Table of Contents

Beyond Today: You Can Walk With God?

You Can Walk With God

Walking With God: The Truth About Easter and Passover

Ukakachira!: A Story of Faith in Our Time

“Christ Our Passover Was Sacrificed for Us”

Do We Have Valid Testimony to the Life of Christ?

Can Jesus’ Existence Be Proven From Sources Outside the Bible?

The Curse of Inflation: A Biblical View

Sexual Identity: Another Assault on Biblical Authority

Current Events and Trends: March/April 2022

Follow Me: Seizing the Moment for God’s Glory

Letters From Our Readers: March/April 2022

If You'd Like to Know More...

Beyond Today: You Can Walk With God

Walking With God in Times of Trouble

Living in accordance with that hope and future, trusting God’s promises and striving to obey and please Him, is key to walking with God.

by Scott Ashley

As I write these words not long into a new year, I can’t help but reflect back on a year unlike any other I can remember. Never have I seen a period of so much suffering and death. And yes, I realize this was nothing like previous periods of world wars and their immense misery, but by any measure the last year or two have been awful.

In recent months three friends in my church family have died of Covid and three others succumbed to cancer after long struggles. The teenage son of some dear friends died as a result of injuries from a traffic accident caused by a negligent driver. Another friend passed away from a different long-term illness.

Many others have dealt with severe sickness, hospitalizations, job losses, accidents and other trials. If all that weren’t enough, my own mother went to her rest, although at the ripe old age of 92 and in reasonably good health until her last few days.

With the track record of the last year multiplied millions of times over in lives all across the globe, it’s no wonder that people feel so beaten down, depressed and hopeless. If we let our minds dwell on it, these could certainly seem like hopeless times.

This last year has been a struggle for many, myself included. But the title of this magazine, Beyond Today, points us to a different time and different circumstances. It points us beyond today to the wonderful future promised in God’s Word when Jesus Christ will return to establish the long-awaited Kingdom of God on earth and banish the Satanic and evil causes of so much sin, suffering and death in the world.

Jesus Christ came bearing a message called the gospel —a word meaning “good news.” And His message truly was good news! It was the same message the biblical prophets before Him proclaimed, the good news of a world-ruling Kingdom in which, so unlike today, “the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea” (Habakkuk 2:14).

Many articles in Beyond Today highlight how different that coming world will be from our world today. We live in a world filled not with the knowledge of God, but with sin and the suffering that is the result of our blindness to and rejection of the knowledge of God.

So our message in Beyond Today is one of hope. In the model prayer He gave His disciples, Jesus Christ instructs us to pray to God, “Your kingdom come” (Matthew 6:10; Luke 11:2, emphasis added throughout). That should always be a focus of our prayers. He also tells us to “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness” (Matthew 6:33)—always making becoming a part of that Kingdom the focus, goal and highest priority of our lives.

And this is a crucial key to coping with the circumstances of this life that at times can seem so depressing and hopeless. When we seek first God’s Kingdom, and by studying His Word come to understand His plan and the prophetic future the Bible lays out for mankind, we realize there’s much more to our existence than this life alone.

We realize that suffering, illness and death are not the end of the story, but that God has planned a glorious future for every human being who has ever lived who is willing to surrender to God’s plan for him or her. As the apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 2:9 (quoting and paraphrasing from Isaiah 64:4): “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”

Living in accordance with that hope and future, trusting God’s promises and striving to obey and please Him, is key to walking with God as described in this issue. Our hope and prayer is that you will take the articles in this issue to heart and faithfully learn to walk with God in these times of trouble—pressing on with Him to that wonderful time beyond today!

You Can Walk With God

Do you have a fulfilling “walk with God”? What does it really mean to walk with God the Father and Jesus Christ? Is something missing in your relationship with Them? Discover the vital biblical keys to a close, meaningful and fruitful relationship with your Creator.

by John LaBissoniere

As a child I loved walking with my father when he would take me along with him to the hardware store or to visit other locations. And when my wife and I were engaged and later married, we enjoyed walking together hand in hand. Later, when we became parents, we treasured the times we walked with our little daughter and son while holding their hands.

Walking together with someone in a spirit of harmony is gratifying and fulfilling. What about when it comes to a relationship with God? Is it possible to have such oneness with your Heavenly Father? How do you develop such a relationship if you’ve never had one—or if you have but it’s become less than fulfilling? Whatever your current situation is, it can be changed for the better. You can experience your Creator’s great desire for you to walk with Him in unity and peace.

Indeed, God seeks a very close relationship with you and wants only what is in your best interest (Deuteronomy 5:33; Psalm 20:4). To enjoy such a meaningful rapport with God, it will be essential for you to take some important actions.

It begins with your willingness to read God’s Word, the Bible, with a special emphasis on gaining a better understanding of His greatness, glory and goodness (Isaiah 42:5). Doing so can motivate you to want to walk with Him, as you come to grasp more and more how deeply He cares for you (1 Peter 5:7). Walking with God can be described as loving and respecting Him so much that you choose to follow His virtuous ways while rejecting all contrary ways (Psalm 1:1-3).

God’s word is a lamp, giving light where you walk

God is extremely pleased when you commit yourself to seeking Him and His way of life through the study of His divinely revealed knowledge and wisdom. The Bible says that “all Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16).

The Bible shows us the way to go. Psalm 119:105 addresses God, declaring, “Your word is a lamp that gives light wherever I walk” (Contemporary English Version, emphasis added throughout). Also, King Solomon of ancient Israel penned: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your paths” (Proverbs 3:5-6).

To walk with God, then, you need to acknowledge that He knows what is most important and be willing to trust in Him in every situation, no matter how troublesome (Proverbs 16:3). King David expressed it this way: “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me” (Psalm 23:4).

Not only does the Bible give you amazing insight about God and His righteousness, but it provides outstanding examples of individuals who diligently lived “the way of God” (Acts 18:26). For instance, the patriarchs Enoch and Noah “walked with God” (Genesis 5:22; 6:9). The Creator directed His faithful friend Abraham, “Walk before Me and be blameless” (Genesis 17:1; James 2:23). God called King David “a man after My own heart, who will do all My will” (Acts 13:22).

A devoted priest named Zacharias and his wife Elizabeth (cousin of Mary, mother of Jesus), were described as “righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless” (Luke 1:6). Also, Moses, Sarah, Rahab, the New Testament apostles and many others walked faithfully with God (see Hebrews 11).

Jesus Christ made it possible for you to walk with God

As you study the Scriptures you discover that your walk with God was made possible because Jesus Christ walked in complete harmony and unity with His Heavenly Father. Christ said, “For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me” (John 6:38).

Jesus gave up the glory He formerly had with His Father to become a human being. Then as a relatively young man He freely laid down His life as a sacrifice for you, me and all people. The Bible explains that “all have sinned” (Romans 3:23), meaning every human being has disobeyed God’s commandments, and that as a result we have all earned the penalty of sin, which is death (Romans 6:23).

However, since “God is love” (1 John 4:8, 16), is “full of mercy” (James 3:17) and is “not willing that any should perish” (2 Peter 3:9), He made it possible for you to be released from your sentence of death.

A well-known biblical passage tells us that “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). Jesus suffered the punishment you and I deserved so that we could have the astonishing opportunity to obtain everlasting life (Romans 3:23-25; 1 Peter 1:18-19).

Having been restored to divine glory following His resurrection from the dead, Christ is now at the right hand of God the Father in heaven (1 Peter 3:22). As the living Head of His Church, Jesus leads into salvation all people who choose to follow God’s way of life (Colossians 1:18; Acts 4:12).

Repentance, baptism and receiving the Holy Spirit

Because of God’s great love, righteousness and patience, He graciously directs you to an exciting, life-altering decision (Romans 2:4). This involves your willingness to personally accept Jesus Christ’s sacrifice by repenting of your sins and committing yourself to obey God’s commandments.

Repentance means that you come to see yourself as a sinner, are deeply remorseful of that flawed condition and want to entirely change the way you think and act going forward. Moreover, you earnestly want God to create within you a “clean heart” and “loyal spirit” (Psalm 51:10, New Living Translation) so that you can turn away from wrongdoing to obedience to God’s laws.

In this you must develop and exercise faith in God—trusting Him for forgiveness and for His help to walk in His ways, confident in the wonderful future He intends for you and all who will walk with Him. (To learn more, be sure to read our free study guide You Can Have Living Faith.)

Following close behind repentance and faith toward God is baptism—complete immersion in water—indicating you have fully accepted the sacrifice of Jesus Christ for your sins. It represents the death and burial of your former way of life, symbolically washed away in the baptismal water. Then, your rising out of the water is emblematic of a resurrection to a new, robust life in Christ. As the apostle Paul writes in Romans 6:4, “Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”

The next step after baptism in the biblical conversion process is the laying on of hands by one or more of God’s ordained ministers (Acts 19:6; 8:14-17). That’s when God gives you the wonderful gift of His Holy Spirit (Acts 19:6; 2:38), which will guide your mind, attitude and actions toward godliness and away from sin and selfishness.

Rather than the Holy Spirit being a third person in a trinity, as many think, the Bible reveals it to be the very essence of God’s power, mind and nature (Micah 3:8; 2 Timothy 1:7). God’s Spirit helps you to be transformed into a person who has an intense desire and motivation to “walk according to His commandments” (2 John 1:6).

God’s Holy Spirit aids you in thinking and acting as Jesus did—having the very “mind of Christ” (1 Corinthians 2:16). It helps you resist sin and overcome wrong habits. (To learn more, download or request our free study guides What You Need to Know About Baptism and Is God a Trinity?)

To be sure, nothing God asks of you will be too hard to achieve once you have His awesome spiritual strength working within you (Romans 8:26-28). Paul prayed “that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him . . . the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms” (Ephesians 1:19-20, NLT).

Walk as Jesus walked by keeping the commandments

Through God’s Spirit you not only can love and be devoted to God, but you also gain an eagerness to obey His laws—laws He designed as a blessing and benefit for you. This involves accepting the Ten Commandments as the foundation of your life and actions. God inspired His prophet Jeremiah to write: “But this is what I commanded them, saying, ‘Obey My voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be My people. And walk in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well with you’” (Jeremiah 7:23).

When a person asked Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life, Jesus answered, “If you want to enter into life, keep the commandments” (Matthew 19:17). Jesus also said: “Who-ever has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me. The one who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and reveal Myself to him” (John 14:21, Berean Study Bible).

The apostle John wrote of following Christ: “Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He who says, ‘I know Him,’ and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him. He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked” (1 John 2:3-6).

The apostle Peter similarly wrote, “For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps” (1 Peter 2:21). Regarding God’s commandments, Paul stated, “The law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good” (Romans 7:12). He also wrote, “I delight in the law of God” (verse 22).

Therefore, just like Jesus and His apostles, walking with God and following in Christ’s footsteps involve your readiness to embrace all God has commanded us. That includes observing the weekly biblical seventh-day Sabbath (Friday sunset to Saturday sunset), as well as God’s annual festivals, such as the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

Walking with God also means you need to forsake holidays and customs derived from pagan religion, as God says not to worship Him that way (Deuteronomy 12:29-32; Jeremiah 10:2-5; Colossians 2:8). Rather, the Creator inspired the prophet Ezekiel to write: “I am the Lord your God: Walk in My statutes, keep My judgments, and do them; hallow My Sabbaths, and they will be a sign between Me and you, that you may know that I am the Lord your God” (Ezekiel 20:19-20).

Walking humbly with your God

Walking with God also involves another significant spiritual quality—that of humility. God is delighted when you “walk humbly” with Him in harmony and gratitude (Micah 6:8). Humility is truly the foundation of the ongoing and fulfilling relationship you can have with your Creator (2 Chronicles 7:14; 1 Peter 5:6). God says, “But on this one will I look: on him who is poor [here meaning humble] and of a contrite [or repentant] spirit, and who trembles at My word’” (Isaiah 66:2).

Imagine having such a friend and ally! Visualize being supported and sustained by the invincible Architect of the universe, who knows how to perfectly escort you through life’s peaks and valleys!

