SOME THINGS TO THINK ABOUT

Copied from the sermon notes of Pastor Don Elmore

October 13, 2019

Scripture Readng:  Leviticus 23:21

With regret, the audio file was unusuable.

This introductory verse (Leviticus 23:21) was talking about the holy day of Pentecost. The original Pentecost (meaning 50 days) was 50 days after Israel left Egypt. This day was a yearly sabbath. But doesn’t this teach something that most sabbath-keepers have never understood or read? There is a 48-hour sabbath every year!

Look at what the The Dake Reference Bible says about what this verse teaches us:

“Pentecost was an extra sabbath added to the regular one. This made a 48-hour sabbath at which time the weekly sabbath was changed to a day later for the remainder of the year, and until the next Pentecost” [emphasis mine].

In addition to this statement, the Dake Bible adds on Page 111, the following:

“The 7th-day sabbaths of Israel were changing sabbaths, being observed on two different days each year because of an additional sabbath being observed at Pentecost. If we suppose, for instance, that the 15th of Abib (when Israel left Egypt) which was on the Sabbath, was Saturday, then the 7th-day sabbath would fall on Saturday for 7 weeks, or until 49 days had run their course. The 50th day, which would be Sunday, would be Pentecost.

The next 7th-day sabbath after Pentecost would fall on Sunday, and so it would be until Pentecost of the following year which would change the 7th-day sabbath again. This time it would fall on Monday until the next Pentecost which would be 50 days after the first 15 days of Abib, as stated, or on the 65th day of that particular new year. Thus, there was no such thing as the sabbath always being on Saturday throughout the year, or perpetually.”

This is significant.

THE BIRTHRIGHT

by Pastor Don Elmore

September 22, 2019

Scripture Reading:  Malachi 2:11

Today, I will be a history teacher. The purpose of this sermon is to let everyone know why I believe that Judah “married a daughter of a strange god.” It is not to change anyone’s mind, for that is up to God. It is not to have a sermon for and a sermon against. It is a sermon that says: We agree to disagree on this situation. I want everyone to know why I believe that Judah married a Canaanite. If you believe this or don’t, well just let it go.

Genesis is the beginning. It tells of the covenant that God unconditionally made with one man. This covenant, the Bible tells us, was passed on to who was considered the firstborn. Who was Abram’s firstborn? It was Ishmael.

Now who does the Bible tell us who the covenant is confirmed to: Ishmael or Isaac?

Abram loved Ishmael his firstborn son. The Bible promises that Ishmael will be blessed of God, and will be fruitful, and will beget twelve princes, and will be a great nation, but God’s covenant will not be established with him.

Genesis 17:21:  “But My covenant will I establish with Isaac, which Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time in the next year.”

The Bible tells us that the covenant would be with the son of Abram whose name was change to Abraham, and Sarai whose name was changed to Sarah, not the son of Abram and Hagar. The Bible then continues in the story of who would be the next heir. Isaac had twin boys. Which one was the firstborn? When Isaac was 60 years-old, his wife, Rebekah, gave birth to Esau and Jacob. Which one did Isaac love? Or did he love them both equally?

DO YOU BELIEVE?

Copied from the sermon notes of Pastor Don Elmore

August 18, 2019

Scripture Reading: Exodus 33:16

IN THE NEWS

Jeffrey Epstein was found dead in his jail cell at 7:30 am in the morning last week, according to police. He was under “suicide watch,” which was of course a designation placed on him roughly two weeks ago to set up the back story for what just happened. Jeffrey Epstein was murdered for the simple reason that dead men don’t talk. And Epstein had a lot to say that would have implicated Bill Clinton and dozens of high-profile global power brokers who happily raped young boys and girls that were provided by Epstein as part of his blackmail-based wealth creation scheme.

The Clinton Body Count is already about 70 dead; people who have mysteriously died after possessing potentially damaging information about the Clintons. Think about this for a little bit. From the two teen age boys who were supposedly killed by a train while they were lying down on the tracks in a drug stupor, to the suicide of Epstein, there has been about 70 others murdered in mysterious ways. Found dead in a car, killed in a plane crash, found dead after supposedly jumping off a high building, found dead at home with a gun shot wound, etc

DOES GOD WELCOME ALL? 

