November 27, 2011, New Moon Day Message

By Lawrence A. Nowell

1.)    “We’ve got a date on New Moon Day with Father”

2.)    This is The Obedient Church of God preaching worldwide by theworldtomorrow.org and 1stcenturychristian.com telling people they are breaking God’s heart by their disobedient way. TOCOG is the only church who is teaching first century doctrines.

3.)    Services are opened with prayer, led by Mr. Lawrence A. Nowell. We face the north heavens, lift up our hands with open palms, bow our heads and close our eyes.

4.)    Today, November 27th, 2011, identifies new moon day but it started after sundown last night, November 26th, when the new crescent moon was sighted in Jerusalem.

5.)    Song service is led by Mr. Lawrence A. Nowell. Today TOCOG has a new set of hymns for this new month. “Give Ear Unto My Prayer, Psalm 61, on p. 49 in other songbooks,

                                   “God is My Rock”, Psalm 62, on page 50

6.)    “Evil doers are waxing worse and worse.”Robbers wait in the parking lots of Wal Mart so they can rob shoppers of their purchases as they go to their cars. Police have put up portable towers so they can watch and protect shoppers when they come out.

7.)    When we go shopping we have to be very careful because we can be robbed in the parking lot. Certain individuals put their packages in the car trunk and locked it while they went to other stores to shop. When they returned they had been robbed. Things had been taken out of the car trunk. Locks are made to keep out honest people, but they don’t keep out the criminals!

8.)    At our homes we need to have double locks on our doors. Have a plain bolt that goes across the door when we are inside. Also a brace on the door handle that goes down to the floor so no one can get in, because there are more and more home invasions.

9.)    A home invasion is when we are in our house and someone breaks in to rob us and tie us up, and abuse us either physically or sexually, and steals whatever possible.

10.)                        God does protect us but we have to be wise Christians, because home invasions are on the rise and it’s frightening; there’s a variety of criminal intentions.

11.)                        The invaders take the victims by surprise by kicking in the door or by coming in through a window. Sometimes it is just to get information by getting a person’s credit card number, bank account number that can either be sold or used for fraudulent purposes. In the worst case scenario there is rape, kidnapping, torture, and terrorism.

12.)                        Mr. Lawrence A. Nowell has had his bank account and credit card numbers stolen. It’s a lot of aggravation to go through the routine of getting the information to the police and the information to the courts so the courts could prosecute the thieves who had taken his bank account numbers and his credit card numbers.

13.)                        Thieves today are waxing worse and worse and worse. We should be cognizant of this so we can be wise. So watch out for strangers coming to your door. The world is such now that we cannot help strangers that come to the door.

14.)                        If someone comes to your door saying you’ve won a contest or a prize, what they are really after is your information and they want to case out your place.

 

15.)                        On this new moon day we want to concentrate on the positive. Now that Father has a plan for each of us, and his plan has sound ways in it, his plan for each of us includes trials, which help us learn lessons.

 

16.)                        When we go through trials we know that God is working for us. He working with us. If we didn’t have any trials, then we wouldn’t be God’s children. If everything went right for us, we wouldn’t learn anything.We’d be vegetables watching television.

 

17.)                        Paul in writing to the Thssalonians in II Thesslonians 3:11-12 said that some did not work, but were busybodies; with quietness they were to work. By inference he told them to work with their own hands, and eat their own bread and be not weary in well doing.

 

18.)                        In I Corinthians 7:20-24 Paul tells them to abide in their calling. “Let every man abide in the same calling wherein he was called…He who is called in the Lord, being a servant, is the Lord’s freeman:… also he that is called, being free, is Christ’s servant. You are bought with a price; be ye not servants of men…let every man, wherein he is called, therein abide with God.”

 

19.)                        By grace each must stay in connection (stay in the condition or occupation you were called in. When God calls you, stay where you are, and you work with God with what He has given you work with.) Each one can be a shining light, helping people.

 

20.)                        Mr. Nowell visited the “holy hill” way back in 2004, seven years ago, and he didn’t know it would be in 2011, seven years later when he would buy the land. Now he is buying two more pieces of property so he can have a meeting hall on flat land.

 

21.)                        Scripture gives us directions that we are responsible for. We are responsible for staying in a situation where we have been called, where we have been placed and we should stay there, and we work through our problems.

 

22.)                        We have His promise that we work with our own hands, work reputably to those without and have need of no one or nothing. That infers that we are working with our hands and providing a good example.

