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June 17, 2019
Dear Brethren,
We had a tremendous Elders’ Conference in May, and we were able to video the entire Conference for the first time. We will be sending the cd’s and videos out so everyone can share in the ministerial sessions.
The latest major development for the CBCG is the expansion of our special Go To Meeting (GTM) weekly Sabbath presentations—live one-hour messages. This idea originated several years ago with Roy Assanti, our office manager in Australia. He saw this as the best way to reach the remote, scattered brethren of Australia. At that time, when Jim Hyles was alive, he hooked up with Roy to bring a live message from the office in Hollister to Australia. This was the beginning of Go To Meeting presentations.
More recently, for the past two years, one of our elders, Steve Durham, and his assistant, Mike Flake, began a worldwide GTM. This involved several other elders—Roger Kendall, Roy Assanti, Norbert Bohnert, Marlin Fannin, Tom Fannin, Albert Jones, Russell Kemp, Lyall Johnston, and Eduardo Elizondo (who was ordained an elder at this year’s Conference). Also, a non-elder, Steven Greene, a very good speaker, has participated in the GTM presentations.
As GTM was being developed, many brethren joined in for these live, one-hour messages every Friday evening, at the beginning of the Sabbath. The Friday evening messages are perfect for Australia as well, because that is early to mid-morning—so many Aussie and New Zealand brethren participate. In addition to the Friday evening GTM, there is an 8 AM presentation designed to reach the UK, Europe, and South Africa on their Sabbath afternoons.
Because of the success of the GTM presentations, we want to expand the number of participating brethren. However, we are required to sign up 100 new enrollees at a time. So the first 100 enrollees can now sign up using the following e-mail address: . Those over the first 100 will be placed on a waiting list and added over time to the next group.
This new addition of GTM Sabbath presentations by some of our elders is part of the mission of the Christian Biblical Church of God to faithfully undertake Restoring Original Christianity—For Today! ® and return to the authentic worship of God in spirit and in truth. Moreover, our main Web site, truthofgod.org, offers hundreds of visual and audio studies covering a wide range of biblical subjects—all designed to help you come to a full understanding of the fundamental teachings of the Bible and the original apostolic Christianity founded by Jesus Christ. Our central goal is to lead believers to a deep personal relationship with God.
All of our Web sites are designed to help you progress from basic biblical teachings to advanced detailed studies. We have in-depth, verse-by-verse studies of nearly all the books of the New Testament. Plus, we have numerous messages examining Bible prophecy for the end time. All topics are networked so that you may enter at any level of study and move with ease from one topic to another.
Through the years our sites have expanded greatly in content, with new audio and written selections being added every week. We would appreciate your suggestions on specific interests and needs you may have.
One of the most powerful study tools we have provided is The Holy Bible In Its Original Order—A Faithful Version With Commentary. Our truly accurate translation has corrected all the mistranslations and additions and deletions of religious organizations and translation committees. This is the only Bible ever published in a single volume that accurately follows the original God-inspired manuscript order of all the books of the Old and New Testaments.
In addition to all the books and booklets we have published (See our Catalog of Christian Biblical Church of God Books and Literature), as well as all the material we have online on our Web sites, we now have over 130 bound transcript books of messages and detailed Bible studies—with the corresponding messages recorded on CDs. These are actually the greatest tools for studying the Bible in detail. IT IS TRULY AMAZING HOW MUCH GOD HAS INSPIRED TO BE WRITTEN AND PRESERVED IN THE BIBLE.
The theme Restoring Original Christianity—For Today!® is also the basis for our Church at Home Web site, which informs brethren and new people of what we believe and what we are doing. By emphasizing the Word of God—and nothing but the Word of God—He is drawing more people to true Christianity in these end times. Just as in politics, people are sick and tired of the same old teachings and the hypocrisy of Orthodox Christendom. Some are turning to witchcraft, eastern religions, or atheism, while a large number of Protestant dropouts are called “Nones”—meaning they don’t want to be connected with any religion. On the other hand, some are trying to turn to God. They are searching for the true God and the true Christ.
This is why we are not only to feed the Flock of God—to teach and prepare the brethren for the return of Christ and the Kingdom of God—but we are also to preach the Gospel, as Jesus commanded: “Now the eleven disciples went into Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them to meet Him. And when they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some doubted. And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Therefore, go and make disciples in all nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit; teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you. And lo, I am with you always, even until the completion of the age’ ” (Matt. 28:16-20).
After Jesus ascended to the throne of God the Father, to present Himself as the perfect sacrifice for the sin of the world, He appeared later that same day to the disciples. Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures and expanded the message of how to preach the Gospel to the world: “And He said to them, ‘These are the words that I spoke to you when I was yet with you, that all the things which were written concerning Me in the Law of Moses and in the Prophets and in the Psalms must be fulfilled.’ Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, ‘According as it is written, it was necessary for the Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day. And in His name, repentance and remission of sins should be preached to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. For you are witnesses of these things’ ” (Luke 24:44-48).
