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Steven Britt

Elder, United Church of God

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  • Steven Britt
    Steven Britt in "What Does the Bible Say About Someone Who Commits Suicide?"

    Hi Khloe - God cares so much about you, and even just from the small bit that you've shared here, so do many of us. I know it can be hard to see the value in living sometimes when life gets so hard, but God is a God of life, not death. If you commit yourself to Him, He has a capacity to heal - and to bring peace, love, and even joy into your life, no matter how far away that may seem right now. If you start to think about suicide, please get help - you can call 1-800-273-8255 at any time, night or day, for immediate support.

  • Steven Britt
    Steven Britt in "Tithing: Where Is Your Treasure?"

    Hi, Lonita - I think Skip is trying to say that there must be a proper balance of priorities and that we can't be content with the attitude that we'll just pay God later without actually following through with a plan. Either way, your situation is not for us to decide or dictate to you: it's between you and God. It's important that you are honest with yourself and with God as carefully consider how you can best honor Him and obey His commandment to tithe.

  • Steven Britt
    Steven Britt in "Tithing: Where Is Your Treasure?"

    Hi, Ricardo - the most important thing is to be honest with God in your assessment of your financial situation and what constitutes your increase. Generally, we do not include one's rent or mortgage in this, but would include costs associated with doing business, such as a farmer's cost in purchasing seed and fertilizer. Here is a link to our Bible Study Tool, "What Does the Bible Teach About Tithing?" for further reference: https://www.ucg.org/bible-study-tools/booklets/what-does-the-bible-teach-about-tithing

  • Steven Britt
    Steven Britt in "Tithing: Where Is Your Treasure?"

    Hi James - there are a number of acceptable options. You can save it for your own use the following year, and many people do this in order to visit a more expensive site in a given year. If you're looking for other options, you could seek out others who may either not have enough for their family or even just to help them have a little nicer feast experience than they would have - if you don't know anyone, your pastor should be able to help identify someone or arrange to have it given to them anonymously if you wish. There is also a special church-wide donation fund that is used to help others attend the feast who cannot afford to as well as to offset the church's costs associated with the holy days - you can find it online at http://donate.ucg.org/Festival-Fund_p_9.html or indicate "festival fund" if you make a donation by mail to earmark it for this purpose. Many feast sites also have donation boxes on site either to fund activities at that site or make a donation to a local charity - you can ask at the information table at most sites.

  • Steven Britt
    Steven Britt in "How Does a Christian Grieve the Holy Spirit?"
    Hi Onnie - what Skip said is correct, I just wanted to point out that the contact form can be accessed from the link near the top of the page, but here's a direct link: https://www.ucg.org/contact-1 Many of our sermons do have transcripts already, but always feel free to submit a request through the contact form if there is a particular one that isn't transcribed and we'll do our best to accommodate you!
  • Steven Britt
    Steven Britt Author in "Immigration: What Does the Bible Say?"

    Hi Katina - I wrote this with God's sovereignty and the truth of the Bible as a starting point. If you're not in agreement with that, then talking about issues at this level won't get us far and we would be better served discussing the foundation. That said, the principle I outlined in this article is that nations do have certain God-given authority, but it also comes with responsibility to administer justice - something that no nation in history, neither indigenous nor colonial, has ever lived up to. For this reason, God exercises His right to raise up, break down, or sometimes altogether remove one nation at the hands of another. In the bible, the nations He used to accomplish this always met their own downfall because they were no better than those before them - they perverted justice and failed to acknowledge God. This is why I look to the coming Kingdom of God for answers rather than trusting in America or any human nation, because all have failed the standards of the true God and will be utterly destroyed. I do advocate what God promises for today though: that a nation will be blessed to the extent that it deals justly, with mercy, and in acknowledgment of God (Micah 6:8).

  • Steven Britt
    Steven Britt Author in "Israel at 70: The Amazing Story"

    Your monolithic characterization of Israel as a "greedy self centered oppressive Zionist state run by atheists" is both patently false and devoid of understanding about Israel's government structure and composition. It's a European-style parliamentary democracy where many different viewpoints are represented, and the country as a whole is deeply reflective and self-critical - in my time there, this was one of the most interesting realizations about Israeli culture and politics. While there are indeed some atheists in the government there, the predominant religion is Judaism - from your comment though, it sounds like you are saying Jews are atheists, which is just plain incorrect. Jesus, speaking for the Jewish people, said, "we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews" (John 4:22). Yes, they have failed to understand or recognize that Jesus was the Messiah/Christ, but I don't see how that makes them any worse than any other country today. What godly nation are you comparing them against? Or, if there is none (as I would contend), why are you singling them out?

