volume 124 winter 2010 issue
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Volume 124 Winter 2010 IssueTRANSCRIPT
The Church of Jesus Christ
The Message of Hope
Revelation 21:24 And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it.
Volume 124 Winter 2010
The Church of Jesus Christ
Headquarters: 2797 Bryant St. Portage, IN 46368
Phone 219-763-1049
WWW.JESUSCHRISTISGOD.ORG
Message of Hope
Editors: Bro. John & Sis. Sandi Garza
Official Organ, owned by: The Church of Jesus Christ
Please send all articles to:
Message of Hope
2797 Bryant St. Portage, IN 46368
Articles and Pictures Due: A.S.A.P.
What Does The Church of Jesus Christ Believe?
We believe that the Bible is the infallible Word of God
and is the SOLE authority on every subject. We believe that Jesus Christ is the Almighty God. Rev. 1:8, “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.” God put on the robe of flesh and walked here on earth for 33 years to fulfill prophecy for the New Testament Church, which is The Church of Jesus Christ. According to the Word, John 1:1, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” John 1:14, “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us….” The Church of Jesus Christ believes that everyone must take His word seriously, John 8:24, “I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I Am He ye shall die in your sins.”
We follow God’s Plan of salvation. Acts 2:38, “…Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.” Baptism is by immersion in water only. The evidence of the infilling of the Holy Ghost is according to Acts 2:4, “And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.” John 3:5 states, “Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” We must then live a clean, holy, and dedicated life to Jesus Christ thereafter taking diligent heed to the Word.
The Church of Jesus Christ must be found faithful to His Word. We must be partakers of Communion service. This service consists of the Lord’s Supper and Foot Washing. 1 Cor. 11:24, 25, “And when he had given thanks, he brake it and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. (25) After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, “This cup is the New Testament in my blood: this do ye oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.” John 13:14, 15, “If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another’s feet. (15) For I have given you an example that ye should do as I have done to you.”
Watch, pray, forsake not the assembling of yourselves together, give your tithes and offerings, so that YOU can be counted among the faithful when our one and only Savior, Jesus Christ, comes back in a “cloud with power and great glory!”
Bishop Board and Pastors
Bishop Jarret R. Spence, Presiding Bishop 2298 Fern Street Portage, IN 46368 Phone 219-762-7492
Bishop Paul Rose, Secretary/Treasurer P.O. Box 344 Cabin Creek, West Virginia 45035 Phone 304-595-5640
Bishop Danny Walls P. O. Box 216 Ingalls, IN 46048 Phone 317-485-4105 Bishop Robert O’Dell 5235 East Van Ness Road Pierceton, IN 46562 Phone 574-594-2337 Bishop Calvin Blaine Pennington P.O. Box 413 (Mailing Address) 12237 State Highway 576 Montpelier, OH 43543 Phone 419-485-4464 Bishop Harold Goodrich 36288 Valley Drive Paw Paw. MI 49079 Phone 269-655-9093 Brother Dale Basham 35 Radio Rd. Dyersburg, TN 38024 Phone: (731) 264-9304 Elder Humberto Loera Iglesia De Jesucristo (The Church of Jesus Christ) 138 Alejandrina Col. San Isidro Matamoros, Tamps, Mexico Phone 956-564-0911
Bishop of Jamaica
Bishop Orville Rodney 199 Catherene Mount Albion P.A. Montego Bay, St. James, Jamaica, W.I. Phone 879-952-6676
Bishop of Canada
Bishop Mathias Gooden 75 Dunlop St., Apt. 406 Richmond Hills, ON L4C 2M7 CANADA Phone 905-883-8543
National Youth Leaders
Bro. Jarret & Sis. Caryn Spence 804 Pennsylvania Avenue Laporte, IN 46350 Phone 219-325-3904 Bro. Travis & Sis. Nora Hensley, Assistants 437 Tecumseh Street Warsaw, IN 46582 Phone 574-551-4487
Praise the Lord!
