Hello everyone,
Mr. and Mrs. Meredith are still away on an extended visit to the U.K. Mr. and Mrs. Ames will be back from their trip next week. Mr. and Mrs. Apartian are scheduled to be back home this coming Sunday. I just wanted to remind everyone about the whereabouts of these Headquarters Evangelists and ask you to continue to pray for them on their journeys to far away places as they go above and beyond in their service to God and His people.
CHURCH ADMINISTRATION
It saddens us to have to report to you that Mrs. Jim Arnaldo died on April 22 from her bout with cancer. As many of you know, Mrs. Arnaldo was a tireless servant of God who constantly helped her husband in his ministry. Wherever he went and whatever he did in caring for the churches he served in the USA and Canada, she was always there lending a helping hand. Jim and Fran were married 49 years and 3 months. As Mr. Arnaldo said, we thank God that even though Fran had terrible pain during this illness, God granted her a peaceful rest and sleep near the end. It was also a blessing that she could be at home with her husband holding his hand when the end came. Our love and prayers will be constant for Mr. Arnaldo and his family in the face of this incalculable loss. The funeral will be on May 2, 2005 at 11:00 am, at:
Dunn's Funeral Home
11 Park St
Houlton, ME 04730
Cards and letters can be sent to Mr. Jim Arnaldo at P.O. Box 1156, Houlton, ME 04730.
Pastors Conference 2005
We are going to be holding the first of three Pastors Conferences here at Headquarters from May 23 through May 27. Prior to these sessions, we will have a Council of Elders conference on May 19 and 20. Please remember to ask God to bless these conferences in every way and to protect the ministers and wives as they come and go to these meetings.
New Ministerial Hiring
We are delighted to announce that Mr. Tony Mora is being hired into the ministry of the Living Church of God. He is serving as an Elder in central California now, but on June 1st of this year, he will enter the Pastoral Training Program and work with Mr. Rod McNair full-time as his Assistant Pastor in training. We gladly welcome Mr. Mora to this new opportunity of growth and service.
Ordination
Mr. Gilbert Morris was ordained as an Elder on the First Day of Unleavened Bread. He and his wife serve the churches in Birmingham and Montgomery, Alabama, assisting Mr. Carl Ponder, the Area Pastor. Congratulations to Mr. and Mrs. Morris!
Kenya Update
Dr. Doug Winnail sends this encouraging report from Kenya, which he received from Mr. Simon Muthama: "My trip to West was very successful. I arrived at Awendo at 6am in the morning of 16th April 2005. I found Silas waiting for me. We took a taxi together with his wife to Opoya. At Opoya we found a group of 13 young men and women of the ages between 20 and 35 years of age waiting for me. We started services immediately we arrived. We started with songs of praise then opening prayer…What amazed me of the group is composed of young men and women who are able to speak English. There was no old man in the group except me but they welcomed me with both hands…I closed the services with a word of prayer at 12 noon…May God bless you as we look forward for the Big Day Passover…
"Attendance last Sabbath of 16 April 2005:
Nairobi 5
Opoya 20 including Children
Ndhiwa 83 including Children"
Total attendance in Kenya: 108
—Simon Muthama
Second Passover
The Second Passover date this year is Monday, May 23, to be taken the previous evening of May 22, after sunset. This Passover is for those baptized members of the Church who would have taken the first Passover, but because of circumstances beyond their control, could not do so. The biblical instructions guiding this ceremony are found in Numbers 9:1-14.
COMMENTS
We are receiving wonderful reports from all over about how well everything went for the Passover and also for the Days of Unleavened Bread so far, this year. It seems that God is strengthening and encouraging all of his people. Even though we must be very diligent in getting physical leavening out of our lives during this very important time, our focus should be on putting out the spiritual leavening. The point of putting the physical leavening out is to teach us spiritual lessons. Notice what Jesus Himself said in Matthew 16:12, "Then understood they how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees." Wrong doctrine and false teaching is sin and we must beware that we do not have any slippage in this area of our lives, gradual or otherwise.
And then notice what Christ said about this in Luke 12:1, "In the mean time, when there were gathered together an innumerable multitude of people, insomuch that they trode one upon another, he began to say unto his disciples first of all, Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy." Hypocrisy is sin, spiritual leaven, and it must be put out and overcome.
It is interesting to note that the Apostle Paul further amplifies this potent teaching from our Savior. In 1 Corinthians 5:6-8, "Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth."
The "new lump" refers to our personal spiritual condition, which must become unleavened. In order for that to happen, we must "purge out" the old leaven—our personal sins. As Paul instructs us to "keep the feast" he talks about attitudes and personal conduct, emphasizing that we are to be filled with the unleavened bread of sincerity—the opposite of hypocrisy—and truth—the opposite of false doctrine, referred to by Jesus Christ. So let's be sure to concentrate on finishing up this great Feast of Unleavened Bread by learning the more important lessons from this time, which are spiritual. We must put out the physical leavening and eat unleavened bread for seven days but, even more importantly, we must purge out the spiritual leavening and keep it out—from now on—through Jesus Christ who strengthens us.
We hope you have a wonderful Sabbath and Last Day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread!
Charles E. Bryce