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Transcript of Pursuit Fall Issue 9
2 PURSUIT [email protected]
Hungry Hearts Ministries: PO Box 10334 Jackson, TN 38308 (731) 736-1055
Book Donation: $10.00 To receive a copy of this book, please contact:
God created you for a very special, inti-
mate, personal relationship. He made you just the way you are, because He loves you. He is calling you today to re-turn to Him, to enjoy that close relation-ship that comes from Knowing Him. Come learn how to get acquainted with the Living God. Come and learn how to “wait” on the Presence of God Almighty.
Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.
Hebrews 12:14
Do You Know God? By Elder Bill Shults
Come to Jackson, Come to the Feast
&
Change Your Viewpoint. Feast of Tabernacles 2012
(See page 12 for details)
Fall 2012 3
From Pastor Bill: An update on
things happening within the ministry.
4
Missions Update: An update on the status of our
work overseas. 5
Prophecy Now! Prophesies coming to
pass right now before your very eyes!
6
The Feast of Trumpets: An overview of the Jewish
Traditions concerning the Feast of Trumpets and how they correspond to our celebration of this Holy Day.
7
Commonly Asked Questions: What is Teshuvah?
10
The Government of God: An
overview of the Millennial Reign
of Christ and our place in it as
children of god.
13
The Intimacy of Atonement: How to reverence the Day of Atonement and have an intimate encounter with your Savior.
14
The Power of Attitudes: A powerful
article explaining how understanding
attitudes is a vital key to changing your life.
16
Inside this issue:
...the WORD is very near
you; it is in your MOUTH
and in your HEART so you
may OBEY it.
Deuteronomy 30:14
Table of Contents
Pursuit Magazine is published by
Hungry Hearts Ministries
PO Box 10334
Jackson TN 38308.
(731) 736-1055.
Editor, Evangelist Kelly McDonald
Design, Kelly Vonner
Contributors, Elder Bill Shults, Evangelist Kelly McDon-
ald, Deaconess Sandy Clifford, Freda Sims
Published at Allegra Print and Imaging, Jackson TN.
Pursuit Magazine is published for FREE Distribution in
the Public interest.
No part of this magazine may be reproduced without per-
mission. All rights reserved.
Come to Jackson, Come to the Feast
&
Change Your Viewpoint. Feast of Tabernacles 2012
(See page 12 for details)
4 PURSUIT [email protected]
As the summer gets hot
and the days are long, we
are turning our attention to
the Feast of Tabernacles.
At HHM we think about
the Feast all year long. It is
the best time of the year; it
is the time we all long for. To prepare ourselves
mentally, financially, emotionally and spiritually for
the Feast of Tabernacles, we undergo the season of
Teshuvah. Teshuvah is a Hebrew word meaning to
make the turn. Rosh Hashannah means the head of
the year, the time when the turn is made. During the
sixth month, Elul, we go through a process of repen-
tance, introspection and financial analysis. We make
goals for the upcoming year. We go on a juice
cleanse so that the Fast on Atonement is not so harsh.
We analyze our personal income statements and bal-
ance sheets. The idea is to prepare for the Day of
Atonement and the Feast of Tabernacles.
We go through a four week process during Teshuvah,
one that we have developed over many years. During
the first week we really do a deep internal spiritual
repentance towards God. We make a sin list that we
will burn just prior to the Day of Atonement. This is
not a cursory examination, we really take the time
during the first week of Teshuvah to take a hard look
at ourselves and come clean with the Lord. It is rela-
tively easy to stop the sins of the hands, those things
that we do to displease God. It is considerably harder
to really get into the thinking process in our mind that
causes us to do those things. It is even harder still to
examine the emotional component inside of our sub-
conscious ness that causes the poor thinking. We rec-
ognize our flaws as human beings to the God of All
Creation, desiring that He clean us and wash us and
make us holy. This coming clean with God is what
opens the door for intense, personal Presence from
the Lord Jesus Christ. He knows that we do/did all of
those things. Our willingness to admit our faults to
Him really improves our relationship with Him.
The second week we devote our attention to pray for
our unsaved family members. We have an open win-
dow in Heaven during this time, so once we have re-
pented, we press in to help others. The third week we
pray for the Presence of God during the Feast of Tab-
ernacles. That He will show up in a real and tangible
way for the people who come to the Feast. That He
will make such a move in their life that they will be
changed forever. The fourth week of Teshuvah, we
seek His face for the personal encounter of a lifetime
on the Day of Atonement.
We are commanded to bring an offering on the Holy
Days according to how the Lord has blessed you.
How can we do that if we never look at our finances
to know if we have been blessed? We set up and ana-
lyze income statements and balance sheets. We set
up budgets and analyze what is good and what needs
to be better. We figure out how and where God is
blessing us, and make our offerings accordingly. It is
truly amazing how much stress it relieves to
straighten out your finances.
We also set up goals for the year. We live our lives
on purpose to serve the Living God. Serving God
includes but is not limited to: nurturing our families,
working well at our jobs, building our homes, and
building wealth. It is not wrong to work hard, save
and invest for the future. If we are unwilling to care
for ourselves and our families, how can we expect
others to help us in our time of need? We have
Brethren in hunger and deprivation all over the world,
if we in the USA, are unwilling to work to build
wealth, who is going to help those overseas?
We are organized around and focused on the manifest
Presence of Jesus Christ. We work the last month of
summer before the Feast Days to make it the best
Feast ever. We strongly desire the manifest Presence
of God during the Fall Holy Days. We are fully de-
voted to prepare ourselves for His Presence in our
lives during the Feast and
over the course of the up-
coming year.
God Bless. Bill Shults
From Pastor Bill
Fall 2012 5
The drought in Kenya is very severe. For several
years our brethren have experienced total crop failure.
This year the crops failed even
in Meru County, which has pre-
viously produced food during
the drought.
June 18-23 Josphat held mis-
sions in Erimet to rebuild the
church destroyed by Islamist
terrorists. The Pastor in Erimet
still is in need of all the basic
necessities of life. Josphat has been given land to
build a church, but they are lacking the funds to do
so. In Kenya land is available for free, if the recipient
will build on the land and develop it.
The church in Kisii is doing well and is growing. I
did not get an update from Pastor Moses.
These brethren will need food aid through January
2013. They are in need of funds to build churches,
and to print books. If you are led to help please mark
your donation: Missions, Kenya.
Pastor Mohanarao in India is doing well. He suffers
from a lack of funds, and with some health issues, but
he continues to “get it done.” He is requesting funds
for 100 Bibles in the native lan-
guage of Telegu, this will require
$300.00.
They had a great Pentecost, and
even had one lady baptized into
the Faith. It broke my heart when
he wrote that they did not have
the funds to eat. They could not
even eat a meal together for the Holy Day, yet were
joyous over one baptism. That is dedication to the
Kingdom of God.
Pastor Mohanarao wrote me over the weekend and
told me that the printing of Clean and Unclean is fin-
ished in India and that he has sent me two copies. So
from the Feast of Tabernacles, we have printed in In-
dia, 5000 copies of Holy Time With God, and Free-
dom Under the Law of God, and 2000 copies of
Clean and Unclean.
I finally heard from Pastor
Whitworth. The Chaplain of the
prison retired and two new peo-
ple have been assigned the job.
One of them, an Episcopal cleric,
does not like the Messianic
movement and is responsible for
banning multiple copies of our
magazine. She is making it hard
for the men to operate the congregation in the Prison.
Pastor Whitworth explained that he had written me
twice, thanking me for the Passover funds. We did
not get those letters. He also wrote that he is up for
parole soon and may be released. We are directed to
work with Sandy’s friend Ron McKown. These men
need prayer urgently to keep this congregation to-
gether.
HUNGRY HEARTS MISSIONS UPDATE
Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in
heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go
and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the
name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded
you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of
the age.”
Matthew 28: 18-20
6 PURSUIT [email protected]
The borrower is servant to the lender. As this debt
crisis unfolds in Europe this adage from the Lord is
proving more and more true everyday. There are
ramifications in Europe, Asia and America from this
explosion of unpayable debt.
In Europe almost half of the
economies are weighed down
by huge debts built up to pay
fantastic wages, benefits and
retirement pensions to their
government workers. The
other half of their economies is less indebted and has
undergone structural reforms to increase the produc-
tivity of their economies. So roughly half of Europe is
growing and strong, and the other half is brittle and
unwilling to change. This sounds very much like
Daniel’s prediction of half iron and half miry clay.