 

23.)                        How does the Lord want you to serve him? We are to visit the sick and the elderly. Maybe take a meal to a widow or a neighbor next door. Therefore, in our own area we are a light shining to others. We’ve been called out for a special purpose, and we can’t be just in our own little shell.

 

24.)                        Life guards on a beach are an example. They should not just be sitting in the lifeguard house all talking to each other every day. They should be out on the beach helping the people.

 

25.)                        We have guidance here from the Father that our service should be beyond the lifeguard house. Our acts of service should extend beyond our fellow believers and we should do good for all, but especially toward those of the household of faith.

 

26.)                        Now Father will bring trials on us and these will test our measure of faith. Romans 12:3 tells that God has dealt each of us a measure of faith. We are to think soberly, according as God has dealt to every person the measure of faith.

 

27.)                        We are not supposed to think that is strange that we have trials because Father has given these trials to test and strengthen us.

 

28.)                        There’s a desire in the human heart to do things our way. The testimony is that we are to do things Father’s way. We are to wait on Father and see what he has in store for us.

 

29.)                        The Obedient Church of God is now in Tennessee, the headquarters for the church. TOCOG initially had a place, and still has a place in Eugene, Oregon, but we have been led to Tennessee because that’s the way opportunities have presented themselves. Mr. Lawrence A. Nowell is going from one step to the next step.

 

30.)                         Mr. Lawrence A. Nowell has gone through a lot of sufferings in order to get to Tennessee. In order to get there Mr. Nowell had to have all of his things stolen so he could learn the lesson of forgiving his enemies so he is not just forgiving his friends, and forgiving people he is associated with, or people in the congregation. The hard lesson to learn is to pray for your enemies.

 

31.)                        If Mr. Nowell didn’t have nearly very thing stolen, he would not have learned that hard lesson to pray for his enemies and not to wish them evil. This distinguishes TOCOG from the tax collectors and other people in the world. 

 

32.)                        We have to know that as Christians we will suffer. Acts 9:16 states Jesus’ words, “I will show him (Paul) how great things he must suffer for my name’s sake.”

 

33.)                        Even though Paul had authority from the chief priests to bind all who called on Jesus’ name, Jesus said in verse 15, “Go thy way (Ananias): for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel.”

 

34.)                        Today is the new moon day, a day when we take off from work and we do not cook. There is such a small group on the face of the earth that Father is working with.

 

35.)                        Now in the whole world, and certainly out of all the 200,000 members of the ex-Worldwide Church of God members, The Obedient Church of God members are the only ones that are celebrating the first century doctrines of the new moon days.

 

36.)                         Think how special that is to Father’s heart that Father has a remnant group now, called The Obedient Church of God, doing the short work of Romans 9:28. He’s finally got a group who is responding to him, identical to the first century disciples, identical to the first century Christians.

 

37.)                        When the gates were opened, the people could go into the House of the Lord. And the people outside the gate were saying when is new moon day over so we can go buy and sell and trade. So of course, we don’t work on new moon day.

 

38.)                        Here’s the point. We are a separate people from the world. We are the separate nation of God; we are in the world but we are not of the world. We are not of Turkey Day and there isn’t any way we can take the Cosmic goose that laid the egg that Osiris-Ra sprang from,and use that as a worship service for our Father in heaven.

 

39.)                        Understand Deuteronomy 12:32 where it says do not add anything (an another day) to the Torah, and that includes a worship day.

 

40.)                        Those who observe Turkey Day have the numeric of nine days for their fall feasts of the Lord, instead of the eight days that are God’s plan. Feast of tabernacles are seven days, the feast of ingathering of the harvest, a time of rejoicing, partying, eating, drinking as much of whatever we want—our heart’s desire for seven whole days. Then there is Shimini Atzerets. So why would we want to add an ninth day? Unless we are of the world and have no concept of being a first century Christian.

 

41.)                        One of the ministers Mr. Nowell was with said that he was not a first century Christian. Mr. Nowell thought to himself, “Are you ever wrong!” because the whole world will be caused to be first century Christians and be forced to keep God’s feasts.

 

42.)                        Zachariah 14:16 tells that if people don’t go up to the feast of tabernacles in Jerusalem, they won’t get any rain, and plagues will be put on that nation.

 

43.)                        So we have a very unique opportunity because we are identical to the first century Christians, and if Father chooses to show us more, we will change as shown.

 

44.)                        Today being a new moon day is especially significant because of the over 200,000 “ex-Worldwiders,” we are the only ones that Father has called to know his new moon day truth and to observe it. (Others use the fixed-date Hillel II calendar!)