  • Steven Britt
    Steven Britt in "Significance of the Sheaf"
    Stephen, my point was this: if something is wrong then it is sin, but if it is not sin then it is not wrong. There is no statement that "you shall have an assembly." There are no commanded assemblies in the bible that are NOT called holy convocations - check and see for yourself. Let's clearly separate the issues: 1. We agree that this is a meaningful day that should be taught about and understood. Evidence: we're commenting on Steve Myer's whole sermon about it! 2. We disagree whether one is REQUIRED to assemble on the wave sheaf day. 3. In the absence of a commanded assembly, it is not the practice of UCG to meet for a church service on the wave sheaf day.
  • Steven Britt
    Steven Britt in "Fed Up With Church?: Part 3"
    Hi Brian - it is unfortunately somewhat typical for Sabbath-keepers to have to drive an hour or more, but that's just the geographical reality of how spread out we are. It's reminiscent of Jeremiah 3:14, where God says He would bring out "one from a town and two from a clan"! At one point I lived right between two congregations and it was an hour drive to either one. It sounds like you've already looked at what United Church of God congregations are nearest to you (if not, you can check at http://ucg.org/congregations). It would be good to make an effort to at least visit even if it isn't practical for every week - it's likely you could find that there are people in the congregation who live close to you that you would be able to meet with outside of services. I would also recommend contacting the nearest pastor, as he would probably be able to come visit with you in your home.
  • Steven Britt
    Steven Britt in "Significance of the Sheaf"
    In Leviticus 23:4-8, we find that God commands a holy convocation on the first and last days of Unleavened Bread, but no such command was ever made for the wave sheaf day - it's just not there. We are obeying God by doing what He says on these days, but we have no service on the wave sheaf day because the bible does not command one - period. It's also not a sin to not have an assembly or service on the middle days of the Feast of Tabernacles, either, but it just so happens that we do so by tradition most of the time. Again, the commandment is fulfilled by having a holy convocation on the first day of the Feast of Tabernacles and the Eighth Day. No one here has mentioned Mr. Armstrong or appealed to his authority at any point, by the way. Neither have we used the excuse that it's "too much like Easter." Those are arguments that you alone have brought up.
  • Steven Britt
    Steven Britt in "Significance of the Sheaf"
    Again, we haven't been "turned away" from the wave sheaf offering! We study it, we understand it, we write about it, we speak about it, we teach it. Your complaint is that we still haven't done enough because we don't set it apart with an annual service, but you simply cannot impose a commandment of God through indirect implication. When you say that we need to "observe this event" - what do you mean by that word "observe"? Make it clear to me by filling in the blank: "I'm sinning if I don't _______ on the wave sheaf day." I just don't believe you can confidently put anything in that blank based on scripture.
  • Steven Britt
    Steven Britt in "Significance of the Sheaf"
    1 - We do emphasize the meaning of the wave sheaf at the proper time throughout the year - the sermon on this page is a testament to that fact! Your complaint is that we don't have a special assembly on the actual day of the wave sheaf, but I've pointed out that no such assembly or service is commanded today - we are not sinning in our current practice. 2 - Your argument here relies on "the gravity of what this symbolizes," but I'm sorry that's just not a good reason. Sacrificing an animal symbolizes the blood of Jesus Christ - talk about gravity! - and is a far more vivid and teachable action, yet we are under no compulsion to act that out today. If you want a closer analogy, take the 2 goat ceremony of Leviticus 16 connected to the Day of Atonement - why not act that out while we're at it? 3 - Again you have explained how someone COULD do this if they WANTED to, but certainly not something that we are COMMANDED to do - that is the distinction I've endeavored to make here. It may be good for someone to do as you've suggested on the wave sheaf day, but it is not commanded for us in the same way as, for example, having a holy convocation on the first Day of Unleavened Bread.
  • Steven Britt
    Steven Britt in "Is the Secret Rapture Wrong?"
    Hi Brian - one technical point: Pentecost does NOT occur 50 days after Passover on Sivan 6 every year - the date changes because it is counted rather than set, as we are instructed to "count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath" in Leviticus 23:16. Pentecost is the only holy day that is not given a fixed date on the Hebrew calendar. You can read a fuller explanation of why we understand it this way at https://www.ucg.org/beyond-today/blogs/counting-pentecost Regarding the meaning of Pentecost, the primary message is receiving God's Holy Spirit and becoming the firstfruits in God's harvest of mankind. This certainly includes both Gentiles and Jews alike and Paul did call the Church the "Israel of God" (Galatians 6:16), but the quote from James makes this simple point seem mysterious. The unity of God's people is a major theme of the bible that runs through many of the Holy Days, not just Pentecost, and includes any division that one might make among people (Galatians 3:28). For an overview of the rich meaning of Pentecost for us today, see https://www.ucg.org/bible-study-tools/booklets/gods-holy-day-plan-the-promise-of-hope-for-all-mankind/the-feast-of-1
  • Steven Britt
    Steven Britt in "Significance of the Sheaf"
    Exodus 27:21 also says that Aaron and his sons would tend the lamp in the Tabernacle "as a statute forever." Many such statements are made about the priesthood of Aaron that are often (but not always) best understood as being in effect as long as God was working through that priesthood. This is explained in Hebrews 7:12, "For the priesthood being changed, of necessity there is also a change of the law." We understand and acknowledge the wave sheaf, but it is not at all clear that there is something specific that we MUST do today in observance of it. In other words, if we are supposed to observe the wave sheaf, then the question of how to do so is not explicitly found in the bible. I don't dispute that it points to God's redemptive plan - that's why we do teach about it! But as far as commanded ceremony or gathering on that day, there is just not a clear statement - you even admitted the scripture is silent and that you're inferring this.
  • Steven Britt
    Steven Britt in "Significance of the Sheaf"
    When I said "commanded assembly," the more familiar translation (in NKJV, for example) is "holy convocation" - I hope that clarifies my point: the wave sheaf is NOT an annual Sabbath that REQUIRES a service. Would it be permissible for a minister to hold a service to commemorate the wave sheaf? I don't see why not! But biblically it is incorrect to say that we are required to do so. On the flip side, God's ministers are not specifically commanded to give a sermon on the holy days. We keep the commandment by assembling, plus other specific commands such as fasting for Atonement, putting out leaven for Unleavened Bread, etc. - but the actual service and its style that we maintain at that assembly is a matter of tradition (though keeping orderly services is biblically commanded through Paul in 1 Corinthians 14). Certainly it's good for us to sing hymns together and spend some directed time learning from sermons, and the traditions we have developed around observing these days are not forbidden.