Newsletter 65, April,
2002
Viva La France! | French Bibles | Simple Things in Life
| Islam: Is it Peace-Loving? | 20
Reasons Not To Take the New Smallpox Vaccine | An Honorable
Judge | The Garden of His Delight | Leaving
the Good Life | Making Evil Look Innocent | God’s Holy Days | Europa Rides the Beast | Rules of the Winds | Origin of Medical Practice
| Who’s Who in the Bible
Viva
La France!
My college French history
teacher, Professor Laferriere, instilled in me a deep appreciation for the
culture, science, and literature, of the French people. His exams were most difficult:
multiple-choice questions, with four possible answers, of which three could
conceivably be correct. Laferriere’s
scintillating intellect was impeccable, and he molded me to think like a
Frenchman. The French are a very exciting
people!
Today, France, as it has
always been, is a dichotomy, a paradox.
France has high culture, but also decadence; it has modern technology
and nuclear power, but also sexual depravity and debauchery. Where do the French people come from? Where does France fit in Bible
prophecy? What is the role of the
French people in the plan of God?
Dibar Apartian, former Worldwide
Church of God evangelist, now with the Living Church of God, has served God’s
people, including the French, for more than forty years. In his paper, The French-Speaking
Peoples in Prophecy, Mr. Apartian traces the deportation and migrations
of the Northern House of Israel, who along the way to northwestern Europe were
known as the Scythians, Celts, Gauls, and Franks. His thesis is that the French are descendants of Reuben,
firstborn son of Jacob.
Reuben’s character was
ardent, impetuous, generous, and intelligent.
He played a predominant role in the history of the Israelites, as the
Gauls did among Celtic peoples. Reuben
was guilty with his brothers when they plotted the destruction of Joseph, but
the plan he made to preserve the life of their young brother, proves his
courage and intelligence. As a
compromise, Reuben succeeded in convincing his other brothers to throw Joseph
into a dry cistern in the desert (Genesis 37:22), instead of shedding
blood.
Reuben loved his own and others. He volunteered to assume, according to the
promise he made to his father (Genesis 42:37), the load of
responsibility to restore Benjamin to his father Jacob.
As with all men, Reuben also
had his weaknesses and faults. His
moral lapse caused him to lose his birthright (I Chronicles 5:1),
because he “went and lay with Bilhah his father’s concubine,” Genesis 35:22.
Nevertheless, the oldest son
of Jacob was blessed: “Reuben, thou art my firstborn, my might, and the
beginning of my strength, the excellency of dignity, and the excellency
of power: Unstable as water, thou
shalt not excel; because thou wentest up to thy father’s bed; then defilest
thou it: he went up to my couch,” Genesis 49:3-4.
Thus the descendants of Reuben, as prophesied, lost
their pre-eminence in the course of history but have kept through the ages
their superiority in dignity (culture) and power
(military, economic, literature).
Although I am mainly of German descent, I have a
heart for the French people. God does
as well! France will continue to be a
leading nation of the world. Viva
la France! Before his death,
Moses used similar words to bless the children of Reuben, “Let Reuben live,
and not die; and let not his men be few,” Deuteronomy 33:6.
The French-Speaking Peoples
in Prophecy, by Dibar Apartian, 33-pages, suggested donation of $5.00, to: Giving
& Sharing, PO Box 100, Neck City, MO 64849.
French
Bibles
You may order a La
Sainte Bible (Louis Segond translation) from us for a suggested
donation of $15.00, or via our website, www.giveshare.org/amazon/.
Besides Bibles, we would be
pleased to offer our literature in the French language. Would you like to join others to translate
from English to French?
France, Quebec and other
parts of Canada, Martinique in the West Indies, Cayenne in South America, parts
of West Africa, and other countries have French-speaking people. Please remember to pray for the French people.
Simple
Things in Life
“It is the simple things of
life that make living worthwhile, the sweet fundamental things such as love
and duty, work and rest, and living close to nature,” Laura Ingalls Wilder,
author of Little House on the Prairie.