 

45.)                        Also, The Obedient Church of God are the only ones keeping God’s Sabbath as the seventh-day in Pakistan with our Pakistani congregation. And that’s why Father gave us the Pakistani brethren so that TOCOG could instruct them. They have to wait until the seventh-day arrives to observe the Sabbath day. They can’t have it a day early on the sixth day! So this again distinguishes The Obedient Church of God.

 

46.)                        In the opening prayer we asked Father to guide us and to bring us under the shelter of his wings where he can cuddle us with warmth. So we will wait to see how that prayer works out. And Mr. Lawrence A. Nowell is sure that touches Father’s heart for us to ask him to gather us under his wings, because Father is a God of great intellect, but also of great love.

 

47.)                        Father has taken 6,000 years now of working with human beings, to work with us as children, and it’s been hard for Father. God tried to work with the nation of Israel, and Hosea 2:14 shows Father’s heart. “Behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably to her.” And it shows his sensitivity.

 

48.)                        On new moon day we want to draw closer to Father and Yeshua so we are reading about Hosea and his family.

 

49.)                        Yeshua and Father are united in thought. Hosea 2:16-17 continues, “And it shall be in that day, saith the Lord, that thou shalt call me Ishi (My husband); and shalt call me no more Baali (My Lord) or (My Master). For I will take away the names of Baalim out of her mouth, and they shall no more be remembered by their name.” Father and Yeshua have a plan.

 

50.)                        The Lord deliberately led Israel, the offspring of Jacob, to the desert and spoke tenderly to her and tried to straighten out her disobedience, and develop a relationship.

51.)                        Ministers on television say “God loves you.” This is true; God does love us. But Hosea 9:15 says, “All their wickedness…I hated them: for the wickedness of their doings I will drive them out of mine house, I will love them no more: their princes are revolters.”

 

52.)                        So a person can go too far with his or her evil deeds. Father has an exposed heart. He put his whole heart out to us and Yeshua has put his whole heart out to us. But He will love the ones who do wicked deeds no more.  

 

53.)                        Hosea 9:15 NSRV says, “Every evil of theirs began at Gilgal; there I came to hate them.” Father has emotions. “Because of the evilness of their deeds, I will drive them out of my house, I will love them no more; all their officials are rebels.”

 

54.)                        This is serious to know that Father can stop loving us if we are disobedient brats. This goes to all the people who deliberately celebrated the Ra-Osiris pagan Turkey Day last Thursday after having the proofs that it originated four thousand years from the Egyptians. And we are not supposed to learn to the way of the Gentile.

 

55.)                        After having heard the origin of Thanksgiving Day, many people insist on having an extra day of celebration after the seven days of the Feast of Tabernacles. They are going to have their own way.

 

56.)                        They’re not going to have it God’s way. They don’t want to be part of the first century church. They don’t want to be first century Christians. God steps away from disobedient people. He steps toward them when they are obedient.

 

57.)                        When we read the whole book of Hosea, Hosea and his wife Gomer act out in faithfulness of the wife (Israel) to her husband (Father in heaven).

 

58.)                        Here’s what’s happening with Israel. God she forgot. If you have a husband or wife, a boyfriend or girlfriend, think how it feels for them to forget you, for them to ditch you. It hurts. If we have experienced this kind of hurt, we can realize how Father would hurt, how Yeshua would hurt.

 

59.)                        Hosea 2:1-13 tells how Hosea’s wife Gomer went after her lovers, and forgot her husband. When Gomer said , in verse 5, she would go after her lovers, it was like God’s people today who say they will go after Turkey Day. 

 

60.)                        Again, in verse 7, Gomer followed after her lovers. Spiritual Israel goes after Sky Father’s Day, Mother’s Day. They don’t have the guts to tell their children not to call them on these pagan days because they have been told before. If they persist, hang up on them. Otherwise, we’ll be involved in a situation with a bunch of harlots. Serious!

 

61.)                        We must not forget God. We are to have nothing to do with unrighteousness. And have nothing to do with your children who don’t accept God’s ways. We have to choose God instead of our children.

 

62.)                        What did Father do when He was rejected in Hosea 2? Gomer did not know that God was the one who gave Gomer everything—her corn, wine, and oil, and multiplied her silver and gold. And yet she took off for other lovers (religions).

 

63.)                        Hosea 2:11 tells, “I will…cause all her mirth to cease, her feast days, her new moons, and her Sabbaths, and all her solemn feasts.” Father will cause her holidays to cease. This is a serious situation.

