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April 2007, Issue #22
“Your interview on 3ABN was captivating and inspiring. What a testimony you two have! Was on my way to bed, clicked on 3ABN for a moment, saw you enthusiasm and joy, and stayed up for the whole program. Thank you and may God bless your ministry.” – WP We praise Yahweh for this opportunity!
The Lord worked out this visit for a reason and in his time. Here’s how we got on the program. Years ago in Columbia, South Carolina we dedicated a little girl Myleidy Pinero daughter of Richard and Annette Pinero. Richard is a powerful evangelist for the Lord both in English and Spanish and the Lord led him miraclously to be working in pastoral ministries for 3ABN. Some time back he injured his foot and was laid up at home after surgury. While at home they gave him some mail to look over. One of the pieces of mail was our newsletter. He recognized the name and said, “I know Pastor Tony!” He then went to 3ABN and asked them to have us on! They did, and Yahweh the Lord blessed once again! For those who do not have 3ABN television, you can view the interview by going to http://TCM3ABN Please join us in prayer that many souls will be won because of it! It was also amazing that we filmed on Wednesday and the show was aired on Sabbath which is very quick!
To the left is a picture of some of the many orders we have been receiving for the book Bible Prophecy Made Simple. I placed the following small ad on-line and have been getting calls for the book from literally all over the world! Here is the ad: FREE new book called BIBLE PROPHECY MADE SIMPLE book! Read Bible truth you have never heard preached in church! This book will thrill your soul and give you great hope and joy for the future! You need this fabulous book, and when you have read it, you will be eager to share it with others! To get your free book simply e-mail your mailing address. There are no catches or strings attached! TOTALLY FREE 180 page book that makes Bible prophecy easy to understand! I was impressed to offer it for FREE believing that Yahweh my heavenly Father will provide the means if this is to continue. If you are impressed to help, please do so. The demand for teachings on Bible prophecy is tremendous!
April 10 – Soul Winning Made Simple workshop with Canadian pastors (by TCM associate) May 12 - Morganton, North Carolina new church dedication May 17-22 –Festival for the Laity with Elder Folkenberg at Southern Adventist University Oct. 5 – Oct. 28 Evangelistic meetings in Foscoe, North Carolina April 5 – April 26, 2008 Evangelistic Meetings in Lenoir, North Carolina May 26-2008 – Bible Study workshop at the Carolina Conference Camp-meeting
Week-ends for 2007 are still being booked. Call for a date and let’s work together to win souls! Call 828-263-0780 or e-mail pastortony@msn.com to set dates.
By Pastor Tony Cirigliano
More people come to church services on Easter Sunday than any other time of the year, Christians included. Some feel that a special measure of sanctification, purification and holiness is imparted to them by their attendance at Easter services. Many Christians do not know or have never wondered about Easter's origins. Many would be surprised to know the truth of the matter.
Neither Yahshua Jesus nor the apostles ever directed that “Easter” should be observed. The word Easter is found in Acts 12:4 in the King James Version of the Bible. In actuality, it is an incorrect translation of the Greek word pascha, which refers to Passover, not Easter. This mistake has been corrected in modern translations of the New Testament.
Also, it is not generally known that Easter did not originate with the resurrection of Yahshua Jesus the Messiah. Encyclopedias and dictionaries trace the term Easter variously back to Eostre, the name of the Anglo-Saxon goddess of spring; to Eostur, the Norse word for the spring season; or to Ishtar, the ancient spring goddess of Near Eastern countries, also known as Astarte, or, in the Bible, Ashtoreth. I personally prefer to call the day Resurrection Sunday to give glory to the risen Savior than to mention the name of a pagan deity. In Exodus 23:13 the Lord gave this command, “Make no mention of the name of other gods, nor let it be heard from your lips.” All of the Easter customs are connected to the spring season and springtime fertility festivals, which represented rejuvenation, reproduction and the life-enriching qualities of the sun. Customs and symbols associated today with Easter observance can be directly traced back to Easter's pre-Christian origins. The New Encyclopedia Britannica, 15th edition, in its article on Easter, describes these customs and symbols as "having been handed down from the ancient ceremonial and symbolism of European and Middle Eastern pagan spring festivals." One symbol, the Easter rabbit, is called the modern replacement for "the hare, the symbol of fertility in ancient Egypt."