King David wrote, “The humble He guides in justice, and the humble He teaches His way” (Psalm 25:9). Plus, God offers you a future beyond compare in His coming divine Kingdom (Revelation 12:10). “For the Lord takes pleasure in His people; He will beautify the humble with salvation” (Psalm 149:4).

What won’t God do for you if you wholeheartedly reject sin and are “clothed with humility”? (Proverbs 12:28; 1 Peter 5:5). He says, “I dwell in the high and holy place, with him who has a contrite and humble spirit” (Isaiah 57:15).

Building an enduring personal relationship with God

As you walk with God by obeying His commandments, it’s crucial that you also work at building a strong, enduring personal relationship with Him. Your future in His divine family requires His ongoing involvement and help.

After God calls you to understand His truth, He wants you to be proactive in advancing your relationship with Him by communicating regularly with Him—studying the Bible to learn what He has to teach you and praying regularly to Him (Ephesians 6:18; 1 Thessalonians 5:17). Your life will then be blessed according to this exceptional promise: “Come close to God, and God will come close to you” (James 4:8, NLT).

Most assuredly, your Heavenly Father loves to hear what you have to say! “Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you” (Jeremiah 29:12). To emphasize this point the apostle John wrote: “And we are confident that he hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases him. And since we know he hears us when we make our requests, we also know that he will give us what we ask for” (1 John 5:14-15, NLT).

Walk while you have the light

Sadly, humanity in general has rejected a relationship with God and shunned the life-giving light of truth He offers in the Bible. Many people have chosen to walk without His instruction and guidance, leaving them in misery, despair and distress.

In lamenting this terrible condition, the prophet Jeremiah prayed to God, “O Lord, I know the way of man is not in himself; it is not in man who walks to direct his own steps” (Jeremiah 10:23). In the same vein, the prophet Hosea wrote of those “oppressed and broken in judgment” because they “walked by human precept” (Hosea 5:11). But it doesn’t have to be this way for you!

Hosea further declared: “May those who are wise understand what is written here, and may they take it to heart. The Lord’s ways are right, and righteous people live by following them, but sinners stumble and fall because they ignore them” (Hosea 14:9, Good News Translation).

Jesus Christ urges you to “walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you; he who walks in darkness does not know where he is going” (John 12:35). Don’t ignore this opportunity. As Isaiah wrote, “Seek the Lord while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near” (Isaiah 55:6). Consider this invitation. What are you going to do? Will you choose to walk with God?

Walking With God: The Truth About Easter and Passover

What do colored Easter eggs, rabbits and sunrise services have to do with Jesus Christ?

by Beyond Today editor

While millions assume these customs are Christian, nowhere in the Bible are they found being practiced by the Church Jesus founded. If Easter and its traditions don’t come from Holy Scripture, where did they originate?

They in fact emerged from ancient paganism. The English word Easter is derived from the Old English term Eostre or Ostara, the name of the goddess of the spring, the dawn and fertility. Over 1,000 years before the birth of Jesus Christ, pagan people reveled in festivals to this and other pagan gods and goddesses that included sex rituals and even orgies. These festivities occurred around the time of the spring equinox when the sun’s rays brought warmth and life to the earth following the cold and darkness of winter.

Easter and its customs have pagan roots

In pagan cultures, eggs often symbolized fertility and reproduction. For example, the ancient Druids in Britain and Gaul (modern-day France), were said to dye eggs and bury them in the newly plowed fields in late winter to encourage fertility and prosperity. As to the Easter bunny, in ancient times rabbits, as a rapidly breeding mammal, were valued as a sign of producing offspring. In addition, the Easter sunrise service has roots in the pagan ritual of prostrating before the rising sun (see Ezekiel 8:16).

How did Easter and its customs become infused into traditional Christianity? It was due to the rise of misguided, compromising teachers who appropriated heathen spring rituals and deceptively applied them to Christ’s resurrection (Matthew 24:4-5; Colossians 2:8; Deuteronomy 12:30-32).

Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words states that Easter was “introduced into the apostate Western religion, as part of the attempt to adapt pagan festivals to Christianity” (1985, “Easter,” pp. 344-345, emphasis added throughout).

Also, author James Frazer wrote: “When we reflect how often the [mainstream] Church has skillfully contrived to plant the seeds of the new faith on the old stock of paganism, we may surmise that the Easter celebration of the dead and risen Christ was grafted upon a similar celebration of the dead and risen Adonis” of Greek mythology (The Golden Bough, 1890, p. 345).

Jesus and His disciples observed the Passover

Jesus, His disciples and the early New Testament Church never observed Easter or its rituals. Rather, they unfailingly kept the Passover and the Holy Days of the Bible. Although the word “Easter” appears in Acts 12:4 in the King James Version of the Bible, it is a mistranslation. The original Greek word in this scripture is Pascha, meaning “Passover,” which most modern Bible versions translate correctly.

Passover, a solemn and sacred annual occasion in ancient Israel, commemorated how God miraculously redeemed and freed the people from slavery in Egypt. On the first Passover evening in Egypt a lamb was slain, roasted and eaten in each Israelite household. Its blood was placed on the lintel and doorposts of their dwellings as a sign of God’s protection from the plague of the death of the firstborn sent in judgment upon Egypt (Exodus 12:12-13).

The lambs killed on that evening symbolized Jesus Christ as the future sacrificial “Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). Christ accomplished this by voluntarily offering Himself as a sacrifice with His blood shed so repentant individuals could be spared from eternal, spiritual death (Matthew 26:28; Romans 5:20).

On the first New Testament Passover, He used the symbols of unleavened bread and wine to represent His sinless body and His blood, which were sacrificed to cleanse those who repent of their sins and reconcile them to God (Luke 22:19; Ephesians 1:7). As the apostle Paul explained in 1 Corinthians 5:7, Jesus Himself was represented by the Old Testament lamb sacrifice: “For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us.”

Jesus kept the Passover throughout His lifetime (Luke 2:41-43; John 2:13; Matthew 26:17-19). And some 25 years after His death and resurrection, the apostles and other members of His Church were still faithfully keeping the Passover (Acts 20:6; 1 Corinthians 5:6-8).

Reject Easter and observe God’s Passover and Holy Days

God told the people of ancient Israel to observe the seven-day Feast of Unleavened Bread in conjunction with the Passover, as a reminder that He freed them from Egyptian bondage (Leviticus 23:5-8). This is symbolic of the redemption that repentant individuals have from the spiritual slavery of sin as a result of Christ’s sacrifice.

Unleavened bread is symbolic of Jesus’ sinless life, which true Christians must strive to imitate. As the “bread of life,” Jesus is at the very center of this festival, just as He is in all of God’s annual Holy Days (John 6:35; Colossians 2:17). He personally observed this feast, as did the apostles and all the early Church (Acts 20:6; 1 Corinthians 5:6-8).

Finally, the truth is that Easter is a deceptive substitute for the Passover and needs to be utterly rejected. Instead, the Passover and God’s yearly seven-day Feast of Unleavened Bread must be observed faithfully by all true Christians at this time of year (Luke 22:19; Leviticus 23:6-8).

This is part of what it means to walk with God in faith and obedience—to turn from our old ways, habits and customs and to begin living in accordance with His commandments. (To learn more, download or request our free study guide God’s Holy Day Plan: The Promise of Hope for All Mankind.)

Ukakachira!: A Story of Faith in Our Time

Stories of amazing faith and perseverance are not limited to the Bible and Bible times. Such stories still happen, and in the most amazing places and circumstances!

by Victor Kubik

“How long have you waited for this moment?” My wife asked this question of a man still wet after I baptized him in a hotel swimming pool in Lusaka, Zambia. With a slight smile and self-effacing voice, he answered, “25 years.”

Joseph Kaputula and others with him from Mufumbwe, 265 miles away from Lusaka in remote northwest Zambia, tell one of the most incredible modern-day stories of faith, persistence and belief in God’s promises. Their conviction ranks with those of the heroes of faith listed in Hebrews 11. In this story that spans decades, I have found in them an inspiring and compelling example of strength in how to patiently live in a world full of overwhelming difficulties, obstacles and trials.

Jesus Christ, perhaps exasperated with people’s lack of faith, asked, “When the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8).

He preceded this statement with a parable about a persistent widow: “‘There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God nor regard man. Now there was a widow in that city; and she came to him, saying, ‘Get justice for me from my adversary.’ And he would not for a while; but afterward he said within himself, ‘Though I do not fear God nor regard man, yet because this widow troubles me I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me’” (Luke 18:2-7).

What was the point of this parable? The answer: If persistence pays off with a corrupt human being of limited power, how much more will it pay off with a just God of infinite power?

The purpose of the parable is to encourage Christians to persevere when confronted with seemingly great odds. God is listening. He will answer, act and set things right. So don’t give up!

A surprising encounter leads to life changes

This story begins in 1981 in Mufumbwe when Horasi Siyono, a mechanic, was injured in an accident. He went to the hospital and had to stay overnight. While there, he met a man reading a magazine and study guides that vividly answered from the Bible questions he had previously pondered regarding life’s purpose and Christian belief.

Horasi became interested in what he read and became a subscriber himself. As he studied, he became more and more convicted of what he was reading. In remote, impoverished Africa, the power of God’s truth was working in him. In 1982 he wrote to the address he found in the magazine and asked if he could visit somebody from the Church that published it. It was four years before he would travel to Lusaka to meet with a minister and eventually be baptized.

But the story doesn’t end here. Horasi shared his new knowledge with others in Mufumbwe. They decided to meet weekly on the biblical Sabbath day at the Chilemo Orphans Club, which one of the group’s members, Joseph Kaputula, founded and manages.

The meeting location was usually “under the mango tree” at the orphanage. This massive tree provided good shade for gatherings. They continued to study the Bible and reviewed the printed material they regularly received from the church. In 1993, however, literature and communications from the church abruptly stopped. But this did not deter them from continuing to meet weekly.

Confusing times as the truth disappeared

In 2004 Horasi reached out again and wrote to all the addresses he could find in the reading material that had been sent. This time he heard back and started receiving a new publication. But when the group read it, they noted that its teachings were now markedly different from their previous studies. What had happened? They knew right away that they did not want to pursue further contact with that church.

They had been reading the Bible on their own for nearly two decades and were fully convicted of the doctrines they learned about God the Father and Jesus Christ. They knew what the Holy Spirit was and how it worked in their lives. They understood God’s purpose in creating man. The Kingdom of God was real to them. The Word of God was transforming their lives.

By being so grounded in biblical truth, they could also readily spot what was false. They knew what they had found and believed, and no one was going to take it from them. They had already found what was portrayed in two biblical parables—the treasure hidden in the field and the pearl of great price (Matthew 13:44-46). But the Church that had given them so much spiritual nourishment was apparently gone.

The Mufumbwe group had a calendar from the Church that listed the annual Holy Days of the Bible and the dates on which they should be kept. They celebrated these days faithfully, but that list of dates ended in 2008, and now they didn’t know the exact dates for future Holy Days. What were they to do?

A miraculous encounter

So, in February 2009 Joseph Kaputula decided to set out and find the Church that taught him and others the precious truths of the Bible. With only $25 in his pocket and a telephone number for Wilson Nkhoma (one of the names listed in the magazine they had), he headed for Lusaka. He found a driver going in that direction and paid him $8 for the 265-mile journey.

The driver dropped Joseph off at the Lusaka central bus station. There, Joseph repeatedly tried calling Wilson Nkhoma, but to no avail.

Now, at the bus station, a miracle occurred! God stepped in! This was more than a coincidence.

Joseph asked the gentleman sitting beside him at the bus station to watch his belongings while he went to the toilet. When Joseph returned, this man noted a study guide about salvation that Joseph was reading. Why did Joseph have it, and where did he get it? This led to a discussion about the Church.

This man sitting beside him was Jonathan Litaba. He happened to be in Lusaka at the bus station, on his way back to his home 220 miles away. Jonathan was a deacon from the Mufulira congregation of the United Church of God and was well familiar with the Church’s study guides.