 

64.)                        The whole book of Hosea reveals the love of Father. We are to understand the relationship we are to have with Father, and the relationship The Obedient Church of God has with Father, because it’s a love relationship. Our hearts are bound to Father. 

 

65.)                        A true knowledge of God, of Yeshua and Father, is an intimacy and integrity. And the integrity is following every jot and tittle of the family’s ways. And the intimacy is to see, as in the Book of Hosea, how Father and Yeshua were hurt by what happened between Hosea and his wife Gomer who followed after other lovers.

 

66.)                        We find that Hosea mentions the distorted worship in chapter 6:1-3. It says, “Come and let us return unto the Lord: for he hath torn (us), and he will heal us; he hath smitten (us), and he will bind us up. After two days will he revive us; in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight.”

 

67.)                        “Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord (pursue the knowledge of the Lord); his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come to us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth.”

 

68.)                        This is directed to Ephraim. Hosea 6:4-7 says, “O Ephraim, what shall I do unto thee? O Judah, what shall I do unto thee? For your goodness (faithfulness, mercy, kindness) is as a morning cloud, and as the early (morning) dew it goeth away.

 

69.)                        “Therefore have I hewed them by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of my mouth: and thy judgments are as the light that goeth forth…they like men have transgressed the covenant: there have they dealt treacherously against me.”

 

70.)                        Hosea 6:8-9 “Gilead is a city of them that work iniquity, and is polluted with blood. And as troops (bands) of robbers wait for a man, so the company of priests murder in the way by consent: for they commit lewdness.” This is what Father is saying about his ministers. Now this shows that Father and Yeshua’s heart is torn up.

 

71.)                        Father had to adopt other children and graft in the Gentiles, because his own children had rejected him. How would we feel if we had to adopt children because our own children rejected us?

 

72.)                        How did the children reject Father? They rejected him with distorted worship of pagan gods. Turkey Day is a pagan worship. What they need is a change of our heart.

 

73.)                        What we must understand is that Father’s relationship is one of the heart. We’re supposed to turn our hearts towards Father and Yeshua. It’s a heart-felt relationship.

 

74.)                        On new moon day we want to return to Father and to return to Yeshua who longs to be as a husband to you, and who longs to adopt you as his child. So it’s a family relationship.

 

75.)                        So it’s not just a law-giving exercise that we’re into here by obeying. There are consequences when we disobey. Those consequences involve our breaking God’s heart.

 

76.)                        We wanted to have a family, but if our children disowned us, and we had to adopt children, it would be like Father having to adopt the Gentiles and graft them in because His own children rejected him.

 

77.)                        And it’s still happening today with people adding Turkey Day, and Sky Father’s Day, and Mother- goddess Day. People haven’t learned anything from lessons of the Old Testament.

 

78.)                        So today we’re giving the gestalt of a heartfelt return to the Father. We find this at the end of the book in Hosea 12-14. How do we return to the fellowship with the Father after we’ve broken his heart? And after we got baptized and made a covenant to follow every way of the Father and then we don’t do it?

 

79.)                        Hosea 14:1-2 says, “O Israel, return unto the Lord thy God; for thou hast fallen (stumbled) by thine iniquity. Take with you words, and turn to the Lord, say unto him, Take away iniquity , and receive us graciously: so will we render the calves (sacrifices) of our lips (in praise to God).”

 

80.)                        Hosea 14:4 says, “I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely for mine anger is turned away from him.” So Father’s anger does turn away after we repent.

 

81.)                        The purpose of us going through the book of Hosea is to understand the heart of God. It closes with, “Who is wise, and he shall understand these things? prudent, and he shall know them? For the ways of the Lord are right, and the just shall walk in them.”

 

82.)                        We are not doing the obedience to the commandments as rote, we are doing them out of our hearts. That’s what we want to understand from Hosea, how Father’s heart is torn-up by the disobedience of the children. So in Hosea 14, verse 9 it says, let him understand these things, let him know these things that the Lord’s ways are right.

 

83.)                        There’s a story here in Hosea that shows the heart of the Father and Yeshua. In Hosea 2:13 it says that me she forgot; says the Lord.

 

84.)                        We know that Father has created this whole world, planet earth, in order to develop our hearts, not just to have obedience by rote, but we actually have a heart family relationship. We have an honest confession with his heart exposed to us, and he calls us to expose our hearts to him. Now how do I expose my heart to him with words?

 

85.)                        Remember, we asked Father to gather us under his wings today in the opening prayer. So after all the battling with the other denominations trying to get them on board, we want to explain that we are doing this with a heart- felt relationship with Father. We are not doing it out of any other reason.

