THE TRUTH

A Newsletter of PURSUING THE TRUTH MINISTRIES
June 2003

THE VISION

Pursuing the Truth Ministries is a ministry for and to the people. We endeavor to help you establish a personal relationship with the Father through the foundation of Bible study. The Bible is God's revelation of himself to us. Therefore, it would behoove us to read and know it, which would give us a better awareness of God.

Pursuing the Truth Ministries exists to serve you. We endeavor to provide resources for your use in your own pursuit of the truth. We believe that your relationship with God transcends your church membership or religious affiliation. We believe that your relationship with God is your responsibility and not that of your church or pastor. You have to take the initiative to answer God's call for you. Our vision is just that. For you to realize your position with God through Christ. We hope that you would grasp the liberty that you have in Christ so that you would be delivered from those things that enslave you and keep you from doing what God wants. We are here to minister to you from the foundation of the Word of God.

WHAT'S HAPPENING

Well you might have noticed that I changed the name of the newsletter. I used to call it "Relate!" emagazine but this is really a newsletter I suppose. In any case, the new name is "The Truth." I think it is more appropriate given the name of the ministry.

Pursuing the Truth Ministries is sponsoring another "How to Study the Bible" workshop. This will be an actual practice session where the techniques and knowledge of the seminar given in April will be used. You will have the opportunity to do several small Scripture studies to test your understanding of the Bible study process. The workshop is scheduled for June 14th from 1:00 to 3:00 at the church, which is 5460 North 10th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19141. You can reach us at (215) 362-0967 or via email at church@pursuingthetruth.org.

BIBLE STUDY: Malachi Chapter One

By William R. Cunningham
From the study, "Malachi"

PREFACE

Preachers many times use Malachi 3:8-10 to justify their teaching on the tithe.

(Mal 3:8-10 NIV) "Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. "But you ask, 'How do we rob you?' "In tithes and offerings. {9} You are under a curse--the whole nation of you--because you are robbing me. {10} Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.

We are told that the LORD commands us to tithe from the gross of our income and that disobedience to this law means that you are robbing God. However, I feel that it is dangerous to extract two verses of scripture from an entire text and develop a theology from it. It is better to understand the whole so that you know the details of the parts and how they fit together.

The purpose of this study guide is to reveal the context of Malachi and not to prove or disprove tithing. However, since tithing is taught with Malachi 3:8-10 as a type of standard, then I feel that it is necessary to understand what is really discussed in Malachi for proper understanding.

A proper technique of Bible Study and the acquisition of Biblical truths is to know the context of the scriptures as much as possible. This study guide is a specific application of that principle. This study guide will look into as much of the background of Malachi as possible so that a more precise understanding of its reference to tithing can be obtained.

BACKGROUND OF THE BOOK OF MALACHI

The author of this book is credited to Malachi (which means "my messenger"). The book of Malachi is the last book of the Minor Prophets in the Jewish Bible.

The returned Jewish exiles finished the temple in 516 BC spurred by the prophetic activity of Haggai and Zechariah. In 458 the coming of Ezra the priest and several thousand more Jews strengthened the community. King Artaxerxes of Persia encouraged Ezra to develop the temple worship (Ezra 7:17) and to make sure the Law of Moses was being obeyed (Ezra 7:25-26).

Thirteen years later (445) the same Persian king permitted Nehemiah to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the walls (Nehemiah 6:15). Nehemiah advocated policies to help the poor (Nehemiah 5:2-13), and he convinced the people to stay away from mixed marriages, to keep the Sabbath (Nehemiah 10:30-31), and to bring their tithes and offerings faithfully (Nehemiah 10:37-39).

During Nehemiah's absence after returning to the king in 433 BC the Jews fell into sin once again. Later, Nehemiah came back to Jerusalem and discovered that the tithes were being ignored, the Sabbath not being observed, the people had intermarried with foreigners, and the priests had become corrupt (Nehemiah 13:7-31).

The Jews were generally discouraged because:

1. Their land remained but a small province in the backwaters of the Persian empire
2. The glorious future announced by the prophets had not (yet) been realized
3. Their God had not (yet) come to his temple with majesty and power to exalt his kingdom in the sight of the nations.

The people began to doubt God's covenant love and no longer trusted in his justice. They therefore began to lose hope in their God. Their worship degenerated into forms and they no longer took the law seriously. Their revelation of the reality of God seems to have been lost.

