IAUA End Time Ministry
Preparing for the End of Time
The Lord is Coming! Are you ready?
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IAUA End Time Ministry |
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Preparing for the End of Time | |
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The Lord is Coming! Are you ready? | |
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Dear Brothers and Sisters in IAUA (ee-uh-oo-uh) our Father,
Greetings on this day of preparation for the weekly Sabbath. I pray this newsletter finds you in good health and happy in the service of the Lord. This is the 23rd day of the 13th month of God's Sacred Calendar in the estimated year 6012 Anno Mundi. It is 3 weeks until the Spring Sabbaths begin with the evening of the 15th day of the 1st month which is the first Unleavened Bread Sabbath (Saturday, April 11 on the 2009 Gregorian calendar, beginning sunset on Friday, April 10). In the coming year the Millerite Calendar agrees with my understanding of the Calendar. The Jewish Calendar is two days earlier in the spring and one day in the fall. _____ It has been over a month since the last newsletter. Work has been very stressful leaving me exhausted in the evenings and I have been getting called in occasionally on the weekends. I have been making some progress on my next book but not as much as I would like. Cindy and I have continued attending the alternate Sabbath School. I am able to continue with some of my presentation material from my book. Because the class is based on free and open discussion it is very hard to make progress on studying the topics I am presenting. There was a discussion about the 144,000 which was at times very intense. We returned in the afternoon and spent another 2 hours discussing the subject. Members of the group have expressed concern that we are not making progress on the topics from my book. They decided and the suggestion has been made and agreed to suspend the open discussion temporarily to allow progress on my presentation. We will see how that works out. I happened to receive an email at 3ABN which was intended for Pastoral but was sent to Postmaster. It was so compelling that I responded to it any way. You may find the exchange interesting. I do not believe my receiving the email was an accident. _____ I have a question that no Adventist can adequately answer. It is regarding both the sabbath and the mark of the beast. How can we keep the sabbath on a round, spinning world where it is possible to stand on two days of the week at the same time on the north or south poles, or the International Date Line? Also, the IDL is totally man-made, and who is man to decide when and where we are to keep God's holy seventh day? The biblical logic of the sabbath is complete, but appears to crumble to pieces here. About the mark of the beast being an international Sunday law, is it a sin to rest on Sunday, or any other day of the week? Will we be executed for not working on Saturday, including those unable to work at all? If you do not respond, I will only assume it is because you cannot answer these questions (just as many other SDAs before you). I'm going to continue sending this e-mail to you until I get a response. Your answer may determine whether or not a 24-year-long SDA stays in the church or not (or even continues to believe in the Bible or Christianity at all). If I go to church this Sabbath, I won't bother to ask anyone the questions I'm sending you, as it would probably be too much for small minds to handle (are you all small minds?). Happy Sabbath, if such a thing even exists! _____ My reply: When you send an email with our website, it sends a copy back to you to let you know that we received it. Your email will be handled as soon as we can. I assume your original email was sent to Pastoral. It appears you sent a reply email to Postmaster@3abn.org which I receive. I sense a great deal of stress and struggle in your communication. I do not speak for 3ABN, but if I may be so bold, I can share with you the results of my own studies which relate to your questions. As I am sure you understand, there can be no direct Biblical quotation which clearly answers your highly detailed inquiry. Biblical principles however provide extensive guidance. I suspect that these questions have been stimulated by some outside skeptical force which is seeking to undermine your faith and trust in God. Be at peace, brother and consider the guidance which God has promised: John 16:13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. When we are in deep communion with God through the study of His Word and prayer, we can expect that the Holy Spirit will guide us "into all truth" in our study and search. My understanding from the study of God's word is outlined in more detail at my website (www.GodsSacredCalendar.info). This is a simple quick thought from those studies. "How can we keep the sabbath on a round, spinning world where it is possible to stand on two days of the week at the same time on the north or south poles, or the International Date Line?" When confronted with transitional extremes of geography and time, I believe we continue with the pattern of observance in our own recent history until we are confronted with a clear time shift as occurs at the other side of the date line. Ideally, major travel should not occur on Sabbath for this and other reasons. God will respect the honorable intent to follow His law to the best of our ability. "Also, the IDL is totally man-made, and who is man to decide when and where we are to keep God's holy seventh day?" Man does not decide God's time. Interestingly, the date line is close to the place of God's choosing. At my website I provide Biblical proof that time is determined from Jerusalem (not Greenwich) therefore time changes over the Pacific Ocean. It is interesting to observe God's plan that hardly anyone lives in that area. "About the mark of the beast being an international Sunday law, is it a sin to rest on Sunday, or any other day of the week?" Ellen White (and logic) provides clear guidance that God commands rest on Sabbath which does not mean we are required to work every other day of the week. Resting on Sunday does not violate God's law or mean that we worship the day. Any Adventist knows that it takes more than going to church to be keeping a day holy. "Will we be executed for not working on Saturday, including those unable to work at all?" We have no idea what the details of future legislation will look like. We have clear guidance that it will be against God's law and specifically the Sabbath. Those who study God's law know what He requires. Any law of man which does not directly contradict God's law is to be obeyed. It really is simple when you follow God's law with the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Remember, I do not speak for 3ABN. You will probably receive some sort of reply from 3ABN eventually. I hope my suggestions