The strong economies are being asked to bailout the
weak half. As they are persuaded to provide the loans
for the weaker economies, the stronger ones are de-
manding control. Germany is consolidating Europe
under its control in a way it never could by force. The
old territory of the Holy Roman Empire is coming un-
der German control financially. Germany made the
required changes to not only avoid the debt crisis, but
also to put its National Corporations on the cutting
edge of productivity and innovation. Germany’s re-
covery is export driven and driven by the kinds of ex-
ports not easily copied by lower cost rivals.
The combined economy of the EU is slightly larger
than that of the US. Germany is the fourth largest na-
tional economy and it is growing over 5% a year.
This German economic engine will drive the EU into a
dominant position. Germany as the lender is requiring
the kinds of structural changes in all of Europe that it
made in the nineties. This will further put the eco-
nomic growth of Europe on overdrive.
The USA by contrast has merely stumbled along. We
have not solved our debt crisis in fact, our debt is not
altogether different from that of Greece. We have
taken our debt from $10 trillion to $16 trillion in just
under four years. We are insolvent. Sixty nine per-
cent of this is being financed on a very short term ba-
sis, which means that any increase in our interest rates
will render us unable to pay our debts. This will result
in the collapse of our currency and will result in hyper
inflation. Our personal debts in the USA are not doing
any better. US households still owe nearly as much as
we did at the outset of the crisis. Much of the decline
in US household debt has been defaults by those who
were unable to pay them.
As all of this unfolds, Europe is arming for war, Rus-
sia is arming for war and China is arming for war.
These three power blocs are building and fielding next
generation weapons systems. The USA is scheduled
to undergo sequestration budget cuts on Jan 1 with
half coming out of our defense budget. We are cur-
tailing our weapons development and procurement.
America is war weary and ready to stick our head in
the sand. The EU, Russia and China are the main
military players listed in the Battle of Armageddon
and it seems like we are stepping out of their way.
In the United States over the course of my life, I have
seen an astonishing decline in morality. Sin is raging
everywhere and very few seem to mind. Even in
church it is considered judgmental to confront sin.
We break God’s Laws and Commandments in ways
completely consistent with those of the ancients. How
can we believe that we will not receive the same fate?
The Leaders and officers of any and every church are
charged by God Almighty to confront he sins of the
people and to turn them back into compliance with His
Word. Yet, the people refuse this kind of leadership,
preferring instead to be comforted in their sin. Ameri-
cans seem to want a religion without consequences, a
God who does not mean what He
says. God is not going to apologize
to Sodom and Gomorrah.
Bill Shults
Our World: Prophecy Now! (Add description)
Fall 2012 7
Having been asked to write an article on this
High Holy Day, the first question I pondered is
“Where to begin”? One of the things I love so much
about the Holy Days of God is that there are so many
layers of meaning to each one. This is true of all of
God’s ways. They all have layers like an onion. If
you go through one layer, there are still many more
layers to go through. If you are observing a day that is
recognized as a traditional “Christian” holiday like
Easter, ask yourself how many layers with that day
have to do with God? If there is only one or maybe
two layers of meaning and then some strange tradi-
tions to that day, do more investigation into the actual
origin of it. You may be surprised by your findings.
The first mention of the feast of Trumpet is in
Leviticus 23:23-25: “Then the Lord spoke to Moses,
saying, ‘Speak to the children of Israel, saying: ‘In
the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you
shall have a Sabbath-rest, a memorial of blowing of
trumpets, a holy convocation. You shall do no cus-
tomary work on it; and you shall offer an offering
made by fire to the Lord’” (NKJV). This day is sup-
posed to be a memorial but a memorial of what? Is
not a memorial about remembering something? Well
it just does not say what we are to remember! Perhaps
a word study on these verses can help us gain under-
standing. Strong's Concordance lists the word memo-
rial as zikron, number H2146. It means a memento [or
memorable thing, day or writing]; - memorial (17X),
remembrance (6X), records (1X). That was really
helpful! The word translated as “Blowing of Trum-
pets” is teruah, number H8643 and it means, “clamor,
i.e. acclamation of joy or a battle-cry, esp. clamor of
trumpets, as an alarm: - shout (11X), shouting (8X),
alarm (6X), sound (3X), blowing (2X), joy (2X), jubi-
lee (1X), loud noise (1X), rejoicing (1X), sounding
(1X). (Yes, at this point my eyes are crossing too!)
We now know that we are to celebrate a day,
blowing trumpets as a memorial. Now my curiosity is
peaked, and I began to think: Who might have some
idea about what this Day means? The Jewish people
probably have some good thoughts on this since they
have been celebrating it for so long! In Judaism, as in
Christianity, there are many differing opinions about
the meaning of the Feast of Trumpets. But there are
some that seem to stand out more than others. So we
will just skim the surface of some of these. First of
all, Jewish thought has four names given to this
Day. They are: Rosh Ha-Shannah (literally meaning
“the head of the year”), Yom Teru’ah (Day of Blowing
the Horn, Day of Trumpets or Feast of Trumpets),
Yom ha-Din (the Judgment Day), and Yom ha-
Zikkaron (the Day of Remembrance) (from Jewish
Virtual Library, in the article called “Rosh Ha-
Shannah”). The Jewish people observe this Holy Day
on the first two days of the Hebrew month of Tishri,
which usually falls in September or October. In the
Bible, the Feast is to be celebrated only one day; the
two-day Feast arose out of the difficulty of determin-
ing when the new moon actually appeared. Some say
that this can go on for as long as three days.
How did the Jewish New Year come to be
celebrated in the fall, on the first day of the seventh
month? According to the Mishnah, Adam and Chavah
(Eve) were created on Rosh Ha-Shannah. Jewish
Sages came to this by rearranging the Hebrew letters
of the very first word of the Scriptures: Beresheet
(Bet, Reish, Aleph, Shin, Yod, Tav) into Aleph
B'Tishri (Aleph, Bet, Tav, Shin, Reish, Yod) meaning
“on the first of Tishri”. This is how this date became
associated with the celebration of creation from
Adam's perspective. In other words, Trumpets is the
anniversary of the sixth day when man was created. I
can see where Adam would have been created on this
day, but maybe not Eve (this is my personal opin-
ion). I will hold this thought for later.
(Continued on page 8)
The Feast of Trumpets By Deaconess Sandy Clifford
8 PURSUIT [email protected]
As stated earlier, this Day is also called the
Day of Remembrance in reference to the command-
ment to remember to blow the shofar to coronate God
as King of the Universe. The blast of the shofar is
meant to jolt us from our sleep. We are to remember
who we really are by remembering that the Lord is our
King. I'll quote part of a paragraph from the Jewish
Virtual Library article. “The theme of God as King is
particularly stressed on Rosh Ha-Shannah because of
the day's association with His judgment. During the
prayers of the day, it is necessary to recite ten Biblical
texts which have the theme of God as King
(malkhuyyot); ten which have the theme of God as He
Who remembers (zikronot); and ten which have refer-
ence to the shofar (shofarot). These are explained as
God saying, "Recite before Me on Rosh Ha-Shannah
malkhuyyot, zikhronot and shofarot: Malkhuyyot so
that you may proclaim Me King over you; zikhronot
so that your remembrance may rise favorably before
Me; and through what? Through the shofar.” There
are so many places in Scripture, where Christ is called
King. A few references include Psalm 2:6, Psalm
44:4, Psalm 47 (which is recited 7 times on Rosh Ha-
Shannah). In I Timothy 6:15 and Revelations 19:16,
He is called King of Kings and Lord of Lords. In He-
brews 7, He is called a priest forever according to the
order of Melchizedek. Melchizedek in Hebrew means
King of Righteousness.
From the Jewish Virtual Library article:
“Maimonides (Yad, Teshuvah 3:4) writes; ‘Although it
is a divine decree that we blow the shofar on Rosh Ha-
Shannah, a hint of the following idea is contained in
the command. It is as if to say: 'Awake from your
slumbers, ye who have fallen asleep in life, and reflect
on your deeds. Remember your Creator. Be not of
those who miss reality in the pursuit of shadows, and
waste their years in seeking after vain things which
neither profit nor save. Look well to your souls and
improve your character. Forsake each of you his evil
ways and thoughts.’”
A strong theme of repentance and judgment
are connected with this Day. Our goal should be to
make sure that we are right with God and not counted
among the wicked. According to Jewish tradition, on
Rosh Ha-Shannah the destiny of the righteous, the
tzaddikim, are written in the Book of Life and the des-
tiny of the wicked, the resha'im, are written in the
Book of Death. However, people have ten days from
Trumpets until Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) to
repent before their fate is sealed. Once Yom Kippur is
over, a person’s fate is said to be decided for the entire
upcoming year. We know that God has the Book of
Life. Exodus 32:33, Psalm 69:28, Luke 10:20, He-
brews 12:23, Philippians 4:3, Revelation 20:12-15 all
mention or reference this Book.
