In the early summer of this year, the UK experienced some of the worst floods that this small island had ever seen. After a very warm start to the summer, the British did not realize what was just around the corner. Many people lost their homes, and many others had much damage to their properties.

Very recently, terrible fires have engulfed parts of the general San Diego and Malibu areas in Southern California, apparently–according to some reports–the worst on record. Once again, people were going about their daily business, not realizing what was just around the corner. Many have, again, lost their homes, and others will be living with the consequences of this disaster for a long time to come.  

In these two examples, floods and fire have been the cause with all the attendant problems that they bring in their wake. People were living normal lives in New York until 9/11 happened. Those living in that area had no idea of the coming calamity. And in many other areas of the world, serious problems have arisen that were just not foreseen, but were just around the corner, waiting to happen.

On a smaller scale, but no less importantly, are those events that happen unexpectedly in our own personal lives. One day we can be going along just fine and then, just around the corner, things can happen that turn our world upside down. How do we react? How do we cope? We have to make sure that we have a solid foundation (Matthew 7:24). We have to resolve that no matter what life has to throw at us, we will remain loyal to God and His way–being convinced that God knows what is best for us and will not allow us to be examined or tested beyond what we are able to bear (1 Corinthians 10:13).

Whatever lies ahead should not cause us to falter, because God wants us to win and make it into His Kingdom. Let us never forget what a marvelous future God has in store for those of us who come through all the tests and trials that we experience, many of which may still be just around the corner!

A new field of genetics called “Epigenetics” has been gaining attention due to recent findings. These studies, according to some scientists, show a link between environment, health and habits of humans and its impact on future generations. A Washington State researcher found that toxins given to rats affected their offspring four generations later. A Swedish study looking at historical records showed that the lifespan of grandchildren was influenced by their grandparents’ access to food and climate conditions.

Mark Mehler, Professor of Neurology at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, speaking on this new field of study said, “It’s another level … of explaining the biological complexity of life.” Another researcher by the name of Pembrey said, “[Epigenetics] is changing the way we think about inheritance forever.”

God said, “…For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me” (Deuteronomy 5:9).

It’s thrilling to see science prove God’s Laws, validating what we already know from the Bible. But do we allow mankind’s “wisdom” to be laid as the cornerstone of our spiritual foundations? Does man’s knowledge sometimes shake what we had faith in before?

Paul stated, “…your faith should NOT be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God” (1 Corinthians 2:5). He later says to “Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and NOT according to Christ” (Colossians 2:8).

As gripping as scientific proof of God’s fundamentals might be, we are exhorted not to rely on them as our foundation of understanding. Israel, having seen the wonders of God, eventually relied on their own interpretation of Who God was and worshipped Him as a golden calf. It is essential in this Godless era, that we continually stay rooted with Him. Only then can we really explain the real purpose of life.

Most of us have returned from what can only be described as one of the most successful and inspiring Feasts of Tabernacles. Ironically, we now have a long period ahead of us, before we have the opportunity to celebrate another festival in the Spring of 2008–which is about six months away. I don’t think for a moment, of course, that God made a mistake in allowing for such a long period of time between the Fall and the Spring Festivals. The Feast of Tabernacles is seven days long, followed by the Last Great Day–and so, we have had eight days of sermonettes, split sermons, sermons, fellowship and activities shared by all–and our memory and digestion of these events should last us until the Spring.

Now, consider this: The Feast of Tabernacles is kept for SEVEN days; the Fall Holy Days complete the SEVEN annual Holy Days; SEVEN is the number of completion; and–to stay within that picture–the Feast of Tabernacles is immediately followed by another day, going even “beyond” completion! We must therefore conclude from all these facts that God knows that the spiritual food which we received during the eight days of the last two Fall festivals, and the spiritual food which we will be receiving on a weekly basis during the SEVENTH-Day-Sabbath–is more than sufficient to last us until the annual Spring Holy Days; otherwise, God would have created additional festivals in the middle of that time frame.

We all should be able to appreciate the wonderful opportunities and privilege we have had to come before our God to learn to fear Him, as outlined in Deuteronomy 14:23. This fear is not one of dread and trepidation, but rather one of awe, respect and appreciation for our Great God. God has given us these annual Festivals both to rejoice and to learn to love, respect and obey Him. We have been given sufficient spiritual food to carry us forward to the Spring–and we should take advantage of every opportunity we are given to add to that spiritual food by drinking in the messages prepared for us on the weekly Sabbath. With that frame of mind, we can with anticipation look forward to the Spring when we shall once again begin the cycle of celebrating God’s annual Holy Days–reflecting on the process of the initial aspects of God’s master plan for mankind.