In their discussion, some of the mystery of what had happened to the Church was coming clear. The Church they had received literature from initially had drastically changed its doctrines and was now something very different. Yet many who rejected this change, holding fast to prior teachings, continued as the United Church of God (now publisher of Beyond Today magazine).

Joseph then asked about Wilson Nkhoma—who, of course, Jonathan knew well. Jonathan explained that Wilson Nkhoma was now in the United Church of God as well. Jonathan told him where to go for church services in Lusaka three days hence. Certainly, Joseph would connect with all the people he needed to fulfill his mission.

Joseph always knew that the Church was still out there “somewhere.” In the meantime, Joseph went to stay with some nearby Rwandan refugees he had helped in the past.

Hope deferred yet again

On the Sabbath, Joseph went to the address Jonathan had given him. The venue was a meeting hall in military barracks. The room was arranged by a retired army officer who was now a Church member.

But when Joseph came into the barracks area, he was immediately stopped by a guard who asked him who he was and what was he was doing there. Joseph told him that he was from out of town and looking for the United Church of God and Wilson Nkhoma. The guard said he knew nothing of such a meeting in this restricted area and ushered him out of the barracks onto the street.

Joseph never made it to the 3 p.m. church service. However, Jonathan called Wilson Nkhoma to let him know about Joseph, and Wilson then called Joseph Saturday night. The two arranged to meet at Wilson’s house in Lusaka the next day.

Wilson informed Joseph more about what was happening to the Church in Zambia and elsewhere. Wilson gave Joseph lots of magazines, study guides and some money. Afterward, Joseph’s Rwandan friends helped him get on his way back to faraway Mufumbwe by giving him money for the trip, schoolbooks for his children and clothes for Joseph’s wife, Agnes. He was overwhelmed by the kindness!

When Joseph returned to Mufumbwe, he was met by his friends, sister and nephews, who were overjoyed by the success of Joseph’s mission. Joseph said that the group’s joy was tantamount to Zambia scoring a goal in the Africa Cup soccer matches where the entire nation rose in cheers! That’s how happy they were to find out that “the Church was still there.”

The end of a 25-year wait!

In Mufumbwe the group continued to meet weekly on the Sabbath as it always had since 1985, but it was now connected to the United Church of God.

In early 2010 the Mufumbwe group was invited to celebrate the biblical Feast of Tabernacles in Lusaka. Joseph and his two friends Christopher and Samuel went. These three had been waiting since 1985 to be baptized by a minister and were hoping it would happen here. Regrettably, some difficult circumstances kept that from happening then. However, they did not complain or grumble but calmly and patiently made the long return journey to Mufumbwe, never doubting that they would be baptized in due time. I was keeping the Feast that year in Lusaka, too, and it was here that I first met these men from Mufumbwe.

In the early part of 2011, they contacted Wilson Nkhoma, who told them that I would be coming to Zambia in April and that I would baptize them. That finally happened on April 24, 2011, during the biblical Feast of Unleavened Bread. This is when I first heard their astonishing and inspiring story of spiritual courage and patience. They had been all but abandoned, yet God was always with them and helped them through all the obstacles.

Since that time, they now have pastor Derrick Pringle and his wife Cherry who visit them in Mufumbwe several times each year from 200 miles east. On three occasions my wife and I have had the opportunity to travel there also. We, too, have met with them “under the mango tree” at the orphanage!

Now they have a church building and have received help for the orphanage. We have provided varied assistance for boreholes for water and have provided scholarships for some of their children, some of whom have become nurses and teachers.

Perseverance in challenging times

As we listened to Joseph tell us this story of how they had believed and prevailed, my wife asked Joseph to describe their story in one word. Joseph’s answer: “Ukakachira!” In the Kikaunde language, it means “Perseverance!”

That indeed is the perseverance of the widow in the Luke 18 parable. This is the common quality of the list of heroes in Hebrews 11 who put their absolute trust in God.

In Hebrews 11, the father of the faithful, Abraham, knew that God’s promises were as good as done. God promised him a son through whom further promises to a nation and salvation to the human race would come.

He trusted and obeyed: “By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God” (Hebrews 11:8-10, English Standard Version).

Abraham had to wait 25 years before his son Isaac would be born. Joseph Kaputula and the others from Mufumbwe had to wait 25 years to be baptized. But they patiently waited until the day eventually came.

In James 1:2-3 we read: “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.” In other Bible versions the word for “patience” is translated as steadfastness, endurance or perseverance. Testing is not instant. Genuineness of character is refined in the crucible of time and sometimes pain. But in the end the result is joy, as James declares.

In Mufumbwe we see people persevering through distance, poverty, abandonment and even betrayal. But these people, similar to Abraham, always had a vision of who they were, what they had and where they were going. To them their faith was “being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see” (Hebrews 11:1, New International Version).

The just shall live by faith

Faith is a way of life. In four places the Bible states that “the just shall live by faith” (Habakkuk 2:4; Romans 1:17; Galatians 3:11; Hebrews 10:27) Faith does not make things easy; it makes them possible. Ultimately it is through God’s gift of faith that we are saved: “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8).

My personal faith has been enlarged and enriched by the biblical accounts of the faithful. Living examples such as these in Zambia have inspired me to more seriously heed faith passages such as 2 Peter 1:5-8:

“Giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

May we all learn and be inspired by such examples of faith!

“Christ Our Passover Was Sacrificed for Us”

In 1 Corinthians 5:7, Paul wrote that “Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us.” Do you understand the profound meaning this statement holds for Christians?

by Jerold Aust

Jerusalem shone golden in the afternoon sun as 12 men and their Leader made their way from the Mount of Olives to a house in the city. Earlier in the day, Jesus of Nazareth had instructed two of His disciples, Peter and John, to go into Jerusalem and prepare the Passover (Luke 22:7-13). Jesus said they would encounter a man carrying water, who would show them his guest room where they could keep the Passover, a ceremony that involved eating a sacrificed lamb with unleavened bread and bitter herbs in remembrance of God’s redemption of the Israelites in Egypt.

After finding the man, Peter and John prepared the food and drink for Jesus and the 12 to observe what would culminate in the first New Covenant Passover service.

Jesus probably said little as they entered the room and surveyed the preparations. To Peter and John, no doubt Jesus appeared introspective, but, beyond this, their Teacher seemed composed and calm. They all began to relax at the table and eat, following the lead of their Master.

It was then that Jesus began to speak to His disciples, explaining that He had waited for this special time so He could eat this Passover with them. “With fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; for I will no longer eat of it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God,” He told them (Luke 22:15-16).

It was a shocking statement. Jesus spoke of suffering? The apostles found it difficult to believe that their Savior would have to suffer physical pain, let alone die this early in His life. After all, this was the same Man who had turned water into wine, fed 5,000 hungry people on five loaves and two fish and had food left over, and walked on the water of a tempestuous, stormy sea.

Symbols of sacrifice

At this point, the Savior began offering His disciples the symbols of unleavened bread and wine.

The bread, He explained, represented His body. The apostle Peter later defined what this meant, writing that we, as Christians, should follow in the steps of our Savior, who “bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed” (1 Peter 2:24).

Christ, as “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29), would pay the penalty for humanity’s sins “by the sacrifice of Himself” (John 1:29; Hebrews 9:26). The wine, He then explained, represented His blood, shed for the sins of mankind (Luke 22:17-20).

Earlier in the evening, the disciples had quietly watched as Jesus deliberately knelt and washed their feet. Jesus told them to follow His example, explaining that this simple ceremony was symbolic of the humble and unconditional attitude of service to humanity they needed to have (John 13:1-17).

Unleavened bread and wine at the Passover observance were not new to the religious Jews of that day, but the manner in which Jesus presented them, and their meaning, were. So the disciples listened attentively to Jesus’ words and participated fully as He offered the symbols.

The food and drink Christ offered His disciples had deep meaning for them and us. During the evening, He explained that before long He would offer Himself for the sins of mankind (John 13:31-33). His followers would soon see the meaning of the Passover symbols dramatically demonstrated to them.

Jesus’ sacrifice prophesied

Old Testament prophecies of a coming Savior’s sacrifice abound. The earliest can be found in Genesis. Speaking to Satan, the serpent, God said, “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel” (Genesis 3:15).

This verse speaks symbolically of Satan and Jesus Christ. Satan would “bruise the heel” of Jesus by influencing His execution by crucifixion, with nails driven through His feet. But Christ, on His return to earth, will bruise Satan’s head by imprisoning Satan for a millennium and ultimately getting rid of him for good (Revelation 20:1-10). The prophecy in Genesis 3 is the earliest reference to Jesus’ crucifixion and death.

The prophet Isaiah foretold Jesus’ ultimate sacrifice: “He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5).

God, Isaiah further prophesied, “has laid on Him the iniquity of us all” (verse 6). He was “oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter” (verse 7). “He was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgressions of My people He was stricken” (verse 8).

The writers of the Bible recorded many prophecies about this most momentous and critical time, when our holy Savior would pour out His life for you, me and all of humanity. That time came as foretold, in accordance with God’s design: “For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly” (Romans 5:6). Jesus Christ’s sacrificial offering of Himself had long been planned (2 Timothy 1:9-10; 1 Peter 1:18-20).

Throughout His life and ministry, Jesus never once sinned or allowed Himself to entertain thoughts of breaking God’s law. He never broke the letter or spirit of the laws of God. He lived a perfect life. He “committed no sin, nor was deceit found in His mouth” (1 Peter 2:22).

Had He broken God’s law, He would have suffered the death penalty for His own guilt, like the rest of mankind, and would have had no hope of a resurrection. But since He remained sinless, and was the very Creator of humanity on the Father’s behalf (John 1:1-3, 14), His death paid the penalty for our sins, making Him the Savior of mankind (Hebrews 10:12; 1 John 4:14).

Jesus Christ, our Passover

In 1 Corinthians 5:7, Paul wrote that “Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us.” This statement holds profound meaning for Christians.

Paul wrote these words to the Corinthian church, the members of which were allowing one of their brethren to continue in a sexual sin. This was no ordinary sin, even for the profligate Corinthian society of the time. A man was involved in an immoral relationship with his stepmother (verse 1).

Paul reprimanded the whole congregation and charged the Corinthians to expel the offender, lest the sin spread and contaminate them just as yeast puffs up bread dough (verses 2-6).

Paul, in supporting his reasons for removing the sinner, made the reference to Christ as our sacrificed Passover Lamb.

What did Paul mean by his statement? He meant that Jesus’ sacrifice was not made in vain. He meant that the Corinthians should not take lightly what Jesus went through in that sacrifice.

Reflect Christ’s sacrifice

Up to that point the Corinthians had not comprehended the magnitude of Christ’s sacrifice. They didn’t fully understand that once their sins were repented of and covered by Jesus’ shed blood, their lives had to reflect a new commitment. They were no longer to give in to their former sinful habits.

Paul made this very clear to them: “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Corinthians 6:9-11).

Writing to the Romans on the same subject, Paul asked: “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? [That is, our old life should end in our accepting His death for our sins.]

“Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:1-4).

Not to be taken lightly

Paul made it plain to the Corinthians that they must not take Christ’s sacrifice lightly. Accepting that sacrifice must result in a changed life, with a new outlook and approach that will not tolerate sin. It must be purged from our own lives and from Christian fellowship. Paul further wrote: “But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner . . . Therefore ‘put away from yourselves the evil person’” (1 Corinthians 5:11-13).

Since the Corinthian members apparently didn’t fully understand the implications of Jesus Christ’s sacrifice and the enormous pain and suffering He endured, is it possible that we could make the same error? Do we fully grasp what He went through to become a sacrifice for us?

None of us were there to witness the Roman soldiers brutally whip, beat and ridicule Jesus Christ. But we do have the written Word of God that tells us that it happened. The prophet Isaiah, King David in the Psalms and the Gospel writers all bear witness to the cruel punishment inflicted on Jesus Christ. From these biblical accounts, plus contemporary descriptions of such punishments, we can gain some understanding of the extent of the suffering our Savior endured for us.

