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Dear Brethren and Friends,

As we return to our daily activities and begin to face the season ahead, having enjoyed immensely the fall festivals, we now must endure these next five months before the spring festivals begin and, we must not let down in our pursuit of God’s Way in our lives. Our purpose must continually be in the forefront of our thoughts, which purpose is to see God’s Kingdom established on this earth and our part in it.

Church doctrine remains critical to God’s Way of life, yet so many seem to have abandoned the teachings we have received. Eternal life hinges on sound doctrine as outlined in God’s Word. We must prove these things to ourselves over and over and we must reject anything that contradicts these truths.

Paul addresses these things in his two epistles written to the young evangelist, Timothy. Paul cautioned Timothy to be certain those under him were not teaching contrary to the doctrine as he had been taught (1 Timothy 1:3ñ4). He continued this line of thinking in 2 Timothy 3:1ñ5, where he stated that at the end time (our time today) there would be those in the Church who would go contrary to these teachings and would cause much trouble for the people of God.

Continue reading "Letter to the Brethren – November 6, 2003"

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Dear Brethren and Friends,

In this third and final season of the dramatic master plan of God as revealed in His commanded Holy Days, we will soon be assembling together to observe these deeply meaningful annual Feasts. This is a time when we as brethren appear before God with both an attitude reflecting the seriousness as well as the joyous aspects of what lies ahead for all of humanity.

In particular, this is a very special time for Church members to come together in unity. As never before, this world is divided. In Matthew 24 Jesus prophesied of this time in which deception would reign and in which there would be wars, famines, pestilences and earthquakes. He also warned of betrayal and persecution for those who believed in and followed Him. Just as we now see, truth is overwhelmed and violence among men and even in nature is the order of the day—all things that will increase more and more in the days immediately ahead. Obviously, we are all in one way or the other touched by these things.

Continue reading "Letter to the Brethren – September 29, 2003"

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Dear Brethren,

We are all looking forward with anticipation as the time for the Feast of Tabernacles rapidly approaches. Even before the Feast, which is just five weeks away, come the Feast of Trumpets and the Day of Atonement.

These two days, which we observe annually based upon the instruction and command of the Eternal God, picture very important events we commemorate each year at the appointed times for our edification.

The Feast of Trumpets, of course, portrays the very return of Jesus Christ to the earth for the purpose of establishing the Kingdom of God here on earth and to save mankind from total destruction. Today, conditions on earth are totally contrary to what God desires for mankind. Yet, conditions will continue to worsen before the return of Christ. Then, there will come a point when God will determine that the time has come when Christ must intervene to stop man from destroying himself completely!

Continue reading "Letter to the Brethren – September 5, 2003"

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Dear Brethren:

When we look around us, we can tell that Christ’s return is near. Prophetic end-time events, that have been written about thousands of years ago in the pages of the Bible, are beginning to unfold. We know, for instance, that there is going to be one last resurrection of the “Holy Roman Empire,” consisting of ten European “core nations” that will give their power and authority to an influential military leader, called in prophecy “the beast” (Revelation 17:12–13), the “king of the North” (Daniel 11:40), or “King Jareb of Assyria” (Hosea 5:13). This “beast” will be supported by a religious leader, referred to as “the false prophet” (Revelation 19:20), the “little horn” (Daniel 7:8), “the man of sin” (2 Thessalonians 2:3), or “a woman sitting on a scarlet beast” (Revelation 17:3). We are told that this last resurgence of the “Holy Roman Empire,” that will be hostile toward the modern tribes of the houses of Israel and Judah, will only “continue a short time” (Revelation 17:10). In fact, these ten core nations and their leaders will “receive authority for one hour with the beast” (v. 12). Other Scriptures, such as Daniel 7:23–25, indicate that they will exert their full power for three-and-a-half years.

Continue reading "Letter to the Brethren – August 5, 2003"

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Dear Brethren, Co-workers and Friends,

As we come to the end of the second full year for the Church of the Eternal God, we have so many blessings for which to be thankful. It is surely amazing how rapidly time has gone by and how much has been accomplished during this short time span. God has been merciful to us as a group, and we are also very grateful for your unswerving loyal support as we continue to jointly serve our God and those of His people who have decided to look toward us for guidance.

God, of course, has given us many words of encouragement which have helped us to move forward in spite of unforeseen trials. David wrote in Psalm 34:19, “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, But the LORD delivers him out of them all.” As long as we continue in the fundamental truths God has revealed to us, and we remain loyal to God’s Way as outlined in His Word, The Holy Bible, God will continue to be with us.

