|
[ Back ] [ Home ] [ Up ] [ Next ]
Christian Biblical Church of God
Post Office Box 1442
Hollister, California 95024-1442
(831)-637-1875
Fred R. Coulter
Minister
Printer Friendly - PDF
November 14, 2008
Dear
Brethren,
Since my last letter in
September, we have had a tremendous, inspiring 2008
Fall Festival season--Trumpets, Atonement, the Feast
of Tabernacles and the Last Great Day. In the United
States we had 13 major feast sites, two more than
last year. Here are the major sites with their
attendance figures: Wells, ME--38; Virginia Beach,
VA--42; Cartersville, GA--28; Cincinnati, OH--55;
Goshen, IN--75; Waco, TX--75; Houston, TX--44; Tulsa,
OK--41; Bozeman, MT--38; Coeur d' Alene, ID--40;
Tucson, AZ--68; Palm Springs, CA--40 and, finally,
Hollister, CA--30. In addition, many brethren
gathered in small groups of 5-7, while even smaller
groups met in homes in their local areas. We sent
out over 100 sets of festival DVDs for various small
groups and over 300 CDs to individuals. In addition
to the previously prepared DVD sermons, the elders
at most feast sites delivered messages and conducted
Bible Studies. As a result, all the
brethren--everywhere, even overseas--were able to
receive the same sermons and spiritual meat in due
season.
In the future, as times get more
difficult with rising prices--especially gas, food
and lodging--it is clear that we will need to have
more localized feast sites. This means that
while many more brethren will be able to keep the
feasts and holy days, the number attending at each
site will probably average between 15-25. But it is
true--SMALLER IS BETTER. As many brethren have
related to us, with these smaller groups everyone
has more time to fellowship and is able to come know
each other better and develop lasting brotherly
love--visiting each other, praying for one another.
In the past, the large feasts of
thousands (5,000 to 12,000 in huge auditoriums--to
say nothing of parking, eating and lodging) made it
almost impossible to get to know brethren in a
personal way. Many felt lost and lonely in a sea of
people--and found it difficult to meet and fellowship
with brethren under such circumstances.
Because these are the feasts of God, we provide a meal for everyone at each of
the feast sites. This makes it easier to talk and
fellowship with each other in a personal way. Such
intimate fellowship makes the feast much more
meaningful--something the feasts of thousands could
never do.
We have already received many
letters about the wonderful feast everyone
experienced. The following letter summarizes many of
the various comments about the Feast of Tabernacles
and the new Bible:
"Dear Fred,
A short note to thank you for the
uplifting and inspiring sermons for the Feast of
Tabernacles. I have kept the Feast now for the last
45-plus years and I notice now there is more
emphasis on the spiritual things and less on the
physical things. It used to be the Feast was mostly
physical: eat a lot, stay in nice places, do fun
things, and hear sermons about what the physical
World Tomorrow would be like.
Nowadays, we hear meaty sermons
about our role as kings and priests with Christ
during the Millennium; about how our calling for the
First Resurrection (a blessed and holy resurrection)
is so important to look forward to; and [about] the
hard work of maintaining a good relationship with
the God Family. As we get older, the physical things
become less important, but the spiritual things and
what we have to look forward to become very
important.
Also, we enjoy our new Bibles so
much. The Bible in modern language makes it much
easier to read. I love that [new Bible] smell! The
correct order of the books will take getting used
to, although the card with the page numbers is a
great help.
The Faithful Version of the Bible
must have been a monumental task for you and those
who worked with you. I appreciate how your love for
God is manifested in this work of producing God's
word in the modern English language. Since I am
retired, I read this Bible nearly every morning and
I really do enjoy it. Thank you very much for this
Bible!
Not all of us can be ministers,
but we can do our part in helping financially to
provide the Faithful Version for others who want it.
Thank you again! May God richly
bless all our efforts in sharing God's Word with all
who will read and listen.
