our god is an awesome god! - bible sabbath association

January-February 2000 www.biblesabbath.org The Sabbath Sentinel 1

The Sabbath Sentinel

Our God is an Awesome God!Our God is an Awesome God!Our God is an Awesome God!Our God is an Awesome God!Our God is an Awesome God!

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2 The Sabbath Sentinel www.biblesabbath.org January-February 2000

The Sabbath SentinelJanuary-February 2000 Volume 52, No. 1 Issue 481

FEATURES

4 President’s Letter- Sabbath IssuesDr. Sidney Davis

7 Worship in TruthPeter Huizar

9 The Power of TraditionJune Narber Harrison

10 Report from GabonPastor Michael Porter

11 Sabbath Has ComeJune Narber Harrison

12 It’s the ShoesErnest Bergmann

15 My TestimonySilvio Soto

18 Would You Wash Them All?Royce Mitchell, Jr.

DEPARTMENTS

3 Editorial

21 Letters to the Editor

22 Calendar of Events

23 Classified Ads

For a FREE subscription in the U.S. And Canada, call (888) 687-5191, email us at [email protected] or visit our website athttp://www.biblesabbath.org . Because of additional postagecosts, we request that international subscribers donate $10 peryear to defray the postage costs for international mailing, ifthey are able to do so.

The Sabbath Sentinel is published bimonthly by The BibleSabbath Association, 3316 Alberta Drive, Gillette, WY82718. Copyright © 1999, by The Bible Sabbath Associa-tion. Printed in the U.S.A. All rights reserved. Reproduc-tion in any form without written permission is prohibited.Nonprofit bulk rate postage paid at Gillette, WY 82718.

Editor: Royce Mitchell, [email protected] Editors: June Harrison & Shirley NickelsCopy Editor: Doby PetrovicBSA’s Board of Directors for 1999-2003:President: Dr. Sidney DavisVice Presidents: Ken Westby, Tom Justus, Calvin BurrellTreasurer: Brian Burrell, [email protected]: Rich Nickels, [email protected] Secretary: June Narber HarrisonDirectors At Large: Craig White, Mike Galimore, JohnConrod, Darrell Estep

Subscriptions: Call (888) 687-5191 or (307) 686-5191,or write to: The Bible Sabbath Association, 3316 AlbertaDrive, Gillette, WY 82718 or contact us at the officenearest you (see international addresses below). The Sab-bath Sentinel is sent free of charge to all who request it.Your subscription is provided by the voluntary contribu-tions of the membership of the The Bible Sabbath Associa-tion.

Donations are gratefully accepted and are tax deductiblein the United States. Those who choose to voluntarilysupport this international work to promote the Sabbathand proclaim gospel of the kingdom of God are welcomedas contributors.

Annual membership contributions: regular member-ship $25; Family Membership $30. All memberships in-clude an annual subscription to The Sabbath Sentinel. Makeall checks, drafts and money orders payable to The BibleSabbath Association. (VISA and MasterCard accepted).

The Bible Sabbath Association is dedicated to promotethe seventh day Sabbath. As a nonsectarian association forSabbath-observing Christians, BSA accepts members whoacknowledge Jesus Christ (Yahshua the Messiah) as theirSavior, believe the Bible to be the Word of the Eternal, anduphold the seventh day Sabbath. BSA takes no officialposition on other theological issues, and publishes The Sab-bath Sentinel as a forum to promote understanding and toshare items of interest to Sabbath observing groups andindividuals.

Opinions expressed in The Sabbath Sentinel are thoseof the writers and do not necessarily reflect the opinions ofthe Editorial Staff or of The Bible Sabbath Association.

BSA Worldwide Web Site: www.biblesabbath.orgCorrespondence and manuscript submissions: Ad-dress all inquiries to: Royce Mitchell, Jr., c/o The SabbathSentinel, 3316 Alberta Drive, Gillette, WY 82718. Phone:(307) 686-5191, E-mail: [email protected] addresses:Australia: Bible Sabbath Associates, Jim & Lyn Carnochan,7 Sunny Ridge Rd., Arcadia NSW 2159, E-mail:[email protected]

Address Service Requested


Thanks are in order to the members of thespace program who have provided us with pic-tures of distant star systems via the Hubble tele-scope. The pictured system is not named, onlynumbered! Each month a new image (from theHubble telescope exposures) is exhibited online,with astronomer and astrophysicist commentaryand information. You can see these images at“http://heritage.stsci.edu .”

It is incredible that within those dark areas,in between the visible stars, lie countless othergalaxies and star systems, observable only withthe aid of marvelous equipment like the Hubbletelescope. There are so many that they are onlynumbered instead of named! Yet, our God is trulyan awesome God who has a name for each ofthem!

With this issue of TSS you will notice a slightchange in format. That is just to do our part in help-ing the Bible Sabbath Association emerge fromits state of being the best kept secret in the Sab-batarian community! Thus we are letting every-one know about BSA’s numerous books, tapesand other offerings, all of which local congrega-tions might find helpful in promoting the SabbathDay, as well as the rest of God’s Law. These wouldalso be useful as training aids for the congrega-tions. But, we have not done a good job of lettingyou know about them.

We are reminded of the many independentSabbath keeping congregations that existthroughout the world who might like to be a part ofa larger work. Some are independent by design;some are independent by default. The vast ma-jority of these would like to be a part of a largerwork. Yet, many are distrustful of the large corpo-rate churches and have no desire to become apart of any such entity. We understand this.

TSS has undergone a slight adjustment inorder to assist our brethren in this area. Since theBSA is not in the business of establishing con-gregations, it is possible for us to help many Sab-

bath keeping assemblies in the effort to get thismessage out. As Dr. Davis relates in his letterthis issue, we feel as if we can set aside minordifferences to preach this wonderful word. Wehope that our Sabbath keeping brethren fromaround the world can join with us in publishing thisGospel of hope which is reflected in God’s Sab-bath rest.

TSS won’t become another corporatepreaching magazine, but will concentrate on itsoriginal goals with the addition of integrating theassistance of the many brethren out there who arelooking for a magazine to take to the world: amagazine that will promote God’s Way, but notinsist on a corporate solution, attendance normandatory donation scheme. We will live or dieby the generous members who God provides forthis work.

This is not to say that we don’t value our breth-ren who are a part of those larger organizations.Nothing could be farther from the truth. We askeveryone to join hands with their many other breth-ren-- use TSS as a medium for working togetherto spread the glorious message of hope for allmankind, symbolized by the calling to God’s HolyRest, which leads to a much greater understand-ing.

All of us who work on TSS hope that you’llenjoy the change. We look forward to getting let-ters from you giving your impression of our effort.

We are continuing with courageous storiesof people who are coming to the Sabbath truth.This issue is no different, as you will see in thetestifying report from Gabon as well as in a notednon-Sabbatarian’s witness of how he came to beconverted to God’s Sabbath rest.

Enjoy this issue! Let us know what you think!We welcome and really appreciate your feed-back! It is the only way we can truly be the maga-zine that you- and the world- need us to be.

EditorialThe Need for Change


According to many Biblechronologists the year 2000marks the dawn of the seventhmillennium of this world’s his-tory. The apostle Peter de-scribes time in God’s reality interms of “one day is with theLord as a thousand years,and a thousand years as oneday” (2 Pet. 3:8). This idea,when associated with the tem-plate of time, established withthe week or the seven days ofcreation, has evoked the univer-sal idea in Christianity of theworld’s history of sin lasting6000 years, culminating in thethousand years of universal“Shabbat shalom” or restfulpeace. The year 2000 is re-garded by Christian pundits asa significant time post that willusher in this seventh thousandthyear called “the millennium.”

We see that the “rest” and“peace” that is associated withthe idea of the seventh millen-nium is emphasized with an-other sabbatical idea of the “ju-bilee.” The jubilee is basedupon the “heptad” (meaninggroup of seven) cycle of yearlySabbaths, or a Sabbath yearevery seventh year. The heptadcycle is based on the week.The week, as the template oftime, cannot be over empha-sized.

The festival intervalmarked by the counting of Sab-

baths from the Passover toPentecost (Lev. 23:15,16) is inminiature the template for thecounting of heptads making theJubilee cycle. The weeklycounting of the omer from themorrow after the Shabbat untilseven Shabbats were com-plete to the feasts of Shabbats,or ”the feast of weeks,” is im-posed upon the counting of theheptad cycle of the week ofyears, the year after seventh ofwhich was a called a “Jubilee”(see Lev. 25:4-10). So whethera week of days, weeks ofweeks or weeks of weeks ofyears, the idea of holiness as-sociated with “seven” and “Sab-bath” is clearly established fromthe creation template of time,punctuated by the heptad cycleor the sanctification of “seven”or Sabbath.

