OUTREACH SITE:   Intense talks are underway to start a genuine dialogue for peace between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.  These talks are to force the Israelis into sincere peace talks in exchange for American support of Israel against Hezbollah / Syria and to take out the regime in Iran.

Big Push for Mideast Peace Being Set Up With Coming Obama Tour

ANNOUNCEMENTS:   Tomorrow evening after sunset the new moon should be easily visible and will begin the first day of the twelfth biblical month.  Although the new moon is not a High Day, it is an appointed day for a worship service, like Passover is an appointed service although NOT a High Day, and should be observed with a Bible Study.   For more please see our new moon study:   God’s Commanded New Moons and the Beginning of Biblical Months

Bob Thiel News:   Bob and I have exchanged several emails this morning.  He took exception to me saying that he had applied for 501C3 status.  Since he had posted that he had incorporated, that was my impression which was in error and needs correcting.

I have now been told that Bob has incorporated his church as a “Corporation Sole”, and that he has not applied for 501C3 status, believing that churches are automatically tax exempt.

I have advised him of the following:

You may think that you are automatically tax deductible, but the IRS will make you prove that you are a legitimate church before granting people tax refunds.  The catch 22 is that a church need not register, but an unregistered church is not considered a legitimate church by the IRS!

And only organizations that meet the IRS standards will be considered legitimate churches.  That is the problem that Rader solved for HWA in 1956, by registering as 501C3 after the 1954 law came into effect.

Since you think that time will continue for some years; you should be prepared to face a hearing on whether you meet the IRS standards for a legitimate church.

Bob has also agreed to change his post accusing me of setting a 2013 date as follows:   On February 10, 2013, James Malm confirmed with me that 2013 or 2014 are possible dates for the Great Tribulation to start.  He also stated the actual date is entirely dependant on when the biblical signs are present, and on God’s will.  But, I do not believe that it is biblically possible for the Great Tribulation to start prior to 2016, with 2017 a more likely earliest possible start date.

COGWA NEWS:  This letter came in on the formation of a new COGWA  charitable foundation:  The Foundation Outreach International  This appears to be a Jim Franks effort to create a new AICF or Lifenets.  Why again did Jim move mountains to split off from UCG?  

Another item occurred during the announcement of the first.  Anticipating some concerns that might enter into COGAWA people’s minds, President Franks explained (11  minute mark) that FOI in no way would diminish or replace the warning message preached by “the church”.     When I heard the comment I was astounded!  I follow the COGAWA websites (and for COGAWA there is nothing else to follow but that) and I do not remember anything remotely resembling a warning “occurring” at their sites. 

A warning is:  giving notice beforehand of danger or evil or ordering to go or stay away from same (as in to “warn off”).  Synonyms include to advise, alert, caution, or wake.  (Thanks to Mr. Webster for the clarification!).  Search the COGAWA website high and low.  Look at all the extended length blogs or the catalog of recorded sermons–where is the warning that truly is a warning, to the brethren or the world at large?       

In fairness the same can be said for virtually the entire corporate church of God organizations.

LUKE 4-5

The temptation of Christ

4:1 And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, 4:2 Being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days he did eat nothing: and when they were ended, he afterward hungered.

4:3 And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread. 4:4 And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.

4:5 And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. 4:6 And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it. 4:7 If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine.

4:8 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.

4:9 And he brought him to Jerusalem, and set him on a pinnacle of the temple, and said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down from hence: 4:10 For it is written, He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee: 4:11 And in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.

4:12 And Jesus answering said unto him, It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.

Jesus then departed and took a rest proceeding to Galilee.

4:13 And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season. 4:14 And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee: and there went out a fame of him through all the region round about.

Jesus began to teach in the synagogues of the region of Galilee and Capernaum.

4:15 And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified of all.

Jesus then came to his home town of Nazareth.

4:16 And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read.

4:17 And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written,

Jesus then reveals his own mission all of which has a spiritual counterpart.  To give salvation to the poor in spirit, to heal the contrite of spirit with salvation,  To deliver those held captive by sin, to give the light of spiritual things to the blind, to heal those suffering under the bondage of sin and to set them free, to preach of the coming “year” of the Kingdom of God.