When the authorities led Jesus before the high priest, Caiaphas, and in front of the scribes and elders, He was falsely declared guilty of blasphemy. The religious authorities spat in His face, slapping and pounding Him with their fists while they ridiculed Him (Matthew 26:67-68). When they turned Jesus over to the Romans for scourging (Matthew 27:26), He was bruised and battered.

The halfway death

The scourging of our Savior by the Romans was barbaric. They called this type of punishment “the halfway death” because it stopped just short of killing its victim. A trained man, called a lictor, used a wooden grip to which several strips of leather had been attached. At the end of each strip, fragments of bone or iron had been sewn in. This was called a flagellum. There was no specific number of stripes to be administered, and the lictor could whip the prisoner on any part of his body.

Typically, guards tied a condemned criminal to a stone or wooden pillar, facing the pillar with one arm on each side. To further humiliate the prisoner, he was stripped of all clothing, affording him no protection from the cruel instrument.

Then the brutal procedure began. The prisoner suffered blow after blow, leaving his flesh lacerated and his bloody skin hanging like ragged strips of cloth. An officer supervised the punishment to see that the captive wasn’t inadvertently beaten to death. The Romans knew from experience that a man undergoing scourging could die quickly.

When the scourging was over, the guards untied the prisoner, who would slump to the floor in shock. They would pour cold water on him to clean off some of the blood, torn flesh and filth. The rough scrubbing of the victim’s battered body would often shock him back to gasping consciousness.

In Jesus’ case, some of the soldiers gathered thorns and plaited them into a crown, which they jammed onto His head. They wrapped a robe around Him, placed a reed scepter in His hand and mockingly paid homage to Him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” (Matthew 27:29).

“Then they spat on Him, and took the reed and struck Him on the head. And when they had mocked Him, they took the robe off Him, put His own clothes on Him, and led Him away to be crucified” (verses 30-31).

What His sacrifice means for us

This is only a cursory portrayal of the agony our Savior had to suffer in our place so the penalty for sin could be removed from you and me. Without Jesus’ sacrifice, we would be consigned to everlasting death. The only life we could live would be the physical existence we are struggling through now.

We would have no hope of reconciliation to God our Father. We would have no prospects of His accepting our lives through the life of Jesus Christ, by His living in us and interceding for us at the right hand of God. We could have no reason to hope to receive the Holy Spirit, understand the truth of God and serve Christ as His followers on earth.

We would not understand the plan of God for mankind to become the children of God. And we would not enjoy the privilege of becoming a part of His Church, fellowshipping and growing with others of like mind.

No wonder Paul used the words he did to bring the Corinthians back to spiritual reality. Either they did not hold to an understanding of the profundity of Jesus’ sacrifice, or they once comprehended it but had grown careless of it. Whatever the situation, they needed to be reminded of what their Savior went through for them, including the pain and agony He endured. They needed to repent of their shortsightedness and acknowledge the great extent of His incredible sacrifice.

Here’s a question we might ask ourselves in this Passover season: Do we truly appreciate Christ’s ultimate sacrifice?

Let’s pray that we do.

The Passover season is upon us. We should feel the conviction of our brother, the apostle Paul, whom God inspired to remind us, “For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us.” That sacrifice was real, and it should affect our lives every day!

Do We Have Valid Testimony to the Life of Christ?

The story of Jesus Christ and His early followers is found in the New Testament. But has this source been faithfully passed on to us? And can we believe what is written? What does the evidence tell us?

by Peter Eddington

The collection of ancient books and letters known as the New Testament or Apostolic Scriptures presents the amazing story of the birth, life, ministry, teachings, miracles, death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth, proclaiming Him the long-awaited Messiah or Christ foretold in Old Testament prophecies.

Note this bold claim from one of its writers: “For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty” (2 Peter 1:16, emphasis added throughout).

But can we trust this statement and the rest of the Apostolic Scriptures? Bible critics have long rejected the New Testament, along with the rest of the Bible, arguing that there’s no way its accounts and teachings as we have them today accurately reflect what was originally written, and even that these weren’t accurate to start with or written by whom they were claimed to be. But is there substance to such criticisms? Is there a way to really know?

The short answer is that no, the criticism does not prove substantive, and yes, there are many valid reasons to accept that the New Testament we have today has been faithfully preserved and passed on to us from Jesus’ early followers. This is very important to establish if we are to believe what the Apostolic Scriptures actually say about Jesus, His life and His resurrection.

We will briefly go through just four reasons to support the position that we do have an accurate copy of the New Testament along with some other factors to consider. (You could easily research this yourself and come up with more than four.)

Many early manuscripts of the Bible

To quote from biblical scholars Norman Geisler and Frank Turek in their book I Don’t Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist: “At last count, there are nearly 5,700 hand-written Greek manuscripts of the New Testament. In addition, there are more than 9,000 manuscripts in other languages, (e.g., Syriac, Coptic, Latin, Arabic). Some of the nearly 15,000 manuscripts are complete Bibles, others are books or pages, and a few are just fragments . . .

“There is nothing in the ancient world that even comes close in terms of manuscript support. The next closest work is the Iliad by Homer, with 643 manuscripts. Most other ancient works survive on fewer than a dozen manuscripts, yet few historians question the historicity of the events those works describe” (2004, p. 225).

So we see that there are numerous manuscripts of the New Testament—thousands more than any other writings from the ancient world. For example, people believe that Alexander the Great existed, even though the historical record is relatively sparse. Why shouldn’t we believe that Jesus existed and that we have a reliable record of His life, considering there is so much more evidence for Him than for anyone else in ancient history?

Very early manuscripts

As Drs. Geisler and Turek further state: “Not only does the New Testament enjoy abundant manuscript support, but it also has manuscripts that were written soon after the originals. The earliest undisputed manuscript is a segment from John 18 . . . Scholars date it between A.D. 117-138, but some say it is even earlier” (p. 226).

Some even earlier fragments have been dated to as early as A.D. 50 to 70, although some dispute these claims. Even the most conservative estimates on early New Testament copies of the Bible are dated within 100 years of the original books being penned by the authors.

Geisler and Turek point out: “The time gap between the original and the first surviving copy [of the New Testament] is still vastly shorter than anything else from the ancient world. The Iliad has the next shortest gap at about 500 years, most other works are 1,000 years or more from the original. The New Testament gap is about 25 years and may be less” (p. 227).

Thus, the earliest known New Testament manuscripts are copies made of the original apostolic manuscripts very soon after they were first written—just a couple of decades or so. For other ancient works the earliest copies we have are usually from 1,000 years or more after the original.

And so we begin to ask, why would skeptics question the veracity of the story of Jesus Christ and the New Testament teachings, when so many early manuscripts can verify the accuracy of what was written? And yet skeptics don’t question Plato, Herodotus or Caesar, or even Homer to the same extent—when the earliest copies of their works are upwards of 1,400 years from the originals, and only a handful of manuscripts have been found. Scholars have only found seven copies of Plato’s work and only 10 of Caesar’s—yet they are considered authoritative and accurate. Remember, there are 15,000 manuscripts of New Testament writings.

Manuscripts supported by other early writers

Early in the fourth century, the Roman emperor Diocletian gave three separate edicts ordering the persecution of Christians. He called for the destruction of church meeting places and manuscripts of the New Testament and later Christian writings, as well as the murdering of Christians. He didn’t succeed in wiping out all copies or all Christians. But even if he had, there is enough written by other early authors quoting the New Testament that almost the whole collection could be reconstructed from these quotations.

Geisler and Turek explain: “Hundreds if not thousands of manuscripts were destroyed across the Roman Empire during this persecution, which lasted until A.D. 311. But even if Diocletian had succeeded in wiping every biblical manuscript off the face of the earth, he could not have destroyed our ability to reconstruct the New Testament.

“Why? Because the early church fathers—men of the second and third centuries such as Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Clement of Alexandria, Origen, Tertullian, and others—quoted the New Testament so much (36,289 times, to be exact) that all but eleven verses of the New Testament can be reconstructed just from their quotations . . . So we have not only thousands of manuscripts but thousands of quotations from those manuscripts. This makes reconstruction of the original text virtually certain” (p. 228).

Few significant variations, accurate reading evident

Some scholars claim that there are 200,000 errors in the New Testament manuscripts. But, first of all, these are not errors, but variant readings—the vast majority of which are strictly grammatical, like spelling differences. And, because these variations are spread throughout more than 5,000 manuscripts, a variant in spelling of just one word that appears in 2,000 manuscripts is counted as 2,000 errors of that same word. The actual differences are far fewer than the 200,000 some skeptics claim.

Textual scholars estimate that only 1 in 60 variations is of any significance at all, with only 50 of real significance, and that the New Testament text we have can be relied on to be 99.5 percent accurate. Researching the conclusions that historians and textual experts reach in this regard, considering actual textual examples, makes for an interesting study.

There are no new disclosures that have cast any doubt on the essential reliability of the New Testament. Only about one percent of the manuscript variants affect the meaning of the text to any degree, and not a single Christian doctrine is at stake. The variety and multitude of New Testament manuscripts actually enhance the credibility of the Bible’s portrayal of Jesus, not make us worry about errors.

Where there are differences, widespread agreement among vast numbers of manuscripts reveals the accurate reading.

Extrabiblical attestation

In a past article, I pointed out that there are 10 known non-Christian writers who mentioned Jesus within 150 years of His lifetime—compared to just nine that mention Tiberius, the Roman emperor of Christ’s day (and if you include Christian sources, authors mentioning Jesus outnumber those mentioning Tiberius 43 to 10).

It would be worth taking a look at that article, which lists a number of specific details about Christ’s life from non-Christian authors—details that corroborate the New Testament accounts (see “Was Jesus Really Resurrected?” in the March-April 2016 issue).

Adding to that, here’s a quote from an anti-Christian author about Jesus’ crucifixion—the Roman historian Tacitus writing that Christ “suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius.” The Jewish historian Josephus wrote that Pontius Pilate “condemned him to be crucified.” Lucian of Samosata, a Greek satirist, mentioned the crucifixion, and Mara Bar-Serapion, a pagan, confirmed Jesus was executed. Even the Jewish Talmud reports that “Yeshua was hanged” on a tree. More on this can be found in The Case for the Real Jesus by Lee Strobel (2007, p. 113). And see “Can Jesus’ Existence Be Proven From Sources Outside the Bible?” beginning on page 19 of this issue.

Admissions from atheists and liberal scholars

Looking back from modern times, even many academics who reject the claims of the New Testament recognize it as historical in large part.

The atheist historian Gerd Lüdemann is forced to admit that Jesus Christ and His disciples existed and that there was a genuine experience of Christ’s resurrection, but he claims it must have been hallucinatory. He wrote: “It may be taken as historically certain that Peter and the disciples had experiences after Jesus’s death in which Jesus appeared to them as the risen Christ” (What Really Happened?, p. 80, quoted by William Lane Craig, “Visions of Jesus: A Critical Assessment of Gerd Lüdemann’s Hallucination Hypothesis”).

Others have made this claim too. But a mass hallucination seems itself supernatural, so why not just take the New Testament account at face value, which is much more reasonable?

Liberal scholar Paula Fredriksen of Boston University said this about what the disciples witnessed: “I know in their own terms what they saw was the raised Jesus. That’s what they say and then all the historic evidence we have afterwards attests to their conviction that that’s what they saw. I’m not saying that they really did see the raised Jesus. I wasn’t there. I don’t know what they saw. But I do know that as a historian that they must have seen something” (quoted by Strobel, p. 119).

In fact, Fredriksen also stated that “the disciples’ conviction that they had seen the risen Christ . . . is [part of] historical bedrock, facts known past doubting” (ibid.).

Of course, if one would accept the genuineness of what the disciples reported, why not just accept that they knew what they were seeing as a group? That makes by far the most sense.

