In my last editorial on March 19th 2021 in Update 965, I wrote a piece entitled “Free Speech or No Free Speech, That Is the Question!” One of the problems concerned with speech that many seem to have is that of taking offence.   Any trivial or trifling “slight” seems, with some, to cause hostility, agitation, upset, distress or concern.   Thus, we have the attempt by some in society to try and remove any possible offence, often by the most extraordinary means.   Try this one: A local councillor wants Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council (in the UK) to ditch masculine and feminine terms, because she thinks they are “unnecessary and inaccurate.”   She said that a move to “Mx” is more of a general term that could replace Mr, Mrs or Miss.  Why? The answer given was that “we are just doing our best to avoid any offence.” There are many more examples that would fit into the same category of absurdity as the example given above. Of course, the Bible tells us not to give or take offence.  “Give no offense, either to the Jews or to the Greeks or to the church of God” (1 Corinthians 10:32) – see also […]

During our regular Bible study, we might come across a Scriptural passage which might at first sight be difficult to understand, requiring further scrutiny, research, prayer and meditation. Peter said at one time that Paul wrote “some things [which] are hard to understand” (2 Peter 3:16). He warned against twisting those Scriptures to one’s own destruction. One fundamental principle to always keep in mind is that the Bible never contradicts itself. Another principle is that God reveals His Truth “line upon line, line upon line, Here a little, there a little” (Isaiah 28:10). One of these passages which I recently concentrated on is Malachi 1:11, which says: “‘For from the rising of the sun, even to its going down, My name shall be great among the Gentiles; In every place incense shall be offered to My name, And a pure offering; For My name shall be great among the nations,’ says the LORD of hosts.” I wondered: Does this passage tell us that in the Millennium or even before, Israelites and Gentiles will bring incense and animal sacrifices and offerings to God wherever they want to, “in every place,” and that God will accept such religious worship? If so, then […]

Throughout the Bible, we see how God deals with situations in various ways, and He makes it clear that His Law still stands and that He wants us to abide by it.  There are examples where He boldly proclaims His laws and judgments; and when He wants to get His point across, it becomes quite evident that His Will is being done. When He has a purpose for you and me, He will be there to guide us, to test us, and to make us realize what His intentions are for our future.  Just as God is bold, we are to be the same when it comes to His Law, when the situation calls for it.  We are not to be shy in what we believe; we must not be unsteady, doubtful and fearful about what others may think, wavering when being asked about our beliefs. Rather, we are to use our voice with conviction, with confidence, and with boldness. Of course, we should be mindful of the situation in what we say and to whom we say it. Christ, for example, always had the perfect response in every situation He was in.  He knew what to say and when to say it, when to be bold and when to be […]

When looking at the Sacrifice of Christ from an analytical point of view, we come to the conclusion as to how complete it was, covering every base as it were. Blood, the lifeline of any human being, was shed for our sins to be forgiven. Life is in the blood, it is the human common denominator, and loss of it leads to death. Christ could have chosen a more pleasant way to die, but He did not for a reason. The one thing which cannot be said to Him is: “I suffered more than You.” We have all gone through painful experiences. For some women it is very painful to have a child, and for all of us passing a kidney stone is very painful also. Crushing-type injuries are particularly painful. But none of us has been beaten, punched in the face, slapped, scourged (from which, in many cases, the tortured person died with the subsequent loss of blood), hung on a stake for six hours and then being speared in the side to finish us off. Why go through so much physical suffering? A spear through the heart, without the previous excruciating pain, would have been quick and just […]

In one way or another, most Americans celebrated Easter this year. Around the world, Easter was observed by close to one-hundred nations. By contrast, the Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread figured prominently in just one country—the nation of Israel. While various religious organizations lead the way in Easter observance, only a precious few keep the commanded Holy Days of God falling in this time of the year—those who are members of the True Church of God. Freely, it is admitted that Easter has been adopted from abject paganism. Yet, people who could and certainly should know better call this a “Christian observance.” But this is nothing less than the proverbial attempt of putting lipstick on a pig and calling it pretty. Making up how God is worshipped is rejected by God, and He condemns those who do so! God expressed His contempt to ancient Israel and Judah for their pagan worship practices—and His warnings apply today: “‘Your New Moons and your appointed feasts My soul hates; They are a trouble to Me, I am weary of bearing them’” (Isaiah 1:14); and, “‘I hate, I despise your feast days, And I do not savor your sacred assemblies’” (Amos 5:21). Unless […]

