Letters From Our Readers
- "The Story of Jesus Christ: Where Do You Fit?"
- Jesus Christ: The Real Story
- Is The Good News anti-Catholic?
- "What Did the Early Church Believe and Practice?"
- Reader questions previous beliefs
"The Story of Jesus Christ: Where Do You Fit?"
I have been receiving your magazine for a while and honestly never read it
before now. However, I have been looking for God and have been drawn towards
Him. I think back and find it strange that your magazines started to make
an appearance just as I was starting my search. Today I received and read
the March-April edition, "The Story of Jesus Christ: Where Do You Fit?"
I thought the articles were very interesting and well written.
—R.P., Plain City, Utah
I wrote asking if you had any literature on the time from Christ's
final Passover through His resurrection, and found you didn't. I'm
so glad that was rectified! When I saw the titles of this Good News
issue, I got excited. And then when I saw the booklets also available, I was
thrilled. Thanks for being attentive to His prompting and feeding the flock.
—K.M.B., Internet
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Jesus Christ: The Real Story
I'd be happy to receive a free copy of your new booklet Jesus
Christ: The Real Story. The acute problem of today is to know and to dare
to trust the truth. As we have all seen, your foretelling of the future, based
on the Bible scripts, really seems to be correct, i.e., the bombs in Madrid,
Spain, as well as the terrorist killings in the Holy Land. These days we all
need to receive all possible information to obtain knowledge and certainty.
—A.E., Uppsala, Sweden
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Is The Good News anti-Catholic?
I truly enjoy reading some of your articles. However, in so doing I also get this strange feeling that many of your articles are cleverly designed to disunite the various Christian denominations. They appear to target the Roman Catholic Church in particular. Recent articles about James, the half brother of Jesus, Mary's virginity, Good Friday and Easter, plus the observance of the seventh-day Sabbath appear to contradict the catechism of the one holy Catholic and apostolic church—which truly has been the basis of the early Church and Christianity beginning from Christ, His apostles and the bishops of Rome.
One must appreciate that all other Christian denominations came about as breakaways from this early church, not due to differences in theology, but through ignorance and lack of proper understanding of Roman Catholic teachings and practices like its devotion to the Virgin Mary and confession of sins— notwithstanding the behavior of the early bishops. As your name suggests, the United Church of God, please work hard in uniting all Christians with common themes understood and shared by all churches, irrespective of denomination.
—B.R., Sidney, Australia
Are you anti-Catholic? Please reply.
—L.M., Internet
The United Church of God is not "anti" any individual believer. However, we have a responsibility from God to proclaim the true teachings and doctrines of the Bible, both Old and New Testaments (Matthew 4:4; 2 Timothy 3:15-17). We present our teachings with the hope that our audiences will evaluate them in the light of true biblical doctrines—searching the Scriptures daily to determine their validity (see Acts 17:11).
We believe that the Bible itself is the final arbiter. We do not, however, harbor any hostile or antagonistic feelings toward those who believe differently. For a basic summary of our goals and purposes plus a brief history of the early New Testament Church and what it believed, please request This Is the United Church of God and The Church Jesus Built.
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"What Did the Early Church Believe and Practice?"
Wow! Your recent piece entitled "What Did the Early Church Believe and
Practice?" was so excellent that I cut it out and pasted it in my Bible
for future reference. What is so splendid is that you use Bible verses exclusively
to prove your claims. I wish your organization had enough money to broadcast
this article at halftime during the Super Bowl, so all Americans could better
understand what true Christianity believes and practices. I was truly embarrassed
at what this country, which claims to be "One Nation Under God,"
telecast to the entire world during this event. It's sad!
—J.P.C., Broomfield, Colorado
I have been attending church all of my life. I have never heard anyone mention
some of the truths I am now reading and learning from the Bible—things
I was never taught. I have read the Bible through three or four times, but
didn't understand a lot of it. With your teachings, I am learning and
understanding to give God the glory.
—D.S.C., Detroit, Michigan
I received The Good News and was appalled at the article, "What Did
the Early Church Believe and Practice?" The idea that the Church should
keep the Feasts of the Old Testament is simply not scriptural.
—S.H., Paris, Texas
Our free booklet God's Holy Day Plan: The Promise of Hope for All Mankind shows that the early Church kept the biblical festivals as outlined in Leviticus 23. Also, earlier editions of The Encyclopaedia Britannica will clearly tell you that first-century Christian believers observed these biblical feasts.
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Reader questions previous beliefs
I am a new Christian. A friend of my husband gave us a copy of The Good
News. I read it and enjoyed the articles very much. However, I have become
confused about my Christianity and some of the things I have been taught.
An example is attending church on Saturday instead of Sunday. My family, while
I was growing up, always went on Sunday. Have we been wrong all this time?
I could really use some knowledge about this. I do not want my walk in the
Lord to be in vain, and I am very interested in what His will is for me—even
it if it means changing all that I have been taught or offending my family.
—M.H., Qulin, Missouri
We deeply appreciate your willing attitude and approach. We have mailed you several booklets including Sunset to Sunset: God's Sabbath Rest. Hopefully these will answer your questions. However, even though we should implement the doctrinal truths we discover in the Bible, we should also try to do so as diplomatically and inoffensively as we can, not forcing our convictions on others.
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