 

86.)                        We’ve got a heart-felt relationship that we are pursuing with Father and His ways. We want them to return to the Lord so that we can have our friends in the Kingdom. If they keep on being disobedient brats, they won’t be in the Kingdom. God can’t use disobedient brats. One Satan was enough.

 

87.)                        TOCOG is trying to get the others to see how Father went through the turmoil, the trial of how to deal with disobedient brats. And because the brats continue to be disobedient, Hosea 9:7 says, “…the prophet is a fool, the spiritual man is mad (insane) for the multitude of your iniquity and great hatred (animosity).”

 

88.)                        So they’ve got Turkey Day that’s been around for 4,000 years, and if they want to give thanks to Father, they have 364 other days to give thanks to Father, rather than the Harvest Home Festival Day (of the pagans). This is for that minister who gave a sermon on being thankful to God on Thanksgiving Day.

 

89.)                        This minister has 365 days to be thankful to God. Why take Osiris-Ra Turkey-god Day to have a celebration the same way the pagans do and sacrifice a virgin to their gods. Why have it on that exact same day? And he says he is not doing it to a Satanic demon, the Devil!

 

90.)                        If this minister is so sincere, why doesn’t he take off a day from work like TOCOG is doing today on new moon day? Sunday, November 27th, 2011, is the current new moon day. Take a day off, but not Turkey Day.

 

91.)                        We are studying the book of Hosea to get the gestalt. The prophet has become a fool, the spiritual man insane because of the greatness of their iniquity. Hosea 9:7 and Verse 8-9 say, “…the prophet is a snare of the fowler in all his ways. They have deeply corrupted themselves.”

 

92.)                        That’s what Father had to deal with before, and that’s what Father is dealing with now, people who refuse to be identical to the first century Christians. And then they have the audacity to try to call themselves Philadelphians!

 

93.)                        So “remember the law of Moses, my servant,” Malachi 4:4 when we’re not supposed to add a day. Verse 6 ends with the word “curse,” ending the Old Testament. We are studying how to have a heartfelt return to the Father, not to do it out of rote.

 

94.)                        TOCOG is trying to explain the pain that Father had when his heart was torn up, exposed by the turmoil that people bring into his heart. He wants to love his people.

 

95.)                        Father wants to love people but they tear up his heart with their corruption of keeping pagan days. They sprinkle holy water on Osiris-Ra day and say it will be just fine.

 

96.)                        Mr. Lawrence A. Nowell hopes people can see how they are hurting Father’s heart. When they read the book of Hosea they can see how they are tearing up Father’s heart. It’ll be a terrible situation for them.

 

97.)                        In Hosea 13:16, “Samaria shall become desolate; for she hath rebelled against her God: they shall fall by the sword: their infants shall be dashed in pieces, and their women with child shall be ripped up.”

 

98.)                        Today it is a very serious situation all because people want to have a Turkey Day. These people will have to go through the Tribulation.

 

99.)                        Father has appointed the moon for the seasons and we here on new moon day are drawing closer to Father. TOCOG is using the new moon day to draw close to God. This is very important. This is part of the reason for celebrating new moon day.

 

100.)                    God makes everything spin in the whole universe in its proper order. “He appointed the moon for seasons,” Psalm 114:19. This is why TOCOG has a service today. We know we are supposed to worship in the day of the new moon.

 

101.)                       This is the story of the heart obedience. We obey God’s laws because of our love to God and not because we have to.

 

102.)                    “ A little girl was bouncing up and down in the back seat of the car. Repeatedly, the mother would tell her to sit down and keep still. But she kept bouncing up and down.  Finally, the exasperated mother stopped the car and  grabbed the little girl by the shoulders and sat her down in the seat saying, “Stay there.”  The little girl sat for a few moments, and then folding her arms in defiance, she announced to her mother, “I may be sitting down, but standing up inside.” (She was masking inward rebellion.)

 

103.)                    So the purpose of going through Hosea today is to make sure we’re not sitting down today on new moon day but standing up inside in rebellion.

 

104.)                    We want new moon day because it is part of our relationship with Father and it’s enjoyable because today we don’t have to work. We get a day off to fellowship with Father and to relax. That’s a blessing to have a new moon day. We don’t have new moon day and say Oh! Oh! I wish I was at work. That’s ridiculous. You are getting a day off, so enjoy it. We don’t want to be masking inward rebellion.

 

105.)                    Proverbs 3:1 says, “My son, forget not my law; but let your heart keep my commandments.” And Proverbs 4:4 says, “He (my father) taught me… and said unto me, Let thine heart retain my words; keep my commandments, and live.”