The jubilee is the sabbati-cal year when debts owed areforgiven, prisoners are let freeand the land is restored to itsoriginal owner, which then en-ters into a state of rest or res-toration. Such is the hope andpromise that the year 2000holds for the state of “unrest”and war with many people anddebtor nations. This year holdsgreat promise for the many na-tions and peoples who cham-pion the pope’s declaration ofthe Y2K Jubilee and the releaseof the national debts of debtor

nations to the industrial nationsand the release of captives(commuting of sentences) ondeath row and freeing politicalprisoners by his peacebrokering initiatives. Christiansfrom all nations and denomina-tions are joining the swellingcrescendo of the jubilee decla-ration by the papacy.

Both these ideas, of theseven thousand years and jubi-lee- both point to the seventhday, the Sabbath, as their ori-gin. That Christians can evokethese ideas of Y2K and jubilee,while denying the very word ofGod that says, “... but the sev-enth day is the Sabbath ...,”upon which these ideas arebased, should not go by unno-ticed or unannounced. Weshould be spiritually wise anddoctrinally enabled to show ourbrethren the origins of thesepositions and the inconsistencyof theological dogmas, that atthe same time deny them.

These were some of thepoints that I discussed with JackLowndes, Executive Director ofthe Lord’s Day Alliance (LDA)of the United States, when I paidhim a courtesy visit while in At-lanta, Georgia last December.The strength of the presenta-tions made to him on thesepoints drew from him the sur-prising and astounding ac-knowledgment that he knows

PRESIDENT�S LETTER-SABBATH ISSUESby

DR. SIDNEY DAVISPRESIDENT-BSA


and understands that the sev-enth day is the Sabbath! Theposition of Jack Lowndes is notthat Sunday is the Sabbath atall! The designation of ”Sab-bath” he says “belongs to theseventh day” (Saturday) notSunday. Sunday he maintainsis ”not the Christian Sabbath”but rather it is specially desig-nated as ”the Lord’s day.” Whileadmitting that the position onthe Sabbath, as taken by themajority of Christians may bewrong, it is a wrong, that hesays, the blood of Jesus cov-ers.

The basic challenge, whichis represented by the positionof Jack Lowndes, in the Sab-bath versus Sunday question,is not one that calls into ques-tion the continuity and relevancyof the Sabbath in the Christianchurch, but rather the funda-mental place of the law in thegospel of Christ. Substantiatingthe fundamental place of the lawof God in the gospel of Christ(on which the theology of theSabbath rests) is the challengethat faces us in the next millen-nium- as the great controversybetween Christ and Satan isbeing waged over God’s law.In actuality, the Sabbath is THE“touchstone” of truth showingwhere the believer stands onthe question of the law.

Being spiritually wise anddoctrinally enabled to defendthe Sabbath truth does notmean a dogmatic resuscitationof age-old proof texts that havebeen traditionally used by Sab-batarians for hundreds of years.Such methodology can no

longer stand in the face ofhighly developed theologicalarguments substantiating thedoctrine of “Sunday sacred-ness” and the tradition of “theLord’s day.”

The sophistication andscholarship of evangelicalChristianity concerning the the-ology of the Sabbath, withwhich Sabbatarians must nowcontend, will in itself bring the“crisis of conscience” that allChristians- especially Sabba-tarian Christians- must face con-cerning our understanding ofthe law in the gospel. We asSabbatarians must honestlyface the theological conse-quences of what Sabbath ob-servance means in relationshipto our theology on the law andthe gospel, if we are going tohave a credible witness to ourfaith that will stand the test andscrutiny of great minds. This isa question that must be ad-dressed if we ever hope to con-front why ever-increasing num-bers of Sabbatarians, of all de-nominations, are following thelead of the Worldwide Churchof God (formerly the secondlargest Christian Sabbatarianchurch) in giving up Sabbathobservance.

We will see the rhetoric ofSabbatarian apologetics mak-ing tremendous changes in themonths ahead- as we deal withthe issues of the sanctificationof time. The “Christianizing” ofthe “Jewish” Sabbath, whichallows the declaration of amillennial Sabbath era and aJubilee Sabbath year, whiledenying the very foundation

and premise of these inherentlySabbatarian institutions- pointsto a fundamental aspect ofChristian theology that basicallyassumes that the law is to beunderstood in principle only andnot by precept. It is my view thatthe impotency of the theologi-cal arguments, which havebeen used to traditionally advo-cate and defend the Sabbath,is due to the inability to ac-knowledge or recognize thatthe origin of the attacks againstthe Sabbath and the law isfounded upon an anti-Semitic/Judaeophobic theology of themedieval theologians- or theBiblical scholarship of the“middle ages.”

When we, as SabbatarianChristians, begin to understandthat our relationship to the Sab-bath cannot be separated fromour relationship to biblical Ju-daism and the Jewishness ofour Christian roots (see Ro-mans 11:18), then we will be-gin to break the “grace vs. law”paradigm that has defined ourtraditional understanding of thelaw upon which our views of theSabbath are based, and whichat the same time justifies themajority’s (of the Christianworld) profanation of the holyday. Despite our Sabbatarianprofessions, we as Sabbatar-ians have inherited a medievalview of the law that is both con-trary and contradictory to thelaw and the prophets (John1:45). The inability of Sabbatar-ians to intelligently expound asound theology on the law thatcan withstand hermeneuticaland exegetical cross examina-


tion is seriously threatening theSabbath truth and is fast be-coming one the greatest Sab-bath issues that we will have toface. Our traditional “Christian”views on the law has not onlyhandicapped the effectivenessof our Sabbath witness but hasalso made us vulnerable to theattacks being made against theSabbath under the guise of theso-called “new covenant theol-ogy.”

The Bible Sabbath Asso-ciation stands for the Bible Sab-bath of the Seventh day. Whilethe BSA stands, we from vari-ous Sabbatarian traditionsteach and share, from differentperspectives, that on which wecommonly agree. While we thusmaintain our distinctiveness inour approach to Sabbath ob-servance and Sabbatarian (aswell as other) doctrines, wemust recognize that there canonly be one answer to the con-certed attack being madeagainst the Sabbath truth. Thatanswer must be biblically andtheologically consistent and onethat recommends itself to theenlightened Christian intelligen-tsia of bible students and schol-arship.

We must, under the super-natural guidance that comesfrom the Holy Spirit, be able toput forth an exegeticall andhermeneutically sound theologyof the law that will answer theallegations of the new covenanttheologians and the argumentsthat they present against theSabbath truth. I would like topropose to our membershipand supporters that the BSA

sponsor in different cities “Sab-bath Conferences” which willfocus and bring attention tothese issues. To do this, weneed for our membership totake the initiative and activelyparticipate in helping to orga-nize such conferences. Weneed an energetic supportbase that is committed to in-creasing the awareness of theBSA, its goals and its missionthrough such conferences. Insuch a venue we can fully ad-dress the Sabbath issues thatbeg for attention.

We invite articles that ad-dress these relevant Sabbathissues and we also invite yourquestions that will help to stimu-late thinking and dialog. TheBSA will endeavor to act as thecatalyst that will bring about in-tra-Sabbatarian dialog as wellas inter-denominational dialog,as represented in my meetingwith the LAD. This is an ideawhose time and chance hasarrived as we endeavor tocome to grips with Sabbath is-sues such as the law of God inthe Gospel, the so-called newcovenant theology, and the in-herent anti-Semitism that gavebirth to Sunday sacredness.

I would like to express myheartfelt thanks and apprecia-tion to the participants who at-tended our recent Board ofDirector’s conference held inSt. Louis in January. The re-ports indicate that there was aspectrum of Sabbath observantbrethren in attendance: FormerWorldwide Church of God, Sev-enth Day Adventist’s, SeventhDay Baptist’s, Church Of God

Seventh Day and representa-tives of independent fellow-ships. Such a show of supportfor the BSA after such shortnotice holds promise and re-quests for more conferences ofthis type. With your continuedsupport and prayers we canlook forward to just that. On be-half of the Board of Directors, Iwant to thank our members andsupporting friends for the op-portunity to serve and representthe interest of all Sabbatarians.

Blessings,Dr. Sidney L. Davis, Jr.

”Proclaiming The SabbathMore Fully”

those who stopped living thelies about Christmas, Easter,etc., turned to worship in God’struth (only that which is found inscripture).

God is seeking those whowant to worship Him in truth. Dowe want to worship in truth, ordo we want to follow the tradi-tions of men that are “lies in theeyes of God?”

The Bible reveals that theday of rest, also called the dayof worship, is the Sabbath (Sat-urday). Do you “worship intruth?” Do YOU keep the Sab-bath holy?

—Peter A. Huizar, hasbeen a Sabbath keeper since1969. He currently attends anindependent group called TheSouth Texas Church of God inSan Antonio, Texas. (Address:P.O. Box 28323. San Antonio,Texas 78227-0323).

TSS

WORSHIP(continued from page 7)


When Jesus was talking tothe Samaritan woman, He said,“But the hour is coming, andnow is, when the true wor-shipers will worship the Fa-ther in spirit and truth; for theFather is seeking such toworship him” John 4:23.

