Update from the President

During the past week, we have been mostly away from the home office. First, Beverly and I traveled to San Antonio, Texas, where we held a memorial service to Roger and Janice Foster on the Sabbath. They were both remarkable servants of God and extraordinary examples for us all.

In the memorial service, I included a timeline of his ministry and his achievements in service to God, which included his pastorates, writing and research. Above all, he was a humble, unassuming servant of God who will be well remembered by us all. His son, Rod, and Rod's wife, Tammy, both wrote beautiful eulogies for Roger and Janice, respectively. Bev and I stayed at the home of pastor Tom Kuver and his wife, Pam. We appreciated getting to know them better and highly regard their care for the brethren in Corpus Christi and points south.

Then I flew up to Kansas City, Kansas, on Sunday--where we held the first of two live events for our personal appearance campaign (PAC), titled: "America: The Time Is Now!" We have a relatively small Beyond Today magazine circulation in Kansas City of about 1,250 subscribers, but we were still able to visit with 29 new people who came to the live event. Including our brethren, a total of 65 were in attendance. What I find so heartening, in especially the latest personal appearance campaign, is the enthusiasm and involvement of the local congregations, who helped plan and promote the event and make it their own.

I then traveled with our road staff to St. Louis, Missouri, where we held the second event on Tuesday evening. Here we had 40 new guests for a total attendance of 112. Again, the local support was so refreshing. A number of brethren personally brought friends or fellow workers to the event. We appreciate that kind of involvement. Some of the people who came were already familiar with us from previous contacts and this reinforced their connection with the Church.

I felt our presenters did an outstanding job hitting the mark with their appeals to the audiences. I also give special thanks to our technical crew for flawless work. There is a lot of work in the setup, take-down and travel. I rode with them back to Cincinnati all day Wednesday. We work together very closely on all levels and I particularly enjoyed being with them on the long van ride home. Some of their comments about the event are as follows:

- Very impressed with church members' enthusiasm, warmth, support and hospitality, especially on a weeknight, as we did in St. Louis.
- Still a powerful message, even after hearing it 15 times (we've actually held 17 PAC events to date).
- Happy to be part of the team and be with people who are so passionate and focused!
- I'm thankful for God's blessing where we can preach the gospel freely without restriction and persecution.
- I'm glad to use my abilities to do the Work of God.

Christ, Our Passover

Over the years I have had contact with various Sabbath-keeping fellowships both in the United States and internationally. What has drawn us to one another was the obvious keeping of the seventh-day Saturday Sabbath. Beyond the Sabbath, we found that we had additional common beliefs outside the mainstream Christian world: clean and unclean meats; the nature of God, notably the Holy Spirit; non-use of the cross; the state of the dead; non-observance of the Roman holidays (Christmas, Easter, etc.) On visits together we felt a strong bond and friendship as we discussed our similarities. I have held many conversations with their elders and leaders about our beliefs. It is a joy to talk to people who read the same Bible and come to the same understanding and conclusions.

One belief, however, that was not on the similarity list was the keeping of the Feasts and annual Holy Days. With almost all of them I felt their resistance to even discussing the subject.

When I traveled to Ukraine in 1992 and met with pastors and congregations, the subject of the Holy Days came up, but discussion soon moved away. The one Feast that they did keep, however, was the Passover. They felt that there was enough New Testament support for it. And they kept it similarly to us, conducting foot-washing along with the symbols of bread and wine.

For years I was puzzled about their aversion to the Holy Days.

Then the truth started coming out. Some of the Sabbath-keepers would start keeping the Holy Days and soon thereafter would start growing beards, long sideburns and (horrors!) become circumcised. Circumcision is not practiced where I visited in Ukraine. Their leaders told me that they did not want to turn to Judaism. They did not want to reduce Jesus Christ to a mere carpenter. They wanted to look to Him as a powerful Savior and King! The groups that drifted into practices of Judaism drifted away from Jesus Christ.

Whenever visiting the Sabbatarians in Western Ukraine, I'm always asked to speak. On my visit in June 2006, I gave the same sermon that I had previously given the week before on Pentecost in my home congregations in Indiana. I spoke about how the New Testament Church started on a Holy Day; how the Holy Spirit was given on a Holy Day. I spoke about how Pentecost powerfully focuses on Jesus Christ and gives us added insight into our Lord. This was all launched on a Holy Day.

The same pastor who had been resistant to the Holy Days for 14 years told me that evening that a new understanding came to him on that day. He had not realized that Jesus Christ and His teachings were powerfully transmitted by the Holy Days. The Holy Days added to--and didn't take away from--Jesus Christ. It was so satisfying to me to see truths that we may take for granted be so joyously received!

I had previously challenged the pastors with what is written in Leviticus 23 that summarizes all the Feasts of the Lord, starting with the Sabbath. I pointed out to them that they already observed the Sabbath and Passover on this list, but drew a line after the Passover that they would not cross. I told them that crossing that line would lead them to the treasured truths about the Church that Jesus established, about the return of Jesus Christ and the establishment of the Kingdom of God on the earth. All this and much, much more is conveyed through the annual Holy Days.

Originally, the Holy Days were given to the nation of Israel without the component of Jesus Christ. When Jesus Christ was performing His earthly ministry, He not only kept the Passover and the other Feasts, but He gave instructions about how Christians are to observe them. Jesus Christ instituted the symbols of the bread and wine to point more poignantly to His sacrifice for mankind. This is encapsulated by the Feast of the Passover. Paul wrote this boldly to the church in Corinth and incorporated not only the meaning of the Passover, but the Days of Unleavened Bread: "For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth" (1 Corinthians 5:7-8).

The Old Testament lamb is now revealed as a symbol of the New Testament Lamb. John the Baptist introduced Christ as such: "The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, 'Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!'" (John 1:29).

In a majestic finale to the book of Revelation, God the Father and Jesus Christ, the Lamb, are portrayed as victorious: "And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him" (Revelation 22:3-4).

I thank God regularly for the truths that have been revealed to us in large part through the understanding and keeping of the annual Holy Days. I know that the entirety of the Bible was written for my education and enrichment, and I praise God for it. The United Church of God has translated the booklet Holidays or Holy Days: Does It Matter Which Days We Observe? into Russian. It has been well received by the people in Ukraine, as well as other parts of the world as a logical and enlightening portrayal of a much higher meaning of the annual Holy Days. In Western Ukraine, more and more are people keeping the Holy Days since my 2006 visit, and after reading our booklet.

In a few weeks we will be keeping the Passover that Jesus Christ instituted for us. Let us keep this Feast and bring into our lives all that it means!