Another source reveals the origin of two Easter customs: "Also popular among Europeans and Americans on Easter is ham, because the pig was considered a symbol of luck in pre-Christian European culture" (The Encyclopedia of Religion, 1987, article, "Easter"). "In traditional folk religion the egg is a powerful symbol of fertility, purity, and rebirth. It is used in magical rituals to promote fertility and restore virility; to look into the future; to bring good weather; to encourage the growth of crops and protect both cattle and children against misfortune, especially the dreaded evil eye. All over the world it represents life and creation, fertility and resurrection...Later [customs concerning eggs] were linked with Easter. The Roman church did not oppose this, though many egg customs were pre-Christian in origin, because they said the egg provided a fresh and powerful symbol of the Resurrection and the transformation of death into life." (Article, "Egg").
For Seventh-day Adventists, it is interesting that Ellen G. White mentions the term Easter only five times in her 25 million words of writing, and none of the mentions are flattering! In the 1888 Edition of the Great Controversy, on page 386 she writes: “Christians are making a great deal of Lent and Easter and church ornamentation. It is the old trick of Satan.” It is interesting that this statement was deleted from the 1911 Edition of The Great Controversy. It seems today that the whole Christian world and many of Yahweh’s remnant people have been tricked into baptizing pagan customs into their true worship. This was how Sunday worship came into the Christian church!
Celebrating the resurrection of a deceased deity in a springtime festival also long predates Christianity. Chief among such celebrations were those in honor of Tammuz, the Babylonian "god of pasture and flocks...and of vegetation. This ancient custom of mourning for the return of a dead Yahweh is mentioned in Ezekiel 8:14, where we read that women are "weeping for Tammuz." His supposed resurrection marked the end of winter and the beginning of spring, with its new life and vegetation. Ishtar, wife of Tammuz, was also worshiped as the "Queen of Heaven" (Harper's, 1961, article, "Asherah"). The Bible shows that idolatry and sun worship connected with Ishtar and Tammuz became so widespread and influential that they were practiced even by people who had once known the true Elohim but had fallen into wrong kinds of worship (See Ezekiel 8:12-18; Jeremiah 7:18; 44:17-23).
But how did such strange customs and practices become associated with biblically recorded true events such as the Passover and Jesus the Messiah's resurrection? From the start, the Roman government regarded the early Christian Church as a branch of the Jewish religion, because the earliest Christians staunchly observed the same laws and religious celebrations, as did Jews. Later, as persecution increased many groups of professing Christians chose to disassociate themselves from what had become identified as Judaism. This was one of the chief reasons the Christian leaders at Rome who had gradually accepted pagan forms of worship to change the seventh-day Sabbath to Sunday worship.
During the reign of Emperor Hadrian (A.D. 117-135), Jews were harshly persecuted and practices of Judaism forbidden. These oppressive measures apparently influenced many early Christians in Rome to abandon the biblical Sabbath and festivals and turn to Sunday, historically observed by the Romans as a day of veneration of the Sun. Hence, the first day of the week (Sunday) took the place of the seventh day (Friday sunset to Saturday sunset) Sabbath, and "some of the old heathen feasts became church festivals with change of name and of worship" (Jesse Lyman Hurlbut, The Story of the Christian Church, 1954, pp. 43, 45, 77, 79). In other words, the Sabbath and festivals of Yahweh, outlined in Leviticus 23 and practiced by both Judaism and the early Church (Acts 13:14, 42, 44; 16:13; 17:2; 18:4, 21; 20:6, 16; 27:9), were supplanted by non-biblical traditions and practices. The truth and purity of the early Church of Yahweh our heavenly Father were corrupted. There is never a mention in the Bible or the Spirit of Prophecy regarding having sunrise services on Sunday morning in honor of the resurrection. In fact, the Bible tells us that when they came to the tomb early in the morning, Jesus was already risen and the tomb was empty. He arose after the Sabbath - the time we now call Saturday night. See Luke 24:1-4. The only sunrise service mentioned in the Bible was one where they were worshipping the pagan sun god with their backs turned to Yahweh’s temple! (See Ezekiel 8:16.)
