are widely scattered worldwide. This scattering makes it very difficult to have local congregations; and besides that many are still associating with other assemblies and sort of fence sitting, and taking time to fully digest what I teach, since there are differences between that and what they have been told by these groups.  

Because of this, many of these folks are still contributing to various organizations and very very few are helping us out.  Please remember that a laborer is worthy of his wages and nothing I receive ever goes into the kind of status symbol houses, cars, and planes, or real property and extravagant unnecessary building projects that other organizations wastefully seek.  

Further, I teach the Truth of the Word of God and not the amorphous sophistry of the false traditions of men.  

Brethren, supporting those teaching error is not preaching the gospel.  

Preaching the Gospel is teaching all people to zealously live by every Word of God, and expounding and explaining the Word of God!  

Preaching the false traditions of men and even claiming that certain men have a right to bind or loose God’s Word:  is NOT preaching the Gospel.  It is making men sovereign and God subject to their whims! It is the sin of rebellion against the Word of God and it is the sin of seeking to exalt oneself above God like Satan did! 

I am working very hard on doctrinal scriptural studies and my interest is that people make choices based on God’s Word and the facts. I have no interest in gaining a personal following or in convincing anyone to make any choice based on emotion. My interest is in educating people in every Word of God.

To that end, I am working hard to complete a chapter by chapter line by line commentary/study through the entire Bible – there are still a few Epistles and Job remaining, after which I will be doing some extensive doctrinal studies. I expect to complete these studies by late next year (2018). After that a new phase will begin.

While this is ongoing, people are visiting and taking their time to study and digest these things; while the word is spreading as people tell their friends. At the same time, conditions in the various organizations are developing and the above listed world events are gathering pace.

In reality I am not trying to start any organizational church at this time, rather I am calling all organizations to a great revival of zeal for godliness. If in due time the organizations continue to reject that call, then brethren will be ready to take well informed decisions.

Everything is being done with the Master Builder inspiring a very carefully organized plan to complete a site full of studies through every Word of God, topped off by deep doctrinal studies, before advancing further; and I expect that this phase of Foundation Building will end and a new phase will begin at at the end of 2018.  

I am not naive and I do not expect that there will be a mass repentance and a turning to God in 2018.  I do believe that a combination of world events and trends in the Ekklesia will being more and more to study sound doctrine.  Some of these folks will respond when the time comes, and others will not respond and then will quickly realize that they had made a mistake in not responding before the tribulation began.  

This second group will then witness to their remaining brethren who have not studied the sound doctrine of the Word of God, while the others learn to work together and advance even further in their spiritual growth in a different environment.   

Many of those witnessing to their brethren will be strongly persecuted and will die in the first part of the tribulation, therefore God will convert and seal 12,000 from each tribe of Israel, so that the witnessing that the Eternal is God and that we must live by every Word of God will be maintained. 

From their witnessing and the witnessing of God’s Two Servants, along with the miraculous events of the heavenly signs and the resurrection of the dead; Israel will be turned to the Eternal and will rejoice with a mighty rejoicing at the coming of Messiah the Christ.  

What is the part of this work in all of this? 

It is our part to sow the first seeds of sound doctrine, to restore that which has been lost or forgotten, to reveal that which has been hidden, to expound the New Covenant and to begin the process of preparing the bride for the coming of her LORD!  

It is for this reason that I have labored day in and day out to establish a body of studies through every Word of God, as a foundation for even more studies into sound doctrine. 

Many are being turned to a zeal for the righteousness of godliness even now, while many others are being exposed to these things.   

Later when Jerusalem and Judea are occupied and great trials come upon the tribes of Israel including the Anglo American people, there will be a place that the brethren can go in their extremity, to find the sound doctrine of the Word of God explained and expounded! 

My friends, please understand that the importance of this work is not limited to the present number of visitors, or to whether we have local congregations.  This is the ONLY work which labors in doctrine day by day through every Word of God and teaches these things.  

While I am doing much of the writing you too can have a part in this work through earnest prayers and contributions, and by spreading the word about our sites. 

Please help me help the brethren – with your US tax deductible contributions at the sidebar PayPal – by presenting the sound doctrine of the Word of God.

2^nd Clue: Asher – his bread shall be fat

As for Asher, his BREAD [lechem] shall be FAT [shamen] … (Gen 49:20a, KJV). 

Asher’s FOOD will be RICH … (Gen 49:20a, NIV).

Literally it says that Asher’s bread will be fat. It is noteworthy that bread in England and Holland has the form of a big brick, a loaf. In France they sell the typical French bread, long thin pieces of bread. In Belgium they sell bread in big, round, ‘fat’, loaves.

