November-December 1999 Sabbath

November-December 1999 The Sabbath Sentinel 1

November-December 1999

PROMOTING THE SEVENTH-DAY SABBATH AND COOPERATION AMONG SABBATH KEEPERS

Sentinel

THE

SabbathSentinel

BSAThe Bible Sabbath Association

www.biblesabbath.org

Review : Introductions to the new Board of Directors of BSA • Jerusalem — The Holy CityThe New Millennium • The First Holy Thing • Calendar of Events

Oh How LoveOh How LoveOh How LoveOh How LoveOh How LoveI Thy Law!I Thy Law!I Thy Law!I Thy Law!I Thy Law!

2 The Sabbath Sentinel November-December 1999

The Sabbath Sentinel is published bimonthly by The BibleSabbath Association, 3316 Alberta Drive, Gillette, WY82718. Copyright © 1999, by The Bible Sabbath Associa-tion. Printed in the U.S.A. All rights reserved. Reproduc-tion in any form without written permission is prohibited.Nonprofit bulk rate postage paid at Gillette, WY 82718.

Editor: Royce Mitchell, [email protected] Editor: June Narber HarrisonBSA’s Board of Directors for 1999-2002:President: Dr. Sidney DavisVice Presidents: Ken Westby, Tom Justus, Calvin BurrellTreasurer: Brian Burrell, [email protected]: Rich Nickles, [email protected] Secretary: June Narber HarrisonDirectors At Large: Craig White, Mike Galimore, JohnConrod, Darrell Estep

Subscriptions: Call (888) 687-5191 or (307) 686-5191,or write to: The Bible Sabbath Association, 3316 AlbertaDrive, Gillette, WY 82718 or contact us at the officenearest you (see international addresses below). The Sab-bath Sentinel is sent free of charge to all who request it.Your subscription is provided by the voluntary contribu-tions of the membership of the The Bible Sabbath Associa-tion.

Donations are gratefully accepted and are tax deductiblein the United States. Those who choose to voluntarilysupport this international work to promote the Sabbathand proclaim gospel of the kingdom of God are welcomedas contributors.

Annual membership contributions: regular member-ship $25; Family Membership $30. All memberships in-clude an annual subscription to The Sabbath Sentinel. Makeall checks, drafts and money orders payable to The BibleSabbath Association. (VISA and MasterCard accepted).

The Bible Sabbath Association is dedicated to promotethe seventh day Sabbath. As a nonsectarian association forSabbath-observing Christians, BSA accepts members whoacknowledge Jesus Christ (Yahshua the Messiah) as theirSavior, believe the Bible to be the Word of the Eternal, anduphold the seventh day Sabbath. BSA takes no officialposition on other theological issues, and publishes The Sab-bath Sentinel as a forum to promote understanding and toshare items of interest to Sabbath observing groups andindividuals.

Opinions expressed in The Sabbath Sentinel are thoseof the writers and do not necessarily reflect the opinions ofthe Editorial Staff or of The Bible Sabbath Association.

BSA Worldwide Web Site: www.biblesabbath.orgCorrespondence and manuscript submissions: Ad-dress all inquiries to: Royce Mitchell, Jr., c/o The SabbathSentinel, 3316 Alberta Drive, Gillette, WY 82718. Phone:(307) 686-5191, E-mail: [email protected] addresses:Australia: Bible Sabbath Associates, Jim & Lyn Carnochan,7 Sunny Ridge Rd., Arcadia NSW 2159, E-mail:[email protected]

Address Service Requested

The Sabbath SentinelNovember-December 1999 Volume 51, No. 6

FEATURES4 President’s Letter —

Introduction to Dr. Sidney Davis

6 First Vice President —Introduction to Ken Westby

7 Second Vice President —Introduction to Tom JustusThird Vice President —Introduction to Calvin Burrell

8 Jerusalem — The Holy CityA poem by Frances Pelham ColbertSecretary —Introduction to Richard Nickels

9 Treasurer —Introduction to Bryan BurrellBSA Board MemberIntroduction to Mike Galimore

10 Recording Secretary —Introduction to June Narber Harrison

11 Editor — The Sabbath SentinelIntroduction to Royce Mitchell, Jr.

12 BSA Board MemberIntroduction to Darrell Estep

14 BSA Board MemberIntroduction to Craig WhiteBSA Board MemberIntroduction to John Conrod

15 The New MillenniumDr. Sidney Davis

16 The First Holy ThingKenneth Westby

20 Who Is Our Enemy?Royce Mitchell, Jr.

DEPARTMENTS3 Editorial21 Calendar of Events22 Letters to the Editor23 Classified AdsFor a FREE subscription in the U.S. And Canada, call (888) 687-5191, or visit our website at http://www.biblesabbath.org


NEW BEGINNINGS

The Board of Directors for the Bible Sab-bath Association, which was recently elected, isnow in place and ready to serve both those whoaccess the BSA website, and those who readThe Sabbath Sentinel. In this issue we presentthem to you, along with their insights as to thedirection that this magazine and BSA ought totake.

While this is a new beginning with the Board,it is, at the same time, an affirmation of the goalsof The Sabbath Sentinel. We remain dedicatedto bringing cooperation and understandingamongst the many different groups which pro-fess the Sabbath of the Most High God. We alsoremain dedicated to bringing understanding tothose who do not yet know about the Sabbath,as well as providing articles of interest to thosewho do understand the importance of keepingHis Sabbaths.

It is important to note that while we have anew Board, that God’s Sabbath is as unchang-ing as it ever was. The Sabbath was created byGod Almighty in the beginning of man’s exist-ence. We read of the creation of the Sabbath inGenesis 2:1-3. In this verse we are told, “Thusthe heavens and the earth were completed,and all their hosts. And by the seventh dayGod completed His work which He had done;and He rested on the seventh day from allHis work which He had done. Then Godblessed the seventh day and sanctified it,because in it He rested from all His workwhich God had created and made ” (NAS).

In these few verses we learn a great dealabout God’s Sabbath. First, we learn that Godhad completed His initial creation work by theseventh day. We also learn that, when that cre-ation work was completed, God then rested, andthrough that rest, He created His Sabbath. Ofinterest is the word translated “rested.” It is listedin Strong’s Concordance as number 7673,“shabath” (shaw-bath'); from a primitive root; to

repose, i.e. desist from exertion. In other words,to rest! In the very beginning of the Sabbath, weare shown that God created it BY resting!

We also notice that God blessed the sev-enth, or Sabbath day, and sanctified it, or set itapart for holy use. He made it holy. Its use is sa-cred. Man can not make anything truly holy, al-though over the many centuries man has calledmany things holy which are not. Only God canmake anything holy.

Man can trample holy things underfoot, andwe see that even today God’s Holy Day istrampled underfoot by men. Some know better,but refuse to accept. Most do not know any bet-ter. We at the BSA know that desecration of God’sSabbath is a sin, and hope that we can help oth-ers to see that they have sinned against God bynot keeping holy what He made so.

For those who recognize the truth about HisSabbath, we hope to be able to bring encour-agement in the form of the application of spiri-tual truth in light of His Sabbaths, as well as inthe form of joyful news about brothers in His Word.

Keeping His Sabbath also keeps us frombreaking so many other commandments, thoseof which are found in Exodus 20. If we are obey-ing Him, we will not be worshipping false Gods,nor will we be taking His name in vain, as thosewho do not keep His Sabbaths do every week.Knowledge of His Sabbaths prevents our wor-ship of images which are set in place of Him.Moreover, we honor our heavenly Father by do-ing so. We will no longer be stealing time whichrightfully belongs to Him, which He made holy,and presented to us on that first Seventh Day.

We of the Board look forward to serving you,and our God, in the manner that best suits Him.We ask your help in accomplishing this glorioustask. As we work together, it is certain, we canexpect the working of His Spirit to complete thatwhich we are unable to do on our own.

EDITEDITEDITEDITEDITORIALORIALORIALORIALORIAL


“It will be a snowy day in June before I ac-cept Saturday as the Sabbath.” So said my auntwhen Elder Carroll Lombard, of the Roches-ter, NH SDA church, was conducting Biblestudies in the living room of my home in Ports-mouth, NH. It was on a Friday when she saidthat. It was also June. The next day it snowed.It was not long after that the first SDA churchwas established in Portsmouth, NH. The char-ter members of that church consisted mainlyof members of my family, Nana andGranddaddy all the way down, including cous-ins and second cousins.

My family was staunch Baptists. Eventhough Grand-daddy boasted of our Ethiopianheritage, he said little of the Ethiopian tradi-tion of Sabbath keeping until he became a Sev-enth-day Adventist. I remember him telling mestories of how he would always ask his father(a minister) about the Sabbath. He knew thatthe Sabbath was biblical and had always won-dered why they did not observe it. But here iswhere my Sabbath keeping observance hadits beginnings.

