Jerold Aust Comments
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Thanks Robert for your questions about my article on Hezekiah. I'll keep this brief.
1. Resist Satan and he will flee from you (James 4:7).
2. Judah was taken away because they turned against God. They ignored God's warnings through His prophets.
3. My article didn't include the arrow event. Wasn't that event attributed to King Joash and Elisha? See 2 Kings 13.
Read my sub-titles in this article and you'll find some of what we can learn from his life.
Please continue reading our material.
All the best, jwa
Greetings Christine Franklin. Thank you for your interest in God's Word and my article above. Here Israel refers to the Northern Kingdom of Israel (10 tribes) , led by Jeroboam (from Ephraim), and Rehoboam (from Judah), who led the Southern Kingdom of Judah. I'm referring only to the split that came between the Israelites after the death of King Solomon. Sincerely, Jerold Aust
Jerold Aust. I appreciate the helpful comments about Christmas. One thing I keep in mind when it comes to this world's religious holidays is that they represent a substitute system for God's holy days and Feasts. The god of this world mimics or imitates God's holy days and festivals...very badly. His system, as far removed from God as it can be, focuses on personal pleasures and selfishness and keeps humanity blinded to the glorious gospel (good news) of Jesus Christ. Contrariwise, God's holy days and Feasts literally reveal the step-wise salvation of all mankind through three major harvest seasons (Deuteronomy 16:16). Someday God will see to it that everyone will understand His exclusive way of life (Hebrews 8:8-10).
Thanks for your reaction to my article on Is Fake News New? You are correct in that God doesn't deal in politics; I've not dealt in politics for 56 years (1961). If you had read my published articles since 1983, we wouldn't be having this conversation. Additionally, this could help answer your notion about "conflating our politics with Christian faith." Syntactically, any example considered as liberal or conservative would provide an essential backdrop for my intended thesis: that individual expressions of modern fake news correlates with/to and emanates from the god of global fake news (2 Cor. 4:4). If you got this obvious transitional message out of the step-wise progression of warrants supporting my thesis, then I'm grateful and my point is made. I also notice that you contrasted ungodly world governments with the godly church, based on the Holy Spirit. That's true to a point. If you read Revelation 2 and 3, you will see that only two of the seven churches (and eras) were not judged for their lack of faith. All of them had God's Spirit but not all of their works were totally holy (example: 3 John 1:9) . Something to consider. All the best, Jerold W. Aust, Senior Writer, BT.
Thank you for sharing your God-given insights about false holy days that attempt to mimic God's true holy days. If any of you would like to meet with folks who think like you do, we likely have a church near you where you could attend. Simply go to ucg.org/congregations. In Christ's Service, Jerold Aust
Mr. Peter Gillard. Thanks for reading the transcript on the validity of Christmas as it relates to my article, "Would Jesus Celebrate Christmas?" You provide the answer in your response to my article when you suggest that man chooses the day to worship God. Man follows man, not God. This is a matter of hearing God and not man, when it comes to the things of God. Jesus said that people won't listen to God (Matthew 13:14-15); people are responsible to hear God's truths. Money doesn't buy love; godly love comes from obeying God's 10 Commandments (1 John 5:3), which stand against the world's holidays. In Christian Love, Jerold Aust
Thank you Brandon for your interest in our magazine and specifically in my article on "Would Jesus Celebrate Christmas?" Your arguments that appear to challenge the demonstrable facts (narrative cites) that I shared in the aforementioned article aren't accompanied by substantive proofs. You do introduce three presuppositions as if they were facts that appear to accommodate your personal hypotheses (plural). In arguing a singular point or premise, the burden of proof always rests on the person who challenges an argument. My singular point was not the Hebrew Calendar, the Passover date, or the efforts of the Magi; such constructs can be evidentiary warrants to a singular premise (point or thesis), depending on how the premise is fleshed-out or structured. My point was that Jesus would not and could not celebrate Christmas because had He done so, He could not be our sinless Savior (Hebrews 4:10; 1 John 3:4). No Savior, no gift of eternal life! Thanks for your continued interest in our free literature and thanks for the opportunity to reply to your question. In Christ's Service, Jerold W. Aust
Jerold Aust here, author of the above article, and thank you for appreciating it.
Your desire to share the truth about Christmas is encouraging to us. The difficulty of sharing the truth about Christmas or any other non-Christian holiday rests in the fact that God is the only One who reveals His pristine truth to human beings (see John 6:44). You aren't doing anything wrong in the sense that you want to share God's unvarnished truth; the bigger problem is that the global society today is blinded by the god of this world (2 Corinthians 4:4) so they cannot see what God has given you to see. The best thing we can do after God reveals His truth to us is to live God's laws in our lives so others can see that we're different and can ask us of the faith that lies with us (see 1 Peter 3:15). This means you simply don't keep Christmas and other people will wonder why and ask you why you don't. Be prepared to answer their questions about Christmas. Don't be concerned that they might not agree with you, allow them to walk away and think and consider your example and answers. Also, ask God to help you answer in a good way and He will. In Christian Service, Jerold Aust, Senior Writer BT
Greetings Dan,
Thank you for your interest in our Beyond Today Magazine and especially for your interest in my recent article on Christmas. I'll keep this brief but hopefully my responses will be of help to you.
1. Jesus never instructed His disciples to honor His birth date; He did instruct us to remember His death. That's why we take the Passover once a year. The Passover represents Jesus' great sacrifice for our sins.
2. Since we don't know the exact date of Jesus' birth, we couldn't accurately honor that date. If He wanted us to honor His birth date, He would have made it unmistakably clear when He was born. Bible and secular research show that He wasn't born on December 25th.
3. There are any number of reasons why Christians celebrate their birthday today. I can't speak for them. However, I doubt that they link it to pagan rituals. Personally, we don't make a big thing of birthdays. It's interesting to note that in the Old Testament, for example, God specifically mentions the ages of some people like Methuselah, Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, and others. God is aware of our ages.
Thank you for your desire to learn God's truths. Jerold W. Aust
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Jerold Aust here. I appreciate everyone's thoughts and comments about Rahab. My response are intended to help, not offend. a) My research doesn't indicate that Rahab, an Amorite, married an Egyptian Ambassador, b) well-meaning Christians sometimes attempt to gloss over uncomfortable biblical examples in order to fit a more righteous image...a natural reaction, c) notice how God instructed Hosea to marry a harlot to show Israel's infidelity to God (Hosea 1:2), d) an innkeeper would indeed fit the narrative, e) the spies were wise to go to an Inn where most would talk freely, f) God allows people to think differently from Him (Deut. 30:19), yet free will doesn't automatically make us right. Thank you for your interest in reading our free literature and thank you for commenting on my article.