Raising a garden is one way
to live close to nature. Grow a
garden this year!
Islam:
Is it Peace-Loving?
“There is no question, as we
and others have thoroughly documented from the Qur’an, Hadith, and 1,300
years of history, that terrorism and violence in order to force the world into
Islam, and threats of death to prevent defections, always have been the very
heart of Islam throughout history and remain so today
. . . . We offer the
same challenge to Muslims that we offer to professing Christians. If one claims to be a Christian, one must
follow the teachings of Christ. It is
dishonest to invent one’s own brand of ‘Christianity’. And so it is with
Islam. How can anyone claim to be a Muslim, yet fabricate his own peaceful
version of Islam in contradiction of the teachings and example of Muhammad
that perpetual jihad must be practiced to convert the entire world by
force?” — Dave Hunt, February, 2002, The Berean Call.
20 Reasons Not To Take the New Smallpox Vaccine
1. George
W. Bush has said of smallpox vaccination: “One of my concerns if we were
to have universal vaccination, some might lose their life,” The Times
(in London), November 9, 2001.
2. For each
million people vaccinated with the smallpox vaccine, as many as 250 could die,
according to the American Medical Association. Multiply 250 times 285 (millions
of Americans) and the possible deaths from universal smallpox vaccination could
equal 71,250, Journal of the American Medical Association, June 9,
1999, Vol. 281, No. 22, p. 2132.
3. “The
American Medical Association said on Tuesday it was not in favor of an
immediate mass U.S. smallpox vaccination program, saying the potential threat
of a bioterror attack did not warrant inoculating every American against the
disease,” Reuters, December 12, 2001.
4. “Right now
the risk of getting the vaccine is higher than the benefit. You could get
a secondary infection, a full-blown systemic infection,” Marie Rau, Panhandle
Health District nurse, quoted by The Spokesman-Review, November 20,
2001.
5. CDC director
Jeffrey Koplan has admitted that universal smallpox vaccination could unleash a
significant number of side effects. He said that because many parts of
our population do not have a “robust immune system,” a fair number of people
could have serious reactions. Koplan speaking on the PBS special
“Bioterror Propaganda,” aired by WETA, November 14, 2001.
6. If the
entire nation were to receive a smallpox vaccine, several thousand people would
likely develop encephalitis, an inflammation of the brain, Washington
Post, December 26, 2001.
7. Roger
J. Pomerantz, chief of the infectious disease department at Thomas
Jefferson University in Philadelphia, said that doctors have no idea what the
smallpox vaccine might do to people at the extremes of life — less than 2 and older
than 65. He said that an even greater concern would be its effect on
people with weakened immune systems from HIV infection, chemotherapy, or
transplants, Washington Post, December 26, 2001.
8. “Researchers
have been reluctant to recommend a new vaccination program which would use the
smallpox vaccine for the local population because the vaccine can cause disease
and death in persons with inadequate immune systems,” Science,
Vol. 277, July 18, 1997, pp. 312-313.
9. Routine
smallpox vaccination in the United States ended in 1972. Officials are hesitant
to resume the immunizations because the vaccine is the most reactive of all and
has been linked to serious side effects, including death, Reuters,
November 29, 2001.
10. Eight
printed pages of medical studies documenting the many serious side effects of
smallpox vaccination can be obtained at: www.whale.to/vaccines/smallpox.html. This site also documents problems with
other kinds of vaccinations.
Repercussions include serious brain and heart diseases, autism, abnormal
chromosomal changes, diabetes, various cancers and leukemias, plus
demyelination of nerve tissue years after vaccination. Of course, the percentage of risk for these
adverse reactions may be low. Are you
willing to risk your life?
11. The
U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that vaccination must not be forced on
persons whose physical condition would make such vaccination “cruel and
inhuman.” In other words, the state has
no right to command that an individual sacrifice his life in the name of public
health, Jacobsen v. Massachusetts, 197 U.S. 11 (1905).