There is much ground cov-ered in this one small verse.The part about “worship in spirit”will be left for someone else toexpound. Here, we will focus on“worship in truth”. Jesus plainlysaid that “the hour … NOW is”.Since the time that He walkedthe earth and up until now, is thehour; it will continue until His re-turn and on into the Millennium.At this time the “Father is seek-ing” people to worship Him intruth.

There are many carnalsmart alecks who like to posethe question, “What is truth?”When a man of this type con-fronted Jesus, He did notbother to answer him (John18:38).

“No longer do I call youservants, for a servant doesnot know what his master isdoing: but I have called youfriends, for all things that Iheard from My Father I havemade known to you” (John15:15). Jesus did make knownto His friends the answer to“What is truth?”

In His final public prayer(before the eleven) He revealed

Worship in TruthBy

Peter A. Huizarwhat truth is. Appealing to theFather on their (the eleven) andour (disciples to come) behalfHe said, “Sanctify them byYour truth. Your word istruth” John 17:17. The true stu-dents (disciples) know fromthis that they must look to God’sWord to ascertain truth.

We came into this knowl-edge over the course of time.Such does not come all at once.“Whom will he teach knowl-edge? And whom will bemake to understand themessage? Those justweaned from the milk?Those just drawn from thebreasts? For precept mustbe upon precept, preceptupon precept, Line upon line,line upon line, Here a little,There a little.” (Isaiah 28:9-10).

Anyone armed with thisunderstanding comes to acrossroads. Growing up in thissociety, we “naturally inherit” thepractices of society. Almosteveryone keeps Christmas,New Years, Easter, Halloweenand other holidays. When welook into “the truth” there is NOpositive mention of these prac-tices and customs.

Further examining theseholidays, it is easy to ascertainthat they are of pagan origin.NONE of these are sanctionedby the Bible. Standing at acrossroads, face to face with

pagan practices, we have tomake a decision.

Jesus Christ was not bornon December 25th. JesusChrist does not appear to havedied on a Friday afternoon andbeen resurrected on a Sundaymorning. The Bible says, “ForJonah was three days andthree nights in the belly ofthe great fish, so will the Sonof Man be three days andthree nights in the heart ofthe earth” (Matthew 12:40). Itis hard to understand how threedays and three nights whichequals 72 hours, can be the 36that is found in the popular“Good Friday to Easter Sun-rise” doctrine.

When anyone comes tothis knowledge, they will haveto make a decision as towhether they will live a lie or livethe truth, whether to worship withfalsehood or in truth.

Several of those who prac-tice living the truth have madea comment: This is not “a reli-gion.” Religions are what thosein society practice. True religionis a way of life.

This concept is in accordwith what the Bible says. TheBible refers to “the Way” sev-eral times. So, who are thesethat live by “the Way”? They arethe “true worshipers;” the oneswhom Christ was telling the Sa-maritan woman about. They are

(see “Worship,” page 6)


Sabbath At Sommerhaseby

Lettie SiddensAre you looking for a book that is perfect for

reading on the Sabbath? How about one thatexplains Godly principles, including the Sabbathin language that is easily understood by children?

The Bible Sabbath Association has just sucha wonderful book for you! Written by LettieSiddens, it includes stories such as, �Precious

Promises,� �Helping Others,� �Shining Stars� and�Surprise for Mother!�

Lessons learned include, �The First Sab-bath,� �The Preparation Day,� �Early ChurchObserves the Sabbath� and �The Sabbath

Today!� The book will provide months of Godlyentertainment at 128 pages!

BSA sells this wonderful tool for helpingchildren relate to God�s Sabbaths for only

$7.00 per book. Sabbatarian groups, lookingto use the book to aid in their schooling forchildren, can write for a discounted price!

Send for your copy today while BSA hasa good supply of this excellent children�s

book!

Why the Seventh-daySabbath?This 12 page brochure provides clear insight into

the reasons for keeping God�s Seventh Day Sabbath!It also contains an area where your local congregation

can stamp its address and phone number making iteasy for potential brothers and sisters to contact youfor more information. They are priced at only $.20each, but you can get them in packages of 100 for

only $17.00. You will also be helping BSA spread theGospel with your purchases, since all monies are used

to continue the publication of TSS and to do theother fine work of BSA!


The Power of TraditionBy

June Narber Harrison

Have you ever wonderedwhy so many people out in soci-ety, who claim to believe and liveby the word of God, have no un-derstanding of God’s Ten com-mandments? If they do, they con-veniently eliminate the fourth one(The Seventh Day SabbathCommand), or they believe thatSunday is the Sabbath for Chris-tians.

History has deceived mostof our society. The establishedreligions have eased millions of“Christians” into believing thattheir established religious sys-tem is “God’s word,” and that anyteaching contrary to the estab-lished order is wrong, and isquickly labeled a “cult.”

We have to realize that un-derstanding God’s laws is ablessing. The majority of humansbeings don’t (and in fact cannot)understand, because God hasnot opened their minds to it. Thepower of tradition over the aver-age human being is amazing. Itblinds the eyes, shuts off themind to anything contrary to itsteaching, and establishes itselfwith strong nostalgic associa-tions. Take for example, thememories of Sunday morningservices when you were a child:the smell of the freshly cut churchyard grass, the sun shining inthrough the stained glass win-dows and the Sunday ham din-ner waiting at home for you after

tern from our childhood and as-sociate it with comfort, safety,and other emotions which weconsider pleasant.

To disrupt these “patterns”for the average human being isa devastating thing- as their mindtells them that something is notright. Change is the hardest thingin life to accept- whether it be thedeath of a loved one, a new job,a child leaving the nest, or what-ever.

“ Understanding God’slaws is a blessing. ”

communion at your familychurch. If you’ve never experi-enced this, think of society’s re-ligious holidays and the nostal-gic things associated with them:kids under the Christmas treeopening gifts, the smell of theChristmas pine tree, the taste ofeggnog, the Christmas cards ofbaby Jesus and the manger, andof course, all kinds of music as-sociated with this particular reli-gious season.

Why is tradition such a pow-erful thing? It is because as hu-man beings, we like to have pat-terns and order in our lives. Theway things have always beendone, whether in our family struc-ture, our communities, or in ourchurches, we get used to a pat-

amazing happens when we in-dividually choose to remove tra-ditions- we then begin to grow.Wrong traditions and wrongways of thinking hamper not onlyour physical growth, but also ourspiritual growth.

Instead of our society’s reli-gious traditions, why don’t youpersonally, create traditions ofyour own? For example, if youare alone, you can do special

(Continued on page 11)

Some traditions are beau-tiful, and all right to observe. How-ever, any tradition that takes usaway from the truth of God, thewill of God, or the word of God,is wrong. We must make the ef-fort to remove it from our livesand to change our patterns ofbehavior, and also our patternsof thought.

If you have been a life longSabbath keeper, what traditionscould be wrong in your life? Areyou superstitious? Do you readyour horoscope? Do you haveicons in your house that are as-sociated with religious or goodluck (i.e. crosses, horseshoes, arabbit’s foot)? If you do, it is upto you to remove these from yourlife. Why? Because something


Greetings to you in thename of Jesus our Lord. I was apastor of Eglise du Gabon untilin late 1998 (when) God openedmy eyes to the amazing truth. Iwas confronted (with) this savingmessage by a preacher whopreaches through WORLD HAR-VEST RADIO INTERNATIONALin Indiana, United States. Godspoke to me concerning theSabbath and the need to surren-der my entire life to Him. Thepreacher spoke on the secondcoming, the mark of the beast,national Sunday law, etc. At first,I was not comfortable with what Isaw as a false teaching, but I wascompelled to keep on listeningand judge with the scripture. Ituned in each weekend and theHoly Spirit opened my eyes to(see) the truth. I began to thankGod that I did not (turn) off theradio on the first day. Godbrought a great change in my lifeand I made up my mind to followthe true gospel and to keep HisSabbath. I shared my testimonywith my wife and she acceptedthe message, for which I praisedthe Lord.

We became Sabbatariansat heart. During our national con-vention my wife encouraged meto present the message withoutfear and allow the will of God tobe done. I told her, “I will bemobbed,” but through herprayers I was fortified and I pre-

sented the truth as it was. At theend of the convention severalmembers besieged my houseand demanded my resignation,excommunication and sack. TheChurch council gave me 2weeks to vacate the premises,as they accused me of preach-ing (a) false gospel. God madeit possible for us to leave unhurtand 33 people came out with me.We now meet for worship andfellowship on the Sabbaths andweek days. I am now sharing aroom with a brother in his house.My children no longer go toschool. We have no food and nomoney and my wife had to returnto the village as I can no longerafford an accommodation.WHAT A GREAT PRICE TOPAY FOR THE TRUTH. How-ever, our nation is in a deepSpiritual darkness and only thistrue gospel can set her free.Since I embraced this truth, Ihave found peace, joy and as-surance. There is a freedom ofworship in our country but biblebased Christianity is lackinghere. There (is) a mixture of pa-ganism and Christianity in wor-ship in our country; almost all theChurches are victims. Demonsof alcoholism, sex, gambling andancestor worship are holdingmillions imprisoned. There is acustom, or what would I call ...very common here, (that) younggirls and ladies are having chil-

dren outside of wedlock, and inmost cases no one claims re-sponsibility for it. The situation isvery appalling and even the socalled Christians are victims.Scarcely you see a family with-out illegitimate children.

