The three blended religions of Sihkism, Zen Buddism, and the Church of God.
The Eternal spake:
"Take what was split
asunder and make
whole again."
And I saw the
candlesticks
before the Throne
of the Eternal.
Where once there
were six candles
stood three candles.
Other topics related are: Sabbath Christians and Jews for Jesus and Seventh Day Adventist
Messianic Jews God, Sihkism, Zen Buddism, Church of God, sabbath
Reluctant Messenger, Science, Religion,
Spirituality, God, Allah, Qur'an, Bible, Torah, Codes, Taoism, Judaism,
Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Buddha, Hindu, Sihks, Kabbalah, Sufi,
Mysticism, Jewish, Taoist.
Churches of God, Seventh Day Adventist Jews for Jesus and Messianic Jews
Chester had tears in his eyes. The Master waited with respect before giving Chester
final instructions. "You leave tommorow to go back to your home and your people.
Seek and understand the persecuted ones."
Chester dried his eyes. "You refer to the Sabbath keepers who believe in Jesus."
The Master nodded, "They are misunderstood and are a persecuted and scattered flock. Satan
presses hard against them as the End Time approaches. Satan wants to veil all minds
from the blessing of the Sabbath and make it difficult to enjoy the union with God this
special day provides us."
"At the Time of the End, God will be their home." Chester recited it as if trying to remember a lesson."
Adventist
Doctrinally, Seventh-day Adventists are heirs of the interfaith Millerite movement of the 1840s which predicted
the return of Christ in 1844, in what was later called the Great Disappointment. The movement experienced
a later rebirth from the leadership of Ellen G. White.
She enjoyed God's special guidance as she wrote her counsels to mankind.
She was the trusted spiritual counselor of the Adventist's for over seventy years until her death in 1915.
She was blessed with a knowledge vision of "The Great Controversy Between Christ and His Angels and Satan and His Angels",
which is the subtitle of her 219-page book, Spiritual Gifts, volume 1, published in 1858.
The modern Church of God is a scattered group. Several church organizations trace their
heritage back to the work of Herbert W. Armstrong. Christ revealed to Mr. Armstrong
the Christian spiritual meaning of the Holy Days as kept by Old Testament Israel. The New Testament
meaning of the Holy Days contain the details of the Plan of God for the salvation of all of mankind. His crowning achievment was the book
Mystery of the Ages.
The primary goal of the Messianic Jews and Jews for Jesus is to reach Jewish people
with the Gospel of Yeshua Hamashiach, Jesus the Messiah. These Jews believe that God has fulfilled
the promise He made to the Fathers: The Messiah has come (Acts 13:23) "Of this man's seed hath God according to his promise, raised unto Israel a Saviour, Jesus!"
The Essenes were a third religious sect during the time of Christ that lived away from the towns. Instead they lived in simple communities. The Essenes practiced the seventh day sabbath, non-violence to all living creatures and the sharing of all material possesions. They were uninvolved in the politics of the Sadducees and Pharisees and shunned publicity. Because of the discovery of dead sea scroll material, this ancient sect and their teachings are back alive. The dead sea scrolls were hidden by this ancient people long ago in the caves of Qumram. Josephus writing around 80 A.D. said that the Essenes were Jews by birth but semed to have a greater affection for one another than they did for the Pharisees and Sadducees. Their piety toward God was extraordinary. They wore chitw garments. They used no profanity. They were ministers of peace. They spend a great deal of time studying the writings of the ancients.
History and Succession
The church was organized in New York on April 6, 1830. Since 1838 they have continuously been called the “Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints” in the same style most often used before 1844, without the British hyphenation later adopted by the other Mormons.
Joseph Smith Jr. presided over the church from 1830 to 1844, and James J. Strang presided from 1844 to 1856.
Joseph Smith Jr. appointed James J. Strang to be his successor with a document that survives at Yale University. Scholars have determined that it has an authentic postmark “Nauvoo, June 19, 1844” on an envelope addressed in the same hand as the whole document. The envelope is block-printed in a style strikingly similar to that occasionally used by Hyrum Smith’s scribe, but is probably in the rare printing of Joseph Smith Jr. himself. The text of the document matches the language, style, and passion of Joseph Smith Jr. The document is published with the Revelations of James J. Strang.