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-ah-oo-ah) 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 IAUA. This is the 9nd day of the 11th month of God's Sacred Calendar in the estimated year 6014 Anno Mundi. The New Year begins with the Spring Sabbaths in 13 weeks and 3 days with the first Sabbath of Unleavened Bread on the evening of the 15th day of the 1st month (Tuesday, April 19th on the 2011 Gregorian Calendar, beginning sunset on Monday, April 18th). An amazing thing occurs in the Gregorian Calendar years of both 2011 and 2012. Those who follow the Millerite Calendar and the Jewish Calendar agree with what my research, and others, has determined for the Gregorian Calendar dates of God's Sacred Calendar! _____ Part of this week's newsletter would have coordinated better with last week and part of last week would have coordinated better with this week. Sometimes life isn't all correctly organized but it all works out in the end. Whenever someone says "Happy New Year" to me I usually respond "Happy Gregorian New Year". 3ABN had its usual start of the Gregorian year meeting. This year I heard it described several times as the "Day of Prayer". For some reason it sounded strange because I didn't remember it being called that before. Maybe the memory is slipping. Every year has been given a special designation. This year it was stated this is the Year of Faith. The corporate faith has been severely stressed this year as 3ABN faced some severe floods of red ink. It was looking pretty grim until a sudden turn of events relieved the financial pressure. The keynote devotional talked of faith, prayer, with a special emphasis on study. These are foundational important cornerstones of our religion. So this year could be better described as the year of Faith, Prayer, and Study. This is the emphasis of a primitive religion, getting back to basics. In the previous newsletter I shared a conversation about rebaptism which raised issues about baptism in general and membership in a denomination specifically. In this newsletter I will dig a little deeper into the issues. Baptism (literally: "dunking") is a symbolic act of cleanliness removing the grime of sin. The concept of unclean and the many acts of cleanliness described in the Law of Moses are the foundation of the baptism concept. John the Baptist is the first person documented in the Bible of using this ceremonial washing as strictly symbolic of a conversion experience. Iaushua, through His disciples, embraced this concept. John 4:2 (Though Jesus himself baptized not, but his disciples,) The symbolism of baptism is greatly enhanced by the death and resurrection of Iaushua. It became the mark of the believer and the foundation of acceptance into the fellowship of all believers. Baptism was performed by anyone who was called by God to evangelize others and spread the truth. These days there is a tension between those who are considered "called" and those who are considered merely "followers". There is a great deal more I can say about this which may appear in the next newsletter. This has been the subject of some recent email discussions. As the expectations and requirements of organization became more demanding our church became organized as a denomination. This was a rocky and troubled road which is well documented in our church history. Baptism and membership is now tightly linked which is proper but it creates some troubling inconsistencies. There are some who recognize the importance and purpose, which seek baptism from recognized "clergy" but are reluctant to be members of the specific denomination. On the surface this seems to be a reasonable idea but the workings of Satan are apparent when you compare the concepts with ALL of God's law. The most prominent concept is the expectations of God for worship and "Holy Convocation" on His Sabbath days of rest. Leviticus 23:3 Six days shall work be done: but the seventh day is the sabbath of rest, an holy convocation; ye shall do no work therein: it is the sabbath of the LORD in all your dwellings. I believe it is clear God commands the gathering of His people in fellowship. The exact description of all activities performed in these fellowship/worship meetings is not specified. The requirement to participate in these meetings is clear. Paul makes clear reference to this need. Hebrews 10:25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching. Membership in the group is an obvious expectation. There is a severe contradiction when you are willing to participate in a group but are not willing to be a member of the group. I leave it to your own meditations to consider the reasons and meanings of this type of action. These thoughts lead me back to the words of the Messiah. The deep meanings of this simple command are also valuable for deep meditation. John 14:15 If ye love me, keep my commandments. Will this be a year of Faith, Prayer, and Study for you? I pray we may all continue to seek love, peace, and unity in truth preparing for the soon coming of Iaushua (ee-ah-oo-shoo-oh) Messiah, the Son of God.
Frank T. Clark
Next: 2011-01-21 Spirit of Prophecy |
| Revised 2011-01-21 |