My only heart’s desire is forthe Sabbath truth to be circulatedall over Gabon and Central Afri-can region for the salvation ofman before He comes. We areready to stand (in) the gap lestwe be destroyed. I believe Godled me to the truth at this time fora purpose and I am ready. Weare ready to circulate this truthto (every) nook and cranny ofGabon, if supported. There ishunger in the land, not of breadand wine, but for the undilutedword of God. We need largequantities of bibles for school stu-dents who crave them. God isbringing revival to Gabon and wewant you to help us. I have a bur-den to go to villages, cities,towns, etc., to circulate the mes-sage. We shall need large quan-tities of books, bibles, tracts, au-dio/video tapes, study aids andat least 10 copies of StudyBibles. Can you provide us withany help? Above all we needyour prayers to stand firm andfaithful, even in the midst of trial.

Let us hear from you; thenight is far spent. Help us to bringthis light to Gabon and to othernations around us.

Report from Gabon Africaby

Pastor Michael Porter


Remain blessed aswe anxiously wait for ourLord and Savior, JesusChrist.

MARANATHA.Yours in the blessed

hope,

Michael PorterB.P.4150Libreville, Gabon

Your English is verygood for someone fromFrench-speaking Africa!We praise God for yourgrowth in His Truth, espe-cially about the Sabbath.We will, God willing, besending you Sabbath ma-terials, including copies ofThe Sabbath Sentinelmagazine. God bless youas you stand up for Him!

Richard Nickels

Pastor Porter’s pleafor help in preaching thetruth about God’s Sabbathis one example of the cry-ing need that the world hasfor the proclamation of HisSabbaths and Laws- withinthe context of the Gospeldispensation of the soon-coming Kingdom of God.As we continue to grow instrength at BSA, we praythat we are better able toaccommodate suchevangelistic efforts bythose truly committed tothe Holy Laws of God!

ED.

things on the Sabbath that youdo not do during the week.Light candles on Friday night tomake the beginning of the Sab-bath distinctive. Have uncom-mon meals and special thingsthat you do for yourself, yourfamily and others only on theSabbath. If you have children,they might have a unique Sab-bath toy that they play with juston this day.

Whatever traditions youcreate for yourself to better fel-lowship with God, just remem-ber that traditions can becomepowerful holds on your life. Limitthat control by creating newthings to do to honor God inyour life. Some traditions canbind families together for two ormore generations (i.e. familyreunions, family photo dates,anniversary celebrations,Thanksgiving dinners). The bot-tom line is, that the traditionshould be a true blessing, andnot a ball and chain that youHAVE to keep or observe. Ifany activity or method of doingsomething becomes bindingand restrictive, or you just do itbecause you have always doneit (or feel like you have to), thenit ceases serving any useful pur-pose.

May we root out the badtraditions from our life, and in-corporate continual new behav-iors, challenges and methodsof doing things to continuallybring us closer to God, to Christ,and to each other.

TSS

The Power of Tradition(cont.) SabbathHas ComeSabbathHas ComeSabbathHas ComeSabbathHas ComeSabbathHas Come

By

June Narber HarJune Narber HarJune Narber HarJune Narber HarJune Narber Harrisonrisonrisonrisonrison

As day becomes night and light has ceased.

The Holy time, our weekly feast.

Shines forth in her glory to give us rest.

A day set apart that is truly blessed.

The week drug on, no end in sight,

Until it came to this Holy night.

The Sabbath time is finally at hand.

Created by God, for rest for man.

I reflect on the Deeds that were done.

By the Word, the Logos, God’s own son.

Creator, Sustainer, Messiah and King.

Refreshment He brings to my wearied soul.

Holy time is a precious gift.

To study God’s word and to reflect.

Unique in substance and created hue.

It is made for me, and for you!

Use this gift from our God above.

Once in seven, given in love.

To bond us to our maker and King.

To His Eternal Glory we Sing!

A final thought to share with you.

Love each other, the many and few.

Who Know this truth so rare and true.

CelebrateCelebrateCelebrateCelebrateCelebrate the Sabbath, each week anew.


Many of us “come toJesus” with preconditions for“coming”. We bring to Chris-tianity a load of non-Christianattributes and expect them tobe acceptable to God. We areproud of our worldly accom-plishments and expect God tobe joyful in receiving such aworthy citizen into His kingdom.

Such is simply not thecase with God. We are savedsolely on the basis of God’sgrace, but to live as Christianswe have to get rid of some bag-gage before we are mature inGod. God does not forcechanges on us. If changes areto be made, the Holy Spiritworks within us, aiding us ingetting rid of worldly baggage,but without direct force. Godmay place us into situations,and give us trials, that let usknow we are doing somethingthat needs changing, but wecan “out-stubborn” God to con-tinue life as we chose to live it.

Yet, if we choose to goGod’s Way, there will be manygrowth changes along the way.We will make those changesbecause God will make it clearto us changes are needed, andbecause we love God. At thatpoint in our Christian walk webegin to see the spirituality ofGod’s laws and place them intoour lives to let the Way becomea path illuminated by God’slight.

IT�S THE SHOESby

Ernest P. BergmannIn this article we will look

at some of the things we re-move from our lives, as we be-gin our journey in the Way ofGod.

In the beginning, it’s theshoes.

Exodus 3:5 states, ” Andhe said, Draw not nighhither: put off thy shoesfrom off thy feet, for the placewhereon thou standest isholy ground. ”

Moses wasn’t looking forGod, but God was looking forMoses. He got Moses’ attentionby using a burning bush.Moses, a Hebrew-born princeof Egypt, was raised as part ofthe elite class of the country. Hehad few legal or moral restraintsto life — much like today’syouth. God let Moses under-stand he was about to embarkon a whole new way of living.For Moses, the shoes symbol-ized worldly baggage of un-cleanness and pride. If Moseswas to be changed to serveGod, he had to rid himself ofpersonal priorities and take onGod’s priorities.

For us the lesson of the“shoes” tells us we cannotcome to God with our pride,love for wealth and a residue ofworldly values. Self-focus has tobe turned into a focus on God.We must rid ourselves of per-

sonal priorities to stand beforeGod.

We are to come to Godwith humility, repentance, sub-mission, and expectation. Hu-mility breaks down the barrierof pride. We acknowledge thatGod is omniscient and hasknowledge that is vital to ourChristianity. Repentance ac-knowledges our sinful state andour inherent unworthiness to besaved and be called a child ofGod. Submission acknowl-edges Christ as our Lord andour state as servants (Paulgladly considered himself aslave), without any power to doas we please. Expectation isthe “hope” of eternal life, a giftof God, freely given to all whobelieve on the position, wordand power of Jesus Christ asour personal Saviour.

That is when we willinglybecome God’s servants. Toooften we think of God as ourservant, our personal geniewho provides all our wants. Aswith many of the Jews healedby Jesus, there may be an ex-pectation of, “name it and claimit.” Fortunately, God doesn’twork that way. God supplies ourneeds, not our wants.

Micah shows that remov-ing shoes requires attitude ad-justments: Micah 6:8 ” He hathshewed thee, O man, what isgood; and what doth theLord require of thee, but to


do justly, and to love mercy,and to walk humbly with thyGod? ”

Our attitudes toward oth-ers are important. If we let Him,God slowly changes us fromself-centered attitudes to a God-centered attitudes. As this isdone, we will begin to act justlyand respect the rights of all. Toooften we are concerned onlywith our rights, real or imagined.Nothing can excite us as quicklyas one of our inherent rights vio-lated, like someone moving intoOUR twenty feet at the front ofour car on the freeway.

We are told to love mercy.This is a respect for the needsof others. We expect to receiveGod’s mercy. Shouldn’t we ex-pect to pass God’s mercy toothers as well?

Walk humbly. Too oftenpride is emphasized. Are we tobe proud of attributes which wedid nothing to develop? No; weare to respect and obey God’srule; let Christ be the Lord of allthings in our lives; then, we cansee His majesty and our lackthereof. Maybe then we alsodevelop the proper perspectiveabout what our worth would bewithout Christ: as clay vesselsdevoid of any inherent value.

If we accept Christ as Lordwe can expect a change.

Genesis 17:1 ” Andwhen Abram was ninetyyears old and nine, the Lordappeared to Abram, and saidunto him, I am the AlmightyGod; walk before me, and be

thou perfect. ”Throughout the Bible we

see God working on the weak-nesses of His servants. If Godwere to work on our strengthswe might think that we hadsomething to do with our suc-cesses.

God called Abram whenhe was ninety-nine years old.By that time most of us con-sider ourselves somewhat overthe hill. God was just startingwith Abram.

Don’t place barriers toGod’s service that aren’t there.Let God use us as we are andmold us into what He wants usto be. To God, age is no barrier— there is no comparing our lifespan to eternity.