R. L., Oklahoma"
The apostle Jude, a half-brother
of Jesus, wrote that the feasts of God are "love
feasts" (Jude 12). This is the very reason we keep
the feasts of God--because He loves us and we love
God the Father and Jesus Christ with all our hearts.
And we love the brethren. With our smaller festival
sites, the feasts are more intimate, loving and
caring. We can truly learn to love each other as
Jesus commanded: "A new commandment I give to you:
that you love one another in the same way that I
have loved you, that is how you are to love
one another. By this shall everyone know that you
are My disciples--if you love one another" (John
13:34).
John also emphasized in his first
epistle that we are to love each other--because,
through Jesus Christ, the Father has manifested His
love to us: "In this way the love of God
was manifested toward us: that God sent His only
begotten Son into the world, so that we might live
through Him. In this act is the love--not
that we loved God; rather, that He loved us and
sent His Son to be the propitiation for our
sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also
are duty-bound to love one another" (I John
4:9-11).
Here is a letter from a woman who
had to keep the feast at home because of health
issues and expenses. Nevertheless, she truly
appreciates the truth about the love of God--that He
loved us first:
"Hello Fred,
I hope that this letter will find
you well and strong in the love of God. By the way,
the CBCG always stresses and reminds us of the love
of God, pointing us to Jesus Christ and the Father.
I hope that there are other churches of God that do
this as well.
When I was a new Christian
(1964), I was taught that if we could become perfect
in obedience, then God would love us. The problem
for most of us was that we couldn't be perfect
enough [according to the ministers] for God to love
us. Then our obedience was sidetracked by an
overbearing hierarchy, which destroyed not only our
lives, but the lives of many ministers as well. [But
now God has delivered us from that.]
Yet, many ministers still yearn
for a hierarchy again where the people would be
fearful and where they could have a "big work" like
the WCG. However, I yearn for the ministers and
brethren to find their way back to God. I hope they
eventually will. We all need to stay strong in the
love of God. Thank you for the messages and letters
on the love of God.
I believe that God has always
loved us, considering what He did for us in sending
Jesus to die for our sins. He has always loved
us--mankind--from the foundations of the world.
Unfortunately, it is us, mankind, who haven't loved
Him in return. But in the Church, may all of God's
people grow in love and obedience as we live out our
lives. I have a grateful heart to know and
understand the love of God. Thank you.
N. M., Washington"
Without a doubt, loving God,
keeping His commandments, and loving the brethren go
hand-in-hand--because this is how God perfects His
love in us through the power of His Holy Spirit. Our
love of the brethren is the outward expression of
our personal relationship with the Father and Jesus
Christ. Notice what John writes: "If anyone is keeping His Word, truly in this one the
love of God is being perfected. By this means we know that we are in Him. Anyone who claims to
dwell in Him is obligating himself also to walk
even as He Himself walked.
"Brethren, I am not writing a new
commandment to you but an old commandment, which you
had from the beginning; the old commandment
is the message that you have heard from the beginning. Again, I am writing a new commandment to
you, which is true in Him and in you, because the
darkness is passing away and the true light is
already shining. Anyone who claims that he
is in the light, but hates his brother, is in the
darkness until now.
"The one who loves his brother
is dwelling in the light, and there is no cause
of offense in him. But the one who hates his brother
is in darkness, and is walking in darkness, and does
not know where he is going because the darkness has
blinded his eyes" (I John 2:6-11).
It is not possible to become
perfect through our own efforts in order to make God
love us--that would be our own works. It is only
through the indwelling of God's Holy Spirit that His
love is being perfected in us. As Paul writes, we
are the workmanship of God through His loving grace:
"For by grace you have been saved through faith, and
this especially is not of your own selves; it is the gift of God, not of works, so that no
one may boast. For we are His workmanship,
created in Christ Jesus unto the good works
that God ordained beforehand in order that we might
walk in them" (Eph. 2:8-10).