Copied from the sermon notes of Pastor Don Elmore

June 29, 2019

Scripture Reading: Genesis 19:24-25

Zoar was the smallest of the five cities that were on the same very fertile plain of the Jordan River. It was there where Lot begged the two angels that his family could go instead of into the mountains. As soon as they entered the city (minus his wife because she died when she disobeyed God’s command and looked back, and his two married daughters who remained in Sodom) the destruction quickly followed. The smoke from this fire and brimstone was so great that Abraham could see the smoke from where he was living which was in Hebron (Mamre).

Maybe Zoar had 10 or more righteous people living in the city? Maybe the 10 or more righteous individuals referred to each city separately not collectively? If it had, then it could have been spared by Abraham’s intercession given in Genesis 18:23-33. Anyway, Zoar continued for many centuries, not because of Abraham’s request only, but no-doubt also because it was not as ripe for judgment as the other cities. But Lot and his two remaining daughters did not stay in this small city very long. They very quickly left town and went to the mountains. All their cattle were destroyed—they were homeless and desolate.

THE GODDESS OF AMERICA

Copied from the sermon notes of Pastor Don Elmore

June 9, 2019

Scripture Reading: Genesis 24:2, 3

Do not these verses teach that the marriage of a member of the Abrahamic family to a Canaanite was strictly forbidden as seen in Abraham’s command to his servant?

And let’s look next at who did Abraham’s grandson marry.

Genesis 28:1: “And Isaac called Jacob, and blessed him, and charged him, and said unto him, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan.”

This is what Esau had done when he had despised the covenant that God had made with his grandfather and confirmed with his father.

WHICH SIDE?

Copied from the sermon notes of Pastor Don Elmore

May 12, 2019

Scripture Reading:  Judges 2:11-13

I received a very disturbing email (on May 3, 2019) from an organization that is headed by the nationally known preacher (John Hagee) who divorced his wife and married a woman who was a member of his congregation; who was disbarred from his church’s denomination as a preacher; and who just moved a couple of miles down the road and started a new ministry. Listen to what this email says. Is it true or false?

“Dear Donald,

Today, on Holocaust Memorial Day (Yom HaShaoh), we commemorate the slaughter of 6 million Jews at the hands of the Nazis. Sadly, as we do so, we are simultaneously seeing the rise of that old enemy wearing a new mask. Where once, anti-Semitism was displayed by those in white hoods or wearing the twisted cross of the swastika, today, this hatred hides in plain sight. Only a decade ago, anti-Semites were shunned and despised. Now this appalling bigotry has a platform on Twitter and the New York Times and is applauded in the public square…

Don’t be fooled by those using words like “anti-Zionism” as a fig leaf to hide their bigotry. Let us not become blind to the anti-Semitism that hides in plain sight, where false arguments are used to mask efforts to destroy Israel through Boycotts, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS)…”

It ends with the following pledge: 

"I Pledge to "Shine the Light" by:

- Opposing anti-Semitism in all its forms, wherever it may be found

- Educating my friends, coworkers and elected officials about how to identify and condemn the anti-Semitism that hides in plain sight

- Fighting those who would use opposition to Israeli policy as a thin veil to hide their hatred for the Jewish state

- Supporting our Jewish neighbors should they ever be victimized by anti-Semites"

Is this email true or false? John Hagee said, “…today we commemorate the slaughter of 6 million Jews at the hands of the Nazis.” How many Jews were slaughtered by the Nazis? How many Nazis were slaughtered by the Jews? The Christians United for Israel organization says that the Nazis slaughtered 6 million Jews, but is it true?

THE CANAANITES

Copied from the sermon notes of Pastor Don Elmore

April 21, 2019

Scripture Reading: Genesis 9:18, 19

The Age that ended just before these verses was called the Antediluvian Age. This Age was from the time of the sin of Adam till the flood of Noah. It lasted 1656 years. Most Christians don’t really consider, even if they know how long Adam lived, that Adam lived over half of that time—930 years out of 1656 years. In fact, Adam has lived about 1/6 of all time—from his sin till the present.

The Antediluvian Age was about 30% of the time to the present. In other words, there has only been about 4300 years from Noah’s flood to the present time. What was the Age before ours like?

The Bible reveals very little about that Age. There was a Garden that was made by Almighty God, and that is where He placed both Adam and Eve. The Garden was on the eastern portion of Eden. And there was the land of Nod to the east of Eden. And there were lands and oceans to the north, south, west and east of Eden.