Malachi rebuked the people and the priests for neglecting the worship of God and failing to live according to God's will. If the priests were unfaithful, how could they lead the people? They had become stumbling blocks instead of spiritual leaders. If the people were divorcing their wives and marrying pagan women, how could they lead their children? Their relationship to God had become inconsequential.

In general, the city of Jerusalem and the second Temple had been built, but initial enthusiasm had worn off. Following a period of revival under Nehemiah (Nehemiah. 10:28-39), the people and priests had backslid and become mechanical in their observance of the law. Though lax in their worship (1:7) and delinquent in their tithing (3:8), they could not understand why God was dissatisfied with them.

CHAPTER 1

Chapter 1 deals with two topics: God's love for the people of Israel and the heart attitude of the priests in unacceptable sacrifices.

GOD'S LOVE - VERSES 1:1 - 5

In verses 1 - 5 we see that Malachi is addressing God's love for his people. Discouragement brought on by circumstances (of the nation) induced contempt for God and a diminishing of their trust and revelation of His reality to them. They seem to be saying to themselves, if I may, "If you love us God, then what have you been doing to show this love." They seem to be saying that God "sure doesn't act like he loves us." God revealed how he demonstrated his love for them. God uses his love for Jacob over his love for Esau (hatred is used) to reveal how he has demonstrated His love for them. Let's look closer at the scriptures themselves.

GOD'S LOVE FOR HIS PEOPLE - VERSES 1:2 - 5

God reassures His people that he loved them all along. The question of the people "How have you loved us?" indicates that they really doubted God's love for them because, at least in their minds, He hadn't done anything (where it counted) to show it. God reminded them of His relationship with Jacob (Israel) and Esau (father of the Edomites). God said that he loved Jacob but hated Esau.

How could God say that he hated Esau? We have to consider the usage of the word hate. Also, Hebrew tends to make use of the literary device of hyperbole or exaggeration to make a point: thus "Esau I have hated" does not mean that God literally 'hated' Esau but rather is a vivid way of contrasting God's special love for Jacob with His relation to Esau, whom He did not choose in the same way . The word "hate" in this verse is the opposite of the elected love. That is, God chose to reject Esau and accept Jacob.

CONTEMPT FOR GOD'S ALTAR - VERSES 1:6 - 14

Now the attention turns to the priests and their defilement of God's altar by their rejected sacrifices.

CONTEMPT FOR GOD INSTEAD OF HONOR - VERSE 1:6

God uses the father-son and master-servant relationship to show that the priests were not honoring Him as they should and as He deserved.

THE PRIESTS DEFILE GOD - VERSES 1:7 - 9

The priests defiled God by placing defiled food on the altar for sacrifice. Defiled food was ritually unclean food (See Deuteronomy 15:21-22). God clearly tells them that their actions are wrong and that not even their governors would have accepted such an offering. God also informs them that they have no just cause to believe that He would be gracious to them after they have gave such offerings (defiled) to Him.

GOD'S NAME IS TO BE GREAT - VERSES 1:10 - 11

God declares that it would be better for them to close the temple doors then to continue offering useless sacrifices that He will not accept. God declares that he was not pleased. Why? Because of the contempt they had for his name. They did not treat Him as the King He is.

GOD'S NAME IS PROFANED BY THE PRIESTS - VERSES 1:12 - 14

God's name is profaned by the contempt that they had for Him. They also begin to say that God is a burden to them. They really seem to be taking God very lightly to the extent that they were only going through the motions in their rituals. This is probably why they didn't care about the condition of the sacrifice. God would not accept an injured or diseased animal from the priests.

The cheats were cursed. Recall that the dialogue is between God and the priests (religious leaders). The cheat was the one who vowed a good animal for sacrifice but offered a defective one when the time of the sacrifice came.

The whole tone of this dialogue is to show the priests that they have dishonored God their father and that by their actions they have shown contempt for him. They didn't take Him seriously and therefore the rituals, that had meaning and purpose, were done with no conviction to the point where defective animals were given as a sacrifice to God the Father.