Since the awareness of the Sabbath andits connection to my Ethiopian ancestrydawned upon my consciousness, my life hasbeen one characterized in a passionate questfor the validation of both. It has resulted in anever-expanding field of research that has beenintensely spiritual and rewarding. As a Sev-enth-day Adventist I have been profoundly af-fected by the writings of Ellen G. White andher inspired testimony regarding the Sabbathtruth. Her visions in which she was shown theorigin of sin and its final eradication give what,to me, is the unique contribution of Adventismto the proclamation of the Sabbath truth. WeSDA’s call that perspective The Great Con-

troversy or TheConfl ict of theAges. She wasshown in visionthe character ofthis controversyin the last days:

”The Sabbath question is to be THE IS-SUE in the great final conflict in which all theworld will act a part.” Testimonies for theChurch—Vol.6, 52 (1900).

She also was shown: ”I saw that God hadchildren who do not see and keep the Sab-bath. They have not rejected the light upon it.And at the commencement of the time oftrouble, we were filled with the Holy Ghost aswe went forth and PROCLAIMED THE SAB-BATH MORE FULLY. This enraged thechurches and nominal Adventists, as theycould not refute the Sabbath truth. And at thistime God’s chosen all saw clearly that we hadthe truth, and they came out and endured thepersecution with us.” Early Writings, p. 33.

My association with the Bible SabbathAssociation has been in connection with theconferences and seminars that I, and a coregroup of others, have been conducting underthe banner of the ministry that I have dedicatedmyself to: Proclaiming The Sabbath MoreFully. The series of intra-Sabbatarian confer-ences and seminars, which I have been privi-leged to help organize and conduct all acrossthe United States, has been for bringing atten-tion to THE ISSUES that have to do with theproclamation of the Sabbath truth. This is whatI see as the challenge facing Sabbatarians aswe enter the 21st Century of the Common Era.As a representative of the BSA, I see my mis-sion as assisting in bringing to a unified con-

PRESIDENT�S MESSAGEby incoming BSA President

Dr. Sidney L. Davis Jr.


sensus all Sabbatarian fellowships to meet thechallenge that is being mounted against theSabbath truth by a united evangelical Protes-tant community led by the papacy.

This challenge that is being led by a unitedChristian church, with the papacy as it’s voiceand moral authority, seeks to invalidate the con-tinuity and relevance of the Bible Sabbath truthand Bible Sabbath observance in the Chris-tian community. The strategy of this challenge,as presented by the papacy, is to enlist theworld’s governments to legitimize or legalizethe festivals of the Catholic Church as legalholidays for Christians to observe. Through thisstrategy the Catholic Church seeks to enjoinupon the worlds governments the sanctity andholiness of the Lord’s day which the majorityof the Christian world call Sunday.

Another challenge, which we as Sabba-tarians are facing, comes from within. Thereare increasing pressures being brought to bearupon Sabbatarians and Sabbatarian organi-zations to abrogate the Sabbath truth in theface of what is called the New Covenant The-ology. Such were the pressures which saw theabrogation of the Sabbath truth in the World-wide Church of God and its subsequent disin-tegration. An inconsistent and indefensibleSabbatarian theology regarding the Law ofGod is being picked to pieces by evangelicalChristians. Such are the pressures knockingon the door of the Church of God 7th Day andthe Seventh-day Adventist church as individualmembers, and churches within, are gravitat-ing these denominations toward embracing thisso-called New Covenant doctrine. These areissues that must be adequately addressed andfully met, and we will both address and meetthem.

Perhaps the momentous challengeagainst the Sabbath will be played out on theinternational scene. The state of Israel is theonly nation on this earth that has the Sabbathlegally enshrined within its constitution. Will theevents of the Pope, declaring the year 2000 a

sabbatical Jubilee year, have any legal con-sequences upon the state of Israel due to hiscalling upon the nations of the world to legal-ize Sunday as a day of rest and worship forChristians?

We are also standing on the threshold ofincreasing supernatural phenomena. So calledrevivals and deliverance ministries, withmiracles, signs and wonders, testify to the va-lidity of traditions and doctrinal positions thatstand in direct opposition to the Sabbath truthand the validity of God’s holy law. Are we readyfor that challenge? Are we aware, do we knowand are we ready for the theological and po-litical issues involved?

There are practical ways in which I hopethat we can present a united front to the Papalchallenge. The Bible Sabbath Associationneeds to be the instrument to build bridges andtear down walls within the Sabbatarian com-munity. We need to unite on our commonalityand not be divided by our peculiarities. A newand updated directory of Sabbath Observantgroups and organizations is needed and I askthat we all participate in sending in the names,addresses, telephone numbers and email ad-dresses of every organization that supports theSabbath truth. We are hoping to have such adirectory to be on-line — on the Internet — aswell. These are daunting tasks that can bedone with the support and contributions of ourmembership.

We also need to expand our membershipof organizations and individuals to the BSA.We are asking that each one reach one in thiseffort. We want to take the BSA into the inter-national arena. We want a representative inevery country on the globe. We want to expandthe readership of The Sabbath Sentinel. Wewant The Sabbath Sentinel in the hands ofevery legislator and every head of State. Weneed to improve on the quality and quantity ofour articles and literature. We need to get TheSabbath Sentinel in every doctor’s office, ev-ery waiting room and Laundromat. And finally


we need to remember those in the PRISONS.We need to get this into our brethren in the pris-ons also.

There are Sabbath keeping communitiesin the United States and in every partof the world of which we need to becomeaware, and to embrace. Because each Sab-bath keeping fellowship considers themselvesa minority, it has bred an atmosphere ofexclusivism that has perpetuated what I call asiege mentality among Sabbatarians. We donot know WE exist. I have met Adventists eventoday who believe that the SDA church is theONLY Sabbath keeping church in the world!

There have been great advances in theunderstanding of the Sabbath truth and it’s con-nection to the Gospel of Jesus Christ that weneed to share with each other. The salvific na-ture of the Sabbath, as the sign of God’s sanc-tifying power to save and redeem, needs tobe proclaimed in louder and clearer tones. Ibelieve that we each have a unique perspec-tive to the proclamation of the Sabbath morefully.

There are Sabbath observant groups andsocieties that continue to be discovered allover the world, like the 1 million strong JesusPeople of the Szechwan province of China.There are histories and discoveries of ancientSabbath keeping traditions on the African con-tinent.

I look forward in sharing in the mission ofthe Bible Sabbath Association by bringing tothe fore all of these relevant issues of greatconsequence to us all.

I am privileged to be a part of a leader-ship of the only Sabbatarian organization ofits kind. I am in fine company with the board ofdirectors of this organization, each of whoseloyalty and dedication to the Sabbath, andcommitment to the Lord of the Sabbath, is aninspiration to me. We solicit your prayers andsupport in the days ahead.

Ken Westby, 60, hasbeen celebrating God’s Sab-bath for over 40 years. He nowserves as First Vice Presi-dent on BSA’s Board of Di-rectors. Over the years he hascontributed many articles toTSS including a three-part se-ries on The Amazing 7-DayCycle.

Westby is director of the Association forChristian Development (ACD) which he foundedin 1974. He is editor of ACD’s journal The NewMillennium , a bimonthly periodical. Ken is alsohost of the weekly, live “Virtual Church” Sabbathservices (918-222-7158, 11 AM PST). This is aspecial service for the elderly, shut-ins, andSabbatarians who don’t have a local church toattend. He and his associate, the late Dr. CharlesDorothy, have authored hundreds of tapes andarticles on various biblical themes.

Prior to 1974, Ken pastored and raised upmany churches in the Midwest and East Coast.In 1968 he was appointed Regional Director forthe Worldwide Church of God’s East Coast min-istry and operations. In the early 70s Ken activelyworked for reform of certain church doctrines andpolicies, and for ethical reform among churchleadership. He notes that all his activity was donewithin system channels, as part of a team effort,and with the full knowledge of his superiors. Asmatters progressed, he ended up the leader ofa reformation movement which eventually pro-duced a crisis resulting in his firing (along with35 other ministers) in February of 1974.

Ken married JoAn (Goodson) the day theyboth graduated from Ambassador College in1964. They have four grown children and fivegrandchildren. JoAn works as a Senior Consult-ant for the Oracle Corporation. They reside inAuburn, Washington.

FIRST VICE PRESIDENTKEN WESTBY


SECOND VICE PRESIDENTTOM JUSTUS

Tom Justus started at-tending the WorldwideChurch of God (WCG) inAugust, 1955, in PasadenaCalifornia. It was then calledthe Radio Church of God. Atthis time he was living inSanta Barbara and wasmanager of Pacific CoastPublishing Company.

In late 1959 he helped raise up a WCGchurch in Santa Barbara. He was ordained as anElder in the early 60’s.

In 1963 he moved to Pasadena to overseethe building of Ambassador College Press. Laterhe made trips to England to help build a printingplant there and travelled in many foreign countriesbuying equipment for both plants. While being amanager of Ambassador College Press, he con-tinued in the Ministry giving sermons in theChurches in Southern California. In 1978 he leftthe WCG and started the first church in Pasadenafor Ted Armstrong. He continued in this capacityuntil late 1979, deciding to move to Springdale,Arkansas, to build his own printing plant.