An orderly account—for certainty

The men who wrote the New Testament were deeply thoughtful concerning what they recorded. Consider the physician Luke, who traveled with the apostle Paul. He began his Gospel about Jesus’ life with these words, writing to a man named Theophilus, who appears to have been a financial supporter for Luke and possibly a legal supporter for Paul:

“Inasmuch as many have taken in hand to set in order a narrative of those things which have been fulfilled among us, just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word delivered them to us, it seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write to you an orderly account, most excellent Theophilus, that you may know the certainty of those things in which you were instructed” (Luke 1:1-4).

Does this sound like some manufactured account—especially in an ancient context? Does it sound like it was written by someone who would have been duped by others involved in some mass hallucination? Luke interviewed multiple eyewitnesses to make sure that what he wrote was accurate. He was in fact a tremendous historian—as well as a writer inspired of God.

Evidence we can trust

The reality is, we can have confidence that the New Testament we have is an accurate copy of the original manuscripts penned by the apostles and their companions. And we can trust that what they tell us is the truth—including the awesome fact of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead.

As we’ve seen, there are thousands of manuscripts, including very early manuscripts, with enough quotes by other ancient writers to actually reconstruct almost the entire New Testament. The variations in the thousands of manuscripts are quite minimal and do not substantively alter what is being communicated. Nothing else from the ancient world has such manuscript verification—or comes close!

Yet faced with this, many still resort to dismissing what the manuscripts say—for example, trying to explain away the accounts of Christ being resurrected.

Strobel writes: “Have new explanations refuted Jesus’ resurrection? No, the truth is that a persuasive case for Jesus rising from the dead can be made by using five facts that are well-evidenced and which the vast majority of today’s scholars on the subject—including the skeptical ones—accept as true: Jesus’ death by crucifixion; his disciples’ belief that he rose and appeared to them; the conversion of the church persecutor, Paul; the conversion of the skeptic James, who was Jesus’ half-brother; and Jesus’ empty tomb. All the attempts by skeptics and Muslims to put Jesus back into his tomb utterly fail when subjected to serious analysis” (p. 266).

Yes, Jesus Christ did exist. He was born of a virgin. He taught His disciples. He preached to and miraculously fed the multitudes. He walked on water. He healed the sick. He raised the dead. He died by crucifixion. And that wasn’t the end. He rose from the grave. He continued to instruct His disciples. He ascended to heaven. And He promised to come back. His disciples continued in His teachings, proclaiming the Kingdom of God.

Yes, all of it happened—all of it—just as the New Testament presents it. You have every reason to believe it—and no genuine reason to disbelieve, whether the New Testament or the Old, to which the New attests. Trust the Word of God. For that’s what it is! Start reading it. Start believing it. Start obeying it. Nothing is more vital in life!

Can Jesus’ Existence Be Proven From Sources Outside the Bible?

Was Jesus Christ real? What does the evidence say? In spite of what you may have heard, we have compelling historical documentation of His existence.

by Scott Ashley

Was Jesus of Nazareth a real person? Did He really exist? Are the stories written about Him in the Bible true? These are important questions, and it’s crucial that you know the answers!

Some argue that Jesus couldn’t have existed because there are no first-century historical records that mention Him. Of course, there are contemporary biographies written about Him—four of them, in fact, by different authors. They’re called the Gospels, and they’re found in the Bible.

But that’s not good enough for those determined not to believe in Jesus Christ. They insist on more. They demand written records from contemporary first-century historians who were not followers of Jesus.

But in doing so, they’re requiring a standard few historical figures from the ancient world could possibly meet. After all, very few recorded histories survive from the first century, and basically the only sizeable and largely complete Roman written works from this time are a manual on agriculture, a comedy from a friend of one of the emperors and a few other miscellaneous works—none of which we would expect to include any mention of Christianity or Jesus Christ.

Roman histories that mention Jesus and Christianity

However, historians are well aware of a few surviving non-Christian Roman works from early in the second century that do mention Jesus Christ and Christianity. These include:

• Lives of the First Twelve Caesars, by Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus, a Roman court official and chief secretary to Emperor Hadrian, who wrote around A.D. 120.

• Letters of Pliny the Younger, a Roman governing official in north-central Turkey, who wrote around A.D. 120.

• Annals, by the Roman historian Tacitus, who wrote around A.D. 115.

In addition to these, the famous first-century Jewish historian Josephus wrote about Jesus and a number of other figures mentioned in the Gospels.

What do these writers tell us?

Followers of “Chrestus” banished from Rome

Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus (commonly known as Suetonius), writing around A.D. 120, records that the emperor Claudius “banished the Jews from Rome, who were continually making disturbances, Chrestus [Christ] being their leader” (Lives of the First Twelve Caesars: Life of Claudius).

Claudius reigned from A.D. 41 to 54. At this point in history the Romans didn’t see any difference between Jews and Christians, since both largely believed and practiced the same things, so Claudius apparently expelled them all.

What’s significant in Suetonius’ brief statement, mentioned in passing, is that a number of the Jews in Rome had become followers of “Chrestus,” which seems to be a misspelling of “Christus,” the Latinized form of “Christ.” So we see that by approximately the year 50 there already were significant numbers of Christians in Rome, and this was leading to conflict with the Roman authorities—though exactly why, we’re not told.

This expulsion of the Jews from Rome is mentioned in the Bible, in Acts 18:2: “And he [Paul] found a certain Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla (because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to depart from Rome); and he came to them.”

What is especially interesting is how closely this brief mention correlates with what we read in the book of Acts. At the Feast of Pentecost when the Church was founded as recorded in Acts 2, ca. A.D. 31, we read that “visitors from Rome” were among those who witnessed the miraculous events of Acts 2:6-12. At that time people speaking multiple languages and dialects from more than a dozen different parts of the Roman Empire heard the apostles “speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God.”

We’re not explicitly told when the first Christian believers appeared in Rome, but it’s not a stretch to assume that some of those in Jerusalem for that Pentecost took their astounding report back with them to Rome, where it spread among the Jews and Jewish proselytes there—leading about two decades later to the expulsion of Jews and Christians from Rome.

How to deal with Christians who wouldn’t worship the emperor as divine

Around A.D. 120, Pliny the Younger, a Roman governing official in what is today north-central Turkey, wrote to the emperor Trajan requesting advice on how to deal with Christians who refused to show homage to the Roman emperor’s image. Pliny noted that these Christians met regularly and sang hymns “to Christ as if to a god” (Letters 10:96:7).

Two facts are immediately notable about this brief mention of Christians and Christianity. The first is that there were a considerable number of followers of Jesus Christ in northern Asia Minor less than a hundred years after His death. A second significant fact is that these people met together and sang hymns to Christ “as if to a god.”

The first fact is important because this is exactly the pattern we see time and time again in the book of Acts: Early Christian teachers like Paul, Barnabas and Apollos went from city to city in Asia Minor (modern Turkey) and Greece, proclaiming the divinity and resurrection of Jesus Christ and that salvation was available only through Him. Sometimes they met great hostility; at other times they met a receptive audience, and Christianity began to slowly and steadily spread—often in spite of persecution.

The second fact here is significant because Pliny’s inquiry to the emperor shows that the Christians he encountered considered Jesus Christ to be divine. And his correspondence shows that they were so firm in this belief that some refused to renounce that belief even under penalty of torture and death!

Again, this is the pattern we see time and again in the book of Acts—people who were so firmly convinced that Jesus Christ was a real person who had lived, died and been raised to life again that they were willing to die rather than renounce that belief!

“Christus . . . suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of . . . Pontius Pilate”

The most complete information we have from a Roman writer from this period comes from Publius (or Gaius) Cornelius Tacitus, a Roman senator and historian, who was born around A.D. 56 and wrote his works early in the second century. Being a historian, he discussed the devastating fire of Rome in A.D. 64 during the reign of Emperor Nero. Notice what he adds in a side discussion about Nero blaming Christians for the fire:

“Consequently, to get rid of the report [that Nero himself had started the fire to expand his own properties], Nero fastened the guilt and inflicted the most exquisite tortures on a class hated for their abominations, called Christians by the populace. Christus, from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilatus, and a most mischievous superstition, thus checked for the moment, again broke out not only in Judaea, the first source of the evil, but even in Rome . . .”

So what do we learn from this account from the historian Tacitus about conditions in Rome in A.D. 64? Keep in mind that Tacitus was no friend of Christians. He considered them deplorable.

• There was a group in Rome at that time—barely three decades after Jesus’ crucifixion—known as “Christians.”

• They were called “Christians” after someone called “Christus” (the Latin form of “Christ”).

• Their leader “Christus” was executed during the governance of the procurator Pontius Pilate (A.D. 26-36) and the reign of the emperor Tiberius (A.D. 14-37).

• The Romans thought the Christians believed in “a most mischievous superstition.”

• The Christians were “hated for their abominations.”

• Their movement originated in Judea (the Holy Land) and from there spread to Rome.

• By 64, there was a “vast multitude” of Christians in Rome.

Again, this is astonishing because it verifies exactly what we read in the Gospels and the book of Acts—including the timing of Christ’s crucifixion during the rule of Tiberius and Pontius Pilate (Luke 3:1-2).

What was this “most mischievous superstition” the Christians believed? Tacitus does not say. Could it have been that a man was executed by crucifixion and rose from the dead? Or that the Christians themselves believed they also would rise from the dead? Or that their leader “Christus” would come again as King of a Kingdom that would replace Rome and rule the world?

We don’t know, but Tacitus’ wording about this movement being rooted in “a most mischievous superstition” is quite striking—especially since the Romans, with their great variety of pagan religious beliefs, accepted almost anything except the resurrection of the dead!

Josephus’ mention of John the Baptist

Let’s look at another non-Christian writer from this period—the famous Jewish historian Flavius Josephus. He wrote The Jewish War and Antiquities of the Jews late in the first century. In his Antiquities, Josephus refers to many people named in the New Testament, including Jesus, John the Baptist and James the half brother of Jesus.

Born into a priestly family in A.D. 37, Josephus was well educated and, as a military commander, led a Jewish detachment in Galilee during the Jewish revolt of 66-70 until his capture by the Romans. At the end of the war he went to Rome with the Roman general Titus, where he lived and wrote until his death around A.D. 100.

Here is what Josephus writes about John the Baptist and his executioner, Herod Antipas: “. . . Herod slew him [John], who was a good man, and commanded the Jews to exercise virtue, both as to righteousness towards one another, and piety towards God, and so to come to baptism . . .

“Herod, who feared lest the great influence John had over the people might put it into his power and inclination to raise a rebellion, (for they seemed ready to do anything he should advise,) thought it best, by putting him to death, to prevent any mischief he might cause . . . Accordingly he was sent a prisoner, out of Herod’s suspicious temper, to Macherus, the castle I before mentioned, and was there put to death” (Antiquities of the Jews, Book 18, chap. 5, sec. 2).

Again, this corresponds very closely with what we read about John in the Gospels. Matthew 3:1-10, Mark 1:1-6 and Luke 3:1-14 all mention John’s popularity and message of repentance as recorded decades later by Josephus. And Matthew 14:3-12 describes the scene in Herod’s palace when John was executed on Herod’s orders.

Josephus and James, “brother of Jesus, who was called Christ”

In addition to various rulers and members of the high priest’s family mentioned in the Gospels (and confirmed through archaeological discoveries), Josephus also mentions James, half brother of Jesus Christ:

“[The Roman governor] Festus was now dead, and Albinus was but upon the road; so he [Ananias, the high priest] assembled the sanhedrin [or ruling council] of the judges, and brought before them the brother of Jesus, who was called Christ, whose name was James, and some others; and when he had formed an accusation against them as breakers of the law, he delivered them to be stoned . . .”  (Antiquities, 20:9:1).

This same James is the author of the book of the Bible that bears his name. Although a half brother of Jesus, he wasn’t initially a believer in His messiahship (John 7:5), but after Jesus’ death and resurrection he was among those gathered in Jerusalem at the Feast of Pentecost when the Church was founded ca. A.D. 31 (Acts 1:14).

So here we have three major figures of the New Testament —John the Baptizer, the apostle James and his half brother Jesus, who was called Christ or Messiah—mentioned by a Jewish historian later that same century. Does Josephus say anything else about Jesus?