4:18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, 4:19 To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.

4:20 And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him.

Jesus then declared that he would fulfill that mission of preaching and doing these things.

4:21 And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.

4:22 And all bare him witness [heard his words], and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. And they said, Is not this Joseph’s son? 4:23 And he said unto them, Ye will surely say unto me this proverb, Physician, heal thyself: whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in thy country.

Jesus then said that because of familiarity no prophet is accepted by his own neighbours.

4:24 And he said, Verily I say unto you, No prophet is accepted in his own country.

Jesus then said that because of their unbelief and unwillingness to repent and obey the scriptures they were worse than the heathen.  Is this not also true today, that those who should know better are lukewarm for the practical application and deeds of the commandments and teachings of Christ?

4:25 But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land; 4:26 But unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow. 4:27 And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Eliseus the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian.

The people were angered when they heard this condemnation of Jesus Christ, even as they are angry when they hear these truths today.

4:28 And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath, 4:29 And rose up, and thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong. 4:30 But he passing through the midst of them went his way,

Jesus then goes back to Capernaum, where he taught with authority.

4:31 And came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and taught them on the sabbath days. 4:32 And they were astonished at his doctrine: for his word was with power.

Jesus then began to show that he had power over even the unclean spirits.

4:33 And in the synagogue there was a man, which had a spirit of an unclean devil, and cried out with a loud voice, 4:34 Saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art; the Holy One of God.

4:35 And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of him. and when the devil had thrown him in the midst, he came out of him, and hurt him not. 4:36 And they were all amazed, and spake among themselves, saying, What a word is this! for with authority and power he commandeth the unclean spirits, and they come out.

Jesus then went on a Sabbath afternoon into Peter’s house.

4:37 And the fame of him went out into every place of the country round about. 4:38 And he arose out of the synagogue, and entered into Simon’s house. And Simon’s wife’s mother was taken with a great fever; and they besought him for her. 4:39 And he stood over her, and rebuked the fever; and it left her: and immediately she arose and ministered unto them.

After the Sabbath the sick began to gather around the house to request healing.

4:40 Now when the sun was setting, all they that had any sick with divers diseases brought them unto him; and he laid his hands on every one of them, and healed them. 4:41 And devils also came out of many, crying out, and saying, Thou art Christ the Son of God. And he rebuking them suffered them not to speak: for they knew that he was Christ.

In the morning when he would have departed the people were insistent that he remain with them at Capernaum, but he said that he must go to preach to others as well.

4:42 And when it was day, he departed and went into a desert place: and the people sought him, and came unto him, and stayed him, that he should not depart from them. 4:43 And he said unto them, I must preach the kingdom of God to other cities also: for therefore am I sent. 4:44 And he preached in the synagogues of Galilee.

Luke 5

Thronged by the multitudes Jesus went to teach from a boat a few meters offshore.

1 And it came to pass, that, as the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he stood by the lake of Gennesaret [Sea of Galilee], 5:2 And saw two ships standing by the lake: but the fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing their nets. 5:3 And he entered into one of the ships, which was Simon’s [Peter's], and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land. And he sat down, and taught the people out of the ship.

When Jesus had finished his lesson to the people he told peter to go out into deep water and drop nets to fish.  Even though he had fished all night with no success, Peter obeyed his Master.

This is a lesson for us, that if we are diligent obedient to Christ and fearlessly proclaim the Gospel of WARNING and REPENTANCE even though there is no response and the situation seems hopeless; in the end much fruit shall be reaped.

We are to sow now, so that in the future the reaping will be plenteous.

5:4 Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught. 5:5 And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net. 5:6 And when they had this done, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake. 5:7 And they beckoned unto their partners, which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came, and filled both the ships, so that they began to sink.

Peter, James, and John was astonished and acknowledged their sins, but Jesus said “fear not” to the repentant men and called them to teach men the way to salvation.

5:8 When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord. 5:9 For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had taken: 5:10 And so was also James, and John, the sons of Zebedee, which were partners with Simon. And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men.