YOUR REAL FRIENDS

By William R. Cunningham

Who do yo consider to be your friends? How do you know that they are really your friends or perhaps that you are likewise their friend? There are always those people that are nice to you, at least on the surface, and give the impression that they are close to you. There are also those people that you pour yourself out to and think that perhaps there is some type of relationship there. You might think of all of the people that you have interacted with during your life and those whose life you have touched at your own expense. However, are these people friends of yours and how would you know? For example, you might have a seemingly wonderful relationship with the people at your place of work or your school. You look forward to going to work just because you enjoy the people that you interact with. You might not necessarily consider them as friends but you do reckon that there is some type of relationship beyond the casual employee association.

What is a friend? Well one of that worse times to discover who your friends are or more precisely who your friends are not is when you need a friend. A friend will be there when you need him or her if it is within their power to do so. Here are the William Cunningham characteristics or traits of a friend.

1. A friend will love you and accept you the way that you are.
2. A friend will share with you
3. You can confidently confide in a friend
4. A friend will be there when you need him or her.
5. A friend will be honest with you freely
6. A friend will fight for you and with you
7. A friend will protect you even when you are not present

The word "friend" can be used to describe several types of relationships as shown below.

• It could be used to describe an association with someone such as a fellow employee
• It could be used to describe an intimate relationship such as David and Jonathan in the Bible
• It could also be used loosely to indicate an acquaintance

However, the friend that I am referring to in this article refers to a personal and intimate relationship such as that between King David and Jonathan (See 1 Samuel 18:1). A friendship is also not defined by family lines, though it could be among family members. That is, two brothers could be the best of friends just as well as two totally unrelated people.

It is unfortunate but the time we discover our true friends is when we need a friend the most. Ask yourself this question? Who is with you? I don't mean merely physically like a wife or husband. I mean who is the person that keeps in touch with you for no reason at all? Who is the person that listens to you when you share your experiences with them and are probably part of most of those experiences? That person is most likely your friend. Consider the following.

1. A friend listens to what you have to say without passing any judgment
2. A friend will give his or her opinion or thoughts if necessary
3. A friend will be there to share some of your life experiences
4. A friend is with you in life
5. A friend will keep in touch with you just because
6. You are important to your friend and you will see that demonstrated time and time again
7. A friend is someone that you can talk to

Who comes to mind when you think of the above? That person is probably your friend. All of the above can be summed up in one statement. A friend actively loves you!

We humans enjoy friendships. We enjoy and I suppose we need to have interaction with someone on a personal level. One thing that I find about true friends is that friendships transcends locale. That is, a person that is your friend will remain your friend even if you leave a particular environment. Suppose for example you developed a great friendship with someone at your church and then a few years later you or he moves to another location. Well that will not necessarily destroy the friendship. You will still contact each other, visit each other when possible, and you will still keep in touch on a regular basis. Though you will not be able to share life's experiences together as you once did, you will still nurture that relationship with interaction as much as possible. A person that is a mere acquaintance will not follow through with the relationship if things change. If you move then you will rarely if ever hear from this person that you considered a friend. Of course you will be attempting to contact them and probably will every now and then. However, you will begin to notice that the contact is one-sided. You contact him or her but he or she does not contact you. That is not the sign of a friend.

We all need a friend, I suppose. We all need someone that we can talk to and someone that would be there for us. We all need that someone that we can share life with. Now you might argue that your spouse is the one that will fill that "job description." However, that is not always the case. A friend is not defined by a title or position. A friend is your friend because he or she has become that. Ideally you would like for your spouse to be your friend but that is not always the case. As a matter of fact, a spouse typically becomes your business partner instead of a true friend. That is a topic for another discussion however. The point here is that we all could use friend or that all elusive "best friend."

What about Jesus Christ? I have found that there is no greater friend then the Lord. Regardless of what you have done, where you are, or where you are going, you will find that Jesus is only a prayer away. He doesn't condemn us and He is always there. He loves us. We should be mindful that Jesus Christ died for us even though we were sinners. He has provided us with a way to the Father.

I do believe that we humans perhaps require someone that we can touch physically. This might not be more of a social requirement than an actual human need. Our human development is surely affected by those we interact with and I do believe that it is affect more by those closest to us for better or for worse. In other words, I tend to want a human friend. One of the greatest desires that I have, for example, is simply someone to talk to and that someone would most likely be a friend.

Now another very important thing about friendship is that you have to be a friend. In other words, you should actively love those whom you call your friend. Do you keep in touch with your friends? Are you there for them? Can he or she call on just just to talk or to get something of of his or her chest so to speak? If you want a friend then you have to be a friend.