This workmanship is a process.
Growing in the love of God takes time. It also
requires a personal relationship with God the Father
and Jesus Christ, through which God is perfecting
His love in us. John writes: "And we have known and
have believed the love that God has toward us. God
is love, and the one who dwells in love is dwelling
in God, and God in him. By this spiritual
indwelling, the love of God is perfected
within us, so that we may have confidence in the day
of judgment because even as He is, so also are we in
this world. There is no fear in the love of
God; rather, perfect love casts out fear because
fear has torment. And the one who fears has not been
made perfect in the love of God.
"We love Him because He loved
us first. If anyone says, `I love God,' and
hates his brother, he is a liar. For if he does not
love his brother whom he has seen, how is he able to
love God Whom he has not seen? And this is the commandment that we have from Him: that
the one who loves God should also love his brother"
(I John 4:16-21).
Remember what Paul wrote: "Love
never fails" and love is the greatest of all (I Cor.
13:3, 13). Deep abiding faith, hope and love give us
the spiritual power to overcome and draw ever closer
to God the Father and Jesus Christ.
Barak Hussein Obama Elected as
President of the USA
In a historic election, Barak
Hussein Obama was elected as the forty-fourth
president of the United States of America. When Bill
Clinton was president from 1992 to 2000, he was
referred to as the "first black president" because
he was able to draw about 80% of the
African-American vote. Obama, however, is the first
actual black president. Riding a wave of "change" in
the face of economic disaster, Obama secured victory
over John McCain with a convincing majority of
votes. Some pundits believe that if it were not for
Sarah Palin as his VP pick, McCain would have lost
by a far greater margin.
For the first time in modern
history, the people of the USA have elected a man
who has the least experience of any former
president. He is also a man about whom we know
virtually nothing. His radical leftist beliefs were
carefully hidden by the media--an Obama propagandist
media. His radical leftist/Marxist associates--black
racist ministers and criminal friends here and
abroad--were completely ignored or dismissed as
harmless. Moreover, why have all of Obama's school
records at Columbia University and Harvard Law
School been sealed? What are they hiding?
Perhaps more troubling is the
question of whether he is a natural born citizen of
the USA. His Kenyan grandmother claims she was
present at his birth in Kenya. Was he actually born
in Kenya? Currently, there is a lawsuit working its
way through the Federal Courts because Obama has yet
to produce a certified copy of a State of Hawaii
birth certificate. There is a "born alive" State of
Hawaii registry of Obama, but it has been sealed.
Why is his background so illusive? Why are these
records sealed? What are they hiding? Why are there
so many troubling reports of an eerie, mystic,
"spirit-ism" about his persona? Only time will tell.
Furthermore, because Democratic
Party leaders know that Obama is an empty
shell with no experience, they have surrounded him
with a host of 200 advisors. Most are long-time
party leaders and former Clinton administration
officials. Two of the most notable are Rom Emmanuel,
chosen as Obama's White House chief of staff, and
Paul Volker, former Federal Reserve Chairman. The
selection of these two in particular signals that
Obama's first term may reflect a Clinton-era
approach rather than the radical, Move-On.org/George
Soros agenda. That remains to be seen.
But the question remains: Will
this collective group of powerful Democrats be able
to control Obama, stabilize the economy and keep the
country from falling into a depression? A greater
question is: Will the Federal Reserve, the IMF and
the central bankers of the world's twenty leading
economies be able to stop the downward spiral of the
global economy--and keep the world from collapsing
into a worldwide depression that could last for
several or more years?
These are the immediate
questions. Most people, however, are completely
unaware of God's involvement in the affairs of the
nations of the world--and how biblical factors
actually determine the outcome of nearly all
elections, including this most recent US election.