are beneficial. _____ To Mr. Clark, You gave a very good answer. Yes, I am going through a personal struggle compounded by serious health problems, very few friends or family to talk with, and feeling uncared for by my local church. Orthodox Jews observe Sabbath by both local and Jerusalem time. If Jerusalem and the Mount of Olives was the Promised Land because that is where Eden was, and Eden was where Sabbath was given to humanity, should we also keep Sabbath by both local and Jerusalem time? I know this is not official Adventist teaching, but what do you think? (Notice that the Mount of Olives is not only where Christ ascended to heaven, but where He will set His feet when He descends from heaven after the millenium, where New Jerusalem and Eden will be located, and is the only place on earth that will not need be cleansed by hell fire - thus, The Promised Land!). Most SDAs are familiar with Isaiah 66:22,23 which states, "For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the Lord, so shall your seed and your name remain. And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the Lord." This place of weekly Sabbath worship before God Himself will no doubt be where Old Jerusalem is presently located. I'd like to hear your thoughts on these matters. _____ My reply: I have studied extensively of Jewish belief and have found some truth there as you will discover if you investigate my website and I have found much confusion and error. I follow only the teaching that I read in God's word as commanded by God. I have no interest in keeping the religious rules and traditions of men. In my book I go into great detail about Jerusalem as the point of reference including everything you have noted and much more. We see from God's Word that Sabbath is clearly a 24 hour event from sundown to sundown. While Jerusalem is the center, the beginning of the day is 12 hours in advance of coming to Jerusalem and ends 12 hours after coming to Jerusalem. The silly "compromise" of observing both times is typically Jewish. The definition of time is centered in Jerusalem but the observance of the time of the defined day is based on where you are. Yes! God will reside at the current site of Jerusalem/Mount of Olives. Yes! All mankind will gather every week and all of God's other appointed times to worship where He is instead of scattered all over the universe. I am available brother at any time to share with you on our spiritual journey. God is our helper and we dare not depend on man. Sometimes God provides fellow human beings to be the conduit through which He sustains us. There are thousands of Adventists who started with small minds which have been expanded by the silent outpouring of the hidden work of the Holy Spirit. Soon there will be 144,000. Soon the work of the Holy Spirit will enter its public phase with great power and light. Revelation 18:1 And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory. _____ Brother Frank, Just wanted to let you know that I do not view Jewish beliefs or traditions as a valid authority or example for us in general, but only mentioned the Jewish custom regarding keeping Sabbath in reference to my questions. I agree with you about Judaism as a faith, which is closer to Catholicism, with all its superstitions and rituals, than anything really Biblical at all. You observed correctly that my initial letters I wrote to 3ABN were during a moment of being very unsettled. When I became an SDA at the age of seventeen, I looked extensively into the belief systems of both related and unrelated religions around the world, not from doubt of my newly discovered faith, but that I could better reach those that viewed life very differently than you or I. By doing so my faith was confirmed and strengthened. To this day I know the Bible to be the book that did not come about by man's inventions. Why, during moments of feeling despair do I reach out and ask others from my faith questions as I have asked you? Perhaps not only to strengthen my own faith, but that I may know exactly what to say to another (SDA or non-SDA) that may have the same questions. I want to have the best answers possible to share with others.. I'm sure you understand what I'm talking about. Back to the original subject, how would I tell an Eskimo who had his dwelling on the geographical north pole to keep Sabbath (or a South Pacific native who lived right on the IDL)? There may be very few that have to deal with this issue, but how many people is not the question at hand. _____ My reply: I agree with your view about Judaism and Catholicism in general but I do recognize there are Biblical elements from both religions which are helpful and instructive for understanding Biblical principle. I also studied all types of religions even as a child to develop a better understanding of my God and his relationship to people. As to your specific question... Each person must follow their own conscience when enlightened by a faithful study of God's Word. If asked for guidance in a difficult situation, I would look for clear principles from the Bible that I can apply. From these clear principles I extrapolate other guiding principles, being careful never to excuse going against the commands and clear principles from the Bible. This is what I observe. God clearly demonstrates that while we are not to look to those around us to provide us with truth we are to live in cooperation with those around us. Therefore, the proper observance of the nearest geographical neighborhood would be the reasonable choice when the choice is truly ambiguous. A neighborhood is both location and association. If this guiding principle is too nebulous, let me give a specific example: If living in a country near the IDL, the consistent choice of the government/consensus to observe the day in association with those from the west or the east would be followed. Is this clear and reasonable to you? If living alone or in a community near the pole, the geographic heritage or consensus from a place where it is not ambiguous would be followed. God will provide guidance to those seeking His will. _____ Bro. Frank, Thank you for taking the time to answer all my somewhat not so easy to answer questions. I very much appreciate your insights - I know that in both the very last times of trouble on this earth, and on the New Earth, many things that we do not perfectly understand now, will be made clear then. But, for the time being, I'm just trying to get the best answers I can (something every believer should do). Until then, God bless you and everyone there with you at 3ABN. _____ Are you carefully studying the Bible and seeking the will of God to grow in understanding? I pray we may all continue to seek love, peace, and unity in truth preparing for the soon coming of IAUShUO (ee-uh-oo-shoo-oh) Messiah, the Son of God.
Frank T. Clark
Next: 2009-04-05 Following the Beast |
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Revised 2009-04-05 |