This is all very interesting. How do we as
Christians connect to these things? I have already
mentioned several New Testament Scriptures. So that
is a start. We know that when we accept the forgive-
ness of God and we repent of our sins we are washed
clean by the precious blood of Jesus. At this point we
make Him King of our lives. We are to repent of our
sins as we commit them. We need to always stay
mindful of our spiritual condition at all times, not just
once or twice a year. Now we all should know this
already, but we become forgetful throughout the
year. But why not get deeper during this time of the
year?
There are several jewels in a book by John D.
Garr, Ph.D, called “Living Emblems, Ancient Sym-
bols of Faith” in his chapter on the shofar. Dr. Garr
states that the binding of Isaac by Abraham (called the
akedah) is the foundation of the sacrificial system
given in the Torah. As Christians we understand the
akedah looks forward to God our Father willingly sac-
rificing His Son, Jesus (Yeshua), on Passover to pay
the penalty for our sins so that we can have access to
Him. Because Abraham was willing to sacrifice Isaac
on the altar, God sent an angel to stop Abraham. God
then provided a ram for Abraham to sacrifice in-
stead. For the Jewish people, hearing the sound of the
shofar is to remind them of God’s mercy toward Fa-
ther Abraham and Isaac. For Christians, it should re-
mind us of Jesus’ sacrifice for us.
According to ancient Jewish thought, it
was God who blew a shofar made from
the left horn of that ram at Mt. Sinai.
This particular event happened on Feast
of Weeks or Pentecost when God gave
His holy Torah (teachings or law). At
this time, He was also calling Israel to be a separate
and a holy people. We are also called to be a separate
(Continued from page 7)
(Continued on page 9)
Fall 2012 9
and a holy people. We are not to be a people hiding
out from the world, but instead we are to be a people
who bring the light of Christ to a lost and dying
world. We are to sound the shofar, the alarm, and to
call others to a holy life.
How does this relate to the Feast of Trum-
pets? According to Dr. Garr, beginning in the previ-
ous Hebrew month of Elul, the shofar is sounded daily
except on the first day, the last day and each Shabbat,
urging the people to examine their conduct and their
relationships with God and man. If you add the thirty
days of the month of Elul and the ten days from Trum-
pets to Atonement called the Days of Awe, you arrive
at the number forty. These are forty days of repen-
tance and soul searching which line up with Israel's
forty years in the wilderness and the time given for
Ninevah before God's judgment. The trumpets blown
during Elul are an alarm blast to “stop!” and reflect on
our own mortality and morality. Moreover, it is a time
to shema, which means to hear and obey. The thirty
days prior to Feast of Trumpets is also referred to as
Teshuvah, which means to return.
In our church, we go through a serious time of
Teshuvah. During this thirty day season we go through
deep, personal reflection and repentance. We strive to
go into this season with our robes washed clean in the
blood of Jesus. We look into ourselves to see where
we fall short and where we need to work to get sin out
of our lives. The Feast of Trumpets represents judg-
ment so we want favorable judgment passed on us.
In I Corinthians 11:31 Paul writes, “For if we would
judge ourselves, we would not be judged.” We need
to stay focused on being right with God, doing His
work, and striving towards the goal. What is the
goal? We are called to be “a kingdom of priests to our
God” and we shall reign on the earth according to
Revelation 5:10 and I Peter 2:9. According to Paul in
II Timothy 4:8 we are destined to receive a crown of
righteousness, “which the Lord, the righteous Judge,
will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but
also to all who have loved His appearing.” According
to I Corinthians 9:24-27, we are to be striving for an
imperishable crown. We need to strive to live up to
His standards. This does not mean salvation by works
but letting Jesus do His work in us and through
us. Why do we need this crown of righteousness? We
need this so that, when Jesus (Yeshua) is reigning on
this earth for one thousand years as King of kings and
Lord of lords, we can cast our crowns at His feet as we
worship Him! He is worthy! He paid the ultimate
price for us. He brought us out of darkness and into
light!
Now it really should not take us forty days to
get right with God and to search ours hearts. As a
church and individually we do this during the first
week of Teshuvah. The next week is praying for
unsaved family members. During the third week we
make plans for the upcoming year and ask God’s help
and blessings during the upcoming year. Why not add
praying for reaching new people and for God's guid-
ance for church growth to that list? During the fourth
week, we spend time in the presence of God. This
should be a very special time between God and our-
selves.
The sounds of the shofar are very important,
and there are four of them. The first blast is teki’ah
and it is a long blast. The next blast is called shevarim
and it is three medium blasts signifying repen-
tance. The third blast is called teru'ah and it is nine
short, staccato blasts of alarm to awaken the soul. The
last blast is called the teki’ah ha’gedolah (the great
blast). Quoting Dr. Garr, "...the teki'ah represents the
blast that enthrones the King. The enthroning of God
as King must always outweigh the sobbing repen-
tance, for it is only through the grace and mercy of the
Eternal that the penitent is forgiven and given life.”
Earlier in this article, I mentioned the tradition
that Adam was born on the Feast of Trumpets. This
reminded me of a video put out by Perry Stone of
Voice of Evangelism (VOE). The title of the video is
“Prophecy in the Heavens”. Perry Stone concluded
from extensive research and evidence that Jesus was
born on Feast of Trumpets in either 2 or 3 B.C. The
first Adam and Second Adam born on the same date?
Fascinating! Let us also consider this: if Adam was
created on trumpets, that means the earth was given to
man to tend and to keep on Feast of Trumpets. We
have not done a very good job. The earth’s history is
filled with nations that had righteous leaders and also
wicked leaders. It seems like history has had more
wicked leaders than righteous ones. God has helped
mankind by giving us His Torah so that we can gain
wisdom in righteousness. God sent His only Son to
die for us so that we can be saved from God’s
wrath. As humans we have basically done things our
(Continued from page 8)
(Continued on page 15)
10 PURSUIT [email protected]
A big misconception people have about Te-
shuvah is that it is simply just a Jewish thing that we
as Christians should not observe. However, nothing
could be farther from the truth! The setting of Teshu-
vah begins in the Holy Bible. In Haggai 1:1-11, God
speaks to the Israelites on the first day of the sixth
month on the Hebrew Calendar, which is called Elul.
In these verses, God commanded the Israelites to give
careful thought to their ways. The Israelites had ne-
glected the work on the house of the Lord and occu-
pied themselves with their own projects. God even
explains that they planted much but harvested little.
Their harvest was reduced because they did not give
the proper attention to God’s house. He tells them that
He sent a drought on their crops and on their labor so
that they were not blessed in what they did. What is it
God is asking them to do in these verses? God is ask-
ing them to return to him! The root word for Teshuvah
is shoob or shoov and it means to return to where you
came from. Each of us has been made a new creature
in Christ and has become members of God’s heavenly
temple. The problem is that we have gone astray since
being made new. We have to turn around and go back
to the one who made us new. We have to go back to
the new, Christ-like creature we are supposed to be!
The month of Elul in Jewish culture is a time of com-
ing back to God. In the land of Israel they used to
blow the shofar during this month as a reminder to
people to “wake up” and return to God. Throughout
the year we have been giving attention to our own per-
sonal affairs and we have not been tending to the
house of the Lord as we should. The house of the Lord
is not just the physical house, but also the spiritual
house of believers. By not serving in our spiritual gifts
as we should, the body of Christ has suffered neglect!
This is something we must return to doing - tending to
the Body of Believers! Because we have neglected
Christ’s Body, we have lack in our lives. Whenever
we are not living right or not operating in our gifts and
talents we are neglecting the work on the house of the
Lord. We wonder why we do not have the harvest of
people living God’s ways as a result! The first day of
Elul is when the days of Teshuvah begin and they con-
tinue for 30 days until the Feast of Trumpets. It is said
in Jewish thought that the Feast of Trumpets is the day
when God judges your year. On the feast of Trumpets
every human alive has their name written in the book
of the righteous, the book of the wicked, or the book
of the intermediate. . If a person did not properly re-
pent during the thirty days of Teshuvah, then they
have ten days’ grace to make things right with God.
These ten days, beginning with Trumpets and going
through the Feast of Atonement, are known as the
days of Awe. During this time period, a person has the
opportunity to have their name changed from one
book and put in another book. Because each of us
wants to have our name written in the book of the
righteous on Trumpets, we follow steps to get espe-
cially close to God during this time
of the year.
