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TheShiningLight is an outreach tool of the True Church of God, founded some 6,000 years ago by Jesus
Christ with the calling of righteous Abel, shortly after creation. Please see the PENTECOST page for an explanation
of the beginnings of the church. The Holy Bible is a record of the teachings of Almighty God and the exploits of His people,
His church. In this later day, many of His saints have drifted into a laxness and complacency which urgently requires
correction. If we do not correct ourselves then our God will be forced to correct us Himself. The purpose of TheShiningLight
is to assist God's people to regain their FOCUS and to turn their hearts back toward their Heavenly Father, by revealing
the truth of God's Word and provoking His people to serious study and righteous behaviour.
The Church of God
consists of all those who have responded to the Father's call in repentance and been given His spirit. Repentance
means to turn away from sin, which is the transgression of the law 1 Joh 3:4 and to obey all God's commandments.
For God's spirit is given ONLY to those who OBEY Him Acts 5:32. Collectively they are like a body, a body of believers
1 Cor 12. While we are all different we are all part of the same body, much as a hand or foot is a part of the same
body. We are all at different levels of intelligence, ability and understanding. God's spirit leads us into
all understanding Joh 16:13. Unity is achieved as we follow His spirit into the Truth. Unity CANNOT be legislated,
it MUST come through knowledge of the truth of God. Our part is to obey God in all things and to willingly FOLLOW where His
spirit leads us. We are to pray Thy will be done Mat 6:10. Our prayer should reflect our honest desire and intentions,
therefore we should always be ready to do His will ourselves, doing whatever we are sure He wants done as expressed in His
word.
There is ONE BODY and ONE CHURCH OF GOD, but there are many parts. Today there are many corporate organizations
calling themselves the Church of God. While there are probably some repentant followers of Christ and the Father in
these organizations, no corporation constitutes the True Church of God. The True Church of God consists ONLY of those
repentant persons who follow the Lamb withersoever He goeth Rev 14:4.
Sadly there are many groups who claim to
be the one True Church, resisting each other. Their leaders and many of their followers have become infected with the
rotting cancer of self-importance, or to use a more biblical phrase; the leaven of self righteousness. These men have
forgotten that we ought to follow God and not men Acts 5:29. They expend their energies competing with one another for
followers, so wrapped up in themselves that they can no longer hear God's spirit, trying to lead them. Like little
children fighting each other inside a burning house, they cannot discern the danger of the times.
Why is there
no unity? Because we have allowed satan to distract us into a certain selfish concern for OUR work, OUR church,
OUR flock, OUR leader, OUR doctrine and we have lost sight of OUR GOD. We are very comfortable resting on past
teachings and are no longer willing to make the effort to seek God's truth. We are no longer
willing to follow the spirit of God, as it tries to lead us into ALL TRUTH. Yes, there is a certain appearance
of Godliness. We appeal to God and we claim to worship and obey Him, but our actions speak much louder than our words
to HIM. Truly we draw close to Him with our words, but our hearts are far from Him Is 29:13-14.
Why has God allowed us to fall into such a state? Almighty God is a GREAT KING ruling over an awesome kingdom!
He is the ALMIGHTY ONE WHO INHABITS ETERNITY Isa 57:15. He has power to give abilities and talents, so our weaknesses
in that area are of no concern to Him. In His kingdom are many offices and responsibilities which He is waiting
to confer upon His people. He has already had to deal with a destructive rebellion and He doesn't want to have another.
God's PRINCIPLE CONCERN is to develop in His people the virtue of LOYALTY! Loyalty to Him! The events happening
amongst His people are taking place to build LOYALTY and to test His people to discern WHO is LOYAL to Him and who is not.
Which of His people are just going through the motions out of a hope for reward or a fear of punishment. Who is following
Him and who is following human leaders? This is WHY He allowed a human leader to say that His commandments were no longer
of any effect. TO TEST HIS PEOPLE. Who then, said; great, I don't have to do that anymore and who was
faithful to GOD? This was the reason for recent events in the WCG.
Now comes the second step. Who is just
being loyal to the teachings of a man and who is willing to follow Almighty God? The question remains the same, but
at a different level. Before it was a clear question; will you keep the commandments or not? This was like a High
School exam. Now comes the University level test. All these leaders CLAIM to obey God but in reality they regard
the teachings of a man as having greater authority than the Word of God. The question is; Will we be willing to stand
on the Word of God, the Holy Scripture written by the original apostles and prophets sent by Jesus Christ Eph 2:20 or are
we just standing on the words of some man? We MUST NOT stand on the words of some man, any man, even a good man.
It is our LOYALTY to the GREAT KING that is being questioned. When we stand before Him and He asks us why we did not
obey Him in some point, will we answer, we obeyed the one we thought was your minister instead? That is the answer that
ALL religious people will give. Brethren, they ALL think they are obeying God by obeying those they think are His servants.
I am certain that the angels in obeying their minister Lucifer thought that they were doing well even as they were led astray.
Herbert Armstrong said "don't believe me, believe the bible." That is perhaps the one saying of his that
people do NOT keep! For they believe his words as if they were the bible and will not accept anything contrary
to his thoughts, even if it is found in the bible. Brethren we MUST be LOYAL TO GOD in spite of what ANY man says, especially
including myself. GOD'S WORD IS THE STANDARD BY WHICH WE SHALL BE JUDGED, Not my words and not brother Herbert's
words.
TheShiningLight is a collection of study papers on biblical subjects. It is our intention to
add new studies on a regular basis. Our primary purpose is to turn the hearts of all persons toward our Father in heaven by
providing simple, straight forward biblical study papers. We shall try to avoid flowery language or endless words signifying
nothing. These studies are NOT intended to present the sum of all knowledge on a particular subject, but rather, to
provide the basics. Much of our material will be new and some things may surprise or even shock some readers.
It is our hope that such offenses will only serve to provoke to serious study. Please, prove all things by the holy scripture rather
than simply rejecting something new on an emotional basis. For the most part, our studies will be short and to the point.
While, all are welcome, this site is designed for those who have some background in the Church of God, therefore the author
may assume that the reader has some basic knowledge of God's word.
ABOUT MYSELF
I was born in Winnipeg,
Canada in March of 1950. As a young child I was taken to the US where I attended School and High School. I returned
to Canada in 1971. In 1976 I was baptized in Ottawa by Gary King an assistant of Robert Barendt of the WCG. I
moved to the West Coast where I was married in 1978. I now have four adult children. I am widely traveled, having lived
in Cyprus, Egypt and Thailand and having visited extensively in Israel, Germany and throughout North America. David
my eldest son, has made his baptismal commitment. In 1985 I was instructed by Thomas Ecker to refrain from discussing
with anyone, my position on not buying on the Sabbath, or I would no longer be welcome. I decided that it would be dishonest
to make a promise that I could not keep, so I withdrew. For the last 22 years I have been a non-joiner, preferring
to study God's word and seek understanding directly from Him. He has revealed to me, through His Spirit, the
things that I now pass on to you.
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