I thank God for another day of life and breath,
another chance to write something for His glory, but one
thing I am especially thankful for is having a fear of God
that causes me to live the best that I can for Him! Even
when I didn't serve Him, there was always some fear of
God. Even when I didn't know who He was, and thought
just being a good person was enough, I knew the things that
I was doing were wrong! And that would always scare me
when I would think about eternity. In this day and age, it is
hard to find anyone who is afraid of God, or afraid of living
against God's word! There's a preacher on every corner
telling people it's okay what you're doing, God understands.
While He does understand the things we go through, and
that we will make a mistake from time to time, He does
NOT understand living in sin!
My Bible tells me in Proverbs 1:7; "The fear of
the Lord is the beginning of knowledge..." The best start to
getting to know Jesus Christ, is to fear His word, and have
a desire to please Him. Then when you begin to hear a true
preacher, that fear will cause you to do what's right.
2 Corinthians 7:10 says, "For godly sorrow
worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but
the sorrow of the world worketh death." When there is a
fear and love of God, you will be sorry enough to stop
doing those things that are displeasing to Him! But just
coming in every Sunday and saying you're sorry, like the
world teaches, the Bible says that causes death! And that
death is a spiritual death, not the natural one!
In Leviticus 19:14 it says, "Thou shalt not curse
the deaf, nor put a stumbling block before the blind, but
shalt fear thy God: I am the Lord." When giving out the
laws on how His people should live, God commanded that
they should fear Him. Not in a bad way either, but in a way
that they would be afraid of doing wrong and the
punishment that would follow.
In Jeremiah 5:22, the Lord tells His people, "Fear
ye not me? saith the Lord: will ye not tremble at my
presence..." There are still times when God shows up in a
service that fear comes over me. A fear that the Creator is
there and I want to be pleasing to Him! This is almost
impossible to find in the world today. Nobody is afraid of
God or His word anymore!
Hebrews 10:31 says, "It is a fearful thing to fall
into the hands of the living God."
And again in Psalm 85:9, "Surely his salvation is
nigh them that fear him..." There are a lot of scriptures
stating how we must fear God, and I ask, where is this fear?
This is one of those old landmarks that has gotten moved
by so many false prophets, that no one even knows it exists
anymore! If the Church of Jesus Christ won't tell them,
who will?
Submitted by:
Bro. Jay Rogers
Portage, IN
Song of the soul
The soul has no limits-
it flies and it sings,
to God it's Creator,
on gold glinted wings.
A song with the innocence born
in a child,
or one of a heart that's been
falsely beguiled.
A soul is the thing that
lives beyond life,
to carry it's story of
sweetness and strife
back to it's maker
all patched and in tatters
Who draws out the threads
of what really matters.
In these threads of our
lives the stories unfold
of hours of darkness
and moments of gold,
And Jesus will tell
that we walked in His way
When the cost was so high
we barely could pay.
The soul flies to God
in myriad ways,
In deeds and in prayers
to the end of our days.
And then will He hold us
and welcome us in,
For that is when living
will truly begin.
Submitted by:
Sis. Lane
Portage, IN
Living by Faith Praise the Lord, and greetings to all in the wonderful name
of Jesus Christ.
Living by Faith in Jesus above
Trusting confiding in his great love
From all harm safe in His sheltering arm
I am living by faith and fear no alarm.
Heb. 11:1 (Paraphrased) Faith in what we hope for and
certain of what we do not see. By faith Abel offered a
better sacrifice than his brother Cane which caused him to
be jealous, hateful, selfish, and angry. His anger caused
him to kill his brother Abel. Faith is what we trust in.
Some people put their faith in money, some in fame, or
even the government, which is shaky ground or sinking
sand. The Psalm says some in chariots and some in horses.
Real faith is in the love and power of God. In the book of
Hebrews there is a list of names of people who are
commended for something they would not have been able
to do without faith.
Gen. 5:24 Enoch walked with God, he lived and loved God
fully that he did not die the natural death for God took him.
Noah when warned about the thing he had not seen in faith
built an ark and his family and himself were saved when
God condemned the world destroying it with the flood.
Abraham obeyed God by faith although he did no know
where he was going. Abraham had so much faith in God
that he was willing to offer up his son Isaac as a living
sacrifice when he was tested.
