Assemblies of Yahweh Ministries Newsletter

Issue No. 11                                        India                                                         March 2004

Festival of Unleavened Bread 2004

The first moon of the New Year will be visible in India and Ysrael on the night of March 22 thus March 23 will be the first day of the New Scriptural Year.  The Feast of Unleavened Bread will be Apr. 5-12 with the Memorial Supper of Yahshua being observed on the night of Apr. 4th.  All eight days will be observed in Mizoram with bro. J.H. Thangliana from Aizawl, 389-2327363.  In Andhra Pradesh various Assemblies will keep an eight day feast.  One place will be in Eluru, W.G. Dt. with bro. G.B. Benoni, 8812-235109.  In Vishakhapatnam it will be kept at the Zion School Building with G. Raja Prasad and the brethren there, 891-2575569.  In Hyderabad it will be kept with Y. Sunith Premanand, 40-24072976, in Malikipuram, E.G. Dt. it will be kept with bro. Issac E. Kusuma, 8862-227613.

Telugu Bible Translation Project

In the Telugu Bible Translation Project there have been many that have helped on the various books in the translation and proofreading.  After a book has been translated we have it proofread by others, and additions, corrections, and various changes might be made.  But the main contributing translators for each book have been as follows, for the books of Gen. – Deut., 1&2Sam., 1&2 Chron., and Isa. G.B. Benoni has been the main translator.  For Joshua – Ruth, bro. Moshe was the main contributor.  For 1 Kings, G. Dixon Rupert was the main contributor.  For Psalms, bro. Subramanyam was the main contributor.  For Prov. – Songs, Joel, Jonah, Mark and Jude. , K. George is the main contributor.  For the book of Matthew, S'muel Yacobi was the main contributor.  For the book of Daniel, G. Samuel Abraham was the main contributor.

There have been many that have helped on the proofreading.  The typing of the Telugu text into the computer has been done by bro. Mattithyah and G. Chinni.  The Bible translation project has been lead by bro. G.B. Benoni and bro. Mattithyah. 

Doctrinal Belief # 10 Assembly Order

Yahweh gives different spiritual gifts and offices to the various members, for the up building of the faith and harmonious operation of His Assembly, I Cor. 12:4-31; Eph. 4:8-13; I Tim. 3:1-16; I Cor. 14:1-40; I Tim. 2:11-15. Yahweh has ordained that His Assembly be sustained by tithes and offerings, Mal. 3:6-12; Num. 18:20-24; Gen.14: 18-20; Deut. 14:22-29; 16:16,17; Matt. 23:23; I Cor. 9:7-14; Lev. 27:30-33; Neh. 13:10-14; II Tim. 2:3,4.

The gifts of the spirit are listed as:  wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, helps, miracles, prophecy, discerning of spirits, tongues, interpretation of tongues, 1Cor. 12:4-10.  The offices of the Spirit are listed in descending order in 1Cor. 12:27,28 and Eph. 4:11 as:  apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers, and governments.  The reason for these gifts are stated as such:  "For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Messiah:  Till we all come in the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of Eloah unto to a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Messiah:  That we be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men..." Eph. 4:12-14

Paul stated that we all need each other just as the body needs each part.  No one person can have all the gifts necessary to make the body complete.  If any of the parts are lacking, then the body of Messiah will be tossed to and fro, and will never come into the perfection of the faith that Yahweh has called it to.

¹²For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so it is with Messiah. ¹³For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.  ¹⁴For the body is not one member, but many. ¹⁵If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? ¹⁶And if the ear shall say, Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? ¹⁷If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling? ¹⁸But now hath Eloah set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him. ¹⁹And if they were all one member, where were the body? ²⁰But now are they many members, yet but one body. ²¹And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you. ²²Nay, much more those members of the body, which seem to be more feeble, are necessary: ²³And those members of the body, which we think to be less honourable, upon these we bestow more abundant honour; and our uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness.  ²⁴For our comely parts have no need: but Eloah hath tempered the body together, having given more abundant honour to that part which lacked: ²⁵That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another.  ²⁶And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it.  1Cor.12:12-26

It takes humility of mind to accept the fact that other people have certain gifts in which they are superior to ourselves.  We should be willing to learn from others in the areas where they are superior to us.  And we need to realize that we each have gifts that are superior to others, which we should utilize to advancing the kingdom of Yahweh in this world.  In order to use our gifts properly Paul admonished us to "walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called,  With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace."Eph. 4:1-3.  No matter what gift or office Yahweh has given us we must always display patience and kindness in our actions or it will profit us nothing, 1 Cor. 13:3,4.

