Shalom Saints,
I am astonished at how Arthur can explain well-known historical facts in a way that virtually leaves us with our mouths’ open. Nearly everyone has heard of the “church fathers” who are espoused by Bible Colleges, Seminaries and subsequently church pastors. However, we hadn’t deducted that people who were not in the Bible (the church fathers), who wrote about the history of the Bible, are given a greater authority than the Patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob) in the Bible!
The “Message Before the Message” was filled with mind stimulating realities such as Christianity is a belief system that was established contrary to the written word. The church is focused on the New Testament and Grace, which automatically makes the Old Testament a historical relic. Therefore, once you throw out the Law, you are free to believe as you choose and not be concerned about what is written. However, the hypocrisy of this position is clearly seen when the church claims all the promises and blessings given in the Old Testament without paying any attention to the instructions given to access those blessings.
Deuteronomy 28 (KJV)
28 And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the Lord thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth:
2 And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God.
3 Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field.
Watch this teaching about the blessings you can access: 28 Blessings of Deuteronomy 28 (4 DVDs)
As Arthur embarked on the conclusion of Acts Chapter 8, he encouraged us to use our imagination by placing ourselves in the story to visualize what was happening. As a sidebar, Arthur mentioned that our imagination is a good thing unless it is used for the wrong purpose. It is important to take charge of our imagination and control where we allow it to go.
In the rich discussion of Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch, Arthur was able to pull out several striking practical examples of some Biblical principles.
- If you are seeing the beam in somebody else’s eyesand you haven’t taken the log out of your own eyes … your view is obscured!
- I can’t forget what I lived through, unless I forget the lessonsthat I learned living through them.
- YeHoVaH’s people have NEVERbeen confined to just the 12 tribes!
- None of the apostles needed a New Testament to preach the gospel of the Kingdom!
- We can’t give up on people! We may not necessarily agree with them nor can we walk with them, but we have to continue to pray and trust and believe.
- His visionis much bigger for you than what your vision is for you!
- If there are things in your heart that are not in alignment with Him, why should He bless you with an abundance when your heart is not where He wants your heart?
- If you are not faithful in the little, you won’t be faithful in the much.
Listen as Arthur closes the Teaching with a dramatic appeal: Don’t let your heart go before your faith! … You will pay for it!
This vital offering assures the blessing of prosperity: Feast of Firstfruits (Book)
Sharon’s Reflections on the Teaching
When Arthur finished the teaching, he was temporarily hoarse. He had inflected his voice in so many ways to impress upon us the urgency of all that was discussed today. His last statements really hit home for me on so many levels.
Don’t let your heart go before your faith! … Don’t ignore your faith and make a heart (carnal) decision. You will pay for it!
I could easily see some of the carnal decisions I made in my past and some of the faith decisions I learned to make after coming into the knowledge of truth. I also see some of the decisions that are before me now. I will heed Arthur’s warning.
Floyd shared with me a heart-wrenching story of a woman he knows and the carnal decision she made nearly 40 years ago. Floyd attended her wedding and he remembers that something just didn’t seem right. The couple was smiling, but he detected that they were not a happy couple. Some months later, Floyd was told the backstory.
The young woman had dated the young man about a year and they planned to get married. The mother of the young man pleaded with the young woman NOT to marry her son. The mother explained that her son was bisexual. In spite of the warning from the MOTHER of the man, they got married.
Within 8 months, they were divorced; and within another year, he had died from complications associated with his lifestyle. They both paid for their carnal decisions.
Last Thursday, Arthur described, metaphorically, trying to turn a frog in to a Prince. Listen to this snippet from Jude an Epistle of Jude – The Introduction: It’s a FROG!
Reaping and sowing is ALWAYS in operation. That is the way the Father has organized our world to function. We are wise when we let Him order our steps and resist the temptations of our carnal minds.
Buzz on the Teaching
The Biblical New Year is less than two weeks away! I am excited about it because I like the “over the top” decorations that Karen plans each year. She told me that she has more than 130 blinging-swinging-dangling multicolored decorations to hang from the ceiling! Jerusalem is 7 hours ahead of us in the Eastern Time zone, so there is the added suspense of only finding out in the afternoon that the new moon has been sighted in Israel. We decorate ahead of time and then just show up on the evening YeHoVaH has appointed for His New Year and the month of the Aviv.
A lot of the Buzz was about the upcoming Passover Celebration and the week of activities planned at House of Israel. We had a congregational meeting to discuss the anticipated dates and times of the activities. We introduced the Coordinators for Registration, Maintenance, Food Planning, Kitchen Help, Parking Attendants, the Marketplace, and me the Solution Coordinator (that’s my new nomenclature for “troubleshooter”). The excitement builds as we hear about the planning at weekly Sabbath meetings until Passover arrives.
Until next time… Blessings to You and Yours,
Sharon