This week Dave Harris will be giving a sermon entitled Just Like Abraham. Services will begin at 2:30 P.M.CT.

The services can be heard at www.cognetservices.org on the appropriate days, just click on “Connect to Live Stream”.

While we are observing, with horror, the present violent events in the Middle East, we must remember that worse times are ahead of us. Future events will involve the city of Jerusalem. Prophecy paints a dark picture of indescribable suffering, pain and misery for that city and its inhabitants. At the same time, the bible portrays a bright and peaceful future following the soon-coming desolation of Jerusalem — once the Messiah, Jesus Christ, has returned to the Holy City.

The present and immediate future looks grim, and yet, the true disciples of Christ can already see the joy and hope that is in store for this world and the Middle East. God expects His people to fulfill a mission — to announce and to share the good news of the establishment of the Kingdom of God here on earth. They are to proclaim what is soon coming to pass. Listen to these encouraging words for us today, that can be found in the Scriptures of the prophet Isaiah:

“O Zion, You who bring good tidings, Get up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, You who bring good tidings, Lift up your voice with strength, Lift it up, be not afraid; Say to the cities of Judah, ‘Behold your God!'” (Isaiah 40:9).

“How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, Who proclaims peace, Who brings glad tidings of good things, Who proclaims salvation, Who says to Zion, ‘Your God reigns!’ Your watchmen shall lift up their voices, With their voices they shall sing together; For they shall see eye to eye When the LORD brings back Zion.” (Isaiah 52:7-8).

“I have set watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem; They shall never hold their peace day or night. You who make mention of the LORD, do not keep silent, And give Him no rest till He establishes And till He makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth.” (Isaiah 62:6-7).

What a privilege, and what an awesome responsibility it is, to be called by God as one of His watchmen. Let’s all make sure that we are fulfilling our commission and that we are doing what God expects us to do.
 

WORLD NEWS HEADLINES

— CNN: U.N. Security Council votes 15-0 to demand Israel’s withdrawal from Palestinian towns “without delay.”
— Israel: Will comply, “once we achieve what we set out to achieve”

— Der Spiegel (Germany): “Enough is Enough! Dramatic change in the American Middle East Politics. President Bush issued a clear warning towards the government of Israel, and announced a new peace initiative.”

— Der Stern (Germany): “The United States intervene in the Middle East conflict. President George W. Bush announced that Secretary of Sate Colin Powell will travel to the Middle East next week to negotiate a cease-fire.”

— Focus (Germany): “Mr. President changes direction. George Bush has made a surprising appeal to Israel to end the violence and to respect the dignity of the Palestinian people.”

— The Times (UK) reported that Britain welcomes Mr. Bush’s intervention.

— The Jerusalem Post Internet Edition (Israel): “‘Post’ poll: 72% of Israelis for war.”

“Documents: Arafat approved payments to terrorists.”

— LA Times (USA): “Escalation pushes Bush onto a limb.”

— USA Today (USA): “Sharon: Assaults will continue.”
–“Bethlehem under Siege”

— New York Times (USA): “Bush is sending Powell to Middle East to Stop Incursions”
–“Bush says U.S. is to assume stronger role in ending violence”
–“Bush seeks a delicate balance”
–“Palestinians welcome Bush Initiative”
–“Bush wins praise, but Arabs remain wary”
— “Israel continues sweep of cities, taking Hebron”
 

This week Dave Harris and Norbert Link will be giving split-sermons from Colorado. Services will begin at the usual time of 2:30 P.M.CT.

We will also be broadcasting 2 NetServices for the Last Day of Unleavened Bread on April 3rd at 12:00 and 3:30pm Central Time. We hope to see you there!

Just as it happened to Adam and Eve, to the children of Israel and to anyone with whom God is revealing Himself, so-also-has it happened to us. We must make choices of life and death importance!

Today, we call this “free moral agency.”

Always making right choices is a quality of God’s character. Being a Christian and having the approach of Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit is the way in which we take on this same character of God. Hebrews 2:10 speaks of God “bringing many sons to glory”-eternal life in the family of God.

What we face in this process is learning to make right choices. The danger for us lies in making wrong choices. Wrong choices are usually the easy ones. We sugar coat these with justifications such as saying we told a “little white lie”. Oftentimes, we procrastinate instead of really engaging in what is good. This kind of action on our part can easily become a wrong choice.

In Deuteronomy 30, God commands us to choose life. Yet WE must choose!

Christ focused on this critical responsibility we face in Matthew 7 when He warned that the way to destruction was an easy path. However, He went on to reveal that the more difficult path does lead to life.

Just be aware that our choices are the hard ones! Each day we are to make the choice that God has set before us. Let us continue to fight the good fight and do
as God commands-“choose life”.

This week Dave Harris will be speaking about events in the life of King Hezekiah of Judah. The sermon, entitled “Deeds of Faithfulness,” will begin at 2:30 P.M. in the Central Time Zone.

We have posted the Net Service schedule for the next two Holy Days and the weekly Sabbath in between. We will be broadcasting TWO services on EACH Holy Day. Edwin Pope, Norbert Link and Dave Harris will be speaking on the meaning of the Holy Days and issues related thereto.

Well, brethren, the Days of Unleavened Bread are upon us. The feast of Passover begins at sundown on Tuesday, March 26, and ULB begins 24 hours later. These days picture our coming out of sin. We know that “Sin is the transgression of the law.” (I John 3:4) God’s law is the law of “Love,” and is defined by the Ten Commandments.