How God Rules in the Kingdoms and
Nations of Men
First, God reveals in the
book of Daniel that He rules in the kingdoms of men,
through His angelic host. When King Nebuchadnezzar
had a dream about the loss of his kingdom for seven
years, Daniel interpreted the dream for the king and
told him, "This matter is by the decree of the
watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy
ones, so that the living may know that the Most
High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to
whomever He will, and sets up over it the basest of
men" (Dan. 4:17).
After his humiliating seven-year
punishment for pride, Nebuchadnezzar learned his
lesson and honored God. He wrote: "I,
Nebuchadnezzar, lifted up my eyes to heaven, and my
understanding returned to me, and I blessed the Most
High, and I praised and honored Him Who lives
forever, for His dominion is an everlasting
dominion, and His kingdom is from generation to
generation. And all the inhabitants of the earth
are counted as nothing; and He does according to His
will in the host of heaven and among the inhabitants
of the earth. And none can stay His hand, or say to
Him, `What are You doing?'
"At that time my reason returned
to me. And the glory of my kingdom, my majesty and
splendor returned to me. And my advisers and my
lords came to me, and I was established in my
kingdom, and surpassing greatness was added to me. Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and honor
the King of heaven, for all His works are truth and
His ways justice. And those who walk in pride He is
able to abase" (verses 34-37). In fact, Daniel
four was actually written by King Nebuchadnezzar as
an epistle to the people of his empire to explain
what had happened to him for the past seven years
and how God restored him to his throne.
From this passage we learn that
it is God Who both establishes and deposes
rulers through His angelic host--as well as through
Satan and the demons. While people are involved in
the process--such as through an election or the
appointment of a ruler--God clearly rules in the
kingdoms of men.
Second, there are men in high
places who are the actual "power brokers"--the
ultra-elite of the establishment who are the
behind-the-scenes rulers of the governments of this
world. They are often referred to as a "shadow
government"--as only a few know who they actually
are. Most of them have no allegiance to the true God
in heaven. Rather--knowingly or unknowingly--they are
serving the god of this world, Satan the devil, who
is using them to deceive the entire world. Their
overall goal is a New World Order--a World Government
with a new World Religion. They are the leaders in
government, business, banking and religion around
the world. They are known to belong to organizations
such as the Illuminati, the Committee of 300; they
are high ranking Masons and Knights of Columbus.
They are members of the Council of Foreign Relations
and similar organizations in various nations. They
belong to the Tri-lateral Commission and the
Bildbergers. These are the "power brokers" who
actually select presidents and prime ministers of
the leading nations of the world. This is why the
world is headed toward a global government, a global
central bank, a global currency and a global
religion. Such is their goal--masterminded by Satan
the devil as part of his final, great rebellion
against God through the beast and the false prophet
(Rev. 13).
The apostle Paul writes of these
behind-the-scenes demonic powers of the nations, "[W]e
are not wrestling against flesh and blood, but
against principalities and against powers,
against the world rulers of the darkness of this
age, against the spiritual power of
wickedness in high places" (Eph.
6:12).
Third, God judges the fate
of any nation or kingdom according to the overall
righteousness or wickedness of its people. Since
nations are not being judged for salvation, God
judges them by the letter of the law in the
following manner: Are the people, as a whole,
righteous, with only the minority wicked? Or, is the
majority wicked and sinful, with only the minority
righteous?
Remember, before God sends His
judgments against any nation or kingdom, He always
sends warnings--through weather upsets or other
"natural" disasters, by religious and political
leaders warning the people, and by economic
calamities. If a nation repents--as in the case of
Jonah's preaching to Nineveh--God will forbear
sending His punishment. However, if a nation fails
to repent, God then sends His corrective judgment.
Notice what God told the prophet Jeremiah: "If at
any time I shall speak concerning a nation, and
concerning a kingdom, to pluck it up and to pull it
down, and to destroy it; if that nation,
against whom I have spoken, will turn from their
evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do
to them.