Josephus’ account of Jesus Christ

Note his account (with italic portions explained after): “Now there was about this time Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a man; for he was a doer of wonderful works, a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure. He drew over to him both many of the Jews and many of the Gentiles. He was Christ.

“And when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men amongst us, had condemned him to the cross, those that loved him at the first did not forsake him; for he appeared to them alive again the third day; as the divine prophets had foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning him. And the tribe of Christians, so named from him, are not extinct at this day” (Antiquities 18:3:3).

While many scholars dispute parts or all of the passage, it is quoted as above by the historian Eusebius in Greek as early as A.D. 315 and appears this way in all the earliest surviving copies of Josephus’ works. Most scholars reject the underlined portions as second or third century additions, but that would still leave testimony to Jesus’ life and ministry. An Arab-language version leaves in His rising after three days but states that this is what His followers reported rather than what Josephus believed.

In any case, we have confirmation here and in other sources of the key points of the Gospels and book of Acts—that Jesus was a wise and virtuous man whom both Jews and gentiles chose to follow as the Messiah, that He was crucified under Pontius Pilate, and that He was reported to have been resurrected to life and appeared to His followers three days after His death.

Those who would deny the existence of Jesus Christ have to explain away not only a number of specific references to Him, but also historic references to His half brother James and John the Baptist, plus historians’ statements confirming the key themes and facts of the Gospels and the book of Acts!

The Bible, which declares itself the inspired Word of God, says Jesus lived, died and was resurrected to life again and that He was the divine Son of God and God in the flesh. As we have seen from the remaining works of the earliest historians who wrote about that period, they testify that Jesus was real and was indeed a historic figure living in the first century. Indeed He still lives today and forever!

The Curse of Inflation: A Biblical View

The ramp-up we’re seeing in inflation in the United States is the reaping of a bitter harvest sown by wrong policies. It’s important to understand.

by Tom Robinson

Prices have been on the rise—whether gasoline, food, electricity, furniture, you name it. Inflation is hitting people’s wallets hard—especially in America, but in other countries as well.

The problem is actually worse than most realize. Real inflation is running much higher than the 7 percent reported in official U.S. government numbers, as calculation methods have changed. A more honest assessment at shadowstats.com reveals that if inflation were measured as it was in 1990 the rate would be 12 percent—or if figured as in 1980 the rate would be 15 percent.

Unemployment is also high. Government statistics put it at 3.4 percent in January, but it also has changed the calculation method for determining unemployment numbers. Going by more reasonable pre-1994 calculation, U.S. unemployment now shockingly stands at around 25 percent!

Another facet of the grim financial outlook is U.S. household debt, which for the first time passed $15 trillion in the third quarter of 2021. And in January 2022 U.S. national debt for the first time exceeded a mind-boggling $30 trillion as part of a dangerous money-creation experiment that is fueling the ramp-up in inflation.

Just what is going on? Where will it ultimately leave us?

The lure of Modern Monetary Theory

The Federal Reserve has gone into overdrive over the past decade in what amounts to creating more and more money out of thin air. We’re told not to worry about any repercussions of this massive money creation and the debt associated with it because of the new economic siren song of Modern Monetary Theory or MMT.

Writing in the American Enterprise Institute publication National Affairs, author Jonathan Hartley explains: “The defining feature of MMT—and what distinguishes it from more established, mainstream economic theories—is its insistence that, so long as a government’s debt is denominated in its own currency, there is no upper limit on the state’s monetary borrowing. In other words, public debt is irrelevant; a country’s central bank can always avoid default by printing more money. Such printing, MMT proponents further argue, can go on without any inflationary consequences” (“The Weakness of Modern Monetary Theory,” Fall 2020).

This especially appeals to those who want to fund an endless array of massively expensive government programs, but it gained wider acceptance as a means to buoy up the economy during Covid lockdowns. While MMT may be convenient, Hartley goes on to say, “MMT’s central claims regarding the harmlessness of deficits, debt, and mass currency production are not only flatly false, they are deeply dangerous” (emphasis added throughout).

He does note that the United States, due to the vastness and richness of its economy and the dollar serving as the world’s reserve currency, is able to borrow enormous sums. But this ultimately comes on the backs of everyone who holds dollars—in both America and around the world. Eventually investors, “no longer believing the government to be solvent, will refuse to buy bonds or lend to the government at manageable interest rates.” America is not there yet, but those calling for endless massive spending are driving the nation steadily to that point.

For years economists have warned that if the United States keeps ballooning up the money supply without commensurate economic growth and productivity, it is inevitable that other global economic powers such as the European Union or China will demand that the dollar be replaced as world reserve currency with the euro or Chinese yuan. This would lead to huge economic problems in America, including the hyperinflation nightmare.

The government is stealing from you

It was reported earlier this year that “U.S. companies are expecting to pay an average 3.4% raise to workers in 2022” (CNBC, Jan. 18, 2022). They’re forced to do so to retain workers, but this does not come close to keeping up with inflation. Likewise a Breitbart headline reads, “UK Wage Hikes Wiped Out to Zero by Soaring Inflation Rate” (Jan. 18, 2022).

Through policies that create inflation, governments are actually stealing from companies and individuals. How does this work? It’s really very simple. By artificially adding more and more money‚ the value of existing dollars is diminished. Therefore virtually everything you buy costs more—sometimes a lot more.

How bad is it? In 2020-2021, the U.S. money supply soared an astonishing 27 percent, the biggest jump in the nation’s history. This was far greater than in response to previous national crises such as the Great Depression (10 percent) and World War II (18 percent). Hundreds of thousands of businesses shut down and tens of millions of Americans were paid to stay home rather than work. The federal government sent “free money” checks to every American, including incarcerated felons. And now Americans are paying the price.

Among those hardest hit are the ones governments assure us they are dedicated to helping, namely the poor and the elderly. But since most of their meager income goes to such basics as food and utilities, inflation is especially devastating to their financial condition.

Besides the massive money creation that gives governments more wealth while diluting how much the money you have is worth, governments must keep interest rates low to finance that huge debt they’ve taken on. This keeps savers—especially those who are trying to preserve their income, such as those in or nearing retirement—from earning interest income and pushes many into gambling with their futures by seeking more dangerous investments just to maintain the same income (“How the Fed Is Driving Savers to Riskier Investments,” The Washington Post, July 1, 2020).

The truth is that the whole concept of fiat currency— money decreed into existence with no tangible basis—constitutes the biggest thieving scheme in history. Such currency manipulation contravenes God’s laws on maintaining honest weights and measures (see Deuteronomy 25:15; Proverbs 11:1; 16:11; 20:23).

God in the Bible repeatedly condemns stealing from others and mistreating the poor and needy (Exodus 20:15; Leviticus 19:11; Deuteronomy 24:14; Psalm 72:4; 82:4; Amos 8:4-6). And He warns against going into debt as a road to enslavement (Proverbs 22:7).

Former U.S. President Thomas Jefferson wrote to his friend John Taylor on May 28, 1816, that “spending money to be paid by posterity, under the name of funding, is but swindling futurity on a large scale.” Indeed, expanding government debt obligates future generations to repaying debt they never incurred or had any say in creating. Again, it’s pure theft.

Do what you can to prepare

Bible prophecy warns about coming economic upheaval and troubles increasing in the English-speaking nations and the ultimate collapse of the financial system the world over (see our free study guides The United States and Britain in Bible Prophecy and The Book of Revelation Unveiled).

Yet in some ways all will seem to be humming along—until calamity strikes (Matthew 24:38-43).

Do what you can to prepare —to be ready (verse 44). As Proverbs 22:3 and 27:12 tell us, “A prudent person foresees danger and takes precautions. The simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences” (New Living Translation). Of course, humanly we can only do so much. We need God to see us through. Jesus promised that if we seek first the Kingdom of God and God’s righteousness that our physical needs would be provided for—that we would not be destitute (Matthew 6:25-34; compare Psalm 37:25).

The sobering fact we all face is that a reckoning lies ahead. Let us all take God’s warnings seriously and do whatever we can to prepare. Above all, we must prepare spiritually (see Matthew 25:1-13), and God will see us through to the wonderful age beyond today when His laws—including His economic laws—will at last be followed the world over.

Sexual Identity: Another Assault on Biblical Authority

New attacks on the Bible and biblical teachings from society and governments demonstrate the spiritual danger of the times—and for Christians to not fall into these deceptive snares.

by Victor Kubik

Writing shortly before his execution, the apostle Paul provided us this solemn warning: “In the last days there will be very difficult times. For people . . . will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God . . . They will consider nothing sacred” (2 Timothy 3:1-2, New Living Translation, emphasis added throughout).

We are not yet in those final “last days.” But we do emphatically see the groundwork being laid—even advanced—in the form of insidious attacks, both on the authority of the Bible and the sanctity of the God-ordained family! It is critical that we all realize the depth of this continued societal crumbling away from the Word of God.

The beginning of the year gave us this troubling news from Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, when he announced in celebration: “It’s official: Our government’s legislation banning the despicable and degrading practice of [LGBTQ] conversion therapy . . . is now law.”

The now-official bill amending Canada’s criminal code activates unusually dangerous language. It falsely states by implication that what millions have long understood concerning the biblical family model and family roles is nothing but a “myth.” It further prohibits any attempts to formally “force” a person with same-sex attraction to “convert” to that of a biblical heterosexual orientation (through so-called “conversion therapy”), criminalizing such acts and adding potential jail sentencing up to five years.

Under the law enacted in January, “conversion therapy” means a practice, treatment or service designed to change a person’s homosexual sexual orientation to heterosexual or to change a person’s transgender identity to the male or female gender the person had at birth. The law also covers any efforts to repress or reduce same-sex attraction or sexual behavior or transgender identity or expression.

It doesn’t take a legal expert to recognize how that new statute might be applied to someone teaching biblical truth about same-sex acts from Leviticus 18 and 20, Romans 1, or 1 Corinthians 6.

Ignoring biological facts, the new Canadian law erroneously states: “Whereas conversion therapy causes harm to society because, among other things, it is based on and propagates myths . . . including the myth that heterosexuality, cisgender [or normal] gender identity, and gender expression that conforms to the sex assigned to a person at birth are to be preferred.”

This, of course, flies in the face of the biblical truth that God created human beings male or female (Genesis 1:27; 5:2; Matthew 19:4; Mark 10:6). Further, for thousands of years of human history the division of the human race into two sexes has been understood.

Meanwhile, the United States Congress continues to advance its own version of this law in the so-called “Equality Act.” Now passed by the House, the Senate will consider it later this year. It currently contains no religious exemption. If passed, it would be a gross infringement on religious freedom rights guaranteed in the U.S. Constitution.

Sowing confusion in the medical community

Consider how completely upside down this is! As I prepare this, the medical condition of gender dysphoria—the pathological feeling or state that one has been born in the wrong body, is presently formally listed as a disorder in the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.

Despite this formal listing, professors in medical schools are presently creating all kinds of confusion among medical students. In covering U.S. events, the British magazine The Economist reported in January that American medical schools now disconcertingly teach medical students that “gender dysphoria is not a mental illness” (“Trans Ideology Is Distorting the Training of America’s Doctors,” Jan. 8, 2022).

The magazine asks: “How has trans ideology made its way into medical schools?” In answer, it points out that while so-called “trans medicine” is not yet part of medical school core curricula, most medical students are led to “understand” that as future doctors they are to “uncritically and unquestioningly” support requests for “gender change” for “children as young as nine”! The Economist alarmingly notes that this “care” has “done irreversible harm to some young people’s bodies” (emphasis added).

We need to recognize this for what it is—a perverse undermining and corruption of biblical teaching!

Tragically, it’s getting worse. France is in the final stages of enacting similar “conversion therapy” and gender legislation, and the British Parliament began the process to enact similar bans in December 2021.

The Economist notes that this trend is not universally welcomed among medical professionals: “Much of what passes for gender medicine has been pursued recklessly, with little care for the long-term well-being of patients. Yet even within the field, doubts are spreading. Hospitals in Finland and Sweden have backed off from prescribing puberty blocking drugs to the under-18s . . . In America, where any deviation from gender affirmation risks provoking attacks on social media, prominent gender doctors are beginning to worry that puberty blocking drugs and surgery have been handed out too readily.”