12. By the
1920s, several British medical researchers documented that smallpox was not
only more common among the VACCINATED, but that the DEATH RATE from smallpox
was actually higher among those who had been vaccinated. This indicates
that the vaccine was ineffective and predisposed vaccinated persons to more
lethal disease, Vaccination, Dr. Viera Scheibner, Australia, 1993,
pp. 205-220.
13. Getting a
vaccination does not guarantee immunity. CDC, January 28, 1994.
14. By 1987,
scientific evidence indicated that the World Health Organization’s 13-year
global smallpox vaccination campaign may have awakened dormant HIV infection in
many vaccines, Times (in London), May 11, 1987.
15. Vaccines
made from animal substrate contain animal viruses that are impossible to filter
out. By 1961, scientists discovered that animal viruses in vaccines,
including smallpox, could act as a carcinogen when given to mice in combination
with cancer-causing chemicals, even in amounts too small to induce tumors
alone. They concluded that vaccine viruses function as a catalyst for
tumor production, Science, December 15, 1961.
16. Some of the
new smallpox vaccine doses will be created with animal substrate. Because
the vaccine will incorporate vaccinia, the cowpox virus, many wonder about
possible mad cow contamination. Fifty-five million doses of the new
vaccine will be created using a cell line dating back to 1966 and cultured from
the lung tissues of an aborted human fetus, World Net Daily, December 4,
2001.
17. The new
smallpox vaccine will be genetically engineered. Many scientists believe that
genetically engineered vaccines may be responsible for the global epidemic of
auto-immune disease and neurological dysfunction, American College of
Rheumatology, annual meeting, Nov. 8-12, 1998. Merck’s genetically
engineered hepatitis B vaccine, Recombivax HB, is a classic example. According
to Dr. Bonnie Dunbar of Baylor College of Medicine, many thousands of reported
adverse reactions to the hepatitis B vaccine include: chronic fatigue,
neurological disorders, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, and MS-like disease, Testimony
of Dr. Dunbar to Texas Dept. of Health, March 12, 1999. Over 15,000
French citizens sued the French government to stop mandatory hepatitis B
injections for school children because of resulting auto-immune diseases, Science,
July 31, 1998. Dr. John Classen has published voluminous data showing
that the hepatitis B and other vaccines are closely linked to the development
of insulin dependent diabetes, Infectious Diseases in Clinical Practice,
October 22, 1997.
18. The British
vaccine manufacturer Medeva has a horrendous record of contamination and
blunders. In 2000, the FDA found that Medeva was making vaccines in
conditions of filth, resulting in contaminated products. Medeva had been
illegally using bovine medium to culture its polio vaccines, then lied about
it. Medeva also used the blood of a Creutzfeldt-Jakob victim (mad cow) to
manufacture 83,000 doses of polio vaccine used for [against?] Irish
children. Nevertheless, the FDA allowed the USA to accept Medeva’s flu
vaccine (Fluvirin) for the year 2000, London Observer series:
October 20-26, 2000.
19. In 2001,
the British socialized health care system was reported to be in a state of
collapse, with many hospitals and labs operating in abysmal filth. Five
thousand people die each year from infections contracted in British hospitals; 10,000
become deathly ill from such infections. Sterilization procedures are
barely adequate and said to be risking the spread of mad cow disease.
Government ministers are reportedly trying to hush up the
scandal, www.itn.co.uk, Jan. 6, 2001; The Sunday Times of London,
November 12, 2001.
20. The
U.S. Government apparently intends to conduct NO double-blind studies on
the safety and efficacy of the new smallpox vaccine. It has ordered 286
million doses, one for every man, woman, and child in America at a cost of $428
million. At least half of this vaccine will be delivered by Acambis PLC
of Great Britain. — by Amy Worthington
An Honorable Judge
Judge Roy Moore is the Chief
Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court.