"And if at any time I shall speak
concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to
build it and to plant it; if it does evil in
My sight, that it not obey My voice, then I will
repent of the good with which I said I would do them
good" (Jer. 18:7-10).
Through the prophet Ezekiel, God
reveals how He punishes nations for their sins: "The
Word of the Lord came to me, saying, `Son of man, when a land sins against Me by trespassing
grievously, and I stretch out My hand on it, and
break the staff of its bread, and send famine on it, and will cut off man and beast from it. And though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job
were in it, they should deliver only their
own lives by their righteousness,' says the Lord
GOD.
" `If I cause wild beasts to come through the land, and they spoil it and it
becomes desolate, so that no one may pass through
because of the beasts, though these three men
were in its midst, as I live,' says the Lord
GOD, `they shall deliver neither sons nor daughters.
They only shall be delivered, but the land shall be
desolate.
" `Or if I bring a sword upon that land, and say, "Sword, go
through the land;" so that I cut off man and beast
from it; though these three men were in it, as I live,' says the Lord GOD, `they shall
deliver neither sons nor daughters, but they only shall be delivered themselves.
" `Or if I send a pestilence into that land, and pour out My fury
upon it in blood, to cut off man and beast from it;
though Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, as I live,' says the Lord GOD, `they shall
deliver neither son nor daughter. They shall only deliver their own lives by their righteousness.' For
thus says the Lord GOD, `How much more when I send My four evil judgments against Jerusalem, the
sword, and the famine, and the destroying beast, and
the pestilence, to cut off man and beast from
it' " (Ezek. 14:12-21).
As we view the world, we can see
God's hand in blessing or punishing various nations
based on the relative righteousness or wickedness of
their people--as measured by the Ten Commandments in
the letter of the law.
God's Active Judgments Upon
Modern Israel: The modern nations of
Israel--namely the USA and the UK, as well as Canada,
Australia, New Zealand and South Africa--are all
experiencing God's judgments in varying degrees. In
addition to the curses of sickness, disease and
crime as foretold in Deuteronomy 28, the five most
prominent prophesied curses--because of our national
sins--are being fulfilled before our eyes:
One: "The stranger dwelling among you shall get up above you very
high, and you shall come down very low" (Deut.
28:43).
Two: "He shall loan to you,
and you shall not loan to him. He shall be the head,
and you shall be the tail" (Deut. 28:44).
Three: "And I will give young
lads to be their princes, and capricious
children shall rule over them" (Isa. 3:4).
Four: "As for My
people, children are their oppressors, and
women rule over them" (Isa. 3:12 ).
Five: "Oh, My people, those
who lead you cause you to err and destroy the
way of your paths" (Isa. 3:12).
As a result of these five
judgments of God, the USA is currently facing
gigantic economic troubles and a new Democratic
federal government that will take us further down
the road to socialism and fascist, totalitarian
rule. Moreover, an aging, sinful generation has
produced a new generation with few, if any, true
"moral values" based on the Word of God. As Isaiah
writes, they are truly godless "capricious
children," laden with sins, spoiled, narcissistic,
uncorrectable, plunging headlong into entertainment,
pleasures, sports, sex, drugs and alcohol.
They are just like the people of
ancient Judah, against whom Jeremiah gave God's
warning for their calloused, unconscionable sins
which they blatantly committed with ungodly delight
right in the Temple of God: "Behold, you trust in
lying words [and live fanaticizing lies] that cannot
profit. Will you steal, murder, and commit adultery,
and swear falsely, and burn incense to Baal, and
walk after other gods whom you do not know; and then
come and stand before Me in this house [in the
USA--God's country] which is called by My name, and
say, `We are delivered to do all these
abominations'?" (Jer. 7:8-9).
As then, so it is today. They do
not realize their true condition before God: "For My
people are foolish; they have not known Me;
they are stupid children, and they have no
understanding. They are wise to do evil, but to
do good they have no knowledge" (Jer. 4:22).