The all-important biblical perspective

Let me speak plainly. The Bible is authoritatively clear:

A state of godly marriage is possible only between a biological man and a biological woman. Physical sexual activity is biblically permitted or encouraged only within the bounds of a biblically defined marriage. Sexual acts between men and men or women and women are condemned by the holy Word of God (Leviticus 18:22; 20:13; Romans 1:26-27; 1 Corinthians 6:9). These are core, inviolable teachings.

Yet these biblical teachings about same-sex relations are under constant attack. Ironically, even as our in-depth Beyond Today coverage of the archaeological discovery of what may prove to be biblical Sodom—a city destroyed by God in part for sexual depravity—was distributed in early January, The Washington Times ran a front-page story about a new Bible version that translated a Greek word traditionally rendered as “sodomites” (arsenokoitai) in 1 Corinthians 6:9 to read “men who engage in illicit sex.”

This change deliberately blurs the clearly intended meaning, which is “men who have sex with men” as it’s worded in the New International Version or “men who practice homosexuality” in the English Standard Version.

Referencing same-sex prohibitions in Leviticus 18 and 20, scholar Kevin DeYoung explains: “Paul is explicitly drawing this teaching [from Leviticus] into the New Testament . . . Given the context in Leviticus and how it’s used elsewhere after the New Testament, [it] means men having sex with other men. And there is no real other interpretation that makes the best sense of the evidence both in the early Christian literature and especially in the Old Testament.”

Living by God’s Word in dangerous times

Going forward, what do such moves mean for those who believe and teach biblical standards and commands? While we are instructed to “cry aloud, spare not” (Isaiah 58:1) in showing the sins of our society, we are also warned by Jesus, “I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves” (Matthew 10:16, ESV).

People may falsely try to brand us at Beyond Today with the meaningless political labels “homophobic” or “transphobic,” but the truth is, we are neither. We recognize that all are sinners and that much of human life is a struggle. We are not to hate or condemn the sinner, but we are to hate the sin. We are to be empathetic with each other, striving to be a light to the world by our examples (Matthew 5:14), but in no way ever endorsing biblically fraudulent concepts.

All diligent Christians must recognize the times we live in, and fully ground ourselves in the biblical truth of God. We should pray for protection, especially for our young people. As reported recently at the Religion News Service website, many members of Generation Z (people born in the years 1997-2012) openly call on religious groups to fully embrace LGBTQ lifestyles and values, putting intense pressure on our teens and young adults.

This has been a long time coming. Prominent scholars, government leaders, entertainers and more have long wielded a secular axe against biblical authority. Sadly, many others have adopted such views, which is why we see such destructive trends worsening.

God will deliver us from our fears (Psalm 34:4), but we must wisely, earnestly and prayerfully consider the “perilous times” we are entering. All of us must “contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3). Stand for what’s right. And as Peter proclaimed in Acts 2:40 (NIV), “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation”!

Current Events & Trends: March/April 2022

An overview of events and conditions around the world featured in the March/April 2022 issue of Beyond Today.

by Beyond Today Editor

New study shows marijuana makes you stupider

As marijuana is increasingly legalized in more and more cities, states and nations, with new cannabis dispensaries springing up all over the place, people forget that it remains a harmful drug.

Author Athena Thorne commented at PJ Media on Jan. 31, 2022: “Yesterday, NBC News highlighted a recent study that shows that not only does smoking pot impair numerous mental functions of the user, but these effects can linger for weeks after use has stopped. The Canadian study . . . found . . . that every time someone gets high, they can be dumber for weeks. Hardest hit was the ability to learn from what one hears and to remember things . . . Most of us have a hard enough time keeping up; why on earth would anyone choose to jettison an extra couple dozen IQ points?

“And not only does pot make people stupid, but it can also make them crazy. This is particularly true among heavy users and younger users whose brains are still forming . . . Chronic use of today’s . . . [more potent] weed can induce panic attacks, paranoia wild mood swings, fragmented thoughts, depersonalization (losing one’s sense of identity), and straight-up psychosis” (“Study: Weed Makes You Stupid”).

Biblical principles tell us to avoid marijuana. Scripture condemns drunkenness, a marijuana high effectively being that, and doing anything ravaging to our health (like smoking and inhaling harmful chemicals). Drugs also produce altered states of consciousness, which can open us up to dangerous spiritual influences.

We must all guard our minds and not give in to what is actually dangerous stupidity. “As the squares used to joke back in the day,” Thorne notes, “‘Why do you think they call it dope’?”

U.S. border invasion helped by lawless leadership

Some have noted how strange it is that the United States is preoccupied with securing the borders of Ukraine against Russian ingress while its own southern border is being overrun by what is tantamount to an invasion.

The people crossing into America from many other countries, not just Latin Americans, include possible terrorists and other documented criminal wrongdoers. Worse still, this is being facilitated by the Biden administration even though it is against U.S. law. The nation is at the absurd point that illegal border crossers are allowed to show their U.S. government-issued arrest warrants as valid identification to board aircraft to fly to American cities for resettlement!

Some are rightly standing up. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said in a Jan. 29, 2022, interview that he brought 12 attorneys general from other states and a former U.S. attorney general to see what’s happening at the southern border. “Because it’s easy to see a media report but not really know what’s going on. To see the devastation, the influx every day of illegals, how the cartels are gaining control, whether its drugs, whether its human trafficking, it’s incredible. And so we announced yesterday we were filing another lawsuit against the Biden administration for more illegal actions as it relates to the border.”

The Biden administration is operating illegally. As Paxton explained: “When somebody comes across the border illegally . . . and they just say, ‘I want to claim asylum,’ then they get to stay, even though under the Remain in Mexico Program, that we have won our lawsuit about, they’re supposed to be deported immediately. But they’re not. They’re not following court orders and they’re not following federal law.”

Paxton further decried what’s “called the Central American Minors Program. What the Biden administration is doing is: people from certain countries . . . when they get in here and they claim asylum, they can immediately have their kids [‘and potentially other caregivers’] flown in with taxpayer dollars to the United States to join them. [It’s] completely illegal. Nothing has been put in place by Congress to allow this, and yet the Biden administration has been doing this.”

The illegal entrants typically don’t have a court hearing for six years—in which time they are scattered to the winds. Meanwhile, the administration has actually been using middle-of-the-night charter flights to transport illegals to other cities to hide what’s being done.

Several days later this report appeared: “Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.) is demanding answers from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) after the agency admitted it is unsure of the court locations for more than 40,000 illegal immigrants who have received notices to appear. ‘DHS is apparently unaware of the court locations for roughly 80% of aliens that received a notice to appear’” (Just the News, Feb. 3, 2022).

Fox News host Jesse Watters broke down the administration’s immigration policy in these terms: “Joe Biden’s running a human smuggling operation . . . The cartels hand [migrants] to Biden at the border, and then Biden puts them in busses and planes and then just sprinkles them all over the country . . . Illegals come in and help big business keep wages down . . . Just what the donors want . . . Migrants take cash [wages] so [they] can dodge taxes, too. And then they wire the money back south so other families can pay cartel coyotes [for] another caravan. Another batch of . . . voters [for the party supporting this] . . . Isn’t this foreign interference in our elections?” (Jan. 28, 2022).

“Cartels’ human and drug trafficking operations ‘are fattening the bank accounts of Mexico’s most dangerous syndicates,’ he added. These operations benefit the Chinese, too, since they ship synthetic substances to Mexican ports, he said, citing a congressional committee report that Chinese brokers launder Mexican drug money using China’s financial system.

In addition to the 2 million migrants caught entering the United States in the last year, likely hundreds of thousands more crossed the border undetected. Accompanying the skyrocketing illegal immigration numbers are soaring amounts of illegal drugs, fueling more than 100,000 drug-overdose deaths from April 2020 to April 2021, the highest annual number of U.S. deaths ever.

Why would any nation's leadership let this happen? Beyond what we can see with our eyes, we need to realize that unseen spiritual warfare is going on behind the scenes of this world, as we read about in Daniel 9. Satan and his demons are out to destroy the English-speaking nations, which, though unrecognized by most today, are descended from the people of ancient Israel and are fulfilling many prophecies. As foretold, these nations will suffer terrible calamity in the end time, and we can see it coming on many fronts. Be sure to read our free study guide The United States and Britain in Bible Prophecy to learn more.

Preaching against immorality being criminalized

As pointed out in another article in this issue, a new Canadian law would outlaw biblical counseling against homosexuality and transgenderism. It is mainly about criminalizing so-called “conversion therapy,” but the broad language can encompass Christian teaching more generally.

We are also seeing increasing legislative action in this regard in the United States, long a bastion of freedom of religion until recently. Tony Perkins, writing for the Family Research Council, comments: “Imagine being stuck in a cycle of depression or an unhealthy relationship and not being able to get help. Well, unfortunately, people in 22 states don’t have to imagine it. Thanks to a string of bad laws, something as simple as sitting down and talking to a counselor about your struggles with sexuality isn’t allowed because it’s illegal . . . Since last November, local leaders have been plotting to pass a radical ordinance that would crush churches and local ministries who are involved in biblical counseling” (“Indiana’s New Going Rate for Biblical Advice: $1,000,” FRC.org, Jan. 21, 2022).

As Steve West reports in World magazine, the statute “defines conversion therapy as any practices or treatments that seek to change an individual’s sexual orientation or gender identity, including efforts to change gender expressions or to eliminate or reduce sexual or romantic attractions or feelings toward individuals of the same gender.” This would even include praying with people for God’s healing of their minds in this regard.

The Indiana case should serve as a stark warning for those who hold to biblical truth. For a proper biblical perspective on sexuality, download or request our free study guide Marriage and Family: The Missing Dimension.

The German question to shape Europe once again

As the United States and its NATO allies in Europe contemplate Russian action in Ukraine, one European country that seeks to avoid involvement in a stand against Russia is Germany. Part of the reason for that is German oil dependency on the Russian pipeline—thanks to the earlier removal of sanctions on this fuel line by the Biden administration. There is also grave concern throughout Europe over the American handling of the Ukraine crisis and a general perception of U.S. weakness.

In any case, it is increasingly clearer to the Europeans, including the Germans, that they cannot rely on American leadership and power to sustain them or keep them out of harm’s way. There is, as we have noted before, an ongoing drive to press for closer integration and a European military.

For some, German leadership of Europe raises the specter of the war-torn continent of the past, as in the initial German unification. Writing on “The German Question,” foreign policy analyst George Friedman observes: “For the rest of Europe, the prospect of a revived Holy Roman Empire,” especially one dominated by Prussian militarism, “was frightening.”

After the two terrible world wars that followed, Germany “became a front line in the Cold War. The Germans didn’t want this; they wanted a united Europe that would bury Germany nationalism under new institutions and create a framework for economic growth. The European Union was intended to achieve both but failed in a fundamental way. Germany emerged not only as the major economic power of the bloc but also as the de facto arbiter of European affairs” (Geopolitical Futures, Jan. 28, 2022).

Now, Friedman continues, “as the crisis plays out along Ukraine’s border, the German question has once again emerged . . . NATO is now a trap for Germany, compelling Germany to cooperate on the one thing it did not want to do: prepare for a potential war . . . Every time Germany tries to escape history, history pulls it back in” (emphasis added).

Late last year, Britain’s Daily Express reported that “the new German government is pressing for further integration with the European Union in a move set to pave the way for a so-called ‘United States of Europe’” (Nov. 27, 2021).

New Chancellor Olaf Scholz, heading a coalition in agreement, “suggested this would be easier because Brexit has been finalized,” stating, “We want to take courageous steps towards integration because we know that time is short and people are waiting for them.” Those behind the British exit from the European Union had warned of such developments (“‘Everything We Feared,’—Incoming Leftist Coalition Govt in Germany to Push for a Federal EU Superstate,” Breitbart, Nov. 29, 2021).