To commemorate His resurrection the Savior gave the ordinance of baptism which symbolizes His death, burial and resurrection. He did not give another Sabbath day or a special new holy day! (See Romans 6:4-6.) We must be careful as Yahweh’s remnant people that we do not attach special sacredness to “Istar” Sunday with its attached unbiblical customs as if the day was somehow declared sacred by the Lord. This was done by men following tradition. It was this same reasoning that eventually made the first day of the week sacred to the fallen church! No doubt this argument will be pressed upon the remnant church in the end of time!
The Passover ceremony, observed by Yahshua the Messiah and commanded by Him for His followers (1 Corinthians 11:23-26; Luke 22:19; John 13:15), and which was replaced by the Lord’s Supper, was supplanted by Easter Sunday, a day neither Jesus nor the early New Testament Church approved. Jesus certainly did resurrect in the spring, and we can use this time of year to preach the story of a risen Savior, and to especially focus on the fact that we serve a risen Savior, but we ought to do it apart from the pagan customs and symbols that were originally designated to worship pagan gods. The devil has been up to his old tricks of trying to overshadow the truth with the counterfeit and still trying to sneak the symbols of his corrupted religion into the religious lives of the people of Yahweh! Have a blessed resurrection season!
Want to know why I use the sacred names Yahweh & Yahshua as well as LORD and Jesus? Go to http://cleartruths.com/SacredNames,htm
In Hebrews 6:18, it says that “it is impossible for God to lie.” His Word is sure, and He has, in His glorious Word given to us “exceeding, great and precious promises.” Prayer and the Lord’s precious promises have gotten me through many a hard time, many a sad time, and they have brought me out of darkness into His marvelous light. As a minister of the gospel for the last twenty years, I have seen prayer and God’s promises cheer dying souls and bring tears to the eyes of many hard faces. I have seen His precious promises calm frightened people in the hour of their death. There is no greater force on earth to move the human soul than prayer and the exceeding great and precious promises of God! When believed they renew the soul, convert the heart, strengthen the weak, give hope to the hopeless, peace to the dying, and they have met every need of the sons and daughters of God down through the ages!
This short article is from my book Exceeding Great and Precious Promises and is about prayer and the exceeding great and precious promises of God.
“The precious promises of God are like precious flowers scattered through a garden. The Lord would have us linger over them, looking closely into them, taking in their loveliness, and appreciating the favour that God has bestowed upon us by making such rich provisions for our needs. Were it not for contemplation of the promises of God, we could not understand the gracious love and compassion of God toward us or realize how rich were the treasures prepared for those who love Him. HP 125.2
Prayer and God’s promises can give us a wonderful ministry for the Lord! We can visit the sick, the lonely, the widows, the downtrodden, the prisoners, and pray with them and read some of these promises to them. The goal of the Christian life is to be like Jesus - to be godly. On our own we are helpless to effect that change, but if by prayer and trust we lean on the promises of God we can be partakers of the divine nature.
According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. – 2 Peter 1:3-4.
Think of it! Everything we need to be Christ-like and to partake of the Divine nature has already been given to us! These great truths are assimilated and become a reality to us by faith as we believe the great and precious promises of God and pray to the Lord asking Him to work in us. “For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.” – 2 Corinthians 1:20. God’s promises to us are all YES in Jesus! He is the Amen and He keeps His Word. You and I can believe His precious promises. They will come to pass!
Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. – John 5:24.
There it is. Hear Jesus’ words and believe on His Father who sent Him and you’ll have everlasting life. You’ll pass from death unto life. That’s what Jesus said! HalleluYAH! For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. – Hebrews 4:15-16.
By Prayer we can come boldly to the throne of grace because God has promised us wonderful things. We can come boldly if we come in the name of the Lord Yahshua Jesus! He was tempted in "all points” like us, and He overcame. He never sinned, and His victorious life is ours when we come boldly for grace and help in time of need! Prayer and God’s promises are a mighty force that can move mountains. Here’s a promise – from Yahweh the Creator God!