In Jeremiah's time, their most
abominable sin was their means of population control
for their unbridled adultery and sexual
promiscuity--the horror of child/infant
sacrifices--burned alive as burnt offerings to Baal
and Moloch. Jeremiah again warned the people of
God's impending, awesome judgments: "Thus says the
Lord, `Go and get a potter's earthen jar, and assemble some of the elders of the people
and of the elders of the priests. And go out to the
valley of the son of Hinnom by the entry of Potsherd
Gate. And there declare the words that I shall tell
you. And say, "Hear the Word of the Lord, O kings of
Judah, and people of Jerusalem. Thus says the Lord
of hosts, the God of Israel, `Behold, I will bring
evil upon this place, which shall cause the ears of
him who hears it to tingle. Because they have
forsaken Me, and have profaned this place and have
burned incense in it to other gods whom neither
they nor their fathers have known, nor the kings of
Judah, and have filled this place with the blood
of innocents. They have also built the high
places of Baal to burn their sons with fire for burnt offerings to Baal, which I never commanded
nor spoke, nor did it come into My mind' " '
"(Jer. 19:1-5).
As horrible as this sin of
sacrificing children to Baal was, abortion,
in the countries of modern Israel today, is by far
worse. In the USA alone, 3,000 abortions are
performed every day--over a million each year--with
over 50 million performed since Roe v. Wade!
Today, the abortion clinic is a
modern temple of Baal. The abortion table is the
sacrificial altar, overflowing with the blood of the
most innocent--the unborn--slaughtered and dismembered
by the hands and tools of cruel, high-priest doctors
of Baal. The wretched body parts of these tiny
babies are then sold to the scientist-gods who
conduct "scientific experiments" for the "benefit of
mankind."
These are the great spiritual
sins of modern Israel--and, yes, the rest of the
world as well. You can rest assure that God
Almighty's fierce judgment is coming.
REMEMBER THIS GREAT FUNDAMENTAL
PRINCIPLE: Spiritual problems and sins cannot
be solved with political solutions. Unless there
is a massive national repentance, accompanied
by prayer and fasting to God Almighty by all--the
small and great, the rich and poor, the politicians
and priests, the young and old in every walk of
life--and a confessing and forsaking of sins,
especially the slaughter of unborn, innocent
children, God's heavy hand of national punishment
will not be lifted. Rather, the judgments of
God will come like the waves of the sea against our
ungodly nations.
The Saving Grace in these Troubled Times
While the history-making
political and financial situation is exceptionally
unsettling, the good news is that only from the United States of America is the Gospel
being preached to the world. As the apostle Paul
wrote while he was in prison, "Brethren, I want you
to know that the things befalling me have turned out
rather unto the advancement of the gospel; so
that my bonds in Christ have become manifest in the
whole palace, and to all others; and most of the
brethren, trusting in the Lord, have been
emboldened by my bonds to speak the Word more
abundantly without fear.
"Indeed, some are proclaiming
Christ out of envy and strife, but some with good
intentions. On the one hand, those who are preaching
out of a contentious spirit, and not
purely, are thinking to add grief to my bonds. But
on the other hand, those who are preaching out of love know that I am set for the defense of the gospel. What then shall I say? Nevertheless, in every way, whether in pretext or
in truth, Christ is being proclaimed; and I
rejoice in this, yes, and will also continue to rejoice" (Phil. 1:12-18).
Today, we can say the same thing.
The Gospel is being preached by the various churches
of God--in varying degrees. Even the conservative
Protestant churches are preaching a form of the
Gospel and the name of Jesus Christ; howbeit, their
message is a mixture of truth and error.
Nevertheless, the Gospel is being preached and
financed from the USA. No other nation on earth is
doing this.
As God executes His judgments
against this nation, He will keep this important
fact in mind and continue to provide a space of
grace, help and comfort to those who truly believe
in Jesus Christ and are seeking God while striving
to love and obey Him.