 

106.)                    In Proverbs 2:17 “Let your heart retain my words” is so very important, for we don’t want to have a forgetful heart. Don’t be like the person who “forgets the covenant of (his or) her God.” We don’t want a forgetful heart even though we have a heart that is turned towards Father.

 

107.)                    Mr. Lawrence A. Nowell knew of a young man who had asked a girl to go with him to the school dance, but he forgot to pick up his date. He was all dressed up and went to the dance all right by himself, but he forgot he had invited a particular girl and she was devastated because he never came.

 

108.)                    For us to forget the covenant would be like the boy forgetting to take the girl to the dance. Psalms 9:17 says, “The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.” This is bad.

 

109.)                    This verse could read, “The wicked shall be in hell that forget God.” There are ministers who say they are following the Torah, but they don’t have a heart-felt relationship with God if they aren’t obeying God’s commandments. Deuteronomy 12:32 tells us, “What thing so ever I command you, observe to do it…”

 

110.)                    Psalms 10:4 says, “The wicked, through the pride of his countenance does not seek God: God is not in his thoughts.” “Take heed unto yourselves, warns Deuteronomy 4:23 lest you forget the covenant of the Lord your God, which he made with you.”

 

111.)                    We are not to forget new moon day because we have a date with God. We have a date with God on new moon day. Be sure you show up for your date with Father. We have to keep His statutes.

 

112.)                    Throughout Psalms there are a lot of references on attitude, especially Psalm 119:51 which says, “The proud have had me greatly in derision: yet have I not declined from thy law.” Then verse 52 says, “I remembered thy judgments of old, O Lord; and have comforted myself.” Were these the judgments of the 21st century or the ones of old?

 

113.)                    Deuteronomy 12:32 says, “What thing so ever I command you; observe to do it. You shall not add thereto, nor diminish from it.” Psalm 119:57 confirms this verse. “Thou art my portion, O Lord: I have said that I would keep thy words.”  Our baptism commitment.

 

114.)                    And Father’s words are to arrive on new moon day because the gates are opened in the Temple on this day. And the pagans are whining that they can’t buy or sell, and they want to know when this day will be over so they can buy or sell.

 

115.)                    The Bible has to be put together “Here a little and there a little.” And we have to have the heart to want to do it that way. Regarding my heart read Psalms 119:48, “My hands also will I lift up unto your commandments, which I have loved; and I will meditate in thy statutes.”

 

116.)                    This is a particular love relationship in keeping the commandments. I John 5:3 says, “This is the love of God, that we keep his commandments…” And Psalm 119:48 again says, “…Thy commandments, which I have loved, and I will meditate on your statutes.” Statutes include new moon days.

 

117.)                    We are God’s servants and Father called us to be loving servants. And there’s nothing better in a relationship as a family that serves each other in love. Yeshua certainly has served us by giving his life for us. We haven’t gone that far by giving our lives for him. We’ve got to have a heart that wants to be keeping new moon day. We need a heart that is inclined to the Father.

 

118.)                    We are in a very wicked world. Not only are we not part of this world, we are part of a “heart-felt relationship” that causes us to want to obey God.

 

119.)                    For those who want to argue, read Proverbs 30:6, “Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found to be a liar.” That’s how pure the Torah is.

 

120.)                    When we add p the values of the number of days of the Feast of Tabernacles, which is 7, plus 1 for Shimini Atzerets, we get 8. And 8 is the number of God. And when people add a Turkey Day, 8 plus 1 equals 9, which is the number of Satan’s 666, or#9.

 

121.)                    This is why we do not add to his word lest we be found a liar. Proverbs 30:8 says, “Remove far from me vanity (false hoods) and lies…”

 

122.)                    Proverbs 30:13-14 says, “There is a generation, O how lofty are their eyes…and   their teeth are like swords, and their jaw teeth like knives, to devour the poor from off the earth, and the needy from among men.” This describes ministers of our day.

 

123.)                    Mr. Lawrence A. Nowell hasn’t seen another congregation that has a program for the poor like TOCOG does. The Obedient Church of God has a monthly program for the poor, where monthly money is donated to specific widows and orphans.

 

124.)                    TOCOG doesn’t just talk the talk, we walk the walk. There is more going on behind the scenes than most people are aware of. And it’s because our heart is in it that we want to help other people. And Father will bless us.