As we discuss in our new member letter in much more detail, we should not get the blues, become depressed, or let down during the following months, but rather use them as opportunities to meditate on and review the messages God has inspired the speakers to bring forth for us, and participate to the best of our ability to accomplish our individual and collective responsibilities as Christians and as members of the Church.

“A man cannot be a little virtuous, a little pure, a little true, a little honest.” This comes from an unsigned article written in 1896.  By thinking on each of these we can see that by definition we need to have all these qualities all the time to be considered virtuous, pure, true and honest.

To be dishonest only on a part-time basis will earn us a reputation as being dishonest, not as being a little honest.  In fact, to be called a little honest would surely be seen as making a statement to the contrary.

When we live God’s way, we are not to strive in partial measures, but rather, as mentioned in Ephesians 3:19, we are to “be filled with all the fullness of God.”  Can we totally and completely comprehend this?  It is not a fractional aspect of the Way of God, but it is the replete and exhaustive works that we are to live up to… each to our own capacity.

As usual, we are to follow the example of Christ Who did live up to the prescribed potential (compare Colossians 2:9).  We are to be heading in the same direction to the best of our ability.  So how do we attain this moral fullness? Well… that would fill a book… the size of the Bible.

Hand-eye coordination defines the greatest of athletes in certain sports. For instance, the ability of a batter to see the ball thrown by a baseball pitcher and then hit it consistently has become the stuff of legends.

The split second reaction time of superior athletes in tennis, soccer or any number of other sports is humbling for those of us who are merely capable of being spectators.

But each one of us is called upon to make spontaneous responses in our everyday lives! Not the kind of thing an athlete does; rather, we are confronted with the necessity to choose what we THINK, what we SAY and what we DO!

It all kind of boils down to this: Do we “give as good as we get,” or do we practice what Jesus Christ taught us to do? We really aren’t growing the way we should if we still erupt in foul language; if we try to avenge every slight; if we continue to speak and act before we think it through.

So you see, we Christians have to be concerned with our own reaction times, because this illuminates our progress in conversion. Try taking on an area of your own life in which you know your “reaction time” is faltering. Don’t ignore it—work on it, and ask God to help you overcome your weakness.

In the final analysis, overcoming and doing it right is what our reaction time is all about!

In less than ten days, we will keep the Day of Atonement, and a few days later, the Feast of Tabernacles 2007! Where did the year go since last Feast? How fast everything is passing us by! And, at the same time, how familiar might everything have become to us–especially if we have been “in the Church” for twenty, thirty or forty years, or even longer. As the old saying goes, “Familiarity breeds contempt!” In Old Testament times, people would refer to their prescribed service to God as “weariness” (Malachi 1:13).

In recent years, many who seemed to have understood and embraced the truth, “jumped” off the “peace train” of righteousness and climbed instead on the deceptive “bandwagon” of “the easy ride.” And what an “easy ride” it seemed to be: No more requirement to keep the Sabbath; no more need to observe the Holy Days; no more tithing and giving offerings; no more abstention from unclean foods. A sigh of “relief” was heard around the land and around the world, and the new-found “freedom” was quickly embraced by so many. It was as if they were saying the words of kings and rulers, as recorded in Psalm 2, who took council against the Lord and His Anointed, and exclaimed: “Let us break Their bonds in pieces And cast away Their cords from us” (verse 3). In other words, let’s get rid of His laws and statutes, and adopt the “freedom” of licentiousness–after all, Christ loves us as we are, and He would not want us to follow the legalism of obeying Him, would He?

My dear brethren, all of this DID happen. It happened so quickly to terribly deceived people who would have NEVER thought earlier that they would end up where they did! Some of them had condemned others in the past for not following their rigid self-invented Pharisaical rules of “obeying” their concepts and perceptions of God’s instructions. They were unbalanced then, and they are unbalanced now–to put it mildly–just having exchanged the mantle of right-winged extremism for that of left-winged extremism.

God’s Spirit is a Spirit of a “sound” mind (2 Timothy 1:7), but God told us thousands of years ago, that there is no “soundness” in the people of Israel (Isaiah 1:5)–and this would include those who THOUGHT they had been converted. God gave us this warning: “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light and light for darkness; Who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!” (Isaiah 5:20). Even “teachers of the Law” began to proclaim that it was EVIL to keep God’s Ten Commandments, and that it was GOOD to break them! They taught others that walking in darkness–trampling God’s Sabbath under foot (Isaiah 58:13-14)–had suddenly become a way of “light” in the eyes of God.

This should serve as a warning for all of us, not to become over-confident. We are told to beware, as many who THINK they stand MIGHT VERY WELL still fall (compare 1 Corinthians 10:12)! NOW is the time to make our calling and election sure (2 Peter 1:10)– to get ready for the return of Christ (Revelation 19:7). Now is the time to prove to God out of what metal we are made. NOW is the time to look with zeal, enthusiasm and anticipation toward weekly and annual Sabbath services–expecting to be filled to the brim with God’s gracious gifts of spiritual and physical blessings. NOW is the time to do everything we can, to make this coming Feast of Tabernacles the BEST FEAST EVER–for us AND for our brethren.