Jesus Will Never Leave Us: Jesus Christ, who is the Head of the Church,
promises that He will never leave us or forsake
us--regardless of how troubling the times may be. We
need not be afraid, because Jesus Christ is always
with us. Paul writes, "For He has said, `In no
way will I ever leave you; no--I will never forsake
you in any way.' So then, let us boldly say, `The Lord is my helper, and I
will not be afraid. What can man do to me?'...
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and
today, and forever" (Heb. 13:5-6, 8).
Because we love God and keep His
commandments, He gives us this promise through the
prophet Isaiah: "Say to the righteous that it
shall be well with him; for they shall eat
the fruit of their doings" (Isa. 3:10).
God reveals to His saints that He
will strengthen us spiritually through His Word and
Spirit--and protect us with His angels--so we can have
the courage to face the difficult and ominous
problems confronting our nations and the entire
world. As David did, keep your mind and focus on God
at all times and He will deliver you: "I will
bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall
always be in my mouth. My soul shall make its boast
in the Lord; the humble shall hear and be glad. O
magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name
together.
"I sought the Lord, and He
answered me, and delivered me from all my fears.
They looked to Him and were radiant; and their faces
were not ashamed. This poor man cried, and the
Lord heard, and saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of the Lord encamps around those who
fear Him and delivers them. O taste and see that
the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes
refuge in Him. O fear the Lord, all you saints, for there is nothing lacking to those who fear Him....
"Keep your tongue from evil and
your lips from speaking guile. Depart from evil and
do good; seek peace and pursue it. The eyes of
the Lord are upon the righteous, and His ears are
open to their cry. The face of the Lord is
against those who do evil, to cut off the memory of
them from the earth. The righteous cry, and the
Lord hears, and delivers them out of all their
troubles. The Lord is near to the broken-hearted and
saves those who are of a contrite spirit. Many are
the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord
delivers him out of them all" (Psa. 34:1-9,
13-19).
Brethren, let us follow the
example of Jesus Christ Himself. He is our Lord, our
Savior, our Champion and our soon-coming King. Let
us be strengthened in heart and mind so that we may
be found faithful in these latter times. As Paul
writes: "Therefore, since we are surrounded
by such a great throng of witnesses, let us lay
aside every weight, and the sin that so easily
entraps us; and let us run the race
set before us with endurance, having our minds fixed on Jesus, the Beginner and Finisher
of our faith; Who for the joy that lay
ahead of Him endured the cross, although He despised the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Now
meditate deeply on Him Who endured such great
hostility of sinners against Himself so that you do
not become weary and faint in your minds. You have
not yet resisted to the point of losing blood
in your struggle against sin" (Heb. 12:1-4).
Here is a final, inspiring prayer of David, from Psalm 20, to help us always
trust in God the Father and Jesus Christ for all
things:
"1. May the Lord answer you in
the day of trouble, the name of the God of Jacob set
you on high,
2. May He send you help from the
sanctuary, and strengthen you out of Zion.
3. May He remember all your
offerings and accept your burnt sacrifice. Selah.
4. May He grant you according to
your own heart and fulfill all your plans.
5. We will shout for joy in your
victory, and in the name of our God we will set up banners; may the Lord
fulfill all your prayers.
6. Now I know that the Lord saves
His anointed; He will answer him from His holy heaven with the saving strength
of His right hand."
Once again, thank you for your
love and prayers. We pray for you every day--that God
will help you, heal you, strengthen you and inspire
you to continue to grow in your loving relationship
with God the Father and Jesus Christ. Thank you for
your continued support through your tithes and
offerings in these troubling economic times. Just as
you are having to, we are economizing as much as we
can to make every dollar stretch further. May God
continue to bless you with His love and grace in
everything.
With love in Christ Jesus,
Fred R. Coulter
FRC
[ Back ] [ Home ] [ Up ] [ Next ]
|