God tells us to walk thepath He lays out before us.Each of us has a unique pathwhich God lets us see one stepat a time. We are to let Godmature us. Times will be hard,sad, joyful, easy, etc; each“time” is for learning about our-selves and about God.

However, God doesn’t workthrough our noise.

Isaiah 32:17 ” And thework of righteousness shallbe peace; and the effect ofrighteousness quietnessand assurance for ever. ”

Too often our internalnoise is so great that we can-not hear God’s promptings. Theoutcome of walking with God ispeace — not physical peace,but spiritual peace. The peaceprocess is internal to us. God

gives us peace if we are quietenough to receive it.

There are benefits to hav-ing a “quiet spirit.” A quiet spiritfeels God’s promptings. Anoisy spirit only feels the natu-ral promptings within us. If wetry to go to sleep in an angrymood, we may spend a goodbit of time in a fight that neednot be fought.

A quiet spirit hears God’spromises. A noisy spirit imag-ines “God’s promises” and getsupset when the promises aren’tmet. Search the Scriptures. Foreach promise of God there isat least one condition that weneed to fulfill first.

A quiet spirit is pliable toGod’s words. His words are foreach of us individually, as wellas for a collection of believers.If we hear God’s words wehave the choice of obeying ordisobeying. Each disobedi-ence has a consequence whichis typically not salubrious.

God prompts us that sin isto be removed from our

lives.

Romans 6:1-2 ” Whatshall we say then? Shall wecontinue in sin, that gracemay abound? God forbid.How shall we, that are deadto sin, live any longertherein? ”

God and sin are incom-patible. As much as is in us, sinmust be removed from ourlives. Be assured, with the helpof God, each sin in our life canbe identified and removed. Hid-


den sins are typically hidden fromus because we choose to hidethem.

With the help of God we be-come dead to sin’s eternal con-sequences, but not to its lure, orto its earthly consequences. Sinwill always be in front of us, andto some extent part of us, but wecan work at minimizing such sin.

Let God remake us by be-coming a living sacrifice.

Romans 12:1-2 ” I beseechyou therefore, brethren, bythe mercies of God, that yepresent your bodies a livingsacrifice, holy, acceptableunto God, which is your rea-sonable service. And be notconformed to this world: butbe ye transformed by the re-newing of your mind, that yemay prove what is that good,and acceptable, and perfect,will of God. ”

God gives us a way to be-come mature in Christ. We areto give ourselves to God. If wehave no will of our own, we haveonly the will of God within us. Weare to become holy: separatedfrom the values of this world. AsMoses, we are to remove ourworldly shoes and stand beforeGod on His holy ground.

We are to let God transformour minds to be like Christ’smind. We shouldn’t be so smugas to think we can do it ourselves.God does it through His word andthrough the Holy Spirit teachingus how each word applies to us.The transformation is not an easyprocess. We need to let go and

leave behind many of our pre-conceived notions and petrules for life.

We can let God drive outthe evil and fill us with good.Driving the evil out of our livesis too big of a job for us, sinceSatan is stronger than we are.But, through Christ, God givesus His power and His armorto resist Satan.

Then we can become holyground.

1 Corinthians 3:16-17” Know ye not that ye arethe temple of God, and thatthe Spirit of God dwelleth inyou? If any man defile thetemple of God, him shallGod destroy; for the templeof God is holy, whichtemple ye are. ”

If God lives in us we be-come a temple of God. Godcannot live in a sinful place.The process is simple. Wemake the choice to be inChrist or be in the world. Theoptions are simple to define,but hard to make.

We are not black orwhite. Most of us are grey. Wehave, among our patterns ofliving, some things that areworldly and some that aregodly. If we truly give God Hisproper place we will developinto godly people. As thepeople of the world becomemore interrelated, keepingworldly choices and valuesout of our lives becomes moredifficult.

Returning to thetheme, “It’s the shoes!”

1 Timothy 6:11-12 ” Butthou, O man of God, fleethese things; and follow af-ter righteousness, godliness,faith, love, patience, meek-ness. Fight the good fight offaith, lay hold on eternal life,whereunto thou art alsocalled, and hast professed agood profession beforemany witnesses. ”

As best we can, we are toallow God to remove the impu-rity from our lives. He does thisin all kinds of ways that makeour lives uncomfortable. My sis-ter-in-law called it making Jello.You put the contents of a pack-age of Jello into a pot of waterand you put a fire under the pot.As the water heats the impuri-ties rise to the top of the water.They must be skimmed off forthe Jello to reach its potential.

Similarly, God puts a fireunder us. We call that fire atrial. Each trial removes part ofour impurities and cleans usmore for God’s service.

Impurities in our lives arereplaced with virtue, devout-ness, hope, commitment, en-durance, and humility. Overtime we learn to walk God’spath, without the impure“shoes” of our lives. As we walkthe walk, the path is not easy,but it is sure. We may grumblealong the way, but a little heatadded to our lives is a goodthing. God cares about us andHe is with us every step of theway.

TSS


I was raised in a Pente-costal church in St. Thomas,U.S. Virgin Islands. Naturally,this means that for many yearsI did not believe in any of theBible’s sacred days. As I be-came an adult, my interest andefforts in the ministry grew.

By age 24 I had managedto make for myself a religiousreputation in this 32 square mileisland. Early in my biblical stud-ies I had developed an interestfor both the subject ofapologetics and cults.

Since I had been schooledaccording to the dispensationalinterpretation of the Bible, I feltvery capable of debating anybiblical topic. For a number ofyears, I was involved in numer-ous debates with Sabbathkeepers and I also taught oth-ers how to do the same. To myshame, I succeeded in convinc-ing a significant number ofthem to abandon the obser-vance of the weekly Sabbath inorder to adopt a position simi-lar to mine (which was that inthe New Testament era, wehave no special day of worshipmandated to Christians). Justlike Paul, I was persuaded thatI was doing my duty unto God.

But, the Heavenly Fatherhad mercy and pity on me. Dur-ing the month of January 1990,I met a local Pastor by the nameof Dale George. He too had a

My Testimonyby

Silvio Sotopassion for debating and I wasonly too glad to oblige. Naturally,I was confidant that I was goingto win this one as I had woncountless others. However, theAlmighty had a big “rude awak-ening” in store for me!

On the day of our first en-counter, I had decided I wasgoing directly for a ”cut throat”approach. In my brief earlierexchanges with Dale George, Ihad observed that Dale was ahumble man. I intended to takeadvantage of this charactertrait and over power him withmy personality.

I had it all planned out. Assoon as he would bring up thetopic of the Sabbath, I waswould call him a hypocrite, ar-guing that if he really believedin the “concept of sacred time”he would be keeping the Festi-vals and the weekly Sabbath —BOTH! To prove my point, I wasthen going to take him toLeviticus 23, where weeklySabbath and the annual Festi-vals are both grouped as one.

I already knew his intendedreply. He would have arguedthat the Festivals were ceremo-nial while the weekly Sabbathwas part of the Moral Law. Hewould certainly remind me thatthe Decalogue was personallywritten with the finger of God,while the Book of the Law waswritten by Moses. He probably

was going to try and argue thesignificance of how theDecalogue was placed insidethe ark when the Mosaic Lawwas placed outside. I also ex-pected that he might try tomake something over the factthat the Savior in the Gospels,and the New Testament Churchthroughout the book of Acts,were described as observingthe weekly Sabbath. Yet, I hada prepared logical reply for ev-ery one of these arguments!

The way I saw it, I was pre-paring to fight “fire with fire.” Hewould be arguing for one sa-cred day and I would be usingseven sacred days againsthim. Something ceremonialmeans that it involves a ritual.In the Mosaic Law, the Festivalsinvolved such rituals as gather-ing together, public and privateworship, singing, offerings,blood sacrifices, and doing nowork. It turns out this is all trueof the weekly Sabbath!

Basically my premise wassimple: if it walked like a duck,-if it quacked like a duck, -andif it looked like a duck ... it hadto be a duck! Therefore, theweekly Sabbath was no less aceremonial (ritualistic) obser-vance than were the Festivals.The fact that it was part of theTen Commandments did notmake it any less ceremonial.Besides, I always felt that Sab-


bath keepers were too loosewith the phrase “Moral Law,”since all disobedience is an actof immorality.

In fact, I had discoveredthat Sabbath keeping scholarswere in agreement that menwere to be considered as “FreeMoral Agents.” By definitionand application, this meant thatmen are endowed with a “freewill” (the ability to choose goodfrom evil), but are under “moral”obligation to choose good!Therefore, any law that imposeda control on my “freedom ofchoice” had to be a “MoralLaw” by definition.

Designating the Festivalsas “ceremonial” did not makethese any less “morally” bind-ing on Israel. Furthermore, theargument of the Decalogue be-ing inside the ark, while the Mo-saic Law was outside, was littlemore than an appeal to aban-don critical thinking for emo-tionalism. After all, this line ofreasoning was implying thatsomething inside was deemedof higher value than that whichwas outside. The problem isthat inside the ark were also therod of Aaron and samples ofManna. I have never heard of ascholar (Sabbath or Sundaykeeper) who felt these itemswere more important than theMosaic Law by virtue of theirbeing placed inside the ark!