At Hungry Hearts, we actively pur-
sue the Lord’s words through the
prophet Haggai to “Consider your
ways” during the month of Elul. For
this reason, during the four weeks of
Teshuvah, we spend serious time
considering our ways this past year.
During the first week, we repent by writing our sins on
a piece of paper (called a sin list). We spend time ex-
amining our actions and going through our heart to dig
out the sins buried deep within our intent, mind, will,
and emotion. We burn these lists on the weekly Sab-
bath before Atonement so that we go into God’s pres-
ence fresh and clean from our past year’s sins. During
the second week of Teshuvah, we pray for our lost
family members. Each of us has family members that
are not as close to God as they should be, and we want
them to repent so their names can be written in the
book of the righteous. During the third week we ex-
amine how we have been blessed by the Lord since
the previous year’s Feast of Tabernacles. We write
down all of our assets and all of our debts on a sheet
of paper and look at our net worth. We review how
much money we made this past year and we make
goals for the upcoming year. There is Biblical evi-
dence, found in the Torah, for doing this. In Numbers
13, Moses sent out 12 spies throughout the Promised
Land to explore the land and bring a report about the
good things in the land. The interesting thing is that
the 12 spies went out to explore the land at the time of
the first ripe grapes. The grapes first ripen in Israel
Commonly Asked Questions: What is Teshuvah?
Fall 2012 11
during the summer months and are harvested just be-
fore the Fall Feasts. Since the spies were gone for
forty days, it is likely that some of their expedition
occurred during the days of Teshuvah! We are to go
through the promised land of our life and find God’s
Kingdom provision just as the spies went through the
land and found a single cluster of grapes that took two
people to carry! We should be able to identify the
blessing of God in our lives and give a good report as
to what the Lord has done. While we look at our
physical blessings from this past year, we should also
look at our spiritual blessings. Did you grow in your
walk with Christ? Do you have more word in you this
year than last year? Did you fulfill your Kingdom as-
signments passed down from your Pastor or other
church leader? Did you overcome sins in your life?
These are equally important parts of God’s Kingdom
provision in our lives. We also ask God for the things
we need during this third week. We ask for things
such as a higher salary, more net worth, and greater
spiritual growth. We make goals to achieve these
things because faith without works is dead (James
2:20). The Feast of Tabernacles is the feast when the
Israelites would give God thanks for the harvest he
gave them during the year. One of the purposes for
making a physical and spiritual inventory of our lives
is so that we can show up before God at the Feast of
Tabernacles and give him thanks for the physical and
spiritual harvest in our lives this past year! During the
fourth week of Teshuvah, we spend time in intimate
worship with God Almighty. We spend time in the
secret place of the Most High mentioned in Psalm 91,
preparing to encounter Him during the Fall Festivals.
The time of Teshuvah is also
called the days of the Open
Windows of Heaven. It is the
time to ask God for things,
whether it be for your family to
turn to God or for financial
prosperity. In Isaiah 55:6 God said, “Seek God when
He is at hand; Call upon Him when He is near” (The
Holy Bible, New International Version). During Te-
shuvah, you are closing in on the Fall Feast Days. The
Lord is at hand and He is near. It is the time when we
can call to Him and He will especially hear our
prayers.
The Ten Days beginning with Trumpets and continu-
ing through the end of Atonement are known as the
Ten Awesome Days or the Days of Awe. During this
time a person who did not repent during Teshuvah has
the opportunity to return to God. For those who made
the necessary steps, the ten days of Awe are days
where God will show his awesome provision in your
life. During these ten days it would be wise to write
down the things that happen to you. The days of Awe
are a picture of what your upcoming year will be like.
If you experience car trouble during the days of awe,
then you can expect that you will have car trouble this
upcoming year. If you have a breakthrough at work,
then you can expect good things to happen at work.
Even if something negative happens during the days
of Awe, it gives us an opportunity to guard ourselves
from unnecessary trouble. Consider the example of the
car that had problems. Having this trouble during the
days of Awe gives you the warning to take extra spe-
cial care of your car during this time. This again
shows God’s awesome power and grace - that he
would warn us of events before they happen! In some
instances, God is showing us the attacks Satan will use
against us this upcoming year!
Teshuvah is a Biblically based time of the year for us
to return to God. If you will simply follow these sim-
ple steps, you will have a renewed Spirit and a tremen-
dous outpouring of God’s Spirit during the Fall Feast
Days!
Works Cited
All Scripture notations, unless otherwise noted, come
from: The Holy Bible. The New International Version.
International Bible Society. Grand Rapids, Michigan:
Zondervan Bible Publishers, 2002. Print.
Evangelist Kelly McDonald
Commonly Asked Questions: What is Teshuvah?
12 PURSUIT [email protected]
Change Your
Viewpoint
For seven days celebrate the Feast to the Lord at the place the Lord will choose. For the Lord your God will bless you in all your harvest and in all the work of your hands, and your joy will be complete. Deuteronomy 16:15
Feast of Tabernacles 2012
October 2012
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 30 1 2 3 4 5 6
7 8 9 10 11 12 13
14 15 16 17 18 19 20
21 22 23 24 25 26 27
28 29 30 31
All Suites Hotel
541 Carriage House Drive
Jackson, Tennessee
Come to Jackson, Come to the Feast!
September 30th to October 8th
Join us as we Celebrate with GREAT
JOY BEFORE THE LORD!!!!
Fall 2012 13
The Feast of Tabernacles is an annual cele-
bration held from the 15th day of the seventh month on
the Hebrew Calendar, called Tishri, until the 21st day
of the same month. When God brought the Israelites
out of Egypt, He commanded them to live in booths or
temporary dwellings. The Hebrew word translated as
booth is sukkah. During the Feast of Tabernacles, God
asked the Israelites to build sukkahs to remember their
journey out of Egypt. They were commanded to dwell
in these booths for the entire seven-day celebration. In
John 1:1-3, John records that, “In the beginning was
the Word, and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God. He was with God
in the beginning. The Word became flesh
and made his dwelling among us” (The
Holy Bible, New International Version).
The word translated as “dwelling” is a
word that refers to the temporary booths
God had the Israelites build in the wilder-
ness. Christ came down and dwelt among
us in a fleshly body, which is a temporary
dwelling! He will come again and dwell
with us for a temporary 1,000 year reign!
For Christians, the Feast of Tabernacles
is a celebration of Christ’s reign on planet earth. This
time period will be a time of peace, joy, and unparal-
leled prosperity because God’s Government will be in
control. We will participate in that government and
help administer it on planet earth.
For the last 6,000 years man has been ruling
the world his way. There are different types of govern-
ments, ranging from monarchies to dictatorships to
democracies. The key theme of each of these man-
made governments is that they are focused on man and
not focused on God. The laws of man’s governments
are arbitrary and unpredictable. Democracy, for in-
stance, allows for the people to choose the individual
or individuals that promise them the most ‘stuff’. For
the average voter, how his or her vote might affect
others is usually irrelevant. Even worse, as new offi-
cials are elected in a democracy, they change the laws
to undo the work of people who were in office before
them. This makes life unpredictable and unstable for
people in democracies (which is what the U.S. cur-
rently has). The officials who run for office in democ-
racies usually make great promises to the people to get
elected. Many times they do not fulfill the promises
they make, or they make promises that are impossible
to achieve! The conditions under other forms of rule
like Monarchies and Dictatorships are only as good or
bad as the person who is ruling. Even in our society
where we are supposed to be a nation of laws and not
a nation of tyrants, appointed and elected officials can
be bought with bribes or bought through lobbyists.
Where has man’s rule gotten us? It has
only given us strife, poverty, war, and
unrest throughout the world. There is
political instability throughout the
world based upon religious and ethnic
differences. There are impoverished
people throughout the world. Many of
these people have no hope to advance
their situation because there is a serious
lack of employment opportunities in
the third world! However bleak this
situation may seem, there is GOOD
NEWS! A Kingdom is coming where
everyone will have plenty of food to eat, water to
drink, and opportunities to better their situation! This
Kingdom will be ruled by Jesus Christ, the Savior of
all mankind, and alongside Him will be His children,
the FAMILY OF GOD.
The Family of God is the government of God,
and we will help Jesus Christ administer God’s Gov-
ernment on this planet for 1,000 years. When God cre-
ated Adam He was trying to establish His Kingdom on
earth at that time. The problem is that Adam and Eve
sinned in the Garden and gave that throne back to Sa-
tan the devil. God told Adam that he would die in the
day that he ate from the tree of the knowledge of good
and evil. After he ate from the tree, he did not die that
same day. However, the Bible informs us that a day
with the Lord is as a thousand years (Psalm 90:4).
