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2THE JOURNALIssue No. 182 (March 31, 2016)Letters from our readersInformation for Ruth Brownn answer to the Feast query fromRuth Brown:“Just wondering if any readerswould know if there are any groupskeeping the Feast this year in September. Especially interested in Australia.”There will be numerous Feast ofTabernacles sites in September, including in Australia.Www.7th-day.info will begin listingall the September and October festivalsites early April, with website linksproviding detailed information aboutthe organizing groups, venues, festivalschedules, accommodation etc.(The Festival of Unleavened Breadsites are already listed.)Peter CrossWebmaster, www.7th-day.infoChrist’s DNA or another heresy?Would Christ’s DNA show thatChrist came directly from Joseph andMary? Would it be the same DNA asJoseph’s and Mary’s other children?[See “Can the Virgin Birth Be theMother of All Heresies?” by NoelRude in THE JOURNAL, issue No. 181.]Is it possible that God could makean exact replica of Joseph’s sperm andimpregnate Mary’s egg with it? WouldHe need to? Could or would God, withor without Joseph’s knowledge, transfer sperm from Joseph to Mary’s egg?A rib was removed from Adam andmade into Eve with no problem at all!Isn’t the most important thing thefact that Christ was a Holy One bornof Mary made so by God’s Holy Spiritsetting Him apart and abiding in Himuntil the death of His physical body?Similar to the impostor Satan dwellingin the Beast proclaiming to be God?Surely God has no problem withkeeping the genoline of David pure.Or do we limit God’s ability?Don “Heretic” HendersonEdmonds Wash.Praise at the city gateI want to thank THE JOURNAL for itsfine coverage of Ronald L. Dart’s death.[See issue No. 180, dated Jan. 31,2016.] I and many others will missRon. I thought it would be appropriateto add this note to the many fine articles on Ron.If Nancy Davis was a key to Ronald Reagan’s success, then Allie Dartwas the same to Ronald L. Dart.Allie’s hard work, wisdom and lovefor Ron are well known and deeply inspiring. I will always be grateful to theDarts for their loving example andservice to the church.The book of Proverbs ends with anadmonition. When we see a womanwith such qualities she is to be praisedin the city gates (Proverbs 31:31).Honor her for all that her handshave done, and let her works bring herpraise at the city gate.Let Allie Dart and all the otherwomen in the COG with such a heartof service be publicly praised andhonored for their stellar example.Dr. Richard F. Griffiths114 Pine Cone Ln.Elgin, Texas 78621The bombing of SerbiaAfter these 17 years I have not forgotten the kindness of all of you whowere there for me when the bombingof Serbia began on this day, March 24,1999. Thank you for your prayers, compassion, parcels and daily messages.The bombing of Serbia claimed morethan 2,000 victims and destroyed thecountry’s infrastructure.Fifteen tons of depleted uraniumwere dropped on Serbia, which hascaused long-term genocide sincethousands of people have died andwill die from cancer and leukemiarelated complications. See cyyugoslavia28aug13.shtml.Aleksandar “Sasha” VeljicNovi Sad, SerbiaCreation and THE JOURNAL ongoingAbout your recent article “ElderKiesz Compares the Church of God(7th Day) and the RCG/WCG/HWA”:IThe article is the same as an audiotapeI have dated Nov. 10, 1979, in Longview, Texas.On page 15 of the article in THEJOURNAL John Kiesz writes that theearth was made (not remade). That isthe correct wording of Genesis 2:4.But re-creation is creation. Creationis an ongoing process (like JOURNALarticles).Isaiah 65:17: “I create new heavensand a new earth.”Regan CastevensP.O. Box 232Sparta, N.C. 28675Please cancelPlease cancel THE JOURNAL. My understanding was that it was helpingpeople to know what God says in Hisinstruction book, the Holy Bible,without man’s interpretations.Satan has many ways of hoping hecan convince people the Bible doesnot mean what it says. I’ve read thebook, in Revelation, and God wins!I thank God for His plan for allMatthew 1:18-25 is alsosuspect.