Note the interesting wording from the German leader: “because we know that time is short.” Bible prophecy reveals that in the time soon ahead of us, a final revival of the Holy Roman Empire will appear in Europe—a totalitarian power that Scripture calls “the Beast.” As Germany cannot escape history, neither can it escape prophecy—nor can the rest of the world. (Download or request our free study guide The Final Superpower to learn more.)

Follow Me: Seizing the Moment for God’s Glory

A faithful disciple made sure to not miss an important opportunity to show her love and devotion to Jesus Christ—leaving a lesson and example for us all.

by Robin Webber

All too often, a self-indicting lament of “could’ve, would’ve, should’ve” comes after an opportunity has passed. We meant to do something. The desire was real! But our good intentions were put off to a later time that never came.

A famous clever story tells of four people named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody and Nobody. “There was an important job to be done, and Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it. Anybody could have done it. But Nobody did it. Somebody got angry about that, because it was Everybody’s job. Everybody thought Anybody could do it, but Nobody realized that Everybody would not do it. It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done!”

Let this be a wake-up call. A developing disciple of Jesus Christ should not be defined this way. You have not been called to be an Everybody, Somebody, Anybody or Nobody, but to be a child of our Heavenly Father, bearing His name (Isaiah 43:7; Ephesians 3:14-15) and responding to Jesus’ invitation of “Follow Me” in whatever comes our way—getting past self and what others might think or say to seize the moment for God’s glory.

The invitation of “Follow Me” is not always about walking behind Jesus, but equally walking towards Him when everyone else sits there unaware of how short the time may be.

We discover such a story in Scripture regarding Mary of Bethany, the sister of Lazarus. It is her encounter with Christ that leaves one of the loudest messages of how to extinguish the “could’ve, would’ve, should’ve” regrets of life. Her story is recorded in the Gospels of Matthew (26:6-13), Mark (14:3-9) and John (12:2-8), and we will note various aspects of this encounter from each book to gain a fuller picture.

A story for the ages

John’s account opens with Jesus at supper with a resurrected Lazarus (John 12:1). So often we leave Lazarus at his grave site, but here he is dining with others while his other sister Martha is serving the group (verse 2).

We are offered a scriptural snapshot of Lazarus alive and well. Imagine the atmosphere of rejoicing and continual stares at one who was dead but is now feasting with them! Here they are, gathered outside Jerusalem on the other side of the Mount of Olives. Will this be the time, as Passover is just days away, that Messiah will proclaim the great Jubilee and liberation from the Romans?

Little did they understand what was to occur in a short while. The ultimate Passover offering was mere days away, but the disciples did not grasp that He would die, even though He had warned them. Oh, if they’d only known the time was short, what might they have done?

Suddenly their attention was drawn to Lazarus’ sister Mary, who was carrying an ornate alabaster jar filled with an expensive fragrant oil (John 12:3). She broke open the container in front of Jesus and poured its precious contents on His head and feet. The fragrance filled every corner of the room. Several there were consumed by the audacity of this woman and would be further astonished by her last act of drying Jesus’ feet with her hair.

The “could’ve, would’ve, should’ve” crowd rebuked what she did as rash and extravagantly wasteful, saying the oil could have been sold and the money directed to the poor. They were flabbergasted in their own righteousness that “this woman” would lower herself and wipe the Rabbi’s feet with her loosened hair. In their “holy fit” they failed to realize the immensity of what lay just around the corner, while Mary seized the moment to the glory of God as the time was truly short.

“‘Leave her alone,’ said Jesus. ‘Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me. She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial. Truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her” (Mark 14:6-9, New International Version, emphasis added).

The essence of giving glory to God

How was Mary able to walk through and weather the gauntlet of criticism in her path to Christ and avoid the regretful exercise of “could’ve, would’ve, should’ve”? How can we walk in Mary’s steps today towards our Savior who not only says, “Follow Me,” but also “Come unto Me”?

First, Mary sensed and seized the opportunity to express her love and compassion toward this One who was dearest to her. Interestingly, the word “opportunity” derives from Latin roots meaning “toward port”—a journey’s stop or destination to fill needs and purpose. It speaks of meeting with right conditions of wind and tide for entering safe harbor. As these only came at limited times, sailors had to be alert and focused on the goal ahead.

For Mary, wherever Christ was, that was “safe harbor.” And nothing would impede her from seizing the moment and glorifying the Messiah, doing her utmost to serve and comfort Him.

When she broke open the jar in front of everyone, there was no going back. Her Savior whom she loved reclined at the table before her. Whether she fully understood about His impending death or simply acted upon a woman’s intuition of a great personal need on His part, she wanted to be as close as possible to express her love. She understood something was pending and knew “the time was short.”

Second, Mary’s love had no self-imposed price tag on it other than the totality of her love and devotion. She fully offered to Christ a lavish gift that would have cost a year’s wages, not concerned with that cost or what others might say. Plainly stated: Love will do what is needed regardless of the cost! Such godly love, which is outflowing and away from self, desires only that it might give its all plus more—just as Our Heavenly Father gave the priceless gift of His own Son.

Third, the giver must in some way come with the gift for it to be truly heartfelt and personal. Mary’s story awakens us to the reality that God does not want our physical offerings as much as He desires that we have an intimate relationship with Him. Such intimacy comes to light when Mary lets down her hair to wipe Jesus’ feet after anointing them with oil.

This appeared unseemly in that culture, but Mary looked beyond that. So often our witness that we love Christ and are open to follow His ways is stymied by what others think. Mary loved Jesus so much that it outweighed what others thought. Her beautiful act of love to her Savior deepened their intimate spiritual connection.

Mary lovingly anointed Jesus from head to toe. Her actions and Jesus’ acceptance of this lavish personal devotion recall words from Psalm 23, “You anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over” (verse 5) despite the “walk through the valley of the shadow of death” (verse 4)—as Jesus Himself would soon experience. Mary seized the moment to glorify God by honoring His Son in His moment of human need. And what she did was used by Him to further present to others what was about to unfold—she was preparing His body for burial (Mark 14:8).

How about us? Rather than live off the excuses of “could’ve, would’ve, should’ve,” we must learn from this devoted disciple of Jesus Christ. She did not miss her opportunity but stepped forward and lovingly moved towards Him—and now for all ages is known for the fact that, in the words of Jesus Himself, “she did what she could.”

Letters From Our Readers: March/April 2022

Readers of Beyond Today magazine share their thoughts in the March/April 2022 issue.

by Beyond Today editor

“What If Sodom Has Been Found?”

I just wanted to say thanks for the January-February issue. As a student of biblical archaeology, it was very exciting for me to be blessed with the articles about Sodom. Please pass on my thanks to the authors for their excellent articles. I have closely followed the work of Dr. Scott Stripling, Associates for Biblical Research and Dr. Steven Collins. Please continue to write and speak on the archaeology of the Levant.

From the Internet

Having just finished reading the January-February issue, I was moved to write and say that I was very pleased to see so many citations of Biblical Archaeology Review. As a long-time reader of that publication (along with Beyond Today), I have discovered much evidence of historical accuracy in the Bible. Both publications prompt my further rereading of biblical passages, and result in further understanding of the Scriptures. Keep up the great work spreading the good news. I remain a faithful reader and financial contributor.

From the Internet

Reader questions about the Trinity

I have been watching Beyond Today TV on YouTube for three years. I think your teachings are closely based on Jesus’ teaching. I also just requested three of your Bible study aids: Is God A Trinity?, Does God Exist? and Who Is God? for my friend. The more we read the Bible the more we doubt the traditional understanding of the Trinity. My friends and I had a warm discussion about this. I hope your literature will explain more and open our eyes. May God bless you.

From the Internet

Take us off your mailing list. We firmly believe in the Trinity as it is throughout Scripture, and Jesus Himself referencing them. We hope your church finds the truth.

From the Internet

I was reading throughout your literature and I noticed it read as if you don’t believe in the Trinity of God. You are denying the very deity of God. Go read first 1 John 5:7-8: “For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.” It’s in God’s Word right here. Yes that is a mystery we will understand one day. Please don’t reject the Trinity. It’s the same as rejecting God.

From the Internet

We believe in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ as two distinct Beings who are both God. But nowhere is there any real evidence in Scripture of the Holy Spirit as a third divine Person in a trinity. Rather, as we note in our fundamental belief about the nature of God, ”We believe in the Holy Spirit as the Spirit of God and of Christ. The Holy Spirit is the power of God and the Spirit of life eternal (2 Timothy 1:7; Ephesians 4:6; 1 Corinthians 8:6; John 1:1-4; Colossians 1:16).”

As for the words in 1 John 5:7-8 in the King James Version and some other translations, they are clearly not in any early Greek manuscripts of the Bible but were added centuries later. This is a fact agreed upon by Bible scholars.

As New Testament professor Neil Lightfoot explains in his book How We Got the Bible: “The textual evidence is against 1 John 5:7. Of all the Greek manuscripts, only two contain it. These two manuscripts are of very late dates, one from the fourteenth or fifteenth century and the other from the sixteenth century. Two other manuscripts have this verse written in the margin. All four manuscripts show that this verse was apparently translated from a late form of the Latin Vulgate” (2003, pp. 100-101).

This is one of many revealing quotes found in our free study guide Is God a Trinity? Readers can download or request a free copy at ucg.org/booklets

Reader thankful for Beyond Today resources on Christmas

I’m new to the fact of Christmas being a pagan holiday. I’ve struggled for the past several years with missing the things I once enjoyed, but I give thanks to Beyond Today and the United Church of God for its constant information and reminders. I was born and raised Catholic, but as a maturing teenager found myself asking questions that were never answered. In my search I developed a close spiritual relationship with my Savior based on prayer and reading Scripture for myself to discern the truth.

Now I’ve found guidance through your articles and programs and have come to understand better. I’m finding answers to my #1 question: “Why do we follow a God of a Jewish people and a Jewish Savior but do not do as He says?” Thank you for spiritual fulfillment and guidance.

From the Internet

Reader looking for a congregation

I am in Canada and watch Sabbath services online from the United States. I am wishing to be baptized by your Church when I move to Windsor, Ontario, where there is a congregation.

Reader in Canada

We’re thrilled to hear you’d like to be baptized. For anybody looking for nearby church congregations, you can find a list at ucg.org/congregations. Those who would like to watch live Sabbath services online can do so at ucg.org/webcast. And to better understand what God's Word says on this important subject, be sure to request and read our free study guide What You Need to Know About Baptism.

If You Would Like to Know More...

Who we are: This publication is provided free of charge by the United Church of God, an International Association, which has ministers and congregations throughout much of the world.

We trace our origins to the Church that Jesus founded in the early first century. We follow the same teachings, doctrines and practices established then. Our commission is to proclaim the gospel of the coming Kingdom of God to all the world as a witness and to teach all nations to observe what Christ commanded (Matthew 24:14; Matthew 28:19-20).

Free of charge: Jesus Christ said, “Freely you have received, freely give” (Matthew 10:8). The United Church of God offers this and other publications free of charge as an educational service in the public interest. We invite you to request your free subscription to the Beyond Today magazine and to enroll in our 12-lesson Bible Study Course, also free of charge.

We are grateful for the generous tithes and offerings of the members of the Church and other supporters who voluntarily contribute to support this work. We do not solicit the general public for funds. However, contributions to help us share this message of hope with others are welcomed. All funds are audited annually by an independent accounting firm.

Personal counsel available: Jesus commanded His followers to feed His sheep (John 21:15-17). To help fulfill this command, the United Church of God has congregations around the world. In these congregations believers assemble to be instructed from the Scriptures and to fellowship.

The United Church of God is committed to understanding and practicing New Testament Christianity. We desire to share God’s way of life with those who earnestly seek to follow our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Our ministers are available to counsel, answer questions and explain the Bible. If you would like to contact a minister or visit one of our congregations, please feel free to contact our office nearest you.

For additional information: Visit our Web site www.ucg.org to download or request any of our publications, including issues of Beyond Today, dozens of free booklets and much more.

Mailing address: United Church of God, an International Association, PO Box 541027, Cincinnati, OH 45254