As to the argument that theSavior and the early believerskept the Sabbath in the Gospeland in the book of Acts, I wasonly too thrilled when this wasbrought up. Immediately my re-hearsed response was, “The

Savior and the early church inActs both kept the ceremonialFestivals, but YOU DON’T!” Infact, any biblical and/or histori-cal argument that can be usedto support the weekly Sabbathobservance also can easily beshown to support the obser-vance of the Annual Festivals!The Catholic church has notonly claimed to have changedthe weekly Sabbath, but to havealso changed the Festivals(substituting the latter with pa-gan feast days)!

It was a lovely “time tested”strategy that had worked beau-tifully for me before. Dale sim-ply didn’t have a prayer. I wasthat confident and secure!

Imagine my surprise whenI made my “hypocrite” chargeagainst this noble soul and heinformed me that he agreedwith me! Stunned, I asked himif he agreed, then why he didn’tkeep the Festivals but only keptthe Sabbath (the reality of hisanswer had not truly sunkthrough my skull).

Again, lovingly and withcareful wording (so I could un-derstand) he stated, “I ... keep... both!”

HUH? Immediately I felt asif the rug had been pulled fromunder my feet. This was not howI had planned this encounter todeveloped!

Now, because of my arro-gance and my prejudgment, Iwas at a complete disadvan-tage and treading new ground(not exactly a comfortable feel-ing — as you can imagine).

In my mind, I was goingthrough every strategy that I had

ever used, trying to determinehow to get myself out of thishole. But, I couldn’t overcomemy utter surprise that Dale keptthe Festivals! I had never met aChristian that spoke favorablyof the Festivals, let alone keptthem. Yet, here he was —standing in living color in frontof me — a very strange andunique creature.

To add to my confusion,Dale was not saying anythingelse. He just stood there in si-lence, waiting for me to makethe next move (perhaps, to putmy other foot in my mouth). Thepressure was unbelievable.Having won so many debatesusing high pressure tech-niques, finally somebody wasturning the table on me and giv-ing me a taste of my own medi-cine.

In my despair, I remembertossing my arms into the air andasking him, “Why in the worldwould you keep the Festivals?”What an irony! Moments earlierI had called him a hypocrite fornot keeping the Festivals alongwith the weekly Sabbaths. Now,I was insinuating that some-thing must be wrong with hismind for doing so!

Despite my obvious lack ofcordiality in that statement, Daleproceeded to illuminate mymind with some of the numer-ous reasons and biblical evi-dence on this subject. Withinone hour, I was transformedfrom an intimidating roaring lioninto an ordinary house cat. I feltuneducated. My pride and ar-rogance had effectively beenknocked to the ground. I


couldn’t help but marvel at hisreasoning and the quality of hisevidence. It was as if all my lifeI had been reading anotherbook instead of the Bible! Theevidence had been there all thistime!!

To make matters worse,his arguments were simplicityitself. It was not the kind of ex-planation that required muchtheological background to un-derstand. I was immediatelyable to see the ramifications ofhis various positions and inter-pretations as he progressedfrom one stage to the next.

At the end, I was a veryhumbled man. Yet, all I couldsay was, “Okay Dale, you madea few points, but I am going toneed time to verify all this ‘stuff.’”Yeah, that is right. I called it“stuff!” I was still hoping againsthope that I could find a genuinerefutation.

To be certain, I wouldspend the next nine months vis-iting Dale’s assembly everySabbath. I searched and re-searched, and then did it allover again.

But the seed had beenplanted, deep within the cham-bers of my soul and heart. It tor-tured me day and night. I havethought many times about ALLthose people I have led againstthe Sabbath!!!

My agony was unbear-able. I lost my peace and self-control. I did not want to eat orengage in any other activity butto research this subject. Therehad to be a way out, there justhad to be! But the more Isearched, the more information

I uncovered that actually sidedwith Dale! It was a nightmare ...It was also a disgrace.

Many weeks of tears fol-lowed. I struggled with my con-science everyday, but the HolySpirit would neither allow merest nor peace.

At the time, I was the pas-tor of a local Spanish churchand the co-pastor of the Englishspeaking mother church. I triedto console myself with the nu-merous activities of the minis-try, but they had all lost their at-traction for me. Yet, monthswere passing by and I stillwould not make a definite de-cision. Once again, our pre-cious Heavenly Father usedDale.

The Festival of Taber-nacles was fast approaching inSeptember of that year: 1990.It was a Sabbath afternoon andwe were all gathered for a lunchfellowship at the home of oneof Dale’s congregation.

By now, I was a regularvisitor. Another brother, who atone time had been the deaconof the assembly, approachedme questioning whether I hadmade my decision. I tried to ig-nore the question and changethe subject, but the dear brotherinsisted. When I finally told him,“No,” he asked what I was wait-ing for.

I did not have a good an-swer so I merely told him I didnot feel I was ready yet. I still hadto reconcile many superficialissues, like the fact that I was apastor of a Sunday keepingchurch, the possible loss ofprestige in this small island

where practically everyoneknew me, etc.

At that moment, Dale — ina most uncharacteristic form —told me that he feared for mysalvation! Amazed, I demandedthat he explain himself (after all,this was stated publicly). He toldme that while it is true that theFather accepts many who arestill in ignorance, neverthelessI could no longer personallyavail myself of that avenue, ASI WAS NO LONGER IGNO-RANT OF THE FACTS.

I smiled, but as he walkedaway my heart sank! I felt like adagger had split me wide open.Needless to say, I could notsleep that night! I knew what hehad said was the truth. Thatnight, in the solitude of my room,I decided.

The following morning, Iinformed him of my decision.That same morning, I renderedmy resignation to my former re-ligious affiliation and I was bap-tized on the first Great day ofTabernacles 1990. To this day,I have never once regretted thepath that has been given for meto walk.

In the words of PaulHarvey, “Now you know ... therest of the story.”

Silvio Soto -ElderSt. Thomas, VI

A belated welcome tothe fellowship of Sabbathkeepers, Silvio! The story ofyour conversion is indeed apowerful one!

ED.


Is there a person within the Body of Christwhose feet we would not wash? Is it possible forus to be a servant of God, and yet find it impos-sible to wash the feet of His other servants? Canwe be a Christian and still find reason to refusethe washing of another’s feet?

In order to understand the importance ofwashing each other’s feet, we need to examinethe lesson Christ was trying to teach one anotherwhen He did so. In John 13:2-17 we read, “ Andsupper being ended, the devil having now putinto the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son,to betray him; Jesus knowing that the Fatherhad given all things into his hands, and thathe was come from God, and went to God; Heriseth from supper, and laid aside his gar-ments; and took a towel, and girded himself.After that he poureth water into a bason, andbegan to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipethem with the towel wherewith he was girded.Then cometh he to Simon Peter: and Petersaith unto him, Lord, dost thou wash my feet?Jesus answered and said unto him, What Ido thou knowest not now; but thou shaltknow hereafter. Peter saith unto him, Thoushalt never wash my feet. Jesus answeredhim, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part withme. Simon Peter saith unto him, Lord, not myfeet only, but also my hands and my head.Jesus saith to him, He that is washedneedeth not save to wash his feet, but is cleanevery whit: and ye are clean, but not all. Forhe knew who should betray him; thereforesaid he, Ye are not all clean. So after he hadwashed their feet, and had taken his gar-ments, and was set down again, he said untothem, Know ye what I have done to you? Yecall me Master and Lord: and ye say well; forso I am. If I then, your Lord and Master, havewashed your feet; ye also ought to wash oneanother's feet. For I have given you an ex-ample, that ye should do as I have done toyou. Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant

is not greater than his lord; neither he that issent greater than he that sent him. If ye knowthese things, happy are ye if ye do them.” KJVthroughout, unless noted.

What lesson can we learn from this example?First, Christ was a servant, a servant who will oneday return as King. His willingness to serve theApostles by washing their feet was symbolic ofHis willingness to serve them by giving up His lifefor them. Did He have to wash their feet to die forus? No, He did not. Therefore, there is an impor-tant spiritual lesson for us to learn by His havingdone so.

Notice, Judas Iscariot, who betrayed ourLord, was present at the point Christ washed theApostle’s feet. That’s right! Christ washed Judas’feet! The very one who betrayed Christ had hisown feet washed! Christ went on to tell the dis-ciples that if their Lord and Master could washtheir feet (and symbolically ours), then we oughtto be able to wash one another’s feet.

But this lesson is more than a symbolic one.It is more than the establishment of an annual cer-emony to be done by His disciples. It was the es-tablishment of insight into how we are to deal withour brothers. So, again, is there anyone whosefeet we would not wash?