After moving to Arkansas, he continued towork with the Church of God, International (CGI),and continued to be on the Ministerial Council untilresigning in 1996. During this period of time heestablished a CGI church and pastored it whilealso working full time in his printing plant. Afterresigning from the CGI in 1996, he formed a smallindependent church called the Church of God,Sabbath Day, in Springdale. He now has a book-let ministry which reproduces basic doctrine book-lets dating back to the late 40’s and early 50’s.These are sent free in bulk quantities to all whowould like to use them in their local evangelism.He makes many personal appearances acrossthe country promoting the Sabbath and the sim-plicity in Jesus Christ.

THIRD VICE PRESIDENTCALVIN BURRELL

Calvin Burrell,third vice-president ofthe B.S.A., is a 56-year old pastor andeditor with the Churchof God (Seventh Day)from Houston, Texas.In a thirty-five year ca-reer with that Church,he served as ateacher at Spring ValeAcademy in Owosso, Michigan and at Sum-mit School of Theology in Denver, Colorado;as a pastor in Ft. Smith, Arkansas; Shawnee,Oklahoma; Denver, Colorado; and Kearney,Nebraska; and as a director/administrator atseveral levels of the organization.

Calvin is the third of four children born toLawrence and Lottie Burrell, longtime secre-tary/treasurer of the Bible Sabbath Associa-tion. Calvin says two of his keenest memo-ries of his childhood home were becoming thedesignated “plowboy” on his father’s Okla-homa wheat farm, and assisting with dozensof various office tasks for the B.S.A.—includ-ing typing out localized sunset charts withoutthe benefit of correction fluid.

Calvin and his wife Barb have been mar-ried for 33 years, and have three adult daugh-ters and three grandchildren. His hobby iswalking/hiking in the outdoors, as near to thewoods and hills as he can get. While living inColorado, he summited all 54 of that statespeaks over 14,000 feet in elevation.

Currently, he pastors the Houston Englishcongregation of the Church ofGod (Seventh Day), meeting in Galena Park,TX, and also edits the Church’s magazine,THE BIBLE ADVOCATE .


Richard C. Nickels , anative of Oregon, has alsolived in Texas, California, Mis-souri, Washington, and Wyo-ming. He and his wife Shirleyhave three children: Barbara,Rachel and Amanda. An ac-countant and computer con-sultant, Nickels currentlyworks for a major coal min-

ing company in Gillette, Wyoming. He is a graduate ofLinfield College (B.A., 1969, Summa Cum Laude).

Richard Nickels became a “World Tomorrow”broadcast listener in 1961, was baptized in 1969, andwas employed by the Worldwide Church of God from1971-1973. Since 1978, he has written numerous ar-ticles and books for Giving & Sharing , a nonprofit mailorder bookstore serving Sabbath-keepers around theworld. From 1996-1999, Richard Nickels was Presi-dent of the Bible Sabbath Association . He continuesto serve as a Board Member.

Shirley Nickels , formerly Shirley Whitaker, grewup in the Church of God in Asheville, North Carolina,and Eugene, Oregon. She currently serves as OfficeManager for The Bible Sabbath Association from theNickels home in Wyoming.

Serving God’s people has been a labor of love forthe Nickels family. They believe that God’s Truth is soprecious that they must diligently share it with others.During his more than twenty years of ministry, RichardNickels has never been monetarily compensated forhis labor for the brethren.

Also contributing to the efforts at TSS is Amanda(Mandy) Nickels , Richard’s daughter. She has been acontributor on aspects of God’s way, as seen from theeyes of a teen.

You may write the Nickels directly at: Richard C.Nickels, 3316 Alberta Drive, Gillette, Wyoming82718 U.S.A., or call at Telephone # (307) 686-5191,or E-mail him at [email protected].

SECRETARYRICHARD NICKELSJERUSALEM�

THE HOLY CITYby

Frances Pelham Colbert

The sound of footsteps echo stillThrough the valleys and over hills,

Rocks cry out a Glorious NameThat healed the sick and cured the lame,

On the streets where Hosannas once roseReturning Israelis make their abode,

The bright morning star o’er olive treesLights the Garden of Gethsemane

There refugees look at Christ’s empty tombRecalling prophecies “He cometh again soon!”

A strong wind is blowing without ceaseHolding open the gateway toward the east,

Those who pray at the wailing wallVisualize a majestic new temple’s halls

Israel has emerged from her gloom,Her barren lands are now in bloom,

The Lord God waits just out of sightIn His Hands the “Tree of Life!”

This poem won the Editor’’s ChoiceAward in Outstanding Poets of 1998.The contest was sponsored by The Na-tional Library of Poetry. Frances waskind enough to submit it to us for publi-cation. Thanks so much for sharing thiswith us, Frances.

Ed.


I am currently serving TheBible Sabbath Association asits Treasurer. I have volunteeredtime and worked in the FairviewBSA office for many years. Myfather & mother, Lawrence &Lottie Burrell, served as Secre-tary-Treasurer of the Bible Sab-bath Association from 1955 to1995. I grew up volunteeringalong with them in the many du-ties our family performed for BSA. After my father’sdeath in 1995, my wife and I carried on with the BSAwork. My parents kept meticulous hand records until Iset up a computer program in 1981 and we entered allof the BSA records on computer.

My wife, Mary Sue and I live at Fairview, Oklahomawhere we own and operate a farm equipment busi-ness and manage a family farming operation. We havetwo grown sons. Mark works with us in our businessand Paul is an airline pilot. We were raised in Sabbathkeeping homes as were our parents and grandparents.Through the years we have attended many Sabbathkeeping churches around the area. I am currently ac-tive in my local Church of God (Seventh Day) and haveserved in many positions. We are life members of BSA.

I graduated from Oklahoma State University andcontinue to take college classes as time allows. I am alicensed insurance and securities agent in Oklahomaand operate an office as a Personal Financial Analyst.For over ten years I have been a certified mediator forthe Oklahoma Alternative Dispute Resolution Systemand volunteered services as a mediator for businesses,individuals, families and churches.

I am a graduate and member of Leadership Okla-homa, a member and past president of the FairviewChamber of Commerce, a past president of theFairview Board of Education and have served on anadvisory board for the area vo-tech school, civic orga-nizations, and my local church. I am a certified pilotand flight instructor in private, commercial, multi-engineand instrument categories.

TREASURERBRYAN BURRELL

Mike Galimorehas observed theSabbath for over 35years. He and hisfamily currently at-tend the ChristianCommunity Church,an independentSabbath church in Indianapolis.

Mike attended Indiana University andreceived a BA Degree from AmbassadorCollege in 1972.

Mike and his wife Kathy have a son, Jonwho is a freshman at Indiana University, ma-joring in computer science. They live in awooded area where they enjoy an abun-dance of wildlife and nature near Spencer,Indiana. Kathy is a reading specialist and el-ementary teacher, employed by White RiverValley Schools. Mike has been employed for20 years with Cook Inc. in the area of mar-keting communications. He produces adver-tising photo mural composition and ad lay-out.

Since January 1993, Mike has been in-volved with The Sabbath Sentinel magazineas art director. Mike was responsible for thestructure and system for the archive collec-tion of TSS magazines. He has also contrib-uted many articles for TSS.

Mike and Kathy volunteer at the CrisisPregnancy Center, a nationally affiliated or-ganization which involves individuals andchurches in a counseling and service minis-try. Mike is currently serving as chairman ofthe board for the center in Spencer. Mikealso serves on the board for the building ofa local family YMCA fitness center.

MIKE GALIMOREBSA BOARD MEMBER


June Narber Harrison cur-rently resides in Raleigh, NCwith her husband of nearly sixyears, Lars G. Harrison. Shebecame a Sabbath keeper inher mid-teens, against thewishes of her family. Shestarted attending the World-wide Church of God at the ageof 18. She went on to Ambas-sador College (AC) in BigSandy from 1985-87.

She went back to AC in1992-93 and graduated with aBachelor in Theology/liberalarts. She also attended the Uni-versity of Missouri-Columbiawhere she took broadcasting,journalism and performance inthe visual media classes; andthe University of North Texas atDenton where she studied Mu-sic for a year.

In 1998, she completedher Masters degree of Tech-nology in International Devel-opment from North CarolinaState University, with a concen-tration in cultural anthropologyand forestry issues. For thedegree’s internship require-ments, she spent three monthsin Thailand working with a nongovernment organization thatworks to prevent child prostitu-tion; she also conducted re-search regarding mangrove for-est depletion in the South Re-gion of Thailand.