(Continued on page 19)
Much has been given to
you and I to accomplish the
task of getting the gospel
out. Christ is demanding
that we use our gifts to
spread the gospel about
His law.
The Government of God By Evangelist Kelly McDonald
14 PURSUIT [email protected]
When those of us in the Sabbath community think
of feast days or “Holy Days”, we think of good
preaching, good food, good fellowship with the breth-
ren, and even giving gifts to friends and family. This
is certainly not the case with the Feast of Atonement.
Actually, the Day of Atonement is not a “feast” day at
all; it is a “fast day”. The King James Version of the
Bible calls the feast days holy convocations. This day
is truly a very holy day before the Lord and we are
required to treat it as such. In Leviticus 23:27-32, God
shares how we are to observe this most holy day.
Lev. 23:27-32, KJV “Also on the tenth day of
this seventh month there shall be a day of
atonement: it shall be an holy convocation
unto you; and ye shall afflict your souls, and
offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD.
And ye shall do no work in that same day: for
it is a day of atonement, to make an atonement
for you before the LORD your God. For what-
soever soul it be that shall not be afflicted in
that same day, he shall be cut off from among
his people. And whatsoever soul it be that
doeth any work in that same day, the same soul
will I destroy from among his people. Ye shall
do no manner of work: it shall be a statute for-
ever throughout your generations in all your
dwellings. It shall be unto you a sabbath of
rest, and ye shall afflict your souls: in the ninth
day of the month at even, from even unto even,
shall ye celebrate your sabbath. (The Holy Bi-
ble, The King James Version)
In verse 32 of Leviticus 23 the word afflict means to
humble, chasten, or abase one’s self. For this particu-
lar day, this means you are to fast food and drink for
the whole 24 hours from evening to evening.
The whole chapter of Leviticus 16 describes in
great detail as to how Aaron, the High Priest, was in-
structed by God through Moses to offer the sacrifices
for the atonement for himself first, then his household,
and finally for the whole nation of Israel. This Day of
Atonement was the holiest day of the year, performed
only once a year behind the veil in the Holy of Holies
in the Tabernacle of Moses by the High Priest.
We, who are now liv-
ing at the end of the age, have
been offered a better and
more perfect way for the for-
giveness of our sins: the pre-
cious blood of Jesus our Savior.
Heb. 9:11-14, “But when Christ came as high
priest of the good things that are now already
here, he went through the greater and more
perfect tabernacle that is not made with human
hands, that is to say, is not a part of this crea-
tion. He did not enter by means of the blood of
goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy
Place once for all by his own blood, thus ob-
taining eternal redemption. The blood of goats
and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on
those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify
them so that they are outwardly clean. How
much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who
through the eternal Spirit offered himself un-
blemished to God, cleanse our consciences
from acts that lead to death, so that we may
serve the living God! (The Holy Bible, The
New International Version)
There is a period of approximately thirty days from
the first day of the sixth month on the Hebrew Calen-
dar up to the Feast of Trumpets called Teshuvah. This
is a Hebrew word meaning to repent or turn back. We
have to repent of our transgressions and turn back to
the law of God. As you know, sin is actually trans-
gressing the law of God. We at Hungry Hearts Minis-
tries utilize this time to do serious examination of our-
selves. We ask God to show us any areas of our lives
that need to be worked on. The more time you spend
with God during these days of Teshuvah, the more He
will reveal areas of your life that need your attention.
The more you repent the more forgiveness you will
receive, thus making you cleaner and cleaner. This is
the necessary protocol to prepare you to enter into this
most holy day so that you can have a great encounter
with your maker, the Lord God of all creation.
During this time of Teshuvah when God re-
(Continued on page 15)
The Intimacy of Atonement by Freda Sims
Fall 2012 15
veals a sin to you write it down. At Hungry Hearts, we
make a sin list and burn it the Sabbath before Atone-
ment. When we do this, we all close our eyes and see
bright red which we feel represents the blood of Jesus
covering our sins one more time. This is one of the
most precious things I have the experienced through
the years at Hungry Hearts Ministries.
When the time arrives for Atonement to begin,
we all arrive at our meeting place early. We gather in
the building wearing plain,
white garments for purity. We
also wear white because the
High Priest wore white on the
Day of Atonement. Prior to sun-
set we take communion and
then finish off the last of our
water. We each find the place
we want to sit and everyone is very quiet and sober.
The only light we have in the hall is a seven-branch
menorah. Intimate music is played as we all enter into
worship. Some lay prostrate on the floor, while others
may lie on their back or kneel or sit in their chair. Dur-
ing the evening portion of Atonement, we will wor-
ship for three to four hours. During the day portion of
this Holy Day, we meet the same way, dressed in
white. This time we do not take communion or drink
water because we have all been fasting. We will then
worship our creator God for approximately five hours
until sundown.
During this special and most intimate time
some of our members have seen and heard things in
the spirit that are most magnificent. Anyone that will
follow the protocol mentioned in this article to prepare
themselves for the Day of Atonement are sure to have
a wonderful and intimate experience with their crea-
tor, the Lord God of all creation.
Works Cited
The Holy Bible. The King James Ver-
sion. Holman Bible Publishers. Nash-
ville, Tennessee: Holman Bible Publish-
ers, 1979. Print.
The Holy Bible. The New International
Version. International Bible Society.
Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Bi-
ble Publishers, 2002. Print.
(Continued from page 14)
own way. We have told Him that we do not want or
need Him. The results are obvious.
Recently I watched a
television show on the geno-
cide in Rwanda in the
1990's. One million people
were tortured and killed
within one hundred
days. This is why we ulti-
mately need Jesus to return
and reign on this earth. These things have continued
all through history and will continue to happen. Hu-
mans without God are cruel and do not know how nor
do they want to rule justly. We need the fulfillment of
the Feast of Trumpets when Jesus' feet hit the Mt. of
Olives and He rules and reigns for one thousand
years!
The shofar was blown at the coronation of
kings and even in modern times at the inauguration of
presidents in Israel. The great trump in Isaiah 27:13
may be blown on the Feast of Trumpets for the ulti-
mate change in the earths’ rulership. This is when the
coronation of Jesus as King of Kings to rule from Je-
rusalem will take place! Let us make Him King of our
lives now! Zechariah 9:14 says, “The Lord God will
blow the trumpet (shofar)”. The Day of the Lord will
be horrible. But as with a woman in labor, who, after
she has given birth does not remember the pain at the
joy of a new child in her arms, so will be the returning
of our Lord Jesus Christ! Let us prepare ourselves,
look for His soon return and keep the Feast of Trum-
pets with great joy!
Works Cited
Holy Bible. New King James Version. Thomas Nel-
son, Inc. 1994.
Strong’s Concordance. Strong,
James. Nashville: Abingdon,
1980.
The Mishnah. “Sanhedrin 38b”.
Living Emblems. Garr, Dr. John
D. Restoration Foundation: At-
lanta, GA, 2000.
(The Feast of Trumpets...Continued from page 9)
16 PURSUIT [email protected]
Webster’s Dictionary defines the word atti-
tude as “a mental position with regard to a fact or
state; a feeling or emotion toward a fact or state; an
organismic state of readiness to respond in a charac-
teristic way to a stimulus (as an object, concept, or
situation). In the Greek, a word for attitude is phro-
neo, and one of its definitions according to Strong’s
Concordance is “to be (mentally) disposed (more or
less earnestly in a certain direction).” From these defi-
nitions, we can see that an attitude is a mindset or per-
spective that predisposes us to act a certain way. In
other words, an attitude determines what actions you
are likely to either take or not take. For an example,
consider a laid-back attitude. If you are operating in a
laid-back attitude then you are less likely to be easily
angered or overreact to a situation. Your attitude de-
termined your action. Understanding attitudes is ex-
tremely important and can help us overcome the at-
tacks of the evil one.
In the Garden of Eden, the serpent spoke to Eve and
tempted her. The Bible records, “Now the serpent was
more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God
had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say,
‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’? The
woman said to the serpent, ‘We may eat fruit from the
trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat
fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden,
and you must not touch it, or you will die.’ ‘You will
not surely die,’ the serpent said to the woman. ‘For
God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be
opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and
evil’” (The Holy Bible, New International Version,
Gen.3.1-5). We have a tendency to think from the text
that the serpent only spoke to Adam and Eve. While
Satan did speak to Eve with words, he actually was
conveying an attitude to them. The attitude or mind-
set that Satan conveyed to them was a mindset which
believes that you do not have to do what God wants
you to do. You can do whatever you want. You can
become your own god and choose for yourself. You
can do things your way and still have God’s blessing
at the same time.