Now is NOT the time to let down, to become lackadaisical, to begin to forsake assembling with our brethren on the Sabbath or the Holy Days–finding more thrilling things to do on the Sabbath–at home, or in “God’s free nature,” or with friends or relatives (Hebrews 10:25). Now is NOT the time to find excuses for not attending the Feast–excuses like, it’s too far, it’s too expensive, it’s just too much of an inconvenience, or, “I have heard it all before, anyway!”

Does anyone who knows the truth really think that ANY of those or other excuses will impress God who has ordered us to assemble before Him at the place that He has chosen, for eight days?

God says, “If anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him” (Hebrews 10:38). And even if we attend God’s commanded assemblies, unless we do so with gladness of heart, God will have no pleasure in us, either (compare Deuteronomy 28:47; 12:7).

Our salvation has drawn much nearer than when we came to the faith (Romans 13:11). And Christ will not tarry–He will come quickly–and SOON (Revelation 22:12). How foolish if we were to give up before entering just the last round–as it were–of the boxing match! As one well-known poem puts it: “Don’t give up though the pace seems slow–You may succeed with another blow… And you never can tell how close you are, It may be near when it seems so far, So stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit–It’s when things seem worst that you must not quit!”

Things in this world will get worse–which is just proof that Christ’s return is NEAR. And so, God warns us not to quit–rather, He tells us: “Behold, I am coming quickly! Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown!” (Revelation 3:11).

Recently, the now defunct cricket team that I used to play for, had a reunion match, and I was invited to play. Many of us had not seen each other for many years, and a friendly match was arranged against a local team. As we batted first, I was asked to open the batting and was going along nicely, until I pulled hamstrings in both legs–at the same time! This shouldn’t have come as a shock as I am now 67 and hadn’t played for about seven years, and so it was almost inevitable that lack of such activity coupled with age might present a few physical difficulties. And so it turned out to be. Apart from the hamstring problems, I discovered (not unreasonably) that I was not quite as quick at running as I expected to be, or used to be–something that playing against some youngsters about half a century younger than I clearly illustrated! This wonderful body that God has given us does wear away with age!

It got me to thinking about the restrictions that age can bring and that the Feast of Trumpets that we will keep in just about one week will not only be the joyous time of Christ’s return, but it will also be the time when faithful and loyal members of God’s Church will be instantly changed to spirit beings (1 Corinthians 15:51-52). It will be a time when our mortal bodies will put on immortality, and when we will have all of the restrictions removed that an earthly body imposes on us. No more pulled hamstrings; no more getting out of breath after some physical activity; and no more aches, pains, diseases and general ill health.

I look forward to my next game of cricket, probably next year, which will, no doubt, have the possibility of the body failing again in some way, but I look forward much more, as we all surely do, to the fulfillment of the next Feast day that we will soon be celebrating. That will be a time when all physical restrictions will be removed as we look forward to an eternity with God. What a future!

We make many decisions every day.  If we stop and think for a moment, we probably make hundreds or even more, on a daily basis.  Most of them quite banal, but nonetheless choices that have to be made.  The number of critical decisions that we make each day is considerably less, in comparison.  And what about life and death decisions–how many of these do we make a day?

Believe it or not, we probably make quite a few of these determinations each and every day, though we do not often couch them in these terms–decisions when and where to walk across a street; whether or not to run a yellow light; how high to climb a ladder; and the list goes on. 

Often, without taking stock of the potential consequences, we put ourselves in physical danger where mortal death is a real possibility.

The real question though is, how frequently are we in spiritual harm’s way?  The answer again is, probably more often than we think.  Are we tempted to “stretch the truth” in our conversations; do we put materialism or our own desires ahead of God; or do we steal time from our employer? We might think of any one of a myriad of other infractions.

Often, without taking stock of the potential consequences, we put ourselves in spiritual danger where eternal death is a real possibility.

As Christians, we know that the penalty for unrepented sin is everlasting death.  NOW is the time to be choosing wisely.  We need to let God know that we are willing to present ourselves as living sacrifices–to lay down our lives daily for His Way. 

God has set two ways before us: blessing and cursing; good and evil; life and death. Therefore, let us choose blessing, good… and LIFE!

Most of us have appreciated during our travels beautiful natural lakes in various parts of the world, which are a product of the Creator God. We have marveled at the splendor of the color of the water, especially of those glacier lakes, and we have been awed by their beauty and their natural surroundings. Most of us have also seen man-made lakes, which are not so awesome, because they came into existence, perhaps, as a result of the building of dams or other man-made projects. The beaches of those lakes are not as nice, and the bottoms are usually filled with stumps from trees that have been cut off. The fish have been added. All of this shows that we cannot improve on perfection.