June’s involvement withSabbath related issues beganin 1994 when she became

aware of the various Sabbathkeeping churches outside ofWCG. With this knowledge, shebegan visiting and correspond-ing with over twenty differentgroups. On the internet, she isinvolved with different groupswhich are networking peoplewho are concerned aboutpreaching the truth more at thecommunity based level;women’s issues and develop-ment; talent and gift develop-ment; and spiritual counselingfor those with special needs notusually addressed by corpo-rate Sabbath keepingchurches. One of her main con-cerns is the international com-munity and their unique culturalneeds in order to effectivelyhelp them to understand God’struth, including the Sabbath.Today she considers herself amember of the Spiritual Bodyof Christ, rather than any onecorporate entity. She fellow-ships with various groups in herlocal area.

Currently, June is afreelance development consult-ant specializing in cultural and

environmentally based devel-opment issues. In regard tothis, she also does writing andpublic speaking engagements.On the side, she also is a tradi-tional herbalist, offering herbs,supplies, and alternative heal-ing consulting through her webbased, June’s Natural HealingPath, located at http://juneshealingpath.hypermart.net.She also is involved in variousindependent research projectsinvolving environmental threats,indigenous culture trends; tra-ditional healing/herbal issues;and child prostitution in South-east Asia. She is also a mem-ber of: The IndependentScholar’s Association, ThePhilippines Geological Asso-ciation; Tarheel Rock and Min-eral Club; NCSU InternationalStudent Friendship Program;NC Writing Association; Ameri-can Business Women’s Asso-ciations; and UniversityWomen’s Associations. In heryouth, she was an active mem-ber of 4-H; Girl’s Scouts; FutureHomemakers’ of America(FHA); Future Teachers’ ofAmerica (FTA); Marching andConcert Bands; Girl’s StateCandidate; American LegionAuxiliary; Science Clubs; andPhi Theta Kappa. While at Am-bassador College, she was in-volved with Outreach (a com-munity service organization),Women’s Speaking Club; andothers.

JUNE NARBER HARRISONRECORDING SECRETARY


ROYCE MITCHELL, JR.THE SABBATH SENTINEL EDITOR

Royce Eugene Mitchell,Jr., has been set by the Boardof Directors to be the Editor forThe Sabbath Sentinel (TSS).Having been elected to theBoard of the Bible SabbathAssociation in the 1999 elec-tions, he also agreed to remainin service to the Board by con-tinuing in the Editor’s position.

Royce first came into con-tact with God’s Sabbath as ayouth in the Roman CatholicChurch (RCC). It was there thatthe “Sisters” taught him how tofind the commandments of Godin Exodus 20. Finding the com-mand to keep the Sabbath holy,he questioned why the RCC didnot keep the Sabbath as com-manded. The answer did notsatisfy the young man, who re-sponded, “Who is this pope thathe can change the law of God?”Before long, he was no longeran altar boy!

The incident was forgottenuntil years later when God be-gan to open his mind to the truthabout His Sabbaths. The call-ing was done through the workdone by Herbert Armstrong.While in the Worldwide Churchof God (WCG), Royce contin-ued to study and to meditate onthe meanings of the Laws andother Commands of God.

In 1995, as the WCG, un-der direction of the Tkachs,made known its descent into

heresy by rejecting God’s Sab-baths, Royce and his wifeSusie, made the decision toleave the WCG and to begin at-tending with the United Churchof God, and International Asso-ciation (UCG). They still attendUCG in the Houston South Con-gregation.

In the spring of 1998,Royce was made aware of TSSthrough the auspices of our re-cently elected Recording Sec-retary, and Board Member,June Harrison. June encour-aged Royce to begin writingagain, something which he hadnot done since college. In theWCG, the brethren were notencouraged to use those typesof talents unless specificallyasked to do so. So, at the urg-ing of Mrs. Harrison, and an-other occasional TSS contribu-tor, Royce began to write ar-ticles for TSS.

With the resignation ofLars Harrison as Editor of TSS,the search went out to find anew editor. Again, at the sug-gestion of June Harrison, andothers, Royce accepted thechallenge on a temporary ba-sis, awaiting one more quali-fied than he to come forwardand take on the responsibility.

The 1999 elections foundRoyce elected to the board,and reappointed to the Editorsposition. He still maintains hiswillingness to step down if a

more qualified editor can befound.

Royce brings to the BibleSabbath Association the de-sire to see cooperationamongst all of those called tounderstand the truth of God’sSabbaths, without regard to theorganization with which they fel-lowship. He sees TSS as thevehicle with the potential tobring that vision to pass. In aworld increasingly fraught withdangerous attacks on the Wayof Life described by Christ,among which is the Sabbath,he sees TSS as the vehicle topromote similarities betweenall Sabbath keeping brethren,rather than to broadcast the dif-ferences.

As Editor, Royce asks thatall of us, who desire the fellow-ship of God’s people, mightwork together to make TSS thebest magazine it can be. TheTSS is our magazine, and it isup to all of us to do our part inmaking TSS that best maga-zine. Surely, our God, the Lordof Sabbaths, will do the rest!


The Lord blessed megreatly by allowing me to beborn into a Sabbath keepinghome on Thanksgiving day,1939. My mother’s family hadaccepted the Sabbath whenshe was a teenager. My father’sfamily has honored the Sabbathand made it the focal point oftheir lives for more generationsthan I know of. Family lore tellsus that though the Oklahomaland rush commenced on aSabbath, the Estep’s waiteduntil Sunday to go. As a result,the Lord provided them withgood land to homestead.

My father, Art Estep,founded and pastored theChurch of God, 7th Day in PortOrchard, Washington. Our chil-dren all grew up in this churchand we still attend today. I havenever wavered in my resolve toobserve this Sabbath that waspassed down to me as a veryspecial gift.

For many years after myDad died I shared pulpit dutiesat our local congregation, eventhough I have never felt a call tothe ministry. I see my role asmore of an administrator andparliamentarian. I have alsobeen called upon to speak atcamp meeting in Meridian,Idaho and at several congrega-tions around the US and

Canada.It has been a special

blessing to me to speak boldlyabout the seventh day Sabbathand see the acceptance of it bythose with whom I share it. Af-ter I did a seven week serieson The Sabbath from the pul-pit, things seemed to change inthe congregation. I believe thatkeeping the seventh day Sab-bath is key to accepting theLORD as the Creator of theuniverse. Establishing the sev-enth day Sabbath was theLORD’s first statute. He restedthe seventh day and made itHoly. He never ever took Sab-bath away or reduced its sig-nificance to mankind.

When the LORD sent to ourcongregation a Messianic Jew(who was raised orthodox) to beour pastor, nobody was morepleased than I. We had no ideawhat the LORD had in store forus as a congregation. For methis was a fulfillment of what theChurch of God had taught sincemy youth—Jews and Gentilesworshiping together. Our con-gregation outgrew our churchbuilding in two years. We nowmeet in the local NazareneChurch on Sabbath mornings.The service is Messianic instyle and includes Jewish lit-urgy. Well studied people from

all congregational backgroundsfellowship with us. We are find-ing that there are blocks of scrip-ture that we have not studiedextensively. This we are nowdoing by following an annualTorah Study schedule

I married Helen Ellis whenI was 20, after becoming ac-quainted with her at the Merid-ian, Idaho camp meeting in1958. She, too, is from a Sab-bath keeping home. When shewas born, the Ellis family at-tended the Eugene, Oregonchurch pastored by Herbert W.Armstrong. Her parents,Claude and Velma Ellis, weremusicians for Mr. Armstrong’soriginal radio ministry. Mr. Ellis,also a minister, and Mr.Armstrong parted company inthe early 1940’s, and in 1944the Ellis family moved to Cali-fornia. Mr. Ellis also had radioministries in Eugene, Or., Yuba

DARRELL ESTEPBSA BOARD MEMBER


City, California and in Lodi,California.

Keeping the Sabbath andserving the LORD has beencenter to Helen’s and myhousehold. We raised five chil-dren. When they were teenag-ers and we had six cars com-ing and going every direction toschool, jobs, errands, church,etc.. Friday night was lookedforward to, as house rules dic-tated that everyone was to behome for dinner. We went tochurch as a family. Today all fiveare married to wonderfulspouses that love the LORDand all their households aredoing their best to serve HIM asthey interpret scripture. Wehave thirteen grandchildrenranging in age from one to 13,six of whom have been bap-tized. We love to be together asa family. Life does not get anybetter than to have your lovedones close by and enjoy thelove they have for each other.

I am now retired from a pro-fessional career. After twoyears of college I went to workat the Boeing Company as adraftsman. I worked in the newbusiness offices of the Aero-Space division, supporting thebest engineers and managersin the industry. Later I workedfor a vice president and wasselected to teach in a companysponsored drafting training pro-gram at the communitycollegefrom which I had gradu-ated. This six month job lasted

for nearly three years.In 1970 I was laid off, along

with 70,000 other folks. At thispoint we had four children agedfour to ten. We decided that Iwould return to college to com-plete two more degrees. Withthese in hand, I was hired backat the college as an adminis-trator, 32 years of age, with fivechildren. For the next threeyears my task was to set up acomprehensive community col-lege curriculum in one of theState’s adult male prisons. Ithen moved to the campus tohead the Division of Businessand Engineering Related Occu-pations, also acting as Assis-tant to the Dean of Instruction.