SOME CHURCHES REALLY CARE

By William R. Cunningham

The church does not have the respect that it once had. The church does not have the power that it once had. By church, I mean the organization. Even the body of Christ does not have the power on the earth that perhaps it should or that is reflective on it's position in the universe (we are reconciled to the creator of the universe). Why not? Why is it that less and less people are attending church? What went wrong with church?

The answer is that nothing went wrong with church. What has gone awry is people. It is easy stereotype all pastors and ministers based on the corrupt ones that you see in the news. It is easy to say that all church wants is your money because that is what you have experienced. However, the true church is not corrupt and those who belong to the true church do all that they can to help you and to see you become righteous through Jesus Christ. There are also those who desire to see you grow as a Christian.

I personally believe that many church organizations should be shut down. There are many ministers, pastors, elders, etc. that only care about building their kingdom and not in helping you develop as a Christian. Likewise, there are many church organizations that really care about you and want you to develop. I know of more of these than the former. I comment many times on bad ones but there are many good ones. The trick is to discover the good ones. Consider the following principle.

Matthew 7:15-20 (NKJV) “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them.

(Underline added for emphasis)

How would you know a good church when you see one? You won't! There is no way that you can visit a church and determine that it is one that cares about you and is about the ministry of Jesus Christ. The way to know if the church you are in or are considering is a "good" one is to evaluate what the church produces. Of course, there are compatibility issues that you should consider but that is a topic for another article. However, in short you want to be a part of a church that is compatible with your style of worship, method of interacting with God and people, expression, etc. It would be difficult, for example, for someone to be a part of a church that emphasizes music, services, and events, speaking in tongues, and the like whereas you are interested in biblical education and knowledge of God's word. You would probably feel more comfortable in a teaching atmosphere instead of a charismatic (lively) atmosphere (not to be confused with the Charismatic denomination). So your task is to determine what grows in the field of this church. What does this church produce in the people.

The mark of a good church in my opinion is ministry to the people. A good church is intent on doing what it can to minister to the people. This ministry may take many forms but the main emphasis of this type of church is that it cares for you and it is doing what it can with the available resources to minister to you. This type of church will have a plethora of ministries designed for your edification and you will see the evidence of this in the people that attend the church and participate in such ministries. There is one church that I have the utmost respect for in the Philadelphia area. I am not saying that I agree with all of their doctrines or philosophy especially since I don't know them all. However, one thing is very evident to me after working with this church and getting information from my brother who is a member of this church. The church as a whole really wants to minister to the people and they are doing it vehemently. They are not just a place to go to church on Sunday mornings. They are a ministry force in the Philadelphia area. The church is the New Covenant Church of Philadelphia. The philosophy that this church has is very much similar to the vision and philosophy of Pursuing the Truth Ministries and Pursuing the Truth Ministries Church. We truly desire to minister to the people in the way that God has directed us to do. So why am I not a member of New Covenant or a similar church. Well that gets into the compatibility issues and not ministry. That is a whole different ballgame so to speak. I did attend a few of the services and did quite enjoy it. However, my wife and I knew that was not the place for us and that in no way implies that there was something wrong with the church. It just wasn't where God wanted us to be.

So again, you need to ask yourself, "What has this church produced in the people?" You should also ask yourself, "What is this church doing for the people?" The former is more important and includes the later. What is the church about? Do they have a number of services and events but little actual ministry? You are now looking for the fruit of the church, which will in turn inform you of what the church is really about. Therefore, you have to be observant and not allow your emotions to get in the way. You will find that there will be many churches that have good and effective fruit. You will find many churches that are worth the trip and energy expended to support it. In the same way, you will have to be careful for the weeds.

One of the most important thing that I have discovered about churches both good and bad is that the church is a direct consequence of the person in charge. That is a mouthful right there. The question is, "who is in charge?" Ultimate, Jesus Christ should be the head of the church and the church should be about the purpose of God. However, that is not always the case and a direct result of that is the fruit. Of course the church is going to have a pastor or equivalent. The pastor is the one that God has given a particular vision to and he or she works to accomplish or fulfill that vision. Sometimes the vision is perverted or the pastor never received a vision from God or it is simply forgotten. Jesus said that the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches enter in and choke the word (See Matthew 13:22).