However, lechem also means food in general, and not just bread. Asher’s food would be rich in content, and it would be plenteous… 

3^rd Clue: Asher – royal dainties

Out of Asher his bread shall be fat, and he shall yield royal DAINTIES (Gen 49:20b).

[Asher] will provide DELICACIES fit for a king (Gen 49:20b, NIV).

This is up to a point a repeat of the fact that Asher’s food would be fat or rich. We think of all the delicacies – fries, mussels, oysters, fish, venison, etc. – served in the Belgian cuisine, but ‘delicacies’ contains much more… 

Belgian Beers

Wikipedia: For a comparatively small country, Belgium produces a very large number of beers in a range of different styles – in fact, it has more distinct types of beer per capita than anywhere else in the world. In 2011, there were 1,132 different varieties of beer being produced in the country… 

Belgian Chocolate

Wikipedia about Belgian chocolate: Belgium is famed for its high quality chocolate and over 2,000 chocolatiers, both small and large…  

Waffles and sweets

There are also Belgian waffles (Brussels, Liège), speculoos, vlaaien (Limburg), sweets, etc. Asher’s food would be rich and he would yield royal dainties. 

Tapestries, lace, comic books

Delicacies or dainties is a translation from ma’adan:

Ma’adan – or (feminine) ma’adannah {mah-ad-an-naw’}; from ‘`adan’ (Strong, 5727); a delicacy or (abstractly) pleasure (adverbially, cheerfully):–dainty, delicately, delight. 

Some writers about the tribes link this with the typical Belgian delicate tapestries (made for royalty!) and with Belgian lace…

Herbert W. Armstrong was sitting at his desk reviewing Plain Truth copy with me. It was either 1978 or 1979. I was serving as managing editor of the Worldwide Church’s flag- ship publication. 

Mr. Armstrong took a personal interest in every word that appeared in it. He then elaborated on his discovery that he could detect similarities between himself and the pontiff: “Brian, I have reserved the setting of all doctrine to myself.”

On another occasion he denied having attended the Feast in Florida. That people were able to produce videotapes of his preaching there didn’t seem to phase him. 

People who are familiar with my writing and speaking are probably familiar with my approach to prophecy. 

I am interested in hearing the prophecy interpretations of people. 

I have no interest in hearing the prophecy interpretations of people who claim to speak for God with their dogmatic proclamations. 

At times I am willing to share my interpretations of prophecy, but I have learned to avoid the mistake of being a dogmatic proclaimer. Every dogmatic proclaimer I have heard (including those among the Church of God) has proven to earn the classification of a false prophet 

That "Only True Church" thing has been the bane of the Churches of God as has "Government from the top down." The New Testament is a Testament to two true churches of God. The Jewish Christian one under Peter, James and John and the Gentile Pauline Church. The Jewish Christian interpretation is what we find in the COG except they try to make Paul one of them too which he isn't and fought hard against. The Gentile Pauline version is just about everything else in all their forms. Galatians 1-2 is a Pauline rant against the Jerusalem Apostles and an authentic letter of Paul. The Book of James is a Jewish Christian rant against Paul's concept of grace with no works found in Paul's also authentic Book of Romans.

The letters to the Seven Churches in Revelation were NEVER conceived as being types of authentic Churches of God 2000 years into the future. "Behold I come quickly" and "To show things which must shortly come to pass" for them back then indicate the failure of Revelation as a prophecy. It's a Jewish Book written to encourage Jewish Christians caught in the fall of Jerusalem . It failed to deliver and the Romans won. No Jesus returned to save them and it was not meant to extend one hour past the fall of the city and destruction of the Temple. Fundamentalist churches have spent the last 200 years making Revelation mean what it never meant and does not mean. 

Without the Book of Revelation the Churches of God would have no message and certainly no motivator like it to join them. Fear sells and it's all made up. Nothing in the Book of Revelation will come to pass as speculated. It was a second Daniel which was written to encourage the Jews to hang in there in the 160's BCE and they lost in the same way.to the Romans. 

I know the pull and power of the Book of Revelation as well as anyone . It barely made the cut into the New Testament Canon. But clearly its time passed and those who read it so dearly in the details will dismiss the opening and closing verses which clearly indicate something had gone terribly wrong with it being inspired or how it all will be. LIke the Apostle Paul, who after years of "soon" had to face the final curtain and wish everyone good luck on their own journey, the Book of Revelation was the swan song of the dying Jewish Church.

On top of that, no human beings know the future . It is not all planned out and all one has to do is read Art Mokarrow's. "God's Puzzle Solved" for the solution to this puzzle. There is no puzzle that needs solving . That makes Bible God a Trickster who is more interested in playing games than informing humans of whatever one thinks their incredible human potential is. 