Continue reading "Letter to the Brethren – June 30, 2003"

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Dear Brethren, Co-workers and Friends,

In just under two weeks time, we will be celebrating the Feast of Pentecost. We have understood for decades that out of all the billions of people alive, only a tiny minority has had the priceless privilege of being called today into God’s true Church. We understand, of course, that this is not the only day of salvation. Those who are not called in this day and age will be called at a later time. Those, however, who have been called, or who are now being called, are identified as the “firstfruits” (compare Romans 8:23; James 1:18; Revelation 14:4). That we are called the “firstfruits” indicates that others will be called later. Being part of the first group to be offered salvation is a priceless privilege—one that we must not take lightly.

Continue reading "Letter to the Brethren – May 27, 2003"

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Dear Brethren, Co-Workers and Friends,

What has changed?

Shortly after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, there was a spontaneous reaction among many people around the world that things had dramatically changed and that nothing would ever be the same again. And to a large degree, the world we now live in is different.

That difference is most notable in the realignment of national interests. Today, we find old alliances such as NATO now being challenged and crumbling into fragmented groups. The United Nations is suffering from its own inability to effectively influence international events or to actually resolve serious conflicts. Coalitions led by the United States and Britain have now fought two wars in an effort to deal with the threat of terrorism. For those most intimately affected by these actions, great change has swept through their lives.

Continue reading "Letter to the Brethren – May 12, 2003"

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Dear Brethren:

For the last several weeks, the ongoing war with Iraq has been the primary focus of the daily news. I had just arrived in Germany, when the war began. I was visiting my parents in Germany and I am very happy to report that my father (94) is doing much better. While there, I was able to experience first-hand the reaction of the people in Germany and continental Europe to the outbreak of the war — the reaction was a mixture of shock, anger, frustration, rejection and protest. Magazines and newspapers, as well as daily television newscasts, made European disagreement with the Bush administration widely known, and daily mass anti-war demonstrations around the world have become the norm, rather than the exception.

In the United States, the vast majority has been supporting the war against Iraq, since it began, although about half of the people had been opposed to it prior to its outbreak. A similar occurrence has been observed in Great Britain, where originally almost 80% were against the war (Recent reports show that presently 48 % of the British support the war, according to Der Spiegel Online, April 3). This switch in position has been explained as a result of patriotism and the need to support the troops.

Continue reading "Letter to the Brethren – April 7, 2003"

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Dear Brethren and Co-workers:

We have just completed our second annual Ministerial Conference since the inception of the Church of the Eternal God. From the U.S., Edwin Pope, Norbert and Johanna Link, and Dave and Peggy Harris attended. In addition, Rene and Delia Messier from Canada, and Brian and Jill Gale from the United Kingdom were able to attend as well.

We discussed numerous important issues, including matters of doctrine and administration, as well as different ways to preach the gospel and to feed the flock.

All of us are thrilled by the possibilities that are set before us. In order to accomplish our part in this God-given task, we do strongly believe that God will revive His Work one more time, just before the coming of Jesus Christ to this earth. Habakkuk 1:5 tells us: “Look among the nations and watch—Be utterly astonished! For I will work a work in your days Which you would not believe, though it were told you.” This will happen at the time when the beast power in Europe is about to rise (vv. 6-11). This prophecy is referring primarily to our time, and speaks mainly of the preaching of the gospel. In Acts 13:38-41, Paul quotes from Habakkuk 1:5 and applies it to the preaching of the gospel.

Continue reading "Letter to the Brethren – March 5, 2003"

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Dear Brethren and Friends,

By the time you receive this letter, the U.S. ministry will be close to finalizing the arrangements for the 2004 Feast of Tabernacles in the area of San Luis Obispo, this being our second year to keep the feast on the Central California Coast, a very beautiful and inspiring setting, giving us a foretaste of the millennium for this festival. As you will remember, the feast for the U.S. and Canada in the previous two years was kept in Canada in the province of British Columbia. The feast in England this year is being observed at Chatsworth.

We have had several proposals from a few brethren for a feast site in either Northern California, Oregon or Colorado. Having considered all the information we have received, for which we are thankful, we have decided that we cannot go to one of those areas this year because of time constraints in establishing a feast site. We understand the excellent reasons for considering one of these feast sites and plan to spend the required time to investigate whether to establish such a site for the feast in 2005.

Continue reading "Letter to the Brethren – February 11, 2004"