All those who respond to the Father’s call to come to Christ are to forsake ALL worldliness and follow the full teachings and commandments of Jesus Christ.

5:11 And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all, and followed him.

The leper healed.

5:12 And it came to pass, when he was in a certain city, behold a man full of leprosy: who seeing Jesus fell on his face, and besought him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. 5:13 And he put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will: be thou clean. And immediately the leprosy departed from him.

The fame of Jesus grew as the healed leper told the priests at the Temple in Jerusalem what had become of him.  Now his fame spread far beyond Galilee.

5:14 And he charged him to tell no man: but go, and shew thyself to the priest, and offer for thy cleansing, according as Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them. 5:15 But so much the more went there a fame abroad of him: and great multitudes came together to hear, and to be healed by him of their infirmities.

Jesus sought solitude to pray

5:16 And he withdrew himself into the wilderness, and prayed.

Then the ministry of Jesus began to attract the attention of the religious establishment.

5:17 And it came to pass on a certain day, as he was teaching, that there were Pharisees and doctors of the law sitting by, which were come out of every town of Galilee, and Judaea, and Jerusalem: and the power of the Lord was present to heal them.

Jesus seeing the priests and doctors of the law present, forgave sins; that he might reveal his calling to heal not only physically, but spiritually as well..

5:18 And, behold, men brought in a bed a man which was taken with a palsy: and they sought means to bring him in, and to lay him before him. 5:19 And when they could not find by what way they might bring him in because of the multitude, they went upon the housetop, and let him down through the tiling with his couch into the midst before Jesus.

5:20 And when he saw their faith, he said unto him, Man, thy sins are forgiven thee.

The scribes were confused by an apparent blasphemy.

5:21 And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, Who is this which speaketh blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone?

Jesus proceeds to teach the doctors of the scriptures about his healing of the physical as only an example of his ultimate mission of healing the spirit.

5:22 But when Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answering said unto them, What reason ye in your hearts? 5:23 Whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Rise up and walk? 5:24 But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power upon earth to forgive sins, (he said unto the sick of the palsy,) I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy couch, and go into thine house.

5:25 And immediately he rose up before them, and took up that whereon he lay, and departed to his own house, glorifying God. 5:26 And they were all amazed, and they glorified God, and were filled with fear, saying, We have seen strange things to day.

Levi is called as a disciple of Christ.

5:27 And after these things he went forth, and saw a publican, named Levi, sitting at the receipt of custom: and he said unto him, Follow me. 5:28 And he left all, rose up, and followed him.

Levi apparently a well off man made a feast for Jesus and invited many of his friends and fellow publicans [tax collectors]

5:29 And Levi made him a great feast in his own house: and there was a great company of publicans and of others that sat down with them.

The religious establishment complained of this asking why they feasted with sinners and not with the religious establishment; perhaps wanting to be feted and feasted themselves.

5:30 But their scribes and Pharisees murmured against his disciples, saying, Why do ye eat and drink with publicans and sinners? 5:31 And Jesus answering said unto them, They that are whole need not a physician; but they that are sick. 5:32 I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

They then asked Jesus about fasting.

5:33 And they said unto him, Why do the disciples of John fast often, and make prayers, and likewise the disciples of the Pharisees; but thine eat and drink? 5:34 And he said unto them, Can ye make the children of the bridechamber fast, while the bridegroom is with them?5:35 But the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then shall they fast in those days.

Jesus then spoke a parable about the end of the Mosaic Covenant and the beginning of the New Covenant.

5:36 And he spake also a parable unto them; No man putteth a piece of a new garment upon an old; if otherwise, then both the new maketh a rent, and the piece that was taken out of the new agreeth not with the old. 5:37 And no man putteth new wine into old bottles; else the new wine will burst the bottles, and be spilled, and the bottles shall perish.5:38 But new wine must be put into new bottles; and both are preserved.

Jesus then taught that those who drink of the good wine of salvation; would never desire any other doctrine to drink [internalize].

5:39 No man also having drunk old wine straightway desireth new: for he saith, The old is better.

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