It doesn't matter where you go to church or even if you do. There is a seat for every butt and a style for every personality. That's why we have so many denominations and while I realize no one ever says they know they attend the false church, the fight over who is the true church is equally as ludicrous and ill informed.

Beware of Misguided Ideas

The Apostle Paul warned, “in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons” (1 Timothy 4:1-4) and that many will not listen to sound doctrine but will prefer to follow their own ideas (2 Timothy 3:1-6; 4:1-4). Paul also warned that critics from within and from outside the Church will try to divide congregations to gain a following (Acts 20:29-31). He pointed out that Satan will try various ways to mislead well-meaning people (2 Corinthians 2:11) who latch onto and begin to spread an idea—that has already been examined and rejected by the Church—in an attempt to influence others (2 Corinthians 11:4-15). While numerous ideas created problems among brethren in the early Church, Paul’s advice was to “Guard what was committed to your trust” (1 Timothy 6:20), “hold fast” to what you have been “taught” (Titus 1:9-11) and “avoid foolish disputes” (Titus 3:9; 1 Timothy 6:3-5). When questions arise over doctrine, the biblical example is to take the issue to the leaders of the Church for a decision (Acts 15:1-31). Nowhere do the Scriptures encourage individuals to take it on themselves to correct or “save” the Church.That is something that Jesus Christ will take care of in His time as He “builds” His Church (Matthew 16:18).

Have a profitable Sabbath,

Douglas S. Winnail

“So and so called and said he left a message a couple of days ago wanting to speak with a minister, has not heard anything yet. [Well, here’s why.] He thinks he is the Antichrist and it is urgent he speaks with someone.”

Now…to get help so he can shift the job to someone else? Or to send us a message? He did note in the 15 minutes that he had schizophrenia in the past; so that’s a tell-tale sign. But the person that was listening, politely interrupted him, said it sounded as if he needed to speak to a minister, and…we’ll have to talk to that woman, one of the ladies who answer the phone. I feel bad for the minister that took that call, but anyway, he said that he would speak to any minister.

So I mention that because one of the things you are seeing in the world…We’re going to come back to this in a different way in just a very few minutes…One of the things that you’re seeing in the world is more demon activity. You should get out of your head the idea that a significant increase, or an increase or even a significant increase of demon activity and the power of the devil will only come when he descends into Jerusalem. It’s been my experience and I knew this would happen and said so a number of months ago, before the devil shows ALL power and signs and lying wonders, you’re going to see him evident across the world.

After all, he is the spirit that works in the children of disobedience and he’s going to begin to do more and more before the big day in his mind, if you will. So we’re going to see more and more of those kinds of things. It’s no doubt why there is more wars, rumors of wars and commotions; why this terrible shooting that occurred in Washington on Wednesday that will change nothing. It didn’t even change the tone for the whole day; never mind that all of the tone of unity and, you know, kumbaya, that everybody was claiming to pursue, was gone by the next day entirely. You see?

So, the prince of the power of the air works on certain people and not just that guy. And when you see terrible fires…where they now estimate over 100 are going to die, when the first reports were only two, in that 27-story Grenfell Tower in London…and so many, many other things, you’re seeing the devil sort of flex his muscles.

Well, one of the ways he would do it with us is emails or phone calls like that one……

So periodically, these moments are helpful, kind of teaching moments I can talk to you about the kinds of things we are dealing with. Here’s kind of an inspiring one though, from a member who wrote something that may benefit all of us, kind of an uplifting, interesting view.

“While listening to your sermon last Sabbath, June 10^th, Part 78, you’re comments on fire provoked thought. I live in southern Arizona. [So I guess the brethren out there will know who I’m talking about.]

“Typically when people think of Arizona, they think desert, but not the area south of Tucson—[I know because my brother-in-law pastored it for two years.]—grasslands, cattle ranches, rocky terrain. We’ve had very little rain this year. It’s been very, very dry. We’ve had a VERY [all caps] high number of grassland fires. More than I can remember in any previous year. Some were (unintentionally) [It says in parentheses.] manmade, and some were the result of lightning.

“Many thousands of acres have been burned. Grazing for cattle, homes, barns [you know] destroyed. I don’t believe any lives have been lost. [That’s good.] As I drive past the recently blackened and ashy fields, I’m reminded how hot, intense and utterly destructive carbon combustion can be, and then just a few miles further down the road where there was a fire a few weeks ago, the grasses are pushing green shoots up through the scorched earth. Life is returning, and when we do get life-giving rain, the hills here will be as green here as they are in Ohio. Well, maybe not quite THAT green [All caps.] Fire purges the dead and the dross, life returns, water encourages growth. I so much more now appreciate biblical fire.”