In 1985 I requested to beassigned to the classroom andtaught a comprehensive com-puter aided design curriculumwith up to 100 students.The last two years 100% of mygraduates went to work earn-ing good salaries at some veryprestigious firms. The LORDsent me the very best students.We shared our love for HIM, ifthey brought it up. I prayed withthem when their brothers andfriends were in Desert Storm. Icried with them when they hadtheir personal tragedies. Someof them walked more boldly intheir faith as a result. I retired atage 58 with the title “professor”.My speciality is engineeringdrawing and computer aideddesign, in both two dimensionaland solids modelling.

Helen and I just purchased13 acres of fenced pasture thatgrows grass up to my shoul-ders, has a year around streamthat puts out a steady flow ofwater and has an area for apond. Our goal is to establish ahome where we can serve theLORD in a special way.

In my spare time, I drawplans for homes and churches.One of the companies I draw forproduces prefab homes usinga patented construction system.This company just shipped fourhomes to China and one to Ver-mont. Currently I am working onsome plans for Mexico. Andthere is a rumor that Venezuelais on the next task list.

Helen and I attended ourfirst ever Feast of Tabernaclesthis Fall. Last November we vis-ited Israel and will we never bethe same. When I walked out ofthe plane and placed my footon HIS promised land, I wept.We are committed to aid in thereturn of HIS people to thePROMISED LAND and, alongwith our church, support severalorganizations who are bringingJews out of Russia and othercountries and returning them toIsrael.

Although I have been amember of the Church of God,7th Day all my life, I considermyself a member of the TrueChurch of God, as outlined inthe New Testament. Membersof other seventh day fellowshipsare considered brothers andsisters in the Lord.


CRAIG WHITEBSA BOARD MEMBER

Craig White currentlyholds a Project Manager po-sition. His educational quali-fications include: MA in Po-litical Science; Graduate Di-ploma in Education; BA inUrban and Regional Studiesplus numerous other smallerstudies.

His uncle told him aboutthe Worldwide Church ofGod (WCG) and some of itsteachings when he wasquite young (about 8 yearsof age) - he never joined buthad an interest. He forgotabout that until late 1972when his mother broughthome a Plain Truth from anews agency and he expe-rienced a spiritual awaken-ing. There was no Church ofGod in his home town but hewas able to attend the occa-sional Bible Study held by aWCG minister. In 1976 thefirst WCG was establishedin his town and he attendedregularly until the WCG wentinto error.

He organized the firstFriends of the Sabbath con-ference to be held outside ofthe USA in 1996. Hundredsattended with representationfrom about 10 groups. Threeconferences and a seminarwere held in 1997. In addi-tion he set up the Bible Sab-bath Association (BSA) inAustralia. The Seventh DayAdventists’ (SDA) AvondaleCollege has graciously ac-

cepted quitea bit of mate-rial, pub-lished byv a r i o u sChurches ofGod, for theirEllen G.White Research Center, fromFriends of the Sabbath. Thisfriendship resulted in an articleby him finding its way into pub-lication in their Signs of theTimes magazine.

In 1995 he encouragedcooperation and visiting be-tween members of Churches ofGod and brought together apastor of the United Church ofGod, an International Associa-tion, (UCG) and the Church ofGod (International) elder at asocial event for their first evermeeting.

In the following year he ar-ranged for Church of God, Sev-enth Day pastor, Dr. RichardCress, to visit the UCG and hespoke at church services (hewas on a holiday from theUSA). Later that year he ar-ranged for a minister from theSeventh Day Baptists (SDB)who had family connections tothe WCG to give a brief pre-sentation at church services. In1997 he arranged for dinnerand a meeting between a UCGpastor and an overseas visit-ing minister from Church ofGod (International) and laterwith a visiting minister from theGlobal Church of God.

I haveboth a Bach-elor’s degreein businessadministra-tion from Se-attle PacificU n i v e r s i t yand a Mas-ter’s degree in Pastoral Counsellingfrom Eastern Baptist Seminary. Iworked for many years in the pastor-ate of the Seventh Day Baptist denomi-nation as well as in the accounting andbusiness administration fields. At timesthe positions required serving in bothareas at the same time.

When computers took over theaccounting work, I took the time to learncomputer programming. The companyfor which I was working at the time asCost Accountant had me put the finan-cial records up on their new computer.I now do voluntary work through a non-profit organization called New Cov-enant Ministries . Much of the presentwork consists of internal audits for non-profit organizations all across theUnited States. I also am the editor of amonthly internet newsletter for the Mid-Continent Association of Seventh DayBaptists entitled “Fisherman’s Net ”which is archived on the web at- http://www.seventhdaybaptist.net/fishnet/

I have been serving as a memberof the Board of Directors and servedas a Vice President of the Bible Sab-bath Association for the past eightyears. I now look forward to serving youas a board member for another fouryears and pray that the Almighty willcontinue to bless the work of the As-sociation for His glory.

JOHN CONRODBSA BOARD MEMBER


As the new millennium approaches, some ofus may be wondering if it has any spiritual signifi-cance. I believe it does and it doesn’t.

It DOES, because the Bible not only speaksof weeks of days, but also weeks of weeks, weeksof months, week of years. It also strongly impliesa week of millennia - 6,000 years under the curseof sin and the 7th millennium of rest for the earth.In fact at the end of each week cycle or period oftime there is Sabbath.

It DOESN’T, because we can no longer es-tablish the exact age of the earth since creation.But some do believe that the 6 millennia underthe curse are about to end.

The 7th millennium, when the earth rests,begins with the Second Coming of Jesus. Condi-tions in the world today reinforce the blessed hopethat our Lord is about to return.

”Seek ye the LORD while he may be found,call ye upon him while he is near: Let the wickedforsake his way, and the unrighteous man histhoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, andhe will have mercy upon him; and to our God, forhe will abundantly pardon.” Isaiah 55:6,7.

In the Sabbath seminars that I conduct aroundthe country the meaning of the Sabbatical cycleis a favorite presentation that I give to prove theSabbath truth.

Many churches are joining with the papacywith its declaration of a Jubilee. We are hearingcries from many nations, invoking the spirit of theJubilee, and asking for the forgiveness of debtsowed.

This declared papal Jubilee is said to be theeve of the seventh millennium. The millennium Sab-bath is itself a part of a divine pattern, or cycle oftime, punctuated by the number seven. It points tothe typological function and meaning of the Sab-bath as being the template of holy time. The Sab-bath is the culmination of a week of days. ThePentecost, or Feast of Weeks, is the culminationof a week of weeks. The Feast of Trumpets is theculmination of a week of months. The sabbatical

rest of the land is the culmination of a week ofyears. The Jubilee then is seven weeks of years.These cycles of sevens, which betoken the Sab-bath of millennia, show the Sabbath as the tem-plate of holy time.

Yes, and today He still requires that we num-ber not by seven (singular) but by sevens all ofholy time. The seven Sabbaths of the Biblical cal-endar testify to the significance of the number ofsevens, which we count, and point to the primacyof the Sabbath as the festival par excellence.Many have been lead to understand the Sabbathtruth in the study of the holy days because theytestify as to how God has required his people tocount by sevens. Undoubtedly, the seventh mil-lennium figures into that counting by sevens whichpoints to the earth’s rest, the earth’s Sabbath.What a wonderful testimony to the Sabbath truth.

Isn’t it interesting that even The Lord’s Prayerteaches the truth of the Sabbath? “Forgive us ourdebts as we forgive our debtors” is a Sabbaticalreference that betokens the forgiveness of debtsevery 7th or Sabbath year as well as in the Jubi-lee. This concept of the forgiveness of debts, ofwhich the Bible speaks, is the rationale behindthe Pope’s declaration of the year 2000 as theJubilee and his calling upon the industrial nationsof the world to forgive the debts of the debtor na-tions. The pope in this action seeks to win overthe nations to assent to his moral authority.

Yet the Papacy, and the Christian churcheswho follow his Jubilee declaration, deny the veryBASIS of the Jubilee as a multiple of the sabbati-cal cycle of seven years- THE BIBLE SABBATHof the seventh day.

The Sabbath of years is patterned after theSabbath of days as being the foundation of theconcept of the Sabbath of millennia. Isn’t it won-derful that we have all of these examples of sev-ens by which we can show the meaning and sig-nificance of the Sabbath in the plan of God?

TSS

THE NEW MILLENNIUMBy Dr. Sidney Davis


The First Holy ThingBy Kenneth Westby

In the Holy Bible, what is the very first holy“thing” mentioned? Is it holy ground; holy altar; holyvessel; holy water; holy oil; holy people; holytemple; holy mountain; holy apple. No, the first holything mentioned is a day.

In the history of the world the first thing la-beled “holy” is a day. Not any day, but one spe-cific day in seven—the seventh. Isn’t it surprisingthat a specific segment of time is the first holyobject? Why would a day be the first thing to re-ceive the quality of divine holiness? Is there notsome mystery in this?