As Luke writes, Jesus remained with them for a total of forty days: “He presented himself alive after He had suffered, being seen of them for forty days, and speaking the things concerning the kingdom of God” (Acts 1:3).
On the 40th day after Jesus’ resurrection, He appeared to the apostles for the last time. On this momentous day, He further expanded the mission of preaching the Gospel to the world: “So then, when they were assembled together, they asked Him, saying, ‘Lord, will You restore the kingdom to Israel at this time?’ And He said to them, ‘It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father has placed in His own authority; but you yourselves shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be My witnesses, both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and unto the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:6-8).
The last phrase—“unto the ends of the earth”—is clearly a prophecy for the entire Church, from that time until Jesus’ return, declaring that the Word of God, the Gospel of the Kingdom of God through the writings of the apostles, would reach “unto the ends of the earth.” Obviously, by the time the apostles died they had not gone to the ends of the earth with the Gospel. Please read “Why Are There So Many Bibles in the World?” on page x in The Holy Bible In Its Original Order. This short essay shows that the Gospel, the Word of God, would be published in all the world before the end would come: “But the end is not yet…. And the gospel must first be published among all nations [in the last generation]” (Mark 13:7, 10).
When we tie these scriptures together we understand that what Jesus commanded was, in fact, an age-lasting mission for the churches of God until He returns. Our continuous prayer should be that all the brethren and ministers in all the various churches of God would all yield to God and faithfully carry out Jesus’ commands.
This is what Jesus preached when He began His ministry in Galilee by “proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, ‘The time has been fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is near at hand; repent, and believe in the gospel’ ” (Mark 1:14-15). The message in the four Gospels defines for the churches of God what we should be preaching and teaching.
Each one of us has a part in preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom of God through our lives as a light to the world, as well as what we do as part of a church of God. Jesus promised, “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be proclaimed in all the world for a witness to all nations; and then shall the end come” (Matt. 24:14). In recent years, not understanding what was taking place in the churches of God, many ministers and brethren have thought that this warning would be left for the Two Witnesses to do. While it is true that they will have a tremendous work to do, we should never assume that we can sit back and relax and not preach the Gospel—leaving it to the Two Witnesses. To do so would be a great dereliction of our duty before God.
The apostle Paul understood that he had a God-given responsibility to preach the Gospel, as he explained to the Corinthians: “For though I preach the gospel, there is no reason for me to boast because an obligation has been laid upon me. And woe to me, if I do not preach the gospel! For if I do this willingly, I have a reward; but if I do this against my will, I have been entrusted with a ministry” (I Cor. 9:16-17).
He also understood that his ministry was a “stewardship”—a sacred trust committed to him by God: “[L]et every man regard us as ministers of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Beyond that, it is required of stewards that one be found faithful” (I Cor. 4:1-2).
All of us need to view our calling in the same way—a stewardship, a calling of faithfulness—because God the Father and Jesus Christ have personally chosen to dwell in us through the power of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, while we live in the world, we are not a part of the world. This fact is especially evident during the worldly holiday season called “Christmas.”
We are not to be partakers of the world’s ways and religions. Paul warned of this when he wrote, “Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and lawlessness have in common? And what fellowship does light have with darkness? And what union does Christ have with Belial? Or what part does a believer have with an unbeliever? And what agreement is there between a temple of God and idols?
“For you are a temple of the living God, exactly as God said: ‘I will dwell in them and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. Therefore, come out from the midst of them and be separate,’ says the Lord, ‘and touch not the unclean, and I will receive you; and I shall be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters,’ says the Lord Almighty. Now then, beloved, since we have these promises, we should purge ourselves from every defilement of the flesh and the spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God” (II Cor. 6:14-18; 7:1).
Therefore, we need to be faithful, because we have been called to eternal life, to be a part of the Family of God—to become immortal spirit beings at the return of Christ and the first resurrection. Always remember, Jesus loves us—He died for us. The Father Himself loves us—and answers our prayers! This is why we are to pray directly to God the Father, as Jesus said: “[Y]ou shall ask in My name; and I do not tell you that I will beseech the Father for you, for the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me, and have believed that I came forth from God” (John 16:26-27).
Notice how the apostle John emphasized the fantastic love that God the Father has towards us: “Behold! What glorious love the Father has given to us, that we should be called the children of God! For this very reason, the world does not know us because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are the children of God, and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be; but we know that when He is manifested, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him exactly as He is. And everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, even as He is pure” (I John 3:1-3).
All of this is because of the love of God—His love for us FIRST—as John also wrote: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in Him may not perish, but may have everlasting life” (John 3:16).
In order to receive eternal life, we must come to God on His terms. We do not come to God on our terms. The longer we live with the Spirit of God within us, coupled with the continuous daily prayer and study of the Word of God, we grow in the love of God and grow in our understanding of the depth of God’s love for us.