The same could be said about the seventh-day Sabbath. The Sabbath was a part of God’s perfect creation, established at the re-creation of the surface of the earth, as well as the creation of man, close to six thousand years ago. Christ said  in Mark 2:27: “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.”  The Sabbath is an opportunity to rest from our labors, to worship our Creator,  and to appreciate His creation.

Some have abandoned the Sabbath and replaced it with Sunday, or they have never understood that the Sabbath is the designated day by God Almighty. Sunday is a product of man–not God. It was adopted by the churches of this world as if they could somehow improve on perfection. But they cannot!

The question is, why would we reject perfection and settle for the imperfect? Why would we want to worship our Creator with a man-made product, rather than a God-made product?

Which, do you suppose, is inferior–that which is created by God, or that which was established by man, without the advice of or blessing from God? Which, do you suppose, is superior–that which was created by God or that which was substituted by man?

Here is the real issue: Are we going to follow the traditions of man or the explicit inductions of the Creator God? God made the Sabbath for man–not Sunday. While the Sabbath reflects God’s perfection, Sunday is nothing else but a man-made tradition–a cheap substitute inspired by none other than the god of this world–Satan the devil.

All of us need to answer consistently the following question: Is our worship based on man-made or God-made injunctions? Is it based on God’s perfect law, or on man’s imperfect standards? The choice to do right is ours!

Would you say that God is happy with the progress we have made over the years since we were called and baptized?  This is as good a time as any for us to examine ourselves even more diligently as we approach Christ’s return and the dawn of His and our rule over this earth in the “Millennium.” We must do this to be certain that our spiritual progress is not falling behind, because, most importantly, it is on the basis of that progress we shall be judged and rewarded accordingly.

When we first took up a job in the early years of our working career, the manager would occasionally check up on us to see if we were making any progress. A word of encouragement, and some extra help now and then in getting over any problems we may have encountered would eventually secure our position. Conversely, if we neglected our responsibilities or settled back into a lackadaisical mood we would most likely have found ourselves without that job. And so it is with our spiritual endeavors. We cannot afford to become lethargic.

There are, of course, a number of areas where we are expected to make progress. What about “redeeming the time, because the days are evil” (Ephesians 5:15-16)? And we can say that again! “Redeeming the time” might include, perhaps, restoring lost effort as a result of our inaction or neglect in serving the Work of God and in our relationship with the brethren.

What about daily prayer? Have we been remiss in this most vital area?  And are we keeping the Ten Commandments—all of them? We  understand, of course, that it is impossible for any one of us to keep consistently all of the Ten Commandments, even though we eagerly desire to do so, without the help of the Holy Spirit. And certainly I speak from experience. You won’t see a halo over my head! Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, was well aware of this enigma when he told us that what he should not do, he did, and what he should have done, he didn’t. We all have that sort of problem from time to time, for none of us is perfect. But being less than perfect is no excuse for being less than enthusiastic in following through with our baptismal commitment, and that entails consistent spiritual progress in keeping God’s Law more and more perfectly.

This term “progress” in our case can be directly related to “bearing fruit,” and Christ warns us that those who do not bear fruit, He takes away; and that those who do bear fruit, He prunes (compare John 15:2). Sometimes that pruning takes the form of Godly chastisement or correction. Most of us have experienced that over the years.

Another facet of making progress in our spiritual life is to examine ourselves whether we are [still] in the faith unless we become disqualified (compare 2 Corinthians 13:5). That faith, of course, comes through Jesus Christ. In fact, it is the faith OF Christ that must dwell in us. To be “in the faith” is to give ourselves over completely to the way God wants us to be.

There is no other acceptable alternative for us than to “stick with it”—to progress spiritually, if we hope to make it into the Kingdom. And we cannot—must not—afford to be sanctimonious in the sense that “we’ve made it and we can just sit back and wait for Christ’s return.” Some have fallen into that trap and they are no longer members of God’s Church–the Body of Christ.

We are all expected by God, and rightfully so, to make the effort to grow spiritually in the process of acquiring holy righteous character—the supreme purpose of God calling us. Otherwise, why are we here in the Body of Christ? God has tremendous blessings in mind for each one of us who “endure to the end” through the trials which confront us from time to time–trials that test our spiritual progress as well as the genuineness of our faith.

As Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 15:58: “…be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labour [your spiritual progress] is not in vain in the Lord.”  The Millennium waits for us, and we owe it to God and to ourselves to manifest that progress while we look forward to an everlasting future as Kings, Priests and Judges in God’s soon-coming Kingdom.