Holiness is derivative. Biblically, there is onlyone source of holiness—God. Nothing in creationis inherently holy, but any part of it can, by God’sdictate, be made holy. He can set apart or sanc-tify a thing, a place, a people, a time as holy. Thevery first mention of holy in the entire Bible is atthe presentation of the crowning capstone to thecreation week.

The climax to creation isn’t some final thingGod “made”…it is what God himself did with hisown life. The crowning glory of creation is whatthe Creator personally did…in full view of his cre-ation.

By the seventh day God had finished the workHe had been doing; so on the seventh day Herested from all his work. And God blessed theseventh day and made it holy, because on it Herested from all the work of creating that He haddone. (Genesis 2:2-3 [NIV throughout])

How significant is it that of all the created or-der—great objects in space, an earth of conti-nents and oceans filled with living things, and manand woman—the first mention of holy is appliedto God’s use of specific time? We might haveexpected God first to create a holy place for aholy shrine (a cathedral like St. Paul’s in Londonor St. Peter’s in Rome would have looked goodin Eden), or a holy mountain, or a holy rock for theholy garden. As Abraham Joshua Heschel notes,

“When history began, there was only one holinessin the world, holiness in time.”

There is much to be learned from beginningsand biblical “first mentions”—they frequently es-tablish principles, templates, or precedents forwhat follows. The creation account is pregnantwith such pattern establishment.

If we can learn anything about God it mustcome through His self-revelation. If He doesn’t dis-close it, we don’t know it. The Bible containsYahweh’s sovereign self-disclosure and providesour sole insight into knowing Him. Pondering Hisworks and actions gives us knowledge of whatHe is like, His purposes, His judgment, His char-acter. Seeking God’s will and obeying His instruc-tions bring us into yet deeper, profoundly personalknowledge of Him.

Three Things God DidWhat can we learn about God’s making the

seventh day holy? Yes, He “made” the Sabbath,but the story is in how He did it. Notice the threethings God did on the seventh day: 1) He rested;2) He blessed it; 3) He made it holy. The reasongiven for why He did actions number two and three(blessed it and made it holy) is action number one:“because on it He rested from all the work ofcreating that He had done. ”

The blessing and hallowing of the seventh daydraws attention to it and imbues it with a holy pur-pose as a result of something special God didwith the day. He rested not because He wastired—God doesn’t get tired—but to set an ex-ample that pointed man in the direction He wantedhim to go.

What is important in the account is what Goddid: He rested. The Bible is first a God-centeredaccount of the Creator and His creation. Whatmatters most is God—what He has done, hassaid, is doing. This is not an easy concept for self-centered man to receive. We have a man-cen-


tered worldview tattooed to our brains whichkeeps God out of our picture.

Religions feebly attempt to put God intoman’s picture. A noble enterprise, but it missesthe point: God is the picture. What He is like, whatHe says, what He does, and what He wants of usisn’t just important, it is all important.

Imago Dei & Imitatio DeiMankind is unique in all creation for Adam

was made imago dei, to echo the Latin of theChurch Fathers, in the “image of God.” We areseparated from allliving things by adivine mark uponour kind. Humanbeings are sacro-sanct because ofthe divine mark weindelibly bear. Infact, the entireearthly creation was made for the expressed ben-efit of God’s image bearers who were to rule overit just as God rules over his responsibilities. Ani-mals, void of the divine image stamp, can haveno awareness of a “holy” thing (much less respectfor the carpet!). The divine image bearers, how-ever, need to be very concerned about what isholy. The first holy thing is still in view.

Being made in imago dei gives us insightinto our ultimate purpose: to grow up into the fulllikeness of our Father/Creator. We are called tobecome a son or daughter of His Majesty, mirror-ing the divine character and devoutly following Hisinstructions and example. Jesus Christ was justsuch a son. Jesus, as the firstborn Son of God,the Second Adam, the perfected and exact im-age of the heavenly Father, is our example to fol-low in taking on the divine nature. Jesus was andis what the human race was destined be from thestart—”in the image of God.”

If we are made in the image of God it followsthat we should engage our lives in an imitatio Dei,“imitation of God.” If we are made like God, it fol-lows that we should act like God. It is possible fora human to imitate him in every way: To let His

character become ours; His love to become thepattern for our love; His way of meting out justiceto become our way; His judgment to become ourown. But, how do we then imitate the Creator’sact of making the first holy thing? We look at theway Jesus imitated his Father.

Imitatio Dei was Jesus’ modus operandi..I tell you the truth, the Son can do noth-

ing by himself; he can do only what he seeshis Father doing, because whatever the Fa-ther does the Son also does. For the Father

loves theSon andshows himall he does.(John 5:19-20a)

C h r i s timitated God.What He

“sees” His Father doing becomes His guide forwhat He does. This would include the Father’spersonal example as well as the instructions andcommandments given from the beginning. Did thisinclude Christ’s observance of the Sabbath? Evi-dently. He was so faithful to His Father in this areaof worship, so consistent in His Sabbath obser-vance that the historian Luke records it as beinghabitual (see Luke 4:16).

Jesus’ imitation of God was precise & total.“ For I did not speak of my own accord,

but the Father who sent me commanded mewhat to say and how to say it. I know that hiscommand leads to eternal life. So whatever Isay is just what the Father has told me tosay.” (John 12:49)

Not only did He follow God’s commands, Hefollowed His intent, His spirit, His heart—the “how”in Jesus’ “how to say it” is just as important as the“what to say.” Jesus said, “I always do whatpleases him ” (John 8:29b).

Mankind’s First Opportunity to Imitate GodJust as God separated Adam and Eve from

“That first Sabbath . . . becomes thetemplate for the Kingdom of God

and the Plan of God: Man and Godin fellowship in a Paradise-like world . . .”


“By witnessing God resting,this now became mankind’s

first opportunity to imitate him.”

the rest of creation by makingthem in imago Dei, He sepa-rated the seventh day from theother days of the week by a di-vine action. He rested. The verb“to rest” is sabat (Heb), mean-ing “to stop, cease.” The nounform is sabbat from which weget our word “Sabbath.” Theseventh day came to be namedby what Yahweh did on the firstone—He stopped his work andrested in peace with his imagebearers.

God is the divine Exemplarfor human kind and He mani-fested himself in refraining fromwork and in resting. He restedfrom His work for the purposeof having peaceful fellowshipwith those Hehad just made inHis image. Hewas celebratingHis creation withHis family. This iswhy He blessedthis time andmade it holy—the first holything.

Our first parents were aliveat the moment God took thisdeliberate action. They saw it.By witnessing God resting, thisnow became mankind’s firstopportunity to imitate Him. Hav-ing just been made in God’simage only hours before, mancould now take his first step toimitate his Maker, to validate,as it were, His created design.

That first Sabbath, I be-lieve, went very well. It was cel-ebrated as all Sabbaths shouldbe celebrated—in joyful fellow-ship with God. Consider the pic-

ture: God and His son anddaughter at peace, without sin,in an absolutely beautiful para-dise. There was a lot to behappy about on the first holyday.

That first Sabbath, as bib-lical canon develops, becomesthe template for the Kingdom ofGod and the Plan of God: Manand God in fellowship in a para-dise-like world, at rest withoutthe slaveries and miseries ofsin. We don’t know how long ittook for Adam and Eve—andtheir new found serpentine ex-emplar—to mess up the har-mony, but it probably happenedby the following Sabbath. Thenext picture we have of God is

His arrival near sundown (per-haps at the beginning of thesecond Sabbath) walking onHis way to fellowship with Hisbeloved children. This time thepicture has changed. Sometime after the first SabbathAdam and his wife ceased anyimitation of God, set aside Hisexample, and disobeyed Hisinstructions. This Sabbath theydidn’t want fellowship, theywanted to hide.

The First Holy ThingAdam’s behavior didn’t al-

ter mankind’s one purpose, onecalling: To Imitate God. But it did

illustrate the difference be-tween God and man. God isholy. Holiness is defined byGod. Holiness is the nature ofGod. For us to imitate God wemust take on His holiness.

Peter, the apostle of Christ,expresses it clearly: “But justas he who called you is holy,so be holy in all you do; forit is written: ‘Be holy, be-cause I am holy’ ” (1 Peter2:15). This is not a new conceptas is evident from Peter’s quotefrom the Holiness Code inLeviticus. It has been God’s in-tent from the beginning.

Mankind must respond toHis Creator, either in obedi-ence or opposition. Human his-

tory since Edenis largely a sadchronicle of op-position toGod’s exampleand instruc-tions—includ-ing His ex-

ample of resting on the seventhday. The holiness of God isshunned. The holy things ofGod ignored or even des-ecrated.