Yes the church system has become more and more respectful over the past few years. However, that is only because of the high profile ministries that are well covered by the news media. Consider that corner church in your neighborhood that is about the Lord's work. What press does it get? None. No one knows of the good that a particular neighborhood church does unless you are a member of the church or affected by it. There are many pastors who only want to build a kingdom, a business called church. There are many pastors that consider mastering as "making a living" instead of ministry. After all, Jesus did say that a workman is worthy of his wages. Therefore, if a church has a full time pastor that really spends his time for ministry then very well. However, if the pastor spends his time for other things besides ministry and simply look forward to the offerings each week then not well. As a matter of fact, that person is really not a pastor because a pastor is a minister and really cares for the people. A pastor is really a gift from God and not a position in a church. In any case, the church will follow the motives of the pastor. If the pastor is really about ministering to the people then it will show. If the pastor is not really concerned about ministry then that will show too. What you will find in such a situation is a plethora of events designed to raise money or awareness of the organization. Much time and energy will be spent on advertisements and sponsoring events that are designed to raise money.

You will find that there are many good churches out there. They are indeed few and far in between because of the abundance of "business churches" out there. A business church is merely a religious institution that is about doing works so that someone would profit. A true church, which is a representation of the ministry of Christ, is about people and doing what God says to do. You will see that ministry in the pastor. You will hear it from him or her when you talk to him or her. Ministry will be in the air. This doesn't mean that the church will have a thousand members. It's unfortunate that so many people measure the growth of a church by the number of members it has. I actually believe that such is unbiblical. However, people will say that Acts shows that the Lord added so many thousands to the church and that is proof that an increase in members is a measure of progress or prosperity for that church. Not so! The church referenced in Acts is referring to the Body of Christ and not a local entity we call the local church. That is completely different. For example, I measure the effectiveness and progress of Pursuing the Truth Ministries on the lives that are positively affected. There were no members before we opened a PTM church. We only had the newsletter email list. So a prosperous church should be measured by its fruit not members. You could be very disappointed if you only look for a church with a certain number of members.

There are many churches that only have a few members and are very effective in their ministry. God is the one that gives the increase and that increase is dependent on the type of call on the ministry or church. Besides, many and I mean many church folk are more concerned about the sensational that they don't care about ministry. Therefore, these church folk are content to be in a church with a great band or a preacher that makes them feel good. Still others are hungry for the word of God and they will tolerate a single pianist and a couple of people that sing in order to receive the word of God. They will welcome a smaller congregation so as long as they receive the word of God. So again you can see how important the fruit of a church is over and above the number of people that attend.

What you must realize is that the problem with churches is people. Men and women use you for their own gain. I ponder with amazement why a pastor would purchase a Rolls Royce, a Mercedes Benz, and other luxury automobiles and own several of them. That doesn't make sense to me. Would they have done that if they were working a regular job like most of their members? Probably not. One care would suffice. However, because they can count on their subject (their members) giving them free money every week then why not buy a few cars. That tells me the heart of the pastor right there. A pastor that I have the utmost respect for who was the head of the Bible school for that church told me that she had an old Ford or something like that. She said that it fulfilled its purpose of getting her from point A to B. She said that she could get another car but why? She said that she didn't need one. As a matter of fact, the Senior pastor of that same church had an old pickup truck, which he was content with. He had to be forced to buy another car, which he did....Just one though.

Yes there are many good churches out there but you have to do your homework in order to find them. You have to be observant in order to recognize one. You have to watch the pastor or equivalent in order to see what the church is about. And above all, you have to evaluate the fruit that the church produces because that is what is most likely going to be sown into you.

I have to say that Pursuing the Truth Ministries really cares about the people. The pastor of Pursuing the Truth Ministries, William Cunningham, has a genuine love for the people and this ministry is an implementation of that love for people and God, and the intrinsic desire to minister to and help others. If you live in the Philadelphia area then feel free to stop by one Sunday morning. Our services are held each Sunday morning at 10:30. We have a Bible study from 9:00 to 10:00 AM on Sunday mornings as well. This is a real classroom type environment and not another service.

THIS ISSUE'S QUESTION

What does the name "Jesus" mean?

You can submit your answer to question@pursuingthetruth.org if you would like.

God bless you all!