Let us not forget the story of Rahab in Joshua who hid the
spies on the roof of the house, moved by faith covering
them with the stalks of flax which she had laid in order.
Rahab who was not a role model for her past life style was
offensive to God for she was a harlot, but was blessed by
God through her faith and was given a home among the
Israelites and she became a family line that gave birth to
Jesus Christ.
Matt.1:5 As light drives out darkness so faith replaces fear.
There are many more whom the Bible tells about. In
Judges the story of Deborah the Prophetess and Barak a
judge. Also about Sampson, Gideon, and Joshua who went
around the walls of Jericho. Let us as children of God have
that strong faith and confidence in Him knowing that all
things are possible with God if we only believe. Let us not
be conformed to the things of the world for we are in the
world but not of the world. Let us through God's grace and
the faith in Jesus Christ faithfully follow his commands so
that the Spirit of God dwelling in us will transform us to
live Holy, Godly, and Righteously in His sight doing His
will so that we hear on that judgment day well done enter in
the place he has prepared for us.
Submitted by:
Missionary D. Benjamin
Hamilton Ont. Canada
Praise the Lord and greetings in the precious name of Jesus
Christ.
First, I want to apologize for not submitting an
article for the last magazine. I am so glad that God doesn't
get too busy and is not forgetful! We want to thank
everyone for taking time out of their busy schedules to
support our Tent Revival in September and all the visitors
that we had. I know that our home church was truly fed
from the word of God that came forth every night. God has
been so good to us! We were so thankful for Bro. Calan
Cochran going down in water baptism in the precious name
of Jesus Christ. God will work if we will only let him. We
are really praying hard for our youth because they are the
church of tomorrow. We want them to stand firm on this
truth and standards that were taught so long ago. We want
them to uphold the banner of Jesus Christ.
Around the holidays we want to thank God for
what he has done for us so that we could have life and have
it more abundantly. We really enjoyed our church having a
"live nativity" for Christmas. We pray that whatever we
do, we do it for the glory of God. We are so thankful for
God putting a shepherd over us to feed us of his word. We
are so blessed that he has allowed us to know his great truth
and be a part of his body. I was raised in this truth and am
so thankful for parents and grandparents that not only
brought me to the house of God, but loved this way so
much that the light in them was a beacon for me. I truly
love living for the Lord and pray that my children see this
in me and also have that desire.
As the New Year is here, we reflect on last year
and all the things that God has done for us and brought us
through. We want to thank him by daily living for him and
doing his will. We look forward to what God has in store
for us all this New Year. We can't wait to see our Brothers
and Sisters in the Lord again. God bless you all!
Submitted by:
Sis. Amanda Rose
Pastor: Bro. Dale Basham
Dyersburg, TN
God's Word Is A Seed
Most people expect God's Word to work overnight -- but
God's Word Tells us that its like a seed.
Romans 10:8-21 8 But what saith it? The word is nigh thee,
even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith,
which we preach; 9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth
the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath
raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10 For with the
heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth
confession is made unto salvation. 11 For the scripture saith,
Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. 12 For there
is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same
Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. 13 For
whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. 14 How then shall they call on him in whom they have not
believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they
have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? 15
And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is
written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the
gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things! 16 But
they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord,
who hath believed our report? 17 So then faith cometh by
hearing, and hearing by the word of God. 18 But I say, Have
they not heard? Yes verily, their sound went into all the earth,
and their words unto the ends of the world. 19 But I say, Did
not Israel know? First Moses saith, I will provoke you to
jealousy by them that are no people, and by a foolish nation I
will anger you. 20 But Esaias is very bold, and saith, I was
found of them that sought me not; I was made manifest unto
them that asked not after me. 21 But to Israel he saith, All day
long I have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and
gainsaying people.
Luke 8:9-11 9 And his disciples asked him, saying, What
might this parable be? 10 And he said, Unto you it is given to
know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to others in
parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they
might not understand. 11 Now the parable is this: The seed is
the word of God.
Peter, also said God's Word is a seed.