The first holy thing of Godgiven to man was a specialday—the seventh—made holyby God’s blessing and ex-ample. His holy presence per-meated the day. His exampleand teaching would, if followed,lead His children to becomeholy as He is holy. Here we dis-cover the purpose of the Sab-bath: To fellowship with andworship our Creator, and learnfrom His Word the path to be-


coming like Him. To do this wemust cease/rest/pause from allother activities, importantthough they may be, for nonecan equal this divine appoint-ment.

The written creation ac-count that has come down to usmust have been prepared byGod Himself as there were nohuman witnesses until the sixthday (it is doubtful that Adamwas taking notes thereafter.)The first chapters of Genesisare the most magnificent,weighty and elegantly craftedportion of all Scripture. Thewords are weighed and fittedwith a godly precision. This isthe most important record ofwhat God did in the beginning.It is true history. And not by ac-cident, the Sabbath event capscreation. At some later time theaccount was given to men topreserve and copy.

Yahweh is the One whogives the rhythm and step of thecreation week. He is the onewho designs time, inhabitseternity and establishes theseventh day for a special pur-pose. He began what is now theever-present rhythm of sunset,sunrise and of “six working-days” followed by a “seventh[Sabbath] rest day.” Thesewere deliberate actions of theCreator to indicate theSabbath’s universality—givingclear evidence that every hu-man being who lives with sun-sets and sunrises—Jew andGentile—is to engage inimitatio Dei, “imitation of God,”by resting as God did.

Moving GodwardBoth man and the Sabbath

were created by God at almostthe same time. Jesus said theSabbath was made for man(Mark 2:28) and we can seethat by the very order of cre-ation; man was made first then,a few hours later, the Sabbath.The Creator enjoins the Sab-bath upon all humanity in twoways: by His own example, andby His direct command throughMoses. The former has by farthe greater appeal and author-ity—especially for those en-gaged in an imitatio Dei.

The sixth day was man’sbeginning. The seventh daywas the beginning of God’sspiritual work of making manholy as He is holy. The beautyof the Sabbath is that by par-ticipating in God’s rest we canenjoy the divine gift of freedomfrom the labors of human exist-ence and thus acknowledgeGod as our Creator. If we shareHis rest now we can look for-ward to sharing His rest forever.The goodness and genius ofGod leads us in one direction:Godward (see Romans 2:4).

The first holy thing, theSabbath, is the Creator’s gift tomove us Godward—towardbecoming holy as He is holy.

“Make every effort tolive in peace with all men andto be holy; without holinessno one will see the Lord. ”(Hebrews 12:14).

TSS

5:19-21 gives us the insight weneed! “Now the works of theflesh are manifest, which arethese; Adultery, fornication, un-cleanness, lasciviousness,idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, vari-ance, emulations, wrath, strife,seditions, heresies, envyings,murders, drunkenness, revel-lings, and such like: of the whichI tell you before, as I have alsotold you in time past, that theywhich do such things shall notinherit the kingdom of God. ”(KJV)

3)Ephesians 6:12 shows usthat our brethren and people still inthe world are not our enemies. “Forwe wrestle not against flesh andblood, but against principalities,against powers, against the rul-ers of the darkness of thisworld, against spiritual wicked-ness in high places. ” (KJV).Satan is our enemy, flesh and bloodis not. God is our Father andJesusChrist is our elder brother.Who is left?

We have an enemy who hasdeclared war on us; whether or notwe wanted a war, we are in one.Satan is the inventor of the sneakattack. It is important that we under-stand the enemy so that we are notsurprised and beaten by him. Byrecognizing that Satan is our onlyenemy, that he has some greatpowers, that he seeks to distractus with our minor differences andthat he seeks to put his way of think-ing into us, trying to cause us tomake enemies of our brethren, wecan do our part to prevent his gain-ing an advantage over us.

TSS

ENEMY, (from page 20)


Who Is Our Enemy?by Royce Mitchell, Jr.

From the beginning of recorded history,man’s existence has been marked by the pres-ence of enemies, both real and imagined. Evenin the Bible, we read that, in the first family, onebrother named Cain saw his brother Abel as anenemy and eventually slew him. He is a good ex-ample of the potential end result of an adversarialrelationship with other people.

But throughout history there have always beeninstances where the enemies have been real.Even today, part of police training is a coursewhere the enemy must be determined and doneso in a split second, since their lives and the livesof bystanders are at risk.

Warriors have always been faced with sev-eral key questions when facing an enemy. Primaryamong them was to determine who the enemywas. In the War of Independence, the enemy wasidentified by their colors, red coats vs. blue coats.In the Civil War, it was blue vs gray. In secondWorld War, the Germans wore gray uniforms, theBritish brown and the Americans green. InJudges12:6 we find that the Ephraimites werefighting with the Gileadites. The Gileadites hadmanaged to trap the Ephraimites in the conditionwhere they had to cross the Jordan where theGileadites controlled it. In that instance, the en-emy was defined by whether or not he could pro-nounce the word”Shibboleth.” In the Lilliputian war,the enemy was defined by whether he crackedhis egg at the big end or the little end.

But the great leaders have always had toknow more than who the enemy was to preventthem gaining an edge over them. Yes, determin-ing the enemy was and is important but they needto know more. They needed to know who the en-emy was, as stated, but they also needed to knowwhat the enemy’s capabilities were, and how hethought. Besides just being able to identify theenemy, reconnaisance had to be accomplised sothat the capabilities of the enemy could be estab-lished. To learn how the enemy thought, spies

were often employed.The Bible shows that we have an enemy

who is at war with us. We likewise must be awareof who the enemy is and what his capabilities areto prevent his gaining an edge over us! In2Corinthians 2:10-11 we find, “But to whom yeforgive anything, I (forgive) also: for what Ialso have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything,for your sakes (have I forgiven it) in the pres-ence of Christ; that no advantage may begained over us by Satan: for we are not igno-rant of his devices. ”(ASV)

So then, we see that we do not want Satanto gain an advantage over us. He must be theenemy! Notice Matthew 13:38-39 where Christsays, “The field is the world; the good seedare the children of the kingdom; but the taresare the children of the wicked one; The en-emy that sowed them is the devil; the harvestis the end of the world; and the reapers arethe angels .” (KJV) Also notice 1 Peter 5:8, “Beself-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devilprowls around like a roaring lion looking forsomeone to devour .” (NIV). We have identifiedthe enemy!

What, then, are his capabilities? Whatweapon does he hold? Hebrews 2:14 tells us,“Forasmuch then as the children are partak-ers of flesh and blood, he also himself like-wise took part of the same; that throughdeath he might destroy him that had the powerof death, that is, the devil ;”(KJV). The devil hasthe power of death, indeed a potent weapon! Wealso find this weapon mentioned in Revelation9:11, “And they had a king over them, whichis the angel of the bottomless pit, whosename in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, butin the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon. ”(KJV) The English translation of his name is “De-stroyer!” Death and destruction are in his hands!

Next, we need to determine how he thinks, inorder to defeat him. How does he think? Galatians

(continued on page 19)


BIBLE SABBA TH ASSOCIATION- TheBoard of Directors meeting is coming on Janu-ary 7-9. We will be meeting in St. Louis at theMarriott Airport Hotel, I 70 @ Lambert Airport.The Board of Directors wishes to invite all of themembers of The Bible Sabbath Associationto attend the meeting with us. If you would like toattend the meeting, please contact the BSA at(307) 686-5191.

•December 25-28, 1999 —Teen Lock-in in

Kansas City Missouri. Fourth annual Teen Lock-in will be held at the Salvation Army Camp andConference Center. For more info contactLaurinda Armer at (816) 461-3253 or http://home.swbell.net/shemp/teen.htm.

•The General Council of the Churches of God,

7th Day are going to be establishing a BibleCollege. For more information about the plansand estimated time frame contact General Coun-cil of the Churches of God, 7th Day 1827 WestThird Street, Meridian, Idaho, 83642-1653.

•The Church of God in Brazil is looking for

someone to teach conversational English to theirboard of Elders. If you qualify, and are interestedplease contact them at their website at http://www.igrejadedeus.com.br/ .

•Pen Pal and Spouse Seeker listing is now

in the Gates of Eden Publication. It is a smallcolumn but free to anyone. It is suggested youhave a post office box for such transactions toguarantee privacy. Write Daniel Botkin, Gatesof Eden P.O. Box 2257, Esat Peoria IL 61611-0257. Gates of Eden is published monthly; rec-ommended donation of $2.00 per issue to offsetpublication costs.

•Petah Tikvah Year 20Sabbath Singles Con-

nection —http://hme.inreach.com/mikekawa/

00 Tour to Israel with Messianic Believers.For brochure and more

info contact Gates of Eden at above address.•

A gathering of ALL THE PEOPLE OFYAHWEH from all over the World!!Yahweh gathering in the Bahamas July 14-17,2000 (Friday-Monday). The theme ofthe gathering is “One Body In Yahweh”. For allsacred name believers. For more info, pleasecontact: In New York: Bishop H. Mickens (718)401-0742, Bahamas Pastor D. Thompson (242)324- 6906, St. Kitts Elder C. Jenkins (869) 465-6809, Dominica Elder J. Sedra (767) 449-1879,Elder L. Williams (767) 448-8043 or in ElderV.P.F. Joseph (767) 448-8567.