“If a New Testamentpassage can overthrowwhat is established byGod in the Old, thenthe Torah, Prophetsand Writings are not asJesus claimed when hesaid, ‘. . . And the scripture cannot be broken’(John 10:35).”If we look at the Biblethat way, I can see how wecould throw the New Testament out on its ear, because if theNew does not agree with our interpretation of the Old we can ignore it.This would explain how peoplecould easily overlook the implicationsof scriptures like Matthew 5:48, Matthew 7:12, James 3:2 and John 13:35.This is supposedly because the Jewishwriters from before Christ do notagree with such.As Mr. Rude describes the WCGderived groups’ traditional method ofanalyzing the Scriptures, the scriptures I mention from the New Testament are not relevant to anything.Am I the only one who left theWCG that does not see the Bible thatway?From what Mr. Rude says, he appears to scrutinize the New by theOld. The bias editing in the OT andNT would seem to be more than anyof us realize.However, his explanation of theOld being more reliable than the Newis weak at best. There are hundreds ifHow to subscribe to THE JOURNALKeep up with news of the Churches ofGod and your friends in all the groups bysubscribing to THE JOURNAL: NEWS OF THECHURCHES OF GOD for (in the UnitedStates) 15 for six issues, 28 for 12 issues or 49 for 24 issues. Gift subscriptions to THE JOURNAL are available. Fornon-U.S. subscriptions mailed from BigSandy, the price is 17 for six issues, 30for 12 issues or 55 for 24 issues. Forprices for ordering through one of ourinternational distributors, below, pleasecheck with the individual distributor.To subscribe, renew or order a gift subscription in the United States, Australia,Britain, Canada, South Africa, New Zealand or elsewhere, use the coupon on thelast page or a plain piece of paper andprove our love for God.As I understand Christian evangelism, it is in two ways.First, the power of the spokenword to supernaturally cast evil frompeople’s lives.Also, and even more revealing,the moral and ethical conduct andteaching of the people involved.The one thing I thought COGs allgot right was their suggesting a personstudy the evidence for himself. Thissuggestion caused them to split manytimes even before Mr. Armstrong waswith them.Not to change the subject, but Ithought I might also comment onLawrence Nowell’s Obedient Churchof God’s advertisement on page 8 ofissue 180. The text says that church isin the process of restoring all things.‘Isn’t the most important thing the fact that Christ was a HolyOne born of Mary made so by God’s Holy Spirit setting Himapart and abiding in Him until the death of His physical body?’mail to one of these addresses (whenordering from the U.S. address, pleaseremit in U.S. funds):THE JOURNAL, P.O. Box 1020, Big Sandy,Texas 75755, U.S.A.; info@thejournal.org. (See subscription prices above.)THE JOURNAL, c/o Lewis McCann, 24Bradvue Cres., Bradville, Milton KeynesMK13 7AJ, United Kingdom; 25 for 12issues; 100702.2766@compuserve.com.Canadian subscribers: Please subscribe through the Big Sandy address.Canadian subscriptions in U.S. dollarsare 17 for six monthly issues, 30 for 12issues or 55 for 24 issues. Please remitin U.S. funds drawn on a U.S. bank or asa postal money order.the name Grandpa Moses.Sacred Celebrations is publishedby Xlibris and can be ordered at anybookstore.Here is my poem “Rejoicing!”:Rejoicing! Rejoicing!Upon the Sabbath Day.The Father of all gloryShall keep us in the way;His Spirit everlastingWill bring us safely through,And magnify with miraclesHis majesty for you.Rejoicing! Rejoicing!With songs of hope and praise;Triumph in the victoryOf all His Holy Days!Christ has won the battleAnd cast the Devil down;Reserved for us in faithfulnessA royal righteous crown!Rejoicing! Rejoicing!Our wedding day is near;Soon the day is comingOur Husband will appear;Gather His beloved,Invite her through the door—And we, the bride, always abideWith Christ forevermore!Moses L. HochstetlerNappanee, Ind.mankind and give Him the glory forthe Holy Bible for His great plan.Name and location withheldPlease send no moreI can understand why you put anexplanation of why you publish controversial articles in issue No. 181.We all need to return to simple,trusting, childlike faith, believingwhat the Bible says. It is Satan whocauses us to doubt that God’s Wordmeans what it says. He is the father oflies and deception.God’s Word warns us not to listento false doctrine.Therefore please do not send meany more JOURNALS. I have 14 issuesremaining, but please do not sendthem to anyone else. I do not want tobe part of spreading false doctrine.I love all you brethren and pray youwill return to the confidence you hadin God’s Word when you were calledto His church.Connie RusbultOttumwa, IowaMr. Rude, Mr. Kiesz and Mr. NowellThe copy by Noel Rude and JohnKiesz in issue 181 I found to be veryenlightening as to how the wholeChurch of God movement thinks.On page 14 in column four just belowthe page break, we have four small paragraphs written by Mr. Rude to explainthe movement’s thinking, to wit:“The New Testament does notclaim for itself the same status as theOld. There is no ‘And the word of theLORD came unto me, saying . . .’