John understood this more than the other apostles because he was the one whom Jesus especially loved. This is why his Gospel and epistles teach us more about the love of God than any other book in the Bible. Further explaining the love of God for us, John wrote: “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. No one has seen God at any time. Yet, if we love one another, God dwells in us, and His own love is perfected in us. By this standard we know that we are dwelling in Him, and He is dwelling in us: because of His own Spirit, which He has given to us…. 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” (I John 4:9-13, 16-19).
The love of God is more than an emotion (though emotion is involved) because through the Holy Spirit our love of God is dynamic, active, and producing fruit—perfecting the love of God in us, because we are living God’s way of life. Jesus said, “If you love Me, keep the commandments—namely, My commandments” (John 14:15).
John confirmed this when he wrote, “By this standard we know that we love the children of God: when we love God and keep His commandments. For this is the love of God: that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome” (I John 5:2-3).
Because deceivers infiltrated the churches of God with false doctrines and antichrist teachings in John’s time, his writings are key to restoring original Christianity. In the short epistle of II John, we find verification that the love of God, commandment-keeping, and truth go hand-in-hand and are vital spiritual keys for us today.
This is why we have to be deeply rooted in the Word of God and the love of God. Notice what John wrote: “I rejoiced exceedingly that I have found among your children those who are walking in truth, exactly as we received commandment from the Father. And now I beseech you, lady, not as though I am writing a new commandment to you, but that which we have observed from the beginning, that we love one another [original Christianity].
“And this is the love of God: that we walk according to His commandments. This is the commandment, exactly as you heard from the beginning, that you might walk in it [original Christianity], because many deceivers have entered into the world—those who do not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh. This is the spirit of the deceiver and the antichrist.
“Watch out for yourselves in order that we may not lose the things we have accomplished, but that we may receive a full reward. Anyone who transgresses and does not continue in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. But the one who continues in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son [original Christianity]” (II John 4-9).
John’s messages encompass everything that God wants us to believe and do. On the other hand, the Orthodox “Christianity” of this world, under the deception of Satan the devil and the spirit of antichrist, does not have the Father or the Son. Their mixture of truth and error, their rejection of God’s Sabbath and holy days, coupled with a counterfeit love of God, are an exact duplicate of what John and the brethren were experiencing during their time. Once we understand the simplicity of it—the love of God, keeping the commandments, the Sabbath and holy days—we can understand the truth of God. We can be restoring in our lives original Christianity, as John wrote: “The one who continues in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son.”
Just as they were being engulfed with false teachings and a “universe of deception” (I John 4:6), we are likewise experiencing the same thing today—but on a far more massive scale because the whole world’s system of the “Mystery of Lawlessness” is now becoming more fully developed. In the Book of Revelation, God names this entire system of religions and governments as “BABYLON THE GREAT.”
For us living in the end time, this “Babylon the Great” is even more intensive, oppressive, and invasive because of modern media, the Internet, and technology—which affects all nations and peoples. At the time of Christ’s return, “Babylon the Great” will encompass the entire world. John describes it this way: “And after these things I saw an angel descending from heaven, having great authority; and the earth was illuminated with his glory. And he cried out mightily with a loud voice, saying, ‘Babylon the Great is fallen, is fallen, and has become a habitation of demons, and a prison of every unclean spirit, and a prison of every unclean and hated bird; because ALL NATIONS have drunk of the wine of the fury of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich through the power of her luxury.’
“And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, ‘Come out of her, My people, so that you do not take part in her sins, and that you do not receive of her plagues, for her sins have reached as far as heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities. Render to her as she has rendered to you; and give to her double, even according to her works. In the cup that she mixed, give her back double. To the degree that she glorified herself and lived luxuriously, give to her as much torment and sorrow. For she says in her heart, “I sit a queen enthroned, and am not a widow; and in no way shall I experience sorrow.” For this very reason, her plagues shall come in one day—death and sorrow and famine; and she shall be burned with fire; for the Lord God, Who executes judgment upon her, is powerful. Then the kings of the earth who have committed fornication with her and have lived luxuriously, will weep and lament for her, when they see the smoke of her burning’ ” (Rev. 18:1-9).
This is how we need to preach Restoring Original Christianity—For Today! ® Come out of Babylon the Great—this world’s satanic ways! Repent! Return to God! Jesus Christ is soon returning to this earth! The Kingdom of God is near!
Brethren, in our own personal lives we need to continue to draw close to God in heartfelt prayer and daily Bible study—so that we can grow in grace and knowledge and always be overcoming. We thank God the Father and Jesus Christ each day for Their goodness and mercy. We thank you for your continued love and faithfulness to God and each other. We thank you for your prayers for us and all the brethren, and for your faithfulness in tithes and offerings. We pray that God will continue to bless you and keep watch over you in everything. We continue to pray for your health, your healing, and for God’s love and grace to be upon you in all circumstances.
With love in Christ Jesus,
Fred R. Coulter
FRC