When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. – Isaiah 43:2.
The Lord will be with us in the fires of trouble, and affliction as He was with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the fiery furnace. We’ll never drown in despair if we make the Lord our refuge and strength. Hide your life in Christ, and you will have strength for whatever lies ahead. “Behold, YAHWEH’S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear.” - Isaiah 59:1. Our heavenly Father hears our prayers. He knows what you and I are going through. His hand can reach down to help you. He sent His Son to save you! He will never leave or forsake you. Don’t give in to fear and despair. The Bible says, “Let not your heart be troubled.” God has not left you an orphan. “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” – Psalm 46:1. Very present means He’s not far away. Just say the Word and He is near. Even the faintest cry is heard by your loving Father, and angels are dispensed to your side! Jesus said, “Be not fearful, only believe!”
Ellen White wrote that we should memorize the promises of Psalm 91 especially for the Time of Trouble!
He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of Yahweh, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler. Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee. Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked. Because thou hast made Yahweh, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation; there shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet. Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known My name. He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him. With long life will I satisfy him, and show him my salvation. – Psalm 91.
Oh there is so much in this wonderful Psalm 91! It ought to be memorized by God’s people in the trying times we live in. It is filled with wonderful promises. He will deliver you from the snare. He’ll cover you with His wings in the day of trouble. He will be with you in the night and in the day. Make Him your refuge and no evil will overcome you. He will give His angels charge over you, and they will hold you up. He’ll be with you in trouble and you will be able to walk over the lions, the snakes, and the dragons in your path. He has set His love upon you, and He’ll answer you in the day of trouble. He has already given you eternal life if you have believed the gospel. God is good all the time! All the time God is good!
No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of Yahweh, and their righteousness is of me, saith Yahweh the Lord. – Is. 54:17.
Let the tongues wag. Let your enemies make their plans against you. If God is for you, then no one can be against you. You and God are a majority even against all the hosts of evil men and demons! Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” – John 14:27. Don’t “let” your heart be troubled. Don’t “let” fear overcome you. “For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.” – Romans 8:15. Abba means “daddy.” Your heavenly Daddy won’t let the bogeyman hurt you. Don’t allow the devil to keep you in the bondage of fear. Be not afraid.
When I was a small boy, we lived in a neighbourhood that had burglars and prowlers. We saw them in and outside our house. I always had to look in my closet and under my bed before I went to sleep to make sure no one was hiding there. Jesus is with us always, “even to the end of the age.” He‘s in the dark places and the light places. He’s under our bed and above our head and His eye is upon us to protect, love and save us! If fact, if you open your heart to Him, He will live inside you!
How powerful is JUST ONE PROMISE OF GOD? Listen to what the Lord’s servant said:
“The message from God to me for you is "Him that cometh unto me, I will in no wise cast out" (John 6:37). If you have nothing else to plead before God but this one promise from your Lord and Saviour, you have the assurance that you will never, never be turned away. It may seem to you that you are hanging upon a single promise, but appropriate that one promise, and it will open to you the whole treasure house of the riches of the grace of Christ. Cling to that promise and you are safe. "Him that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out." Present this assurance to Jesus, and you are as safe as though inside the city of God. – Manuscript Releases, Vol. 10, p. 175.
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NEW! The SOUL WINNING
MADE SIMPLE SEMINAR on Power-Point with Pastor Cirigliano’s voice from the
seminar added to each of the 107 slides. Feel like you’re at the seminar as you
sit at your computer. Power Point Viewer is included on the CD! $49.00 Please send me the SOUL WINNING MADE SIMPLE POWER-POINT
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sets of the new The Holy Bible Says Bible Studies. $7 each Until next month Maranatha! – Pastor Tony Cirigliano
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We had a tremendous experience being interviewed by Danny Shelton on the 3ABN
Today Show on March 28, 2007. We also has a tremendous response from the program
with people calling and writing from all over the world! Typical responses were,
“I am going to make a change in my life and give more time to God and showing
people that God can change lives.” – JP, Auckland, New Zealand.