“The New Testament is founded onthe Hebrew Scriptures and cannotcontradict them. Its books and letterswere preserved by the gentile church,not by the Jews (Romans 3:2), so inWCG tradition we critique the textbased on all the facts over against theHebrew Bible.“Except for the Pericope Adulterae(the woman taken in adultery), the variant readings are mostly minor (spelling,word order, etc.). And, as we just saw,not thousands of examples of biastampering by the translators alone. Iexplained in THE JOURNAL more than500 on just one word in the NT. I havenot found the OT to be as he suggests.As I see the COGs’ and WCG’sposition: Before everything else in religion, if we get the “Saturday or Sunday or some other calendar day,which?” question answered properly,everything else will fall in line.The traditional Jewish and WCGteaching is that the intermission on theseventh day was a sign of their rightness with God.The sign between God and themand their children may have been asign of separation between the cleanworks of God and the unclean worksof the people.If Mr. Rude is correct that the OTHebrew can be relied on, the translators appear to have doctored Exodus31:13 to say God sanctified (madeclean) those people.I was sucked into the WCG movement by the offer of free literature.They used the Sabbath, high days, freeliterature and letters from HQ toexplain they meant three tithes, highday offerings and other offerings.I even got a letter saying they needed me to borrow whatever money Icould and send it to them.I lost my enthusiasm when I sawwhat was being done with the moneyI paid for free literature.This may help explain why I suspect bias from people who judge others by the days they observe.Think what it would mean if it turnsout that the keeping of the right days,in the right ways, from the right calendar is not the foundation of the truereligion.According to John’s critique ofeverything, the Christian dialogueand priorities are quite simple to understand. As I understand the gospel,everything else in the Scriptures isreference material to help us to learnhow to love one another and therebyThey say the Sabbaths are a sign.But, remember, circumcision was asign. “All of you must be circumcised.That will be the sign of the promisefrom me to you” (Genesis 17:13).The same Hebrew word is used inExodus 31:13.Galatians 5:6: “For in Jesus Christneither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision; but faithwhich worketh love.” Is there any reason that the Sabbaths, Saturday, Sunday or any other day are very differentfrom circumcision?Circumcision was a sign of thepromise made to Abraham. The Sabbaths were a sign of something else.I am not bashing the observance ofany days. I am suggesting we giveeach other a little more slack to workout our own salvation with fear andtrembling.I am not seeing the power of God’slove in my life as much as I think itshould be and cannot believe othersdo not feel the same way. It is easier tolove one another when we are not hostile towards one another.Phil GriffithDelight, Ark.Rejoicing while rhymingI don’t know if you publish poetryin your newspaper, but if you do youare welcome to publish this samplefrom my recently published book Sacred Celebrations: Precious GiftsGod Has Given His Children.The book contains 40 poems andlyrics based on God’s holy days and30 other inspirational poems I havewritten over the years.I am an internationally known poetwith three other published works. Ihave received numerous awards andmany commendations from fellowwriters, poets and readers around theworld, from Egypt, England, Australia, Poland, Germany, Canada, Russia and many other areas.Most of my plaudits have come forpoems published in my book Poemsto Cheer the Heart, published underPlease let THE JOURNALknow when you movePlease