1 Peter 1:13-25…23 Being born again, not of corruptible
seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth
and abideth for ever.
God's Word is alive. Just like a seed -- the Bible is full of
unseen life.
John 6:59-63…63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh
profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are
spirit, and they are life. Jesus said His words are alive. They
contain life. The words in your Bible may look lifeless and
powerless. Seeds do, too. But they are not without life or
power.
Mark 4:26-32 And he said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a
man should cast seed into the ground; 27 And should sleep, and
rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he
knoweth not how. 28 For the earth bringeth forth fruit of
herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in
the ear. 29 But when the fruit is brought forth, immediately he
putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come. 30 And he
said, Whereunto shall we liken the kingdom of God? or with
what comparison shall we compare it? 31 It is like a grain of
mustard seed, which, when it is sown in the earth, is less than
all the seeds that be in the earth: 32 But when it is sown, it
groweth up, and becometh greater than all herbs, and shooteth
out great branches; so that the fowls of the air may lodge
under the shadow of it.
Seeds
* A seed is alive: it contains life.
Your physical senses are incapable of judging whether a seed
is alive or not. You cannot see, feel, hear, smell, or taste the
life in a seed. There is only one way to prove a seed is alive --
plant it.
* A seed does nothing until planted.
Seeds do not grow sitting in a sack on your shelf. They must
be planted in the proper place.
If you desire the Word of God to produce in your life, you
must decide to plant the Word in your heart and mind.
The best way to plant the seed of God's Word in your life is
by speaking the Word. Hearing others speak the Word is good
-- but will not produce as bountiful a harvest as speaking the
Word yourself.
Speaking God's Word with your mouth is essential. As we
speak God's Word we are planting the seed in our heart for the
harvest.
Whatever you need to be saved or delivered from, confession
(what you say) is essential.
* A seed is much smaller than the plant it produces.
The problem you face may seem huge. In comparison, a
scripture may seem very small. But when planted, that Word
will grow in you and overcome the problem.
* A seed always produces after its kind.
Galatians 6:6-10…7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for
whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
Whatever you need, or desire, find scriptures relating to that.
Then plant those scriptures inside you in abundance. Those
seeds will grow up and produce a harvest of what you need or
desire.
* A seed is powerful.
As a seed begins to grow, it will push up dirt, rocks, etc.
Whatever the obstacles are, God's Word planted in your heart
will push them out of the way.
* A seed begins its growth in secret (underground).
The only way to tell if a seed is growing is to dig it up, or wait
for a plant to appear. If you dig up a seed, you may kill it.
* A seed takes time to produce.
No one expects a seed to produce a harvest the same day that
seed is planted.
Sometimes the Word of God seems to spring up and bear fruit
immediately. Yet, if we knew the details, we would
understand that the fruit of the Word grew in that person's life
over time.
* A seed is persistent.
A seed never gives up, but works day and night. Even when
you are sleeping, the seed you have planted is working to
grow and bring forth a harvest.
* A seed is not affected by other seeds.
Whatever happens to other seeds does not make any difference
to a specific seed. Each seed sticks to its own task. One wheat
seed planted in a corn field will still produce wheat. Seed does
not become discouraged, or quit, even if other seeds die.
* A seed will stop growing without nourishment.
Planting a seed is not enough to assure a harvest. Seed must be
protected and taken care of until harvest time. A seed which is
dug up, or not watered, will not produce. If you are planted in
the church, stay in there and your harvest will come.
Submitted by:
Bishop Randell Spence
The Church of Jesus Christ
Portage, IN
The War Against Jesus Christ!!
There is at this time a great war raging against Jesus Christ
and the gospel. Our enemy Satan knows perfectly well, that
his time is soon to be over. This war is aggressive, active, and
hard fought for the souls of mankind. This war is not for the
weak but for the strong in the Lord. We know that this war is
and will be won by Jesus Christ.
As in I Timothy 6:12 we read- Fight the good fight of faith,
lay hold on eternal life. So therefore be strong in the Lord and
in the power of his might.
