Dear Brethren and Friends,
In America, Christianity is becoming more openly spoken of. President Trump has recently acknowledged God on various occasions, and that is a change from recent Administrations in the U.S. Movies and television programs depicting the life of Jesus Christ and other biblical subjects are being produced in contrast to the overwhelmingly violent presentations from Hollywood and various entertainment outlets.
Even high school and college students have made news headlines for assembling “to witness about Jesus Christ”. Currently, about forty percent of adults in the U. S. regularly attend church—either in person or online.
However, while this stands in contrast to Christianity’s declining acceptance in recent decades, it does not mean that people are turning to God through life-changing, deeply felt repentance.
The sad truth is that America’s professed Christianity is not based on that of the Bible. Counterfeit, deceptive religious practices, such as Sunday worship, the observance of Christmas, Easter, Halloween and other false traditions, have supplanted true Christianity.
In every nation where Christianity is named, false doctrines are taught instead of the Truth of God, as found in the pages of the Bible.
From its very beginning, the Church of God has been given the commission to preach the good news of the Kingdom of God “in all the world” (Mark 16:15). That was the message of Jesus Christ (Mark 1:14-15) and of those who have followed in His footsteps (Mark 16:20).
We might wonder about how we are being led and helped to accomplish this in our time. Remember, Jesus Christ is the Leader of the Church of God. God has given Him this job:
“And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church…” (Ephesians 1:22).
This has been true, without fail, throughout the existence of the Church, and it is now, as well. We have been given an open door to preach the gospel (Revelation 3:8), and we have this immutable promise that Jesus Christ is leading us:
“Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’ So we may boldly say:
‘The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?’” (Hebrews 13:5-6).
We must not let down as we wait for the return of Jesus. That entails our unwavering commitment to the Work given to us to accomplish. As the parable of the ten virgins (Matthew 25:1–13) shows, we all are each accountable to be ready and watching by keeping the true faith of Christianity and not compromising with God’s Word.
However, the Bible also reveals that not all of God’s people are doing this. Revelation 3:14–22 warns those of us who have grown complacent in our calling. It will take real effort to become zealous for the Christian Way of Life if we, like the self-proclaiming Christians of the world, think we already have it made.
Brethren, we can be successful in our calling! We can overcome sin! We can do and complete the Work of God given to us! This is possible because of who we are, for we are true Christians, and this is our proof:
“But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if
anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. And if Christ is in you, the body is dead
because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit [which] dwells in you” (Romans 8:9-11).
Having just completed observing the Passover and Days of Unleavened Bread, we now anticipate the Feast of Pentecost, to be observed on Sunday, June 1, 2025.
Let’s stay strong and faithful to God and Jesus Christ. Remember, we are to shine as lights to those around us (Matthew 5:14); a world held in the chains of deception by its ruler, Satan the Devil
(1 John 5:19).
In Christ’s Service,
Dave Harris