Tithing

In order to support the teachers of His Laws Yahweh has ordained that each member of the Assembly should give ten percent of his financial increase to those who are teaching His Laws, Num.18:21,22,30.

So that there might be unity and order in the various Assemblies, Yahweh has ordained that each pastor or teacher of the Law should give ten percent of the tithes he receives to a higher body that promotes the harmonious fellowship and ministry of the various workers, Num.18:25-28.

Yahweh has given mankind life, strength and all good things, so He has a right to ask a portion of man's earnings to support His work on earth.  Yahweh continues to bless those who give their tithes to support His work and Yahweh withdraws His blessings from those who do not give their tithes, as it will be registered in the books of Heaven as robbery against Elohim, Mal. 3:8-12.

Speaking in Tongues

On the day of Pentecost in Acts 2:1-4, the Spirit of Yahweh moved upon the early believers in Messiah and they were given a special gift to speak in another language that they previously did not know.  This gift was necessary as they would need to speak to people of other nations that did not understand the Hebrew or Aramaic that the early believers spoke, vs. 5-11.  The result of that gift was that three thousand people made decisions to be baptized in Yahshua Messiah's Name, and the various brethren came into unity with each other, Acts 2:41-47.  Yahweh saw it good to give them a supernatural gift of languages so that they could communicate the present truth of the Word to others of a foreign language. 

This scenario in Jerusalem in Acts 2 is opposite of what took place in the city of Babel about 2100 yrs. earlier.  In that situation, described in Gen. 11:1-9, it tells how the people of that day decided to build a great tower to make a name for themselves (vs.4), they were not interested in promoting Yahweh's Name, but they wanted to forget Yahweh and live for themselves.  All the people spoke the same language but, Yahweh supernaturally changed the languages of all the people so that they could not understand each other.  The people were then scattered over the face of the earth, each forming a group that spoke their same language.  When people forget Yahweh, He sees it good to have them separated linguistically.  The name of that place was called Babel, which means "confusion".  Later the ancient city of Babylon was built in that same area.

Today, in many churches, people that speak the same language come together and they receive a "gift" that causes them to speak a language that no one else understands.  And many times several people will all be speaking at the same time, no one understanding anything that is being said.  Is this like what took place on the day of Pentecost or is it more like what took place at the tower of Babel?  Yahweh is not the author of confusion,1Cor.14:33, Yahweh says, 'Come out of Babylon(confusion) My people',Rev. 18:1-4.  If a man is not sick, there is no need for a healing prayer.  If various people meet together that all speak the same language, there is no need of the gift of tongues, because the very reason the gift of tongues was given, was to preach the truth to those of a different language.

Revelation 16:12-16 says that unclean evil spirits that look like frogs would be coming out of the mouths of the three great religious powers of the last days, and that these evil spirits would be working deceptive miracles to gather the whole world to fight against Yahweh.  Satan is very crafty and he has a counterfeit for all of Yahweh's truth and works.  Frogs catch their prey with their tongue, and many people today are being "caught" by a deceptive tongue.  For an indepth study of Rev. 16:12-16 write to the address below and request the article "Three Unclean Spirits, like frogs".  Or the article can be viewed at the listed website.

Soft drinks and health

Dr. Clive McCay, working at the Naval Research Institute in USA, placed extracted human teeth in cola drinks. Within two days, the teeth became very soft, and the enamel surface lost much of its calcium. Rats, well fed but given nothing to drink except cola beverages, after six months had their molar teeth dissolved down to the gum line. When Dr. McCay reported years ago the rat experiments before the Delaney hearing on chemical in foods, a lawmaker reminded him that the soft drink industry represented huge economic investments. He suggested that these alarming findings be soft-pedaled to avoid disrupting the industry and the economy as a whole. Dr. McCay countered by stating that "the health of the nation's children might be as important as the welfare of the soft-drink industry."

Most soft drinks contain phosphoric acid and much refined sugar, which are destructive to teeth, bones, and health in general.  Cola drinks also contain caffeine, which has been shown to cause a loss of calcium in the urine, thus contributing to osteoporosis and other health detriments. 

Contact Information for Assemblies of Yahweh Ministries:

G. Raja Prasad                                                   bro. Matithyah  08812-250404 (telefax)

9-9-43 Mangapuram Colony                               www.sevendayweek.com

Vishakhapatnam, A.P. 530017                            yahweh@vsnl.com

0891-2575569 or 9849147243

Questions, Comments, and thoughts for future newsletters are welcome and can be directed to the above address.