•Church of God, Central Arkansas will be

having another interactive bible study held overthe weekend of December. 24-26, 2000 at NorthLittle Rock, Arkansas. Please [email protected] or call (501) 565-4386 for moreinformation.

•ANNOUNCING UCG DALLAS FORT WORTH

MINI-COURSES(COLLEGE-LEVEL CLASSES WITHOUT

TESTS AND GRADING)DECEMBER 25-29, 1999

Hear ye, hear ye! Last chance this centuryyea, verily even the last chance this millennium!

The Dallas/Ft.Worth churches invite you to anexciting opportunity: five days of fellowship andinstruction in the Bible and other subjects. The“mini-courses," church services, and activitieswill be in the Dallas South, church hall in DeSoto,Texas, a suburb of Dallas.

For further information and to register, con-tact Frank McCrady at: 972-462-1413, (tele-phone/fax), or e-mail at [email protected] is no charge for the dance or classes!

CALENDAR OF EVENTSFOR THE EXTENDED BODY OF CHRIST!


It amazes me how you all manage to outdoyourselves at BSA with no full-time workers andan interim editor! The August-September issuemust have been the most inspiring yet!

First, I am humbled and joyed by the simplehalf page article from the former Sunday keeper.It amazes me how a “newcomer” can point outnew scriptures that prove Sabbath keeping that Inever remotely considered! Great blessings toCasey Dunnick!! And also to that CalifornianBaptist Church who chose the Sabbath. Suchgood news overwhelms me!

As such, I would like to respond in kind to themuch needed money and labor for the printing ofEuropean Sabbath tracts. I read in a U.C.G.(United Church of God- Ed) publication recentlyhow the Germans have perverted an entire gen-eration into thinking that Sunday is the seventhday!! Please do not hesitate to use my offeringfor the printing of Dutch and Spanish tracts, es-pecially Spanish. I will try to pray harder. Godbless you all.

John Bobitsky

Thanks so very much for the encouragingwords you sent to us. You may not believe this,but it is this kind of encouragement that makesour job easier. To know that the Children of theMost High God appreciate our efforts is ex-tremely encouraging. Indeed, you become afellow laborer in the effort by holding up ourhands as you have done. I pray that this issuealso lives up to the high expectations that youhave for us!

Royce

In a recent issue of the “Servant’s News” Inoticed a short article indicating that you mayneed some help with publication of The SabbathSentinel. I have enjoyed reading the magazineand would be glad to assist with this importantwork.

As a civil engineer, I get plenty of opportunityto prepare business letters, reports and publica-tions. This work is rewarding from a professionalstandpoint, but helping to prepare material thatgoes “straight to the heart” would be a welcomechange of pace.

If you believe that you could use my assis-tance, please contact me.

Jeff Blaney

“The Sabbath Sentinel” is always looking forarticles of interest concerning God’s preciousgift of His Sabbath, as well as encouraging ar-ticles for our friends and brethren who look tothe magazine for encouragement. If you haveany articles or other contributions, please for-ward them to the address on the inside frontcover. You may also email them to me directlyat this email: [email protected]. We look for-ward to hearing from you!

Royce

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

SABBATARIAN MEETING PLACESON THE NET!

The internet project to update our listof Sabbath keeping fellowships hasbegun! Go to http://www.geocities.com/nucov/nations.htm to see the beginnings!If you know of a Sabbatarian groupnot listed in any country, please forwardthat to [email protected], or to BSAat the address found on the inside cover,and they will be added. In this way wecan make this our joint project!


classified ads . . .

Support BSA and ourefforts to promote God’s

Sabbath! Become aMember Today!Regular Membership

$25; Family $30BSA, 3316 Alberta Drive,Gillette, WY 82718 USA

Toll Free: 1-888-687-5191

Gift Subscriptions to TSSShare the joy of the Sabbath with a

friend! Send us names of others whowould like to receive our magazine. Adonation of $10 per gift subscription isappreciated.

FREE REPORT-- How to Teach Your Chil-dren Biblical Work Ethics, and, The PrincipalsThat Guarantee Employment Success: The RoadMap, PO Box 4154-SS, Kansas City, KS 66104.(April 00)

FREE QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER”The Fellowship Commentator; A Quarterly

Newsletter of Biblical Analysis and Commen-tary” edited by F. Paul Haney, independent min-ister. Also free with this ad —”The Eagle & TheLion Christian Bible Study Guide” and “Study32a: Keeping the Sabbath.” (Mar00)

Christ Fellowship MinistriesP.O. Box 370

Watertown, CT 06795 USA

FREE QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER—“The Fellowship Commentator; A quarterlyNewsletter of Biblical Analysis and Commen-tary” edited by F. Paul Haney, an independentminister. Also free with this ad— “The Eagle &The Lion Christian Bible Study Guide” and“Study 32a: Keeping the Sabbath.”

Christ Fellowship MinistriesP.O. Box 370

Watertown, CT 06795 USA(Apr00)

PHILADELPHIA. WHEN AND WHERE.POB. 26141 TEL AVIV 61261 ISRAEL (June 00)

BIBLE TRUTH versus RELIGION, andCOMING TRIBULATION! $1.00. CAL, Box1035, Bellavista, CA 96008. (Mar00)

Classified ads (20% discount for secondtime, 30% thereafter) are available at the rate of$1.00 per word (including each word and eachgroup of numbers in the address - telephone num-bers count as one word) for each issue in whichthe ad is published.

Display ads are available at $150 perquarter page for each issue the ad is published.Where possible your camera-ready copy will beutilized, or we will design your display ad for you.Send copy for all ads and payment to The BibleSabbath Association, 3316 Alberta Drive,Gillette, WY 82718.

Discounts- Advertise in the TSS Classi-fied Ads section for more than one issue andreceive discounts: $1.00 per word 1st issue, then20% off for 2nd issue and 30% off for subse-quent times.

Ad copy without payment will not be ac-cepted for publication. Deadline is two monthsprior to publication (i.e. if you want your ad toappear in the March/April issue we must receiveit before January). BSA reserves the right to re-ject or edit any ad copy. Publication does notnecessarily imply endorsement by The BibleSabbath Association or The Sabbath Sentinel.

“FREE, 2000, CALENDAR OF THELORD

Biblical and historical events that Lord Fa-ther willed by His Son, Lord and Saviour, Jesus.Marked events for you to know and DO. Limit to10 outside the USA; high postage. USA no limitfor families, friends, etc. Write to: Church of God(New Testament), At Large; 45-020B MalulaniStreet; Kaneohe, HI 96744.” (Dec99)


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The Sabbath Sentinel

A Bi-monthly Publication ofThe Bible Sabbath AssociationHC 60 Box 8, Fairview, OK 73737 USAAddress Service Requested

NON-PROFITORGANIZATIONUS POSTAGE

PAIDPERMIT NO. 116GILLETTE, WY

Gospelgroep �Pass It On�

Mike Gassenaar, director of De Sabbat Stichting (“The Sabbath Foundation”), the Dutchcounterpart of The Bible Sabbath Association, is a man of many talents. He demonstrates hismusical abilities on a fine CD of twenty gospel songs entitled, “Pass It On.”

Six Dutchmen join to sing (in English) a variety of familiar and original Christian music. ErikLopulalan, Rund Dickman, Jack and Daniel Buys, and Simon Ririhena sing “It Only Takes a Spark,”“Where Have Been,” “When God Dipped His Love in My Heart,” “Where I’m Bound,” “It’s You,” “Some-body Bigger,” I Have Found a Friend,” “Born Again,” “My Jesus and My Lord,” “Is the Door StandingOpen?” “Greeting Him With a Song,” “Thinking Back,” “Jesus Stands on My Side,” “Without Him,”“For God So Loved the World,” “How Long Has it Been?” “Part the Waters,” “The Road,” “Thank GodFor All He Made,” and “Try to Make Another World.” Join in singing with these fine men (printedwords provided).

The lead song is, “It Only Takes a Spark.” Here are the words:

“It only takes a spark to geta fire going And soon all thosearound can warm up in the glow-ing. That’s how it is with God’slove once you’ve experiencedit, You spread His love to every-one You want to pass it on.”

“What a wondrous time isspring when all the trees arebudding the birds begin to singthe flowers start their bloomingThat’s how it is with God’s loveonce you’ve experienced it,You want to sing it’s fresh likespring. You want to pass it on.”

This fine music CD will enhance your Sabbath worship. It is available from The Bible Sab-bath Association, 3316 Alberta Drive, Gillette, WY 82718, for $12.95 plus $2.00 shipping.

“I wish for you my friend thishappiness that I’ve found Youcan depend on Him It matters notwhere you’re bound I’ll shout itfrom the mountaintops I want theworld to know the Lord of love hascome to me I want to pass it on.”

Documents

November-December 1999 Sabbath