He is one of the most honored judges in America, receiving numerous
awards for defending freedom. He is
also one of the most vilified justices in the world. A Baptist, and West Point graduate, Moore believes that our
nation was founded on Christian moral principles, and he sees no problem promoting
those virtues that made our nation great, through his public office. He recently placed a 5,280-pound Ten
Commandments monument in the Alabama Supreme Court. When he was a district judge, Moore fought to keep a Ten
Commandments plaque in his courtroom.
In a recent 9-0 decision,
Moore wrote a legal opinion which awarded custody of three teenagers to their
father, over their Lesbian mother.
Moore stated that homosexuality is “an inherent evil,” and shouldn’t be
tolerated. He said the Lesbian mother’s
relationship with a gay partner in southern California made her an unfit
parent, and that homosexuality is “abhorrent, immoral, detestable, a crime
against nature, and a violation of the laws of nature.” Moore quoted Scripture, historical
documents, and previous state court rulings to back his view.
Atheists, homosexuals, and
the like, are livid opponents of Justice Moore. There is probably no other judicial authority so hated by those
who detest God’s Law. The Bible instructs
us to pray for our leaders, who are God’s ministers for good, and a terror to
evil, Romans 13:1-6. Certainly,
Judge Moore needs our prayers, for his safety, protection, and courage to
continue standing up for moral truth.
Some in the Church of God
fear what would happen if moralistic Protestants proliferate in positions of
political power. They have unwarranted
fear that these professing Christians would turn on us nonconformist
Sabbath-keepers, like John Calvin did on Michael Servetus. This is foolishness. I would rather be governed by a man like
Moore rather than a man like Clinton.
If men of high moral character like Roy Moore, abandon the public arena,
it leaves the field exclusively to moral reprobates.
The Garden of His Delight
“The
vineyard of the LORD Almighty is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are
the garden of His delight,” Isaiah 5:7.
The
concept is beautiful, fully in accord with all I know about plants.
About
being rooted, a phrase I recall most often is: “rooted and established in
love,” Ephesians 3:17.
“So
then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in Him,
rooted and built up in Him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and
overflowing with thankfulness,” Colossians 2:6-7.
We
love, because He first loved us. Being thankful is the means for being rooted
and established in love. Being thankful is being mindful of the
love of the Father and of Jesus the Christ — love which stabilizes and
establishes us. Love for God is to obey God . . . to do so establishes us
in conviction and power! Jesus says: “If
you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know
the Truth, and the Truth will set you free,” John 8:32. Peter says: “We are witnesses of these
things, and so is the Holy Spirit, which God has given to those who obey Him,” Acts
5:32.
Branches
of the true Vine must have light: “whoever lives by the Truth comes into the
light” John 3:21. The earliest known word of the LORD is: “Let
there be light!” — this first declaration especially befits His nature and
character! “Children of light” are
children of the Creator of the heavens and the earth!
To
“seek His face” as we are enjoined to do, is to seek the Light — life and
strength for a branch or a seedling!
Light powers the physiology of a living plant, with air and water crucial
also; those two remind me of the Holy Spirit. —
contributed by Jeffrey A. Caldwell
Leaving the Good Life
“And as it was in the
days of Noe [Noah], so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man,” Luke
17:26. What were those days
like? What will God’s people have to do
during those days? It was a time of
prosperity and a “normal” life. People
who were not protected from the impending disaster ate, drank, and married
wives, and were given in marriage, until the very day Noah entered into the
ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all, verse 27. Noah had to faithfully leave the good life,
do what God told him to do, and as a result, he was protected from the
worldwide flood.
“Likewise also as it
was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank [no famine in Sodom, either],
they bought [no depression], they sold, they planted, they builded
[homebuilding stops during harsh economic times]; But the same day that Lot
went out of Sodom [at the urging of angels of God who persuaded him to leave,
and pulled him out] it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed
them all [the Sodomites]. Even thus
shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed,” verses 28-30.
Both Noah and Lot
were required by God to forsake the good life, and journey to an unknown
destination. Both Noah and Lot were
persecuted and ridiculed for their beliefs.