 

125.)                    This past year, 2011, TOCOG  has had a milestone relationship with Father. Think of the change in member’s lives because in this last year we learned not to celebrate Sky Father’s Day, we learned not to celebrate Mother-goddess Day, and we’ve certainly learned not to celebrate Turkey-god Day. And we’ve learned that the Sabbath Day is not the sixth-day in half the world as the rabbis teach and “ex-Worldwiders” follow.

 

126.)                    Now that we have this knowledge we must guard our hearts. We are not to live a sloppy Christian life, and it is very important that we all learn to guard our hearts. In order to have a pure heart we don’t have compromise. Once the obedience comes from our hearts, we will not compromise.

 

127.)                    If we don’t have obedience from the heart, we will be tempted to compromise. That’s why Father wants obedience from the heart; it has to be heart-felt in our return to the Father. Our Father longs for us.

 

128.)                    Mr. Lawrence A. Nowell is giving us highlights on our relationship with God and on leadership. Father lives in us. That’s how close this relationship is. Isn’t this a wonderful thing to think of?  As He lives in us, we are going to be a different person.

 

129.)                    In Hosea we learned how Father’s heart was all torn up because the things that went on in the life of Hosea.

 

130.)                    John 14:15-17 says, “If you love me, (you will) keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Comforter, that he (it) may abide with you forever; even the Spirit of Truth…You know him (it) for he (it) dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.” That’s the Father’s Spirit that will be in you literally.

 

131.)                    New moon days are so special because they develop a heart-relationship with Father.                                            

 

132.)                    The first inkling that Mr. Lawrence A. Nowell had of observing the new moon days is that Genesis showed how God created the universe. And wonderful it was that he gave us the air to breathe, he gives us the water, he gives us the plants, food, the animals. He gave us even a pussycat for a fiend out of love.

 

133.)                    On new moon day when TOCOG first started observing it, it only seemed right to acknowledge all the beautiful creation that Father created for us. But now we’re getting into the deeper understanding, the gestalt of new moon day. It’s having a personal relationship with Father.

 

134.)                    New moon day is going to be a special day to study out the relationship that we have with Father, a personal relationship that we have to be like him. There is no mysterious formula for it because as soon as we become children of God we receive the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will work in our hearts if we will let it. And he will work on our hearts as we yield ourselves to him.    

135.)                    TOCOG uses new moon day to have our relationship with Father because it is God that has to be manifested in us.  John 14:17 says that Father’s Spirit is actually in us, it dwells with us and will be in us. And verse 21 tells that Yeshua will manifest himself to the commandment-keeper and will love him. Therefore, we are to be just like the Father and Yeshua, because their Spirit is in us.

 

136.)                    It is important to use new moon day of drawing closer to Father in our relationship with Father so that he can change our hearts. We have this divine Holy Spirit. It is so powerful just the concept of having the Spirit in us.

 

137.)                    There is a Holy Spirit in us but we have to use it. We have to use it as a relationship with Father to be like Father and He is literally going to be is us. So we couldn’t have a more personal relationship than having the God of the Universe literally in us. How precious.

 

138.)                    It’s an amazing relationship that we have here. It’s a relationship of a father and a child. And the father teaches the child to grow up to be just like him. It is important  to know how wonderful is his love for him to give us this whole planet and then to give us his Spirit so he can guide us as we grow up to be like him as a child growing with father.

 

139.)                    We want to be like our father in the way he acts. What is the biggest compliment we could give father? “I want to grow up to be just like you.” That would be wonderful.

 

140.)                    The Bible is a spiritual book and we are dealing with spiritual things that the world cannot understand. And, indeed, the world doesn’t have a relationship with God. And very few people have a true relationship with God. We are very privileged to be in The Obedient Church of God, and to be having the total relationship of God with those who know him, and obey him.

 

141.)                    There are people in the world who are very sincere, but the love of God is that we keep the commandments of God and obey him. And we want to constitute a relationship with Father where we are loving him in obedience. And that obedience is not because we have to, it is because we want to.

 

142.)                    Mr. Lawrence A. Nowell is trying to get across to us our relationship to Father, and that we are the only ones in the world that have this knowledge. So TOCOG are the forerunners. Having the obedience plus the love is an unbeatable combination.

 

143.)                    We have to accept that we have to subdue our inner nature and forgive our enemies and be exactly like our Father and exactly like Yeshua who actually gave his life for his enemies.

 

144.)                    If a person steals from you, would you give your life for that person? Would you pull them out of the way of a truck that’s coming down the road and you end up getting run over because the truck hits you? Would you do that for someone who stole all your stuff? It’s a hard call, but that’s the kind of love we have to have.

