3 Eric Snow to Gun Lap: God used the uncalled to preserve the Bible 3 Since women walk in the Spirit, why can’t they be trusted? 4 Peter Williams has a dream he TheJournal wants to share with the churches 32 Austin in 2012 makes 11 annual News of the Churches of God One God Seminars for Ken Westby Vol. XVI, No. 5 Founded 1997 Issue No. 151 (September-October 2012) Speaker challenges Feast The Journal invites readers’ audience: Consider peace Feast reports By Dixon Cartwright to build peace with the enemy.” IG SANDY, Texas—Chris- “Don’t fall into a simple dualis- THE JOURNAL: NEWS OF THE tians need to learn to envision a tic understanding of the options. Don’t CHURCHES OF GOD invites readers Bfuture that includes their ene- think either-or: either you’re with me to send in reports of their 2012 mies. That’s the biblical and the only or you’re against me. Set aside that Feast of Tabernacles observances. way to peace, advised a speaker at a simplistic approach to conflict.” Members of the Churches of Feast of Tabernacles observance spon- “You have to try to see a solu- God and other Sabbatarian fellow- sored by the Church of God Big Sandy. tion. You have to take a leap of moral ships met this year at several hun- Church members look to a returned imagination.” dred Feast sites, with most obser- Jesus inspiring Accept the risks, including “that vances beginning the evening of and implement- you may get killed because other peo- Sept. 30. ing a system to ple may not be willing to accept that You still have time to get your impose peace. breakthrough, that relative leap.” report in for the next issue of THE But can there Mr. Killingley’s example of some- JOURNAL. be real peace be- one willing to die for peace: President Mail your information to Festi- fore the Millenni- Anwar el-Sadat of Egypt, who was val Reports, P.O. Box 1020, Big um and the eter- assassinated in 1981. Sandy, Texas 75755, U.S.A. Or nity of the King- Thousands of people keep the WHEN IN ROME—John Verterano, his wife, Terri, and daughter Sabrina, all of E-mail it to [email protected]. dom of God? Feast, rejoicing and singing about New York City, saw something that caught their eye at an airport in Rome, Italy, on Or you may fax it toll-free to 1- 888-488-6603. Yes, said Reg Reg Killingley peace, yet they cannot envision peace the way home from the Feast in October 2012. “We were standing in front of a Killingley of Big with their own brethren. “Is there not snack bar/newsstand called News Etc.,” Mr. Verterano said. “Sabrina looked up Photographs as prints or E-mail Sandy at one of the CGBS’s four an irony there?” Mr. Killingley asked. and said, ‘Dad, look at that!’ Dead center of a window decoration depicting a col- attachments are also welcomed. Please mention the dates of your Feast sites, during the Oct. 6, 2012, Just as David was clueless in the lection of international periodicals and the store logo was an image of THE observance and the name of the service at the Big Sandy site. matter of Uriah, Christians have a JOURNAL. We asked each other how did this occur: by chance, by fiat? Or was there a true believer who works in graphics/advertising who took the opportunity church fellowship or affiliation, if But that kind of peace can happen blind spot. “We need to accept that life any, or other sponsors of the site. only when people “are able to envisage is complex and sometimes there are to leave this marker?” [Photo courtesy the Verterano family] a future that includes their enemies.” paradoxes,” he said, quoting Matthew Mr. Killingley, a teacher in a Tyler, 5:44, “Bless those who curse you, do Texas, public school, enumerated four good to those who hate you.” points he attributed to John Paul Lede- The unending peace of Isaiah 9:7 Final appeal: Supreme Court dockets church rach, author of The Moral Imagination: will not come to pass in our time short The Art and Soul of Building Peace. Mr. of a grassroots movement that by- Lederach’s, and Mr. Killingley’s, advice: passes church and temporal leaders, member’s challenge of the IRS and income tax “Visualize a future in which you Mr. Killingley concluded. have a relationship with the enemy. If “We don’t have to wait for X or Y By Dixon Cartwright