In Luke 10:29 we find Christ in conversationwith a lawyer, who said, “ But he, willing to jus-tify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is myneighbour? ” The word translated “neighbor” isthe Greek “plesion (play-see'-on); neuter of a de-rivative of pelas (near); (adverbially) close by; asnoun, a neighbor, i.e. fellow (as man, countryman,Christian or friend)” It could easily mean a brotherin Christ!

Then Christ went on to answer the lawyer inthe following parable. Luke 10:30-37 states, “ AndJesus answering said, A certain man wentdown from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fellamong thieves, which stripped him of his rai-ment, and wounded him, and departed, leav-ing him half dead. And by chance there came

Would You Wash Them All?by

Royce Mitchell, Jr.


down a certain priest that way: and when hesaw him, he passed by on the other side. Andlikewise a Levite, when he was at the place,came and looked on him, and passed by onthe other side. But a certain Samaritan, as hejourneyed, came where he was: and when hesaw him, he had compassion on him, Andwent to him, and bound up his wounds, pour-ing in oil and wine, and set him on his ownbeast, and brought him to an inn, and tookcare of him. And on the morrow when he de-parted, he took out two pence, and gave themto the host, and said unto him, Take care ofhim; and whatsoever thou spendest more,when I come again, I will repay thee. Whichnow of these three, thinkest thou, wasneighbour unto him that fell among thethieves? And he said, He that shewed mercyon him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, anddo thou likewise. ”

Here we find some so-called children of God,religious leaders of the “Chosen People,” who will-ingly ignored the desperate needs of one who wasa part of their “group.” Yet, an outsider, one con-sidered by those religious leaders to be little bet-ter than a dog, took the injured man, cleaned himup, and anointed his wounds. Dare we say thathe washed the man’s feet?

We are not told specifically that he did, but,in spirit, is it not true that the Samaritan was aservant to the injured man? Is it not true that theSamaritan acted more like a child of God thanthe supposed children did? Of course! What thenis Christ teaching us?

The last sentence of those verses enlightensus. Christ said, “ Go thou and do likewise. ” Weare to go and have mercy. Mercy is to be bestowedon those who are of the Body— and to those whoare not! Humility is to be our companion in allthings.

Note the parable Christ taught in Luke 18:9-14, “ And he spake this parable unto certainwhich trusted in themselves that they wererighteous, and despised others: Two menwent up into the temple to pray; the one aPharisee, and the other a publican. The Phari-see stood and prayed thus with himself, God,I thank thee, that I am not as other men are,

extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even asthis publican. I fast twice in the week, I givetithes of all that I possess. And the publican,standing afar off, would not lift up so muchas his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon hisbreast, saying, God be merciful to me a sin-ner. I tell you, this man went down to hishouse justified rather than the other: for ev-ery one that exalteth himself shall be abased;and he that humbleth himself shall be ex-alted. ”

Here we find someone who knew the Law,and kept it fastidiously so that others might see it.What did Christ say of him? That he prayed withhimself! His prayers went no farther! Why? Be-cause he considered himself righteous in God’seyes for his own works! He did not realize thatChrist came not to call the righteous, but sinnersto repentance! The publican did not realize thatthose who think they are well have no need of aphysician, but that those who realize how sick theyare do need one (Matthew 9:12-13)!

How do we apply all of this to ourselves? Letus begin by examining ourselves. Do we harboran attitude of superiority towards others in theBody of Christ? Is our doctrine better than theirs?Do we keep the Law better? Is God working withus — but not them?

I recently heard a member of the Body ofChrist say this about another. When person “A”found out that person “B” was going to be travel-ling with person “C” to a function, person “A” saidout loud that the person would not go if person “B”was going to go, and would rather go by them-selves (and did so!). Was there something thathad been done to cause such hard feelings? Whoknows? But, was that how Christ dealt with Ju-das, who committed a far greater offense thanwe normally commit against one another? Thistype of “holier than thou” attitude was never a partof the humble Christ.

This smug attitude of superiority was dealtwith by Christ. Notice in Matthew 23:23-31 wefind, “ Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees,hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and aniseand cummin, and have omitted the weightiermatters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith:these ought ye to have done, and not to leave


the other undone. Ye blind guides, whichstrain at a gnat, and swallow a camel. Woeunto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!for ye make clean the outside of the cup andof the platter, but within they are full of ex-tortion and excess. Thou blind Pharisee,cleanse first that which is within the cup andplatter, that the outside of them may be cleanalso. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees,hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sep-ulchres, which indeed appear beautiful out-ward, but are within full of dead men's bones,and of all uncleanness. Even so ye also out-wardly appear righteous unto men, but withinye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. Woe untoyou, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! be-cause ye build the tombs of the prophets,and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous,And say, If we had been in the days of ourfathers, we would not have been partakerswith them in the blood of the prophets.Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves,that ye are the children of them which killedthe prophets .”

These are serious words. Christ called menwho kept (in the letter) every law He had com-manded by the name “hypocrite.” The admoni-tion is there for us today as well. We need to ex-amine our hearts and ask ourselves this ques-tion in honesty. “Is there anyone in the Body ofChrist whose feet I would never wash?” If thereis, we must repent and repent now.

Why is this important? Notice this. James4:11-12 states, “ Speak not evil one of another,brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother,and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of thelaw, and judgeth the law: but if thou judgethe law, thou art not a doer of the law, but ajudge. There is one lawgiver, who is able tosave and to destroy: who art thou that judgestanother? ”

One who is not a doer of the law is a sinner(1 John 3:4)! In order to prevent grieving the HolySpirit, we must not continue in sin! Ephesians4:30-32 shows us, “And grieve not the holySpirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto theday of redemption. ” How can we do that? Con-tinue in verse 31, “ Let all bitterness, and wrath,

and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking,be put away from you, with all malice: Andbe ye kind one to another, tenderhearted,forgiving one another, even as God forChrist's sake hath forgiven you. ”

We can grieve the Spirit by this bitter atti-tude toward our brethren! To prevent that, weneed to be tenderhearted, easily entreated, for-giving, merciful toward all, with no exceptions.This point is of paramount importance. Our verylives are at stake. If we know anyone whom weare not willing to serve, then we need to stop andrecheck ourselves.

What are we commanded? Acts 3:19, “ Re-pent ye therefore, and be converted, thatyour sins may be blotted out, when the timesof refreshing shall come from the presenceof the Lord ... .” Notice, if we are not converted,our sins will not be blotted out! We will die thedeath of the unconverted!

Can we begin to see just how important theidea of serving one another is? Do we see thatour very lives depend upon our attitude towardone another?

When we assume an attitude of superioritytowards another of God’s children, we have as-sumed the position of a Pharisee! It does notmatter what our brothers (and sisters) have done,nor from what background they come! It only mat-ters that God created them, and that He wouldhave all to come to salvation (Luke 3:6, Titus 2:11,Hebrews 5:9, 1 Timothy 2:4).

We are no stronger as the Body of Christthan our weakest member. That is why we are tohelp them, not look down upon them, as if we aremore righteous. When we do so, we forget thatcompared to Christ, any cleanness that we mighthave is imperceptible next to God’s cleanness,that we look like dirty rags next to Christ’s righ-teousness.

A clear understanding of how miserable,blind, pitiful and naked we are is paramount toseeing ourselves as we ought to do. If we do such,we will have no problem washing the feet of any-one. We will have the proper humility— which canmake of us a powerful servant.

Consider now, is there anyone whose feetyou would not wash? If so, I beg of you, repent.


LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

There is one more thing that I forgot to men-tion before when some were giving their opinionabout a color versus a black & white Sentinel: Ithink that the black & white is fine, and in fact, Ilike to see the saving of money. Color does notmake the articles....the writer does. Thanks.....Iam a conservative person and I don’t like to seewaste in anything.

Minnie(last name withheld)

Thanks for your support Minnie! Weagree that economy for the purpose of gettingHis Word into the hands of as many as pos-sible is the ideal! Color is grand, and I believethat we should return to that when possible- butit is far more important to get the message out!

ED.

Ron & Donna McKown, who have operatedthe Friends of the Family Lending Library for afew years, would like to know if anyone is willingto take over this responsibility. The library con-sists of a wide range of books, tapes, videos,etc. from Focus on the Family and other sources.Many of the items have been donated by Giving& Sharing. The library needs to be expanded toinclude homeschooling items.

An individual who wishes to assume thisresponsibility should be willing to promote thelending service, maintain records and inventory,and contribute or seek others to assist with, post-age expenses.

If you are interested, please contact theMcKown’s at [email protected] .

Rich Nickels

We hope that someone familiar with TSSor BSA will be willing to take over this labor oflove.

ED.

When you die, can you be buried on theSabbath day or should you wait until Sunday?