send your old and new addressesto P.O. Box 1020, Big Sandy, Texas 75755,U.S.A., or to the appropriate address listed in the box at the top of this page. Oryou may fax 1-888-488-6603 or E-mailinfo@thejournal.org or leave a voicemessage at 1-866-949-7294 to reportyour address change.TheJournalNews of the Churches of GodP.O. Box 1020, Big Sandy, Texas 75755THE JOURNAL: NEWS OF THE CHURCHES OF GOD is published by JMC Associates.POSTMASTER: Send change-of-address notices to THE JOURNAL, P.O. Box 1020, BigSandy, Texas 75755.SUBSCRIPTIONS: U.S.: 15 for six issues; 28for 12 issues; 49 for 24 issues. OutsideU.S., mailed from Big Sandy: 17 for sixissues; 30 for 12 issues; 55 for 24 issues.THE JOURNAL is an independent publicationnot affiliated with any church organization.Printed in U.S.A. 2016 JMC Associates.All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted inany form or by any means, electronic ormechanical, including photocopying, recording or any other information-storage-andretrieval system without the written permission of the publisher.EDITOR AND PUBLISHER: Dixon CartwrightCONNECTIONS EDITOR: Linda CartwrightCONTRIBUTORS: Ewin Barnett, Ian Boyne, TreyCartwright, Earl Cayton, Dave Havir, ReginaldKillingley, Edward Malone, Kathleen McCann,Mac Overton, Jamie Payne, Linda MollSmith, Eric Snow, Ellis Stewart, Bill Stough,Wesley White, Ken WestbyCIRCULATION: Linda CartwrightWEB SITE: Alan Ruth, alan@thejournal.orgTHE JOURNAL will not knowingly print inaccurate information. THE JOURNAL will run corrections if notification of errors is received within a reasonable time after publication.

Issue No. 182 (March 31, 2016)THE JOURNAL3Columns and commentaryTo keep from starving, okay to eat snakes?The writer is a longtime Church ofGod member and newspaper writerand editor and expert on knives.Writer’s note: This article containsinformation of a sensitive and adultnature. You have been advised. Bestnot to read shortly before a meal. Nohate mail, please.ronment without food, water orclothes, with the goal of surviving for21 days.It’s dumb because in a real situationit’s doubtful one would be completelyunclothed. The participants rarely fabricate the most important items ofapparel: shoes.Another popular show features ahost who was highly embarrassedwhen it was charged he was sleepingin a fine hotel while he was filming analleged wilderness episode.I grew up on a farm and went barefoot all summer. I still would not liketo be without shoes in an environmentin which my now-diabetic feet wereconstantly encountering sharp rocks,mud puddles, thorns, stickers andother hazards.The reason I question whether asurvivalist can be a Christian isLeviticus 11, which gives principleson what animals may be eaten andwhich God says to avoid.Chicken-fried snake?Used to be, we were taught in theWCG that the biblical laws werehealth laws. Well, what in the world ismore unhealthy than starving todeath?Here is information on meats I’vegleaned from numerous sources overthe years including outdoor magazines:Snake. Tastes like chicken.Squirrel. Tastes like dark meat ofchicken, only better. (I personally canverify this.)Rabbit. A diet rich in rabbit couldstarve you to death if you don’t havenuts or other source of fats becauserabbit flesh is too lean.Fish. Again, a diet of mostlyclean freshwater fish can starve you,because it is so lean. I think salmonand some other oily fish might beexceptions.Armadillo. A few years agoseven or eight people caught leprosyafter eating armadillos at a cookout.No word on whether the armadilloswere well done or not.Scorpion. Survival experts saybreak off the stinger before enjoyingthis delicacy.By Mac OvertonILMER, Texas—I will admitto being addicted to survivalshows.They are extremely popularon cable andsatellite TV channels. As an armchair survivalistmyself, I watchthem for tips onwhat to do if Isurvive a planecrash in the wilderness or the Mac Overtonworld otherwiseTwo food groupsfalls apart around me.From the shows mentioned earlier, ifI gave up my hope of being a truesurvivalist after developing type-2 (in- you have a chance to survive in catasulin-dependent) diabetes and other strophic circumstances you better beprepared to eat a lot of snakes and bugs.medical problems a few years ago.In my prechurch days I ate a lot ofFor example, what is the best knifeyou should have with you when your unclean