This example in Genesis shows us the way that Satan
attacks us. He attacks us by speaking attitudes into our
hearts, minds, and spirits. In Ephesians 2:1-2, Paul
wrote, “As for you, you were dead in your transgres-
sions and sins, in which you used to live when you
followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the
kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in
those who are disobedient.” Some translations say in
verse 2 that Satan is the “Prince and the Power” of the
air. What we have to realize is that Satan the devil is
not just the prince and power of the air, but he is also
the prince and power of the air waves. Satan is con-
stantly broadcasting attitudes into your mind like a
radio station broadcasts radio waves into the air. How
do these attitudes begin to manifest in our lives and
how can we recognize them? Paul says in these verses
that Satan is the spirit at work in those who are disobe-
dient. The Greek word for disobedient literally means
a lack of faith. Satan begins by broadcasting into your
mind disbelief about God. Satan may put things into
your mind, such as: “Is the Sabbath really true?”;
“Does God really care what day of the week we wor-
ship on?”; “Do I really have to be filled with the Spirit
and speak in tongues?”; “Are the Dietary Laws neces-
sary for me to keep?”; “I’m not sure if those resurrec-
tions are really true”; “Is second tithing really neces-
sary today?”; or “God does not care if I keep Christ-
mas or Easter.” Each of these is designed to do the
same thing that Satan did in the Garden - doubt God.
The serpent started by making Eve question whether
God’s spoken word was true! He was also questioning
whether God’s word was necessary for their lives! The
whole purpose of these attitudes that Satan broadcasts
into your mind is simply an attempt to get you to step
backwards. When you give up one vital truth of the
Bible, you will give up another, then another, and oth-
ers until you have given up all of them. Your actions
will follow and then you will start to disobey. You
will start to break the Sabbath, keep easter and christ-
mas, stop praying in tongues, etc. This is why the
Greek word for disobedience can mean disbelief. The
attitudes that Satan broadcasts into your mind cause
you to lose faith in God’s word and they lead to dis-
obedience.
The Spirit of Disobedience begins with an attitude!
The same attitude Satan put forth to Adam and Eve
still exists today! We still want to disobey God. We
(Continued on page 17)
The Power of Attitudes By Evangelist Kelly McDonald
Fall 2012 17
want to do the things that look wise to us but not to
God. This attitude believes that God does not really
mean what he says. You can still do things your way
and his way. Practically apply this to your life. When
the Federal Government tells you that you owe 15% in
income taxes, you will pay 15% in
income taxes. We all obey this (or we
go to jail). However, when God says
to keep the Sabbath on the seventh
day, we like to say “Well, He did not
really mean that way” or “Well, God
changed it” (when clearly He has not).
This is an attitude of disobedience! It
all starts with questioning whether God said what He
clearly said. The Bible says that God does not change
(Malachi 3:6). People even get very emotional when
they talk about a truth of the Bible like the Sabbath.
Why? Because they have been influenced by an atti-
tude! Our attitudes make us very emotional even when
we are presented with a very easy decision logically.
If someone asked us if we were hungry, we could eas-
ily answer by saying “Yes” or “No”. When someone
shows us that God made the seventh day the Sabbath,
people want to argue that it really does not mean what
it clearly states. An ungodly attitude can rob you of
logic and lead you into grievous sins.
King David is an example of this. If you look at
David’s life, he was very focused on God and God’s
Kingdom work. After all, he was a man after God’s
own heart. Part of his Kingdom work was subduing
other nations. You have to understand that in the Old
Testament going to war was part of doing God’s King-
dom work. The events in the Old Testament were for
our learning today, so David’s warfare in the natural is
a picture and type of how we should fight spiritual
warfare. David had an incident where he allowed an
attitude to creep in and lead him into disobedience. In
II Samuel 11:1, David sends the men to go to war and
fight against the Ammonites. David, however, stayed
behind. He got out of bed one day around sunset and
decided to go up on his roof. He then saw Bathsheba
and sent for her. He committed adultery with her and
later had her husband, Uriah, killed. All of David’s
sins in this example came from his decision not to go
to war with his men. He did not pursue God’s King-
dom work! His decision not to go with his men came
from an attitude. It is not clear what attitude made
David stay behind, but it could have been an attitude
of laziness. Whatever attitude it was, it led him into
disobedience. David knew the Torah just as Adam and
Eve knew God’s command concerning the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil. David’s attitude made
him forget easy, logical decisions and pursue emo-
tional, fleshly interests. The devil then used his flesh
and his emotions against him and he committed sev-
eral sins. It all began with an attitude.
Another example in the Bible would be King Saul. He
was an individual who constantly operated in a Spirit
of disobedience. Most people do not realize this, but
Saul actually received the Holy Spirit, spoke in
tongues, and displayed the power of a changed life (I
Samuel 10:5-13). The problem is that King Saul al-
lowed attitudes to overtake him and lead him into sin
continually. Saul began by rescuing the people of Ja-
besh Gilead. Later, King Saul thought that he could do
whatever he wanted and still say that he was doing
God’s will. He erected a statute of himself and even
brought back plunder after God told him to completely
destroy the Amalekites (I Samuel 15). His attitude was
always one which was focused on pleasing people and
pleasing himself, but he did not please God. He had
attitudes of fear, doubt, and pride. He was so over-
come by these attitudes that he eventually lost the
Holy Spirit (I Samuel 16:14).
The problem is that we want to see things our way and
still have God’s Blessing. Saul sinned against God and
still wanted Samuel to honor him in front of the peo-
ple. This is one aspect of what I call the Pharaoh
Spirit. First of all, understand that Pharaoh’s heart was
hardened by God so that God’s mighty power would
be displayed in Egypt. At the same time, we can see
his attitude as an example for us today. Pharaoh dis-
obeyed the word of the Lord through Moses many
times, resulting in ten plagues. After the tenth plague,
he decided to finally let them go. The strange thing is
that he asked for a blessing on the way out. Exodus
12:31-32, “During the night Pharaoh summoned
Moses and Aaron and said, “Up! Leave my people,
you and the Israelites! Go, worship the Lord as you
have requested. Take your flocks and herds, as you
have said, and go. And also bless me.” This is the
way most of us act. We want to do things our way,
like Adam and Eve, and still enjoy God’s blessing (the
tree of life). The problem is that sin blocks the way to
the tree of life. If God had allowed Adam and Eve to
(Continued from page 16)
(Continued on page 18)
18 PURSUIT [email protected]
eat from the tree of life after partaking of the tree of
the knowledge of good and evil, they would have been
like Satan the devil who lives forever in a state of sin.
Satan cannot repent. We are purposefully blocked
from the tree of life so that we are not condemned to a
permanent destruction.
The attitudes in your life are a powerful concept to
realize. You need to recognize the attitude you have at
any given time and ask yourself: “Is this an attitude
from Satan?” If you are loosing focus of your King-
dom Assignments and not taking care of your personal
business, you can rest assured that the attitude you
have is from Satan the devil! Two typical attitudes are
laziness and pride. When you have an attitude of lazi-
ness, you fail to recognize the things that are impor-
tant in your life such as paying the bills on time, tak-
ing care of your family, and reading your Bible. This
attitude can lead you into sins such as sexual immoral-
ity, stealing, and lying because you are operating in
your flesh. When you have an attitude of pride you see
the entire world as centered on yourself and how you
can gain and acquire for yourself irrespective of oth-
ers’ wants and needs. Anything you might do for oth-
ers that appear positive is only coincidental. When a
person has an attitude of pride, he says things to please
people that they really do not mean. It is only an at-
tempt to get his way. Even his repentance can be
faked. Saul shows us this. After failing to destroy the
Amalekites in I Samuel 15, Saul told Samuel that he
repented. The problem is that he really did not repent
based on what he said after his admission of sin: “Saul
replied, ‘I have sinned. But please honor me before the
elders of my people and before Israel; come back with
me, so that I may worship the Lord your God’ ” (I
Samuel 15:30). Saul seems to admit his guilt but he
then asks Samuel to come with him so that he can be
honored in the sight of the people. When the wicked
King Ahab repented and the righteous King Hezekiah
repented, God forgave them and relented judgment.
Even David was told by the prophet Gad that he was
forgiven. God did not forgive Saul because he did not
genuinely repent. It is as simple as looking at his
words. The whole purpose of his admission of guilt
was so that Samuel would honor him and he could still
look important to other people. He was still focused
on what he wanted even after he committed a grievous
sin against the Lord. Laziness and pride are two of the
most destructive and dangerous attitudes, which led
David into sin and Saul towards losing the Holy Spirit.