Larry Kalmowitz

Most Sabbath-keepers such as ourselveswould answer your question as I will here. Theliving relatives should generally respect thewishes of the deceased. The Sabbath com-mandment forbids all unnecessary work for us.The Sabbath-keeper would also want to take rea-sonable measures to prevent others (our ser-vants) from working as well. Therefore, a Sab-bath-keeping family would not normally sched-ule a funeral and burial on the Sabbath. ThereMAY be some rare circumstances when this isnot possible. We pray that God will give us wis-dom to face such situations so as to minimize,or eliminate entirely, Sabbath work relating tofunerals and burial of the dead. We do knowthat Jesus’ righteous uncle, Joseph ofArimathea, rushed to place the dead body ofJesus in the tomb BEFORE the Sabbath. Thisexample is clear for us to follow.

I will forward you a free copy of The Sab-bath Sentinel magazine. Thanks for asking.

Rich

Dear Brother Davis:Thank you for your encoraging words, and

prayers. Rejoice with me as on yesterday, mycongregation voted over whelmingly in favor ofmaking the transition to Seventh Day BaptistChurch. We are planning to have our first Sab-bath worship service on December 11,99. Weare excited in anticipation of what the Lord hasin store for us as we continue to labor in his vine-yard. We would appreciate any printed materi-als that you may share with us. Shalom!!!

Jim Rowe


WOMEN’S CONFERENCE 2000December 5, 1999 - “Let the Older Women

Teach the Younger” will serve as the guiding prin-ciple at the Women’s Conference 2000 to beheld in the Dallas area March 10-12, 2000. Thisgroundbreaking conference will be open towomen, regardless of church affiliation, who re-spect the traditional role of women in theSabbatarian Churches of God but want to iden-tify new areas of service and growth.

Women’s Conference 2000 will be held atthe Marriott Hotel Solana, located at 5 VillageCircle in Westlake, TX, which is a 10-minute drivefrom DFW Airport in the Solana Business Com-plex developed by IBM.

For more information or a registration form,call 877/444-IBLC (toll-free) or 972/492-3305; orsend an e-mail to [email protected] [email protected]. A registration formalso appears in the Connections section of theDecember issue of The Journal.

•ONE BODY IN YAHWEH

A gathering of ALL THE PEOPLE OFYAHWEH from all over the World!!Yahweh gathering in the Bahamas July 14-17,2000 (Friday-Monday). The theme ofthe gathering is “One Body In Yahweh”. For allsacred name believers. For more info, pleasecontact: In New York: Bishop H. Mickens (718)401-0742, Bahamas Pastor D. Thompson (242)324- 6906, St. Kitts Elder C. Jenkins (869) 465-6809, Dominica Elder J. Sedra (767) 449-1879,Elder L. Williams (767) 448-8043 or in ElderV.P.F. Joseph (767) 448-8567.

•ISRAEL TOUR

00 Tour to Israel with Messianic Believers.For brochure and more info contact Gates ofEden at above address.

CALENDAR OF EVENTSFOR THE EXTENDED BODY OF CHRIST!

BIBLE COLLEGE PLANNEDThe General Council of the Churches of God,

7th Day will be establishing a Bible College. Formore information about the plans and estimatedtime frame contact General Council of theChurches of God, 7th Day 1827 West ThirdStreet, Meridian, Idaho, 83642-1653.

•TEACH ENGLISH!

The Church of God in Brazil is looking forsomeone to teach conversational English to theirboard of Elders. If you qualify, and are interestedplease contact them at their website at http://www.igrejadedeus.com.br/ .

•PEN PALS SOUGHT

Pen Pal and Spouse Seeker listing is nowin the Gates of Eden Publication. It is a smallcolumn but free to anyone. It is suggested youhave a post office box for such transactions toguarantee privacy. Write Daniel Botkin, Gatesof Eden P.O. Box 2257, Esat Peoria IL 61611-0257. Gates of Eden is published monthly; rec-ommended donation of $2.00 per issue to offsetpublication costs.

•SABBATARIAN SINGLES

Petah Tikvah Year 20Sabbath Singles Con-nection —http://hme.inreach.com/mikekawa/

•FREE NEWSLETTER

A regional monthly newsletter of, by and forthe ecclesia, The Green Pastures Gazette , isavailable on request and is sent to residents ofTexas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and New Mexico.Request your free subscription by writing to PhilKeener, PO Box 11243, Ft. Worth, TX 76110.Be sure to Include your address.


classified ads . . .

Support BSA and ourefforts to promote God’s Sab-

bath! Become aMember Today!

Regular Membership$25; Family $30

BSA, 3316 Alberta Drive,Gillette, WY 82718 USA

Toll Free: 1-888-687-5191

FREE REPORT-- How to Teach Your Chil-dren Biblical Work Ethics, and, The PrincipalsThat Guarantee Employment Success: The RoadMap, PO Box 4154-SS, Kansas City, KS 66104.(Apr00)

FREE QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER—“The Fellowship Commentator; A quarterlyNewsletter of Biblical Analysis and Commen-tary” edited by F. Paul Haney, an independentminister. Also free with this ad— “The Eagle &The Lion Christian Bible Study Guide” and“Study 32a: Keeping the Sabbath.”

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BIBLE TRUTH versus RELIGION, andCOMING TRIBULATION! $1.00. CAL, Box1035, Bellavista, CA 96008. (Apr00)

Classified ads (20% discount for secondtime, 30% thereafter) are available at the rate of$1.00 per word (including each word and eachgroup of numbers in the address - telephone num-bers count as one word) for each issue in whichthe ad is published.

Display ads are available at $150 perquarter page for each issue the ad is published.Where possible your camera-ready copy will beutilized, or we will design your display ad for you.Send copy for all ads and payment to The BibleSabbath Association, 3316 Alberta Drive,Gillette, WY 82718.

Discounts- Advertise in the TSS Classi-fied Ads section for more than one issue andreceive discounts: $1.00 per word 1st issue, then20% off for 2nd issue and 30% off for subse-quent times.

Ad copy without payment will not be ac-cepted for publication. Deadline is two monthsprior to publication (i.e. if you want your ad toappear in the March/April issue we must receiveit before January). BSA reserves the right to re-ject or edit any ad copy. Publication does notnecessarily imply endorsement by The BibleSabbath Association or The Sabbath Sentinel.

VISIT OUR WEBSITE ABOUT THE EARLYJUDAEN-CHRISTIAN CHURCH. www.cog-christianos.org. (Feb00)

FREE, 2000, CALENDAR OF THE LORDBiblical and historical events that Lord Fatherwilled by His Son, Lord and Saviour, Jesus.Marked events for you to know and DO. Limit to10 outside the USA; high postage. USA no limitfor families, friends, etc. Write to: Church of God(New Testament), At Large; 45-020B MalulaniStreet; Kaneohe, HI 96744.” (Feb00)

OLIVE BRANCHES- Web site provideslinks to many bible study resources, as well asitems of special interest to the greaterSabbatarian community. Send for our free “Re-source Guide.” www.olivebranches.net. OliveBranches, PO Box 1293, Fairview, TN 37062.(June 00)

Sale: Library - Rare E.G. White, Dr. KelloggJones, etc. Interested, send self addressed andstamped envelope for lists. All sales by mail.Haven Church of God. Box 2003, Winter Haven,FL 33880 (Feb 00)


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The Sabbath SentinelA Bi-monthly Publication ofThe Bible Sabbath AssociationHC 60 Box 8, Fairview, OK 73737 USA

Address Service Requested

NON-PROFITORGANIZATIONUS POSTAGE

PAIDPERMIT NO. 116GILLETTE, WY

DIRECTORY OF SABBA TH OBSERVING GROUPS

The Bible Sabbath Association is in the process of revising the Directory of Sabbath Ob-serving Groups. The Directory is circulated to Sabbath keepers all over the world. This is adirectory of Sabbath observing groups and support organizations.

If your group wishes to be included in the new edition, please let us have your information assoon as possible. Please send to 3316 Alberta Dr, Gillette, WY 82718, general informationabout your group or organization, such as name of group, leader, phone number, address, emailaddress. We will then send you a form to fill out to return to us.

If you are listed in the 1996 edition and wish to leave it the same, please call our toll freenumber at 1-888-687-5191 and speak to Richard or Shirley. If you don’t know what the 1996edition contains about your organization, you may call the toll free number and we will send youa copy of your information.

Entries to the Directory are free for the first 255 characters. A character is defined as anumber, a letter, a space, a comma, or a period, etc. The format will be 8 1/2 x 11 inch. Anyentries more than 255 characters will be edited. Should you desire to include more informationabout your organization or group than will fit in the 255 character format, additional space isavailable. The cost will be $50 for an additional 1/3 of a page, or $100 for a full page. Photos,(black & white are better than color), can be inserted in your extra page for $30 each.

We still have copies of the 1996 edition available for $10 each or free with a $20 order.The Directory of Sabbath Observing Groups is a very helpful directory and can be useful to

everyone if the information is current. Please help us keep the information up to date. Remem-ber this directory goes out to thousands of Sabbath keepers around the world. We will includeinformation on Sabbath keeping organizations from every nation in the world. If you know ofother groups, which have not been included in past Directories, please let us know. So please,send us your information as soon as possible so we can get the new directory printed. It is vitallyneeded.

our god is an awesome god! - bible sabbath association

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