Key Text:
Luke 19:14 But his citizens hated him, and sent message after
him, saying, we will not have this man to reign over us.
John 7:7 The world cannot hate you; but me it hateth, because
I testify of it that the works thereof are evil.
John 15:18 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me
before it hated you.
John 15:25 But this cometh to pass, that the word might be
fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated me without a
cause.
Example Text:
Matthew 27:62-66 The sealing of the tomb.
Acts 9:1-9 Saul fought against the Lord.
Exodus 5:1-9 Pharaoh, fights against God.
II Kings 18:28-32 A nation fight against God.
II Chronicles 13:5-10 Jeroboam, rebelled against Lord.
Matthew 26:47-50 He that betrayed Christ.
Study Material (1) There are divisions because of Christ:
Luke 12:51 But rather division
John 7:43 There was a division
John 9:16 A division among them
John 10:19 A division therefore again
(2) The world will always slander Christ:
Matthew 11:19 Behold a man gluttonous
Luke 23:2 He perverting the nation
Acts 2:13 Others mocking
Acts 24:5 A pestilent fellow
(3) Jesus Christ is rejected by this world:
Matthew 6:34 Besought him to depart
Mark 6:3 They were offended at him
Luke 4:29 Thrust him out of the city
John 1:11 His own received him not
John 12:48 Rejected him
(4) There are many enemies against Christ:
Luke 11:14-23 Evil minded people
Luke 11:53-54 The hypocrites
Matthew 7:15 False teachers
Matthew 27:36 Unbelievers
John 18:38 Governments
Pastor: Bis. Cade Burns,Jr.
The Church of Jesus Christ
Lenoir,N.C. 28645
The Story of the Eagle...
The eagle has the longest life-span among birds. It
can live up to 70 years. But to reach this age, the eagle
must make a hard decision.
In its 40's Its long and flexible talons can no
longer grab prey which serves as food. Its long and sharp
beak becomes bent. Its old-aged and heavy wings, due to
their thick feathers, become stuck to its chest and make it
difficult to fly.
Then, the eagle is left with only two options: die
or go through a painful process of change which lasts 150
days. The process required that the eagle fly to a mountain
top and sit on its nest. There the eagle knocks its beak
against a rock until it plucks it out. After plucking it out,
the eagle will wait for a new beak to grow back and then it
will pluck out its talons. When its new talons grow back,
the eagle starts plucking its old-aged feathers. And after
five months, the eagle takes its famous flight of rebirth and
lives for 30 more years.
Why is change needed? Many times, in order to
survive we have to start a change process. We sometimes
need to get rid of old memories, habits and other past
traditions. Only freed from past burdens, can we take
advantage of the present.
Our lives are not determined by what happens to
us but by how we react to what happens. Not by what life
brings us, but by the attitude we bring to life. A positive
attitude causes a chain reaction of positive thoughts, events,
and outcomes. It is a catalyst, a spark that creates
extraordinary results.
When it rains, most birds head for shelter; the
eagle is the only bird that, in order to avoid the rain, starts
flying above the cloud.
Isaiah 40: 31
"But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their
strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they
shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not
faint."
Note from the editors:
Praise the Lord everybody! We would like to
apologize for the delay in the last magazine issue, we ran
into some technical difficulties. Everything should be up
and running smooth from now on. We would also like to
clarify that the magazine runs 4 times a year now.
Spring-April, Summer-July,
Autumn-October, and Winter-January.
Therefore, we would like to have open article
submitting periods. Meaning... keep em' coming! We
want your articles, testimonies, pictures, poems, jokes,
and anything else. Send them in as soon as you can. If
they don't make it into the next issue, they will be used
in the following. We would like to have enough on hand
that we never have a problem with trying to fill the
magazine.
You! make the magazine, we just glue
everything together. So without you there will be
nothing to read. Remember that your testimonies can
provide strength, knowledge, and comfort to others. So
share!
Love & Prayers,
~the editors
The Church of Jesus Christ 2797 Bryant Street Portage, Indiana 46368 (219) 762-7492 www.JESUSCHRISTISGOD.org RETURN SERVICE REQUIRED