When Adam and Eve partook of the tree of the knowl-
edge of good and evil the Bible says that their eyes
were opened. Their eyes became open to attitudes
which lead to disobedience. By listening to the ser-
pent, all of humanity was now vulnerable to the atti-
tudes that Satan might broadcast into their heart and
mind. When you look at the lives of Saul and David,
they were polar opposites. Saul sinned much and
obeyed a little, David obeyed much. The one thing
they have in common is that they were swayed by atti-
tudes. If an attitude can sway a man after God’s own
heart to sin, then how much more are you and I vul-
nerable to this today! The key to overcoming these
attitudes is found in what David confessed once he
had sinned. When David sinned, he said, “I acknowl-
edge my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not
hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the
LORD; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my
sin” (Psalm 32:5). The word translated iniquity in
these verses is the Hebrew word a von, and it means
perversity. David asks the Lord to forgive the iniquity
of his sin. In other words, he asks God to forgive the
perverseness inside of him that lead him into sin. Iniq-
uity is when we twist or pervert a situation in our mind
to justify why it is permissible for us to sin at that
point in time. Attitudes cause us to pervert situations
in this way. Our eyes then become open and we eat of
the fruit. The only way back to turn from attitudes that
lead to disobedience and gain access to the tree of life
is to be transformed by the renewing of your mind and
change the attitude of your mind (Romans 12:1)! You
must repent and turn back to God! The word repen-
tance means a change in your mind. We have to
change our minds from attitudes of disobedience to
attitudes of trust and faith. During this season of Te-
shuvah, examine your attitudes and weed Satan’s atti-
tudes out of your life so that he no longer has a foot-
hold.
Works Cited:
“attitude” Merriam-Webster.com. Merriam-Webster,
2012. Web. 24 June 2012.
All Scripture notations, unless otherwise noted, come
from: The Holy Bible. The New International Version.
International Bible Society. Grand Rapids, Michigan:
Zondervan Bible Publishers, 2002. Print.
Strong’s Concordance. Strong, James. Nashville: Ab-
ingdon, 1980. (accessed via e-sword application)
(The Power of Attitude...Continued from page 17)
Fall 2012 19
Adam did not live one day according to the Lord,
which is 1,000 years. He died at age 930. Christ came
as the second Adam. He will finish the one day that
Adam did not finish by establishing God’s govern-
ment on planet earth for 1,000 years. This is why
Christ’s reign is for 1,000 years.
How will this government be administered?
This government will be administered through the law
of God found in your Bible. In Isaiah 2:2-5, God says,
“In the last days the mountain of the Lord’s temple
will be established as chief among the mountains; it
will be raised above the hills, and all nations will
stream to it. Many peoples will come and say, ‘Come,
let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house
of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that
we may walk in his paths.’ The law will go out from
Zion, the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He will
judge between the nations and will settle disputes for
many peoples. They will beat their swords into plow-
shares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will
not take up sword against nation, nor will they train
for war anymore. Come, O house of Jacob, let us walk
in the light of the Lord.” God’s Law is going to go out
from Jerusalem to the other nations of the world to
teach them how to be holy, happy, and successful.
God wants every human being to be happy, but there
is a certain way of life we must live for us to be
happy. That way is known as the Law of God! The
Law of God, found in Genesis and Deuteronomy
shows us how God’s Kingdom will be administered.
First of all, every person will be given a plot of
ground as their permanent family inheritance. When
the Israelites entered into the Promised Land, God
asked them to divide up the land for each tribe in Is-
rael. Then each clan was allotted territory within their
tribal inheritance. A larger portion of land was given
to the larger tribes and a smaller portion to the smaller
tribes. That means that the land was divided evenly
based on what a person needed! In God’s Kingdom
there will be no more buying up land so that only one
person has all the land and power, as Isaiah 5:8 points
out, “Woe to you who add house to house and join
field to field till no space is left and you live alone in
the land”. In our nation, we have added house to
house. If you look at any populated area, houses are
joined very close together. In some large cities like
New York City, some areas have blocks of buildings
joined together with no space between! The reason
why this is so detrimental is because people do not
have enough land to find enjoyment and fulfillment in
life. People then get frustrated and start stealing, van-
dalizing, and joining in other forms of sin. Images of
people walking the streets in dirty clothes or living in
card board boxes are still very much apart of our mod-
ern world. Many cities even have slums and, due to
the poverty, high crime rates. In God’s Kingdom, such
a depravity will not exist. In the Kingdom of God,
every person will be given a tract of land. It will be the
perfect size of land for every person to find joy and
fulfillment in life. You will be allowed to do on your
plot of land whatever brings you the most joy in life!
Land can be used for whatever you wish to pursue.
You must have land for farming, to have a building for
a business, for office space, and many other pursuits.
If you look at your desires for this life, it involves
needing land. Every person will have an equal oppor-
tunity to make a living doing whatever brings them the
most happiness. The land was permanently given to
these tribes and the clans within each tribe. This
means that it could not be taken away! The verse from
Isaiah 5:8, which mentions houses being joined to-
gether and land being bought up can also refer to the
nationalizing of property and industry. When the gov-
ernment begins to nationalize something, they are lit-
erally buying up houses or industry so that no private
individuals are free to develop that particular area.
This means that they alone own it all, which is what
the verse says - “…till no space is left and you live
alone in the land.” Nationalizing industry means that
the government’s ideas alone are left in the land.
Some foreign governments (like Russia) have nation-
alized the oil industry, which removed private devel-
opment and discovery of oil. This process takes away
the ability of people to independently develop ideas.
Personalities and ideas will not be squelched in the
(The Government of God...Continued from page 13)
(Continued on page 20)
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Kingdom of God. Ideas and free thinking will be pro-
moted! This means that you will have the freedom to
create inventions and develop ideas that you believe
will bring the greatest amount of good to the greatest
amount of people. And, you will have plenty of room
to do it! If for some reason you squander your family
inheritance and are forced to sell it, you will get it
back in the Jubilee year, which is every fifty years.
This prevents generational poverty, which has plagued
even American society.
God’s government will be a government of plenty and
give people opportunities to climb out of poverty. First
of all, there will be no prisons. In God’s government,
if a person cannot pay a debt or he steals money, he
will be required to work as a servant until he pays the
debt he owes or repays what he stole. This means peo-
ple who owe money will have to work alongside peo-
ple who are successful. This will allow them the op-
portunity to learn how to be successful themselves so
they no longer have to resort to stealing! No more will
people go to prisons and learn how to become more
criminal. When criminals hang around other criminals
it makes people worse criminals because our compan-
ions influence our behavior (Proverbs 13:20). God
wants us to spend time around people who have
wholesome thinking and who are successful so that we
can be successful ourselves. This means people will
not be isolated. Thieves, for instance, will be working
alongside the people they steal from so that they can
have an appreciation for what it takes to acquire
goods. The whole purpose of treating criminals this
way is so that they can be rehabilitated through hard
work and personal relationships.
Other laws will promote prosperity and help people
climb out of poverty. Every seventh year the debts of
fellow Israelites will be cancelled (Deut. 15:1-11).
This will keep families from being poor from genera-
tion to generation due to debt. Moreover, there will be
no interest charged to fellow Israelites. This will pre-
vent people from lending excessive amounts of money
to make a profit on the interest. Even Hebrew servants
will be allowed to go free in the seventh year! These
laws promote freedom and prevent people from taking
advantage of others.
There will be no welfare in God’s Kingdom, but the
poor will be allowed to glean the edges of the fields
and whatever is left behind by harvesters. This means
that the poor will have food to eat, but they will have
to work to earn it. There will also be a third tithe taken
up in the third and sixth year of a seven year cycle.
This will prevent people from having a continual de-
pendence on others every year or from having a de-
pendence on the government. Third tithe will simply
be a boost to help you get your life back on track. You
will have to appear to collect it and meet other people.
It will not simply be a check impersonally mailed to
you. It will be amazing to see Saints of God, perhaps
even Ruth and Boaz, waiting at a place where third
tithe is distributed and choosing people to come back
to their farm to learn how to be successful! But that is
the attitude of the Kingdom of God: “Find someone
else who needs to be taught God’s way and teach
them.” God’s Kingdom is all about finding other peo-
ple who need to be trained to be successful and teach-
ing them how to be! The purpose of these laws is so
that thieves, debtors, and the poor will be able to inter-
act with successful businessmen and become success-
ful themselves, just like convicted prisoners. With
these laws, you can see that God is trying to develop
relationships, which is a basic human need. Many
criminals, debtors, and malcontents in our society
have been isolated, neglected, or had a lack of mean-
ingful relationships. During the Kingdom of God, all
humans will have the opportunity for meaningful rela-
tionships with other people and with their Creator.