 

145.)                    Now why do we have this love? I John 4:10 says, “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”

 

146.)                    We have got the Creator of the Universe living in us through his Spirit and it wants us to know him. And he is not far from any of us that are obedient to Him.    

 

147.)                    On our new moon day that we are using to develop a relationship with Father, we read in Acts 17:27 where Paul is speaking to the Christians, “That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us.” We still have to seek the Lord and grope for him that we might find him.

 

148.)                    We in The Obedient Church of God are in a unique position that we don’t have to “grope” for him, because we’ve found him. We’re not like the heathen Gentiles, not like other ministers and offshoots of the Worldwide Church of God where people have to grope for God to find him, TOCOG is walking with him.

 

149.)                    TOCOG is already walking with him in Spirit and in Truth by having new moon day today, and we’re being blessed by that we are seeing compassion in our Father, and we have to be compassionate for our enemies and be like the Father.

 

150.)                    TOCOG is using this new moon day to develop our relationship with the Father, and to actively make choices to have our hearts inclined to the Father. This is so important. It’s all about the relationship with the Father relationship, with God.  

 

151.)                    We will get a reward of eternal life, but we would do it anyway, even if we didn’t get the reward of eternal life because we love him and we love his ways, so eternal life is just a bonus.                                              

 

152.)                    We are able to walk in His Spirit, and we’re guaranteed this, if we develop the relationship and live in the Spirit. On new moon day TOCOG wants to show that we can draw close to God the Father and to live in the Spirit. Today on new moon day we are developing this relationship of understanding Father’s heart as we’re living in the Spirit.

 

153.)                    Galatians 5:25 says, “If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.” By inference we live in the Spirit so therefore, this verse is telling us that the Spirit is in us.  

 

154.)                    We walk in the Spirit as a creature that is of God, of the God family— a special being that we are. Father is creating new creatures, and we are the new creatures. He is going to give us Spirit bodies, though we know we are going to be above the angel host, so this is a whole new creation.

 

155.)                      This is monumental in the history of time, of infinity, of a whole new creation   being built. You and I, we are the new creation. So this is monumental. We have an ever lasting personal relationship with Father that we can explore on every new moon day.

 

156.)                    We understand that we have a Spirit living in us and we’re understanding it is a deeper way than ever before because we are understanding that the relationship that we are having with Father is of the heart. No other ministry is telling people that it has to be of the heart.             

 

157.)                    We just read in Galatians 5:25, “If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.” And we get the bonus of eternal life. But we still do all this even without the benefit of eternal life, because our hearts are in it, no matter what happens.  

 

158.)                    We trust Father to sustain this universe, and we will do everything the way He lives because it is the best way to live. The only way we can be close to Father is if we are in the relationship with him. In conclusion, it’s going to be a relationship where we never want to be separated from Father.

 

159.)                    If we are not in a relationship with Father, we are just a loose canon rolling around the deck of a ship.

 

160.)                    What we celebrated on Atonement Day is that we are “at-one,” we are finally “at-one.” It is very important for us to understand “at-one-ment.” The Father has nurtured us, and healed us from our sins.

 

161.)                    A good example is that Mr. Lawrence A. Nowell finds a little bird with a broken wing. He decides to fix the bird so he takes it on to the porch and he makes a cozy place in a little box where the bird will be safe.            

 

162.)                    So understand that on new moon day we are like the little bird that is brought in to the safety and protection of The Obedient Church of God to study our relationship with Father. Our hearts turn to Father with studying Hosea while his heart was all torn up by the events of his wife Gomer. 

 

163.)                    Father has The Obedient Church of God where he binds up our broken hearts and brings us some spiritual bread, and nurtures and heals us, that follows every single jot and tittle of the scriptures in order to keep each of us safe.

 

164.)                    Mr. Lawrence A. Nowell is trying to capture that gestalt for us on new moon day. Father has provided The Obedient Church of God, where we can develop our heart-felt relationship with Father, and become a new creation, a fruition of the fulfllment of the New Testament.

 

165.)                    Mr. Nowell hopes this encourages us on new moon day, a special day when we develop a relationship with our Father every month. We are to inculcate these truths into our hearts. And this is important to do.

 

166.)                    Remember, Yeshua died for us first, so Mr. Nowell thinks it is only fitting that he plays the song “The Death of a God for the Life of a Man” that he wrote back in 1984.

 

167.)                    The closing hymn “For Even From My Youth O God,” p. 52 in another song book.

 

168.)                    Happy new moon day to all of us. This is a feast day.