We live in an age where truth is very difficult to find. In many cases it is considered to be relative depending on who is speaking and especially when politicians are involved. There is a reminder of this in John 18:38 when Pilate, who was well known to be very political, asked the question, probably sarcastically, “What is truth?” In actual fact, the truth was standing in front of him as Jesus Christ is the truth (John 14:6). In some cases, for an educator even to state an obvious truth like the fact that some races generally perform better in education than others can risk that person losing their job. The fact that it may well be true does not matter. Even to agree with such a statement can be dangerous for one’s employment. And this is only one example; there are many others where it is safer to stay quiet than to reject an obvious untruth. In some countries, even quoting certain parts of the Bible is considered hate speech and can be punished by law. This is causing truth to be suppressed at times due to fear. And yet, God explains what He thinks about truth and lying […]

In the sermon from last Sabbath by Dave Harris, “God-Who-Forgives”, something was stated at the end that was of fundamental importance. I have thought about this before, but it really stood out in light of the upcoming Passover, the Night to be Much Observed and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. The thought that stood out was this: “ We (that would include all of us who heard the sermon and who read this Editorial, including myself) can affect the whole world by HOW we repent.” That is truly mind-blowing. We, the poor, the weak, whatever we consider ourselves to be, have the power to help the world NOW. 2 Peter 3:10-14 states in the New International Version: “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare. Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the […]

In the Current Events section of our weekly Update no. 961 on February 19th 2021, there was an item headed “Black List for LGBT-‘Hate’ Groups,” which included the following comments: “C-Fam wrote on February 12: “‘The UN rights office is collecting the names of anyone who opposes the LGBT agenda in any way. Politicians, religious leaders, and organizations from around the world who defend life and family will likely be put on a blacklist by the UN office for human rights. The drastic new measure may be used to impose sanctions on pro-family advocates and expose them to terrorist attacks… “‘In the broadly worded prompt, the UN rights office asks for examples of “public expressions or statements by political and/or religious leaders” who challenge LGBT rights… The UN rights office is especially focused on religions of pro-life and pro-family groups. It asks for any “examples where the concept of gender has been used in religious narratives or narratives of tradition, traditional values or protection of the family” in opposition to new LGBT laws and policies.’” This was interesting as I had been reading a book entitled “Trigger Warning – Is the Fear of Being Offensive Killing Free Speech?,” where the author, Mick Hume, […]

Those of us who are members of the Church of God made an important decision in our lives, when we decided to become a part of God’s Church, to become a part of Christ, His spiritual Body, knowing that we must live differently than the rest of the world, as we would be set apart from the world—which involves our commitment. This is our pledge, our dedication. So, when we commit ourselves to do something, we have to follow through, or else we could be considered dishonest, and even unreliable.  Once we say yes, we have to do it, unless circumstances are different and a change is justified.  Christ said in Matthew 5:37 to let our yes be yes and our no be no. We all have goals in life to which we are committed. If there is something we are trying to pursue and are serious about it, do we keep trying or will we give up soon after we have started?  But we also go through trial and error. If something is not working out the way we want it to, it may be that God is trying to tell us something, perhaps teaching us a lesson, and […]

With everything going on in the world and with every day bringing some new development, usually in a negative way, we have to wonder how long this madness is going to go on. With the event of Donald Trump vacating the White House, for some of us who held the belief that it all was going to end in 1975, it brings back memories of the goalpost being moved. It appeared like there was going to be a second term for Mr. Trump beginning in 2021 and that he would during that term be somehow involved with the building of the temple in Jerusalem which would usher in events leading up to the great tribulation and the return of Christ after the tribulation. All of that appears now to be pushed sometime into the future, and can lead some of us to be somewhat rattled at the prospect of things going on for several more years. I recall that in 1971, during a ministerial visit, we told the minister we were planning to buy a house. His response was, “Why bother, we are fleeing next year,” to which I responded, “We will just have to sell it when the time […]