These social safety nets will be vital to the
prosperity available in the Kingdom of God. The rule
of law will also be consistent so that people can pros-
per and justice is administered. Penalties will be car-
ried out swiftly and judges will rule fairly. Judges will
not take bribes thus rulings will be based on the facts
of the case. Christ will also require judges to render
decisions consistently based on the facts of the case.
There will not be huge lottery-type lawsuits for people
who are injured. Every person will be compensated
justly and properly for their losses. The punishment
will fit the crime. One of the biggest problems in
American society is frivolous lawsuits. If we would
eliminate them, then all of our lives would be easier!
Christ will oversee the entire system of law so that it is
administered properly! As you can see, all of these
laws are designed for freedom, happiness, and fair-
ness.
(The Government of God...Continued from page 19)
(Continued on page 21)
Fall 2012 21
What role in His government will you and I
play as His children? Revelation 20:4-6, reads, “I saw
thrones on which were seated those who had been
given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those
who had been beheaded because of their testimony for
Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not
worshiped the beast or his image and had not received
his mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came
to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years. (The
rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand
years were ended.) This is the first resurrection.
Blessed and holy are those who have part in the first
resurrection. The second death has no power over
them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and
will reign with him for a thousand years.” This pas-
sage in Revelation is about the resurrection of those
Christians who were beheaded during the Tribulation.
Just before the Kingdom of God begins, all who par-
take in the first resurrection, whether resurrected be-
fore the Tribulation in the Rescue or after it, will sit on
thrones with Jesus Christ. We will rule with Him dur-
ing the thousand years. We are DESTINED TO
REIGN! That is your destiny as a child of God. You
have to accept that destiny by yielding to His will for
your life. You see, Christ is going to use two factors to
determine your position in HIS Kingdom. The first is
your commandment keeping and what you taught to
others about God’s Commandments. The second is
how well you used your Kingdom talents and gifts to
spread His word.
In Matthew 5:19-20, Christ said, “Anyone who
breaks one of the least of these commandments and
teaches others to do the same will be called least in the
kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches
these commands will be called great in the kingdom of
heaven. For I tell you that unless your righteousness
surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the
law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of
heaven.” Since God’s Kingdom is going to be a King-
dom of laws administered by Jesus Christ, then those
who have lived His laws in this current sinful age will
be exalted while those who did not live His laws will
be considered least. We will not all have the same au-
thority and position, as is sometimes taught. Those
who break the least of the commandments and teach
others to do the same will be called least in the King-
dom. What are some of the least of the command-
ments? Having tzit-tzit or fringes on a garment (also
known as a tallit) would be considered one of the least
commandments. Another commandment that might be
considered least is not eating the fruit off of your fruit
trees until the fifth year (Leviticus 19:23-25). Those
who keep the commandments and teach others to do
the same will be called greatest! These are people who
were not ashamed of God’s ways before others. They
went through trials in their lives and stood strong for
God. They did not just teach the word - they lived it!
The Kingdom of God will be the rule of Christ over
the entire earth and that rule will be established
through God’s law. A person who does not know
God’s law cannot be given a high-level position be-
cause they will not know how to administer the ruling
law of the earth! Notice that Christ does not mention
those who break the greatest of the commandments. A
person cannot enter into the Kingdom of God until
they repent of their transgressions of God’s Law. Even
the Pharisees kept the Sabbath, Holy Days, Dietary
Laws, and First and Second tithe. We must exceed
their law keeping by getting down deep into our hearts
and minds so that we keep God’s law with the attitude
of Christ.
The second factor that will determine a per-
son’s place in the Kingdom of God is how well they
used their Kingdom talents. In this parable, found in
Luke 19:11-27, Christ gave ten of his servants a mina
each. One went out and gained ten more. Another
went out and gained five more. Finally, a third hid his
in a cloth. The one who earned ten more was given ten
cities, the servant who earned five more was given
five cities, and the one who hid his mina was given
nothing. His only mina was given to the man with ten.
The mina in this parable represents the Kingdom tal-
ents Christ has given each of us. Producing more mi-
nas represents a person’s productivity with their mina
or talent. A person who takes what God has given
them and produces much more will rule over a larger
area than those who produced little. If you have been
given a Kingdom talent of writing, how much are you
writing? Are you writing books or in multiple maga-
zines or other avenues? If you have a Kingdom talent
of preaching and teaching, are you answering that
call? What if your gift is service? Are you serving in
multiple avenues? To have a high position in God’s
Kingdom, you must be productive with what God has
given you. Jesus said, “From everyone who has been
given much, much will be demanded; and from the
(Continued from page 20)
(Continued on page 22)
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one who has been entrusted with much, much more
will be asked” (Luke 12:48). Much has been given to
you and I to accomplish the task of getting the gospel
out. Christ is demanding that we use our gifts to
spread the gospel about His law. Your productivity in
using your talents and gifts to promote the gospel of
His lawful Kingdom is the direct measure of the
amount of territory in which you will govern His Law.
Christ will not have a government of inefficiency dis-
played before the nations. He will have a government
that is highly organized and highly efficient so that the
nations will marvel at the productivity and lifestyle of
His Family. This is similar to the way the Queen of
Sheba marveled at Solomon’s wisdom and the manner
in which his kingdom operated. This excellence is so
the nations will desire to be apart of God’s Kingdom.
The whole purpose of Christ’s reign is to bring the
nations into God’s Family, and we have 1,000 years or
one day in God’s timing to do it! Christ will appoint
you your territory in God’s Kingdom based on how
well you can handle your Kingdom gifts now. He will
not give you more than you can handle, so get on it
now! For those who refuse to use their Kingdom gifts,
you need to understand that Christ will not be shamed
before the nations by people who refuse to use what
has been given to them. Rather than
have poor rulers and territories
filled with neglect and lawlessness,
He will re-distribute their gifts to
those who have the highest effi-
ciency with what has been given them. This is what
the parable of the minas informs us! We have to be
creative and go out and produce with what has been
given us!
What has God given you? Are you using it?
This is the time to examine your commandment keep-
ing and study the law of God so that you can be
among the greatest in God’s Kingdom. A King over
Israel had to hand-write out for himself a copy of the
book of the law (Deut. 17:18). He was required to read
it every day. I believe that we as Christians should
hand write this law if we want to rule in His Kingdom
(I am working on mine now). This is the time to de-
velop your Kingdom gifts and start using them with
fervency so that you can rule over a large territory in
God’s Kingdom. Once the kingdom of God begins,
your place in the Kingdom will be set for 1,000 years.
How high up do you want to serve? How low of a
place do you want to serve? Throughout human his-
tory, human beings have strived for greatness. God
placed a desire for greatness in us because He wants
us to strive for the highest position in His Kingdom.
We do this by humbling to His ways by how we live,
yielding to His Spirit by serving, and by laying down
our lives for His Kingdom. In Luke 14:11, Jesus said,
“For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled,
and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” As you
humble yourself to God’s will, you will be exalted in
God’s Kingdom. The things we do NOW will count
THEN! Christ sacrificed everything He had in this
world - including leaving a throne in HEAVEN to
come down to EARTH and DIE for US. It is a little
thing for us to sacrifice our time with 30 minutes a day
to read our Bibles or giving up hours every week us-
ing our gifts for God. It is worth pleasing God and be-
ing great in His Kingdom.
The 1,000 year reign of Christ will be the
greatest time of peace and prosperity in recorded his-
tory. His government will be a rule of righteousness,
equity, and perfect rule because it will be ruled by the
law of God. God’s government will be highly organ-
ized and efficient so that the greatest numbers of peo-
ple are brought into His family. God wants us to par-
ticipate in His government, but we must be prepared
to reign. If we really have faith in Him, we will pre-
pare now to rule with Him then. We must have a de-
sire to help spread that prosperity over this world. We
must ask God to put that desire within us. It will be a
government worth serving, whereas the governments
of this current age are not. Do you want to share in the
rule of your Messiah? “To him who overcomes, I will
give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I
overcame and sat down with my Father on his
throne” (Rev. 3:21). We must overcome our attitudes
of laziness, lackadaisicalness, apathy, pride, and self-
ishness if we want to sit on a throne with Him. I do
not know about you, but I want to side right beside
Him and reign. You and I were DESTINED TO
REIGN in God’s government on this earth.
Works Cited
All Scripture notations, unless
otherwise noted, come from: The
Holy Bible. The New Interna-
tional Version. International Bible
Society. Grand Rapids, Michigan:
Zondervan Bible Publishers, 2002. Print.
(The Government of God...Continued from page 21)
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