Greetings,
We are now very near to Passover (Tuesday evening, March 26) and the Feast of Unleavened Bread March 28 through April 3rd). Some of you Pastors may have members who cannot keep the Passover on the 14th of Nisan due to circumstances beyond their control. I have consulted Joseph Kohn's Hebrew Calendar (computer program) for the date of the Second Passover. For those who qualify to observe the late Passover (called Pesach Sheini), the date is Thursday evening, April 25th.
Many have asked me how Mr. David Burson is doing. He has a serious health condition. I will only publish personal medical information if he submits it for publication. However, I think it is important that you understand that David has consulted with doctors concerning his condition. The Church leadership has provided medical coverage for him (although he is a veteran with a long medical history back to a serious injury while in the military). He does need and request our sincere prayers for God's intervention and healing.
EXECUTIVE OFFICE
After a long illness, Mrs. Patricia Biggar of Kansas City, sister of Dr. Meredith and Mrs. Kathryn Ames, died Tuesday morning. Graveside services will be held Monday, March 18, in Joplin, Missouri at Ozark Memorial Park. Mr. Richard Ames will officiate. Patricia, not a member of God's Church, is also survived by two sons and two daughters. Cards and letters of condolence may be sent to the San Diego Headquarters address.
MEDIA-ANNOUNCEMENT
PLEASE ANNOUNCE AT SERVICES:
The online Member Resources area is no longer at the www.lcg.org Web site. It has been moved to www.cogl.org. No password is required for access to the Member Resources information at www.cogl.org.
Please note that the www.cogl.org site remains the location for Church Administration (Ministerial Resources) materials; these, as before, require a ministerial username and password.
Note to the ministry: If you experience any problems with the new site, particularly with access to the ministerial resources area, please send an e-mail message describing the problem to [email protected].
TV production report-Mr. R. F. Ames
Wednesday's taping was as follows:
- #139 - RCM - "America's Last Days?" — airs June 16
- #140 - RCM - "False Conversion!" — airs June 23
- #141 - RFA - "World War III and Prophecy" — airs September 22
- #142 - RFA - "The World After World War III" — airs September 29
COMMENTS
My wife has a saying posted on the refrigerator door that I want to share with you this week:
- "May those that love us, love us,
- As for those that don't love us…
- May God turn their hearts,
- And if He can't turn their hearts,
- May He turn their ankles,
- So we will know them by their limp!"
There is certainly value in knowing who loves and who does not love. To properly judge between those who do and do not love us requires us to be totally honest; else we will misjudge a person. As the wise man said in the book of Proverbs (Proverbs 27:5-6) "Open rebuke is better than secret love. Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful." Not everyone who professes to love us really does, and those who tell us the truth are really showing love toward us.
But in a "highly civilized culture" we are taught to speak and be polite toward others-rightly so. The problem is when politeness becomes flattery and "smooth words." I believe that in God's sight it is far better to be brutally frank than a flatterer.
I believe that in our families and in the Church, we should apply a very simple test to our thoughts and actions.
We should ask, "Is my concern really for this person? Will my words or actions serve this person?"
You may have heard someone say, "I don't get mad. I get even!"
Are our criticisms of others "showing love," or are they "getting even?"
"A soft answer turns away wrath, but grievous words stir up anger" (Proverbs 15:1). Jesus was speaking according to the same principle in (Matthew 5:39) " … I say unto you, that ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also."
As we approach the Passover, let us once again examine ourselves by the words of Jesus, and let us renew our commitment to overcome the nature that tends toward contention and strife. I remind you that the scriptures leave no excuse or room for dealing with one another in any hateful manner.
James 3:14 "But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth."
Philippians 2:3 "Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves."
Romans 13:13 "Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying."
I hope that you have a great Sabbath, though some of you in many areas of the USA are faced with extreme weather. Please use good judgment and care in your travel decisions.
Carl McNair