They had to exercise faith that God would protect them when there was
apparently nothing of which to be afraid.
Their faithful action of leaving the good life was coupled with the
Almighty fulfilling His promise as well.
At the return of the Messiah, we too will be called upon to leave the
good life, to forsake all, to even forsake the stuff in our houses, verse 31. Do not turn back, “Remember Lot’s wife,” verse
32. The “good life” is not what God has in store for us. He has something infinitely better.
“Be ye therefore
ready also: for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not,” Luke
12:40. At an unexpected time, even
unexpected by the saints. One shall be
taken, and another by his or her side shall be left. Where will they be taken?
As eagles to the body, so the saints will be gathered to Christ, who is
the body, Luke 17:33-37.
Will Christ Himself
come to take, to gather, His elect? No,
He will not. “And He shall send His
angels, with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His
elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other,” Matthew
24:31. Just like the angels guided
Lot out of Sodom. An angel may have
closed the door of the ark. So likewise, will the angels of God gather His
elect. When will this gathering
occur? At a time we do not expect. Why will it happen? To protect us from the wrath of God (Seven
Last Plagues).
“For God hath not
appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,” I
Thessalonians 5:9. Notice that it
does NOT say, “God hath not appointed us to Tribulation.” What it does say is that it is not God’s
will for us to go through the wrath of God during the Seven Last Plagues,
during the “Day of the Lord,” verse 2.
God will protect the elect so they will not suffer His wrath of the
Seven Last Plagues. Matthew 24
and Revelation give a time sequence of last day events — Seven seals:
first, False Prophets; second, War; third, Famine; fourth, Pestilence; fifth,
Tribulation; sixth, Heavenly Signs; and the seventh seal, which is composed of
Seven Trumpets (Day of the Lord). The
Seventh Trumpet is the Third Woe, which is composed of The Seven Last
Plagues. See the free booklet, “The
Key to the Book of Revelation.”
I Thessalonians
4:17 is not talking about the gathering of the elect, but the resurrection
at the return of Christ.
Making Evil Look Innocent
A
young school teacher in the Church recently told me that Harry Potter is just
fantasy, no worse than Alice in Wonderland and the Wizard of Oz. Unaware
of the pro-occult message, some Church kids have read the Harry Potter books,
and some have even seen the movie.
The author of the Harry
Potter series of books, J.K. Rowling, is openly anti-Christian, pro-witchcraft,
and pro-Satanist. The stark parallels
between Harry Potter and true Witchcraft should make every parent or
grandparent concerned about their young ones.
The Mother Goddess, Curses and Spells, Divination and Sorcery, Occult
Symbology, Black Magic, Evolution and Reincarnation, Demon Possession, Pagan
Holidays, Communing with the Dead, and more black witchcraft are evident in the
Harry Potter books, and movies.
Let’s be frank, we adults
have difficulty getting the message across to our kids!
One source of help
is the new Jeremiah Films 58-minute VHS NTSC video, “Harry Potter:
Witchcraft Repackaged, Making Evil Look Innocent.” Order this
resource for a suggested donation of $25 form Giving & Sharing, or borrow
it from our free lending library, operated by John Crissinger, former
Ambassador University Librarian, at Sharing Library, PO Box 581, Granville,
OH 43023.
God’s Holy Days
Do you know that God
has Holy Days, which reveal His plan of Salvation? Man has substituted his holidays: Christmas, Easter, New Year’s
Day, etc., in place of God’s Holy Days.
Because of this, man has lost sight of God’s wonderful plan of
Salvation, and man’s true destiny! Tom
Justus has condensed and reprinted Herbert W. Armstrong’s classic, “Pagan
Holidays or God’s Holy Days.” This
24-page tract is perfect for personal evangelism. Show it to your non-Sabbatarian friends. It clearly explains why we are to keep God’s
Holy Days. Order single copies, or
bulk, from: Church of God, Sabbath
Day, PO Box 1645, Springdale, AR 72765-1645.
—
written by Richard C. Nickels