animals. My folks believed Fried fishSeveral times since my conversionworld goes from bad to very bad to the Old Testament laws were doneI’ve accidentally eaten unclean foods.away.apocalyptic?But they had their own food laws. One example is a fish fry while I wasSome of the survival shows areFor example, you never drank milk editor of a community newspaper.quite good. Others are ridiculous.In my area of TexOne of the bestas the WCG and its(but I forget thename) was when theWhat is the best knife you should have dietary restrictionswere well known, andman who starred waswith you when your world goes fromthe host assured meallegedly alone withthat they were servingonly a camera andbad to very bad to apocalyptic?bass.a Swiss Army knife.They were, but itI don’t know if it’swhen catfish was on the menu. And was deep-fried along with catfish, andstill on.Another good one is Dual Survivor, bugs of all kinds were not for food. you couldn’t tell the difference byin which two survival-trained men of And dogs are considered a food shape or taste of the fillets.I learned that, as a rule in Eastdifferent backgrounds have to endure source in China: St. Bernards. I’veenvironments from tropical to desert been told that the St. Bernard is one of Texas, it’s not safe to assume that youare not being served catfish.the tastiest.to arctic.At another fish fry, held in connecThe last statement about uncleanShoes are importantmeats I remember from the WCG, as tion with an event I covered, I wasAmong the ridiculous is Naked and it was going into apostasy, was that all sure the entrée was catfish. I survivedAfraid, with the premise that a man flesh is not meant for consumption, on coleslaw and potato salad.And I’m sure, after the fact, that theand woman who are strangers are but God leaves it up to human reasonplaced in a harsh, uninhabitable envi- to determine what is and isn’t.See HOW WILL YOU, page 15GSome life lessons need personal experienceThe writer pastors the Church ofGod Big Sandy and is a regular columnist for THE JOURNAL.By Dave HavirIG SANDY, Texas—In January2016 I gave two short sermonsat our congregation on the sameday. The titles were “Learning FromOther People” and “Learning FromPersonal Experience.”In my column in issue No. 181 Idiscussed ideas about the importanceof learning from other people. Thistime I will discuss ideas about theimportance of learning from personalexperience.A person should seek to learn asmuch as he can from other people.However, there are some lessons inlife that each person must learnthrough personal experience.BMaturing processDisciples know this life is designedto be a journey for people to proceedalong a maturing process.“When I was a child, I spoke as achild, I understood as a child, Ithought as a child; but when I becamea man, I put away childish things” (1Corinthians 13:11).“For though by this time you oughtto be teachers, you need someone toteach you again the first principles ofthe oracles of God; and you havecome to need milk and not solid food.For everyone who partakes only ofmilk is unskilled in the word of righ-teousness, for he is a babe.“But solid food belongs to thosewho are of full age, that is, those whoby reason of use have their sensesexercised to discern both good andevil” (Hebrews 5:12-14).Learning from successThe most desirable way to matureis to learn from our successes. Theauthor of the book of Hebrews saidthat Jesus Christ learned.“Though He was aSon, yet He learnedobedience by thethings which Hesuffered” (Hebrews 5:8).It is interestingto consider the concept that the Son ofMan could “learn.” Idon’t view His learning ason the same level as our learning. We learn much from our failures, and He never failed.Therefore I believe He learnedfrom His successes. I believe Hislearning was from experiencing.If a perfect Christ can learn, howmuch more can we imperfect peoplelearn?Christ learned through suffering.He learned by behaving successfullythrough suffering.There are other examples of peoplein the Bible who learned from theirsuccesses

Ellis in studio No. 1. Mr. Kerry delivered the ser-mon from studio No. 2. . 1 A New Orleans-area ministry upgrades facilities to help spread message 3 Mac Overton counsels survivalists on clean and unclean and other points 4 Keith Slough enters discussion about Old Testament vs. New Testament Vol. XX, No. 3 Founded 1997 Issue No. 182 .