But Christ tells us (Mark 7: 20-22) “What comes out of a man, that defiles the man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these things come from within and defile a man.”

The problem, then, begins in the mind. Notice (James 1: 14-15) “But each one is tempted when he is drawn away and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.” Thus, it is in the mind where we must begin in our effort to come out of sin.

So it is temptation that we must concentrate on, brethren. Temptation begins in the mind. Temptation begins with the things we think about, things we contemplate in our minds. It is here where the lusts of the flesh are conceived. And it is here where sin is born.

And we know this requires that God’s Spirit be in our minds, if we will ever be able to overcome the lust of the flesh. Once we have God’s Spirit, we have a fighting chance to do this. We must utilize that Spirit which God gives us at baptism, through the laying on of hands of the ministry, after we have repented of our past sins. (I Tim 4: 14) We must, then, change the way that we do things “…that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” (Rom 8: 4)

How do we do that?

We must fill our minds with thoughts of God’s Way of Life. “Set your mind on things above, not on things of the earth.” (Col 3: 2) To do this we must be drinking in of God’s Truths from His Word, the Holy Bible. We must meditate on these things and make them so much a part of our lives that when we do begin to go off in our minds from God’s thoughts, from His Ways, we immediately replace those thoughts with God’s Truth, thus thwarting Satan’s effort to see us go contrary to God’s Way.

We must remember, brethren, to hold fast to that which we have been given, that no man (including ourselves) steal our crown.

WORLD NEWS

–As the world’s focus continues to center on the Middle East, momentous events that were virtually unthinkable in the recent past are now falling into place. A Vatican news source on the Internet reviewed comments from Rabbi Michael Melchior, Israeli Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs and leader of the Meimad religious party in Israel. What he sought from the Pope was the Vatican’s support.

Behind the scenes, the Vatican has welded worldwide cooperation among this world’s major faiths. There is a kind of “position paper” on every major issue–the two Koreas, Russian religious freedom, wars and their resolution, etc. Although the recent scandals involving Catholic priests in America have drawn the attention and comments of the Catholic hierarchy, they portray these scandals as an American issue–one that is merely an outgrowth of society. Calls for a change in celibacy rules for priests have not penetrated the entrenched traditions that currently hold sway.

We now see the “need” for a stabilizing force in the Israeli-Arab debacle. Once again, American troops are being suggested. However, the more likely influence will begin to flow from Europe and the Pope as he exercises his unmistakable stature and global influence. It appears that the Jews must yield to outside help in the search for a peaceful approach or lose their hard fought respect among the world’s nations.

— The European Union made clear that they will seek compensation for President Bush’s tariffs on foreign steel. The EU is supported in this by Japan, Brazil and Australia. The EU claims that they will incur losses of $2 billion annually over the three year life of the tariffs, according to an article in Yahoo! News of March 16.

— President Bush defended a politically charged Pentagon proposal (Nuclear Posture Review, NPR) to create new types of nuclear weapons and expand the nation’s list of potential nuclear targets, according to an article in the Los Angeles Times of March 14.

— The Times in Great Britain reported on March 18 that former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher published a new book, advocating that “Britain must start to quit EU.” Mrs. Thatcher wrote that most of the problems that the world has faced, including Nazism and Marxism, have come from mainland Europe. The Times continued, “Lady Thatcher stops short of calling for a total withdrawal from Europe, preferring to retain some existing arrangements while opting out of ‘present and future mechanisms which harm our interests or restrict our freedom of action.'”

Edwin Pope will be discussing the important principles to be used in coming out of sin. This seasonally appropriate Sermon will be broadcast this coming Sabbath day (March 16th at 2:30pm CT).

With the trials that we have been facing lately in our little group it sometimes gets a bit discouraging. Well the truth is Christ said with “much tribulation ” we enter into the kingdom. This should sharpen our senses as to what lies in the future but we can be encouraged by the fact that individually or collectively we are never tried beyond our capacity to endure those trials. If we learn nothing else other than to endure through the tough times patiently, we have done well. At the end of His life Christ took all the punishment patiently, without complaining, looking beyond the pain to the Glory after His resurrection. We have not struggled to blood, at least not at this time. Lets hope in the future if we do we can follow Christ’s example of looking beyond the present trial. Just like a woman in labor quickly forgets the pain when she sees the child she has brought into the world and is filled with joy. I leave you with the same message God gave to Joshua prior to entering the Promised Land. Let’s be strong and of good courage, the one who is for us is far greater in every capacity than the one who is against us.

WORLD NEWS HEADLINES

Gay Priests
Recent revelations of pedophilia in Boston and Florida by priests have shocked North American Catholics. Over seventy million people are adherents to the Catholic religion in this part of the world. Now a pall of doubt has settled on many practitioners as details of gross misconduct between priests and young males in their local churches appears in the headlines of national publications.

The Vatican has responded by stating that gay men should not be ordained to the priesthood. However, reports have surfaced regarding whole sub-communities of gays within the priesthood.

The financial implications are staggering. It is estimated that the cost to settle the current cases will exceed $100 million dollars. These payments do not address the real problem of homosexual behavior that has sadly been kept under wraps by the Catholic Church. Short of public disclosure, the church has been many times merely transferring problem priests to other areas–only to have the same problems repeated.

In cannot be doubted that the teaching of mandatory celebacy for the priesthood has been a contributing factor to the problems that have now been made manifest (Cp. 1 Timothy 4:3, where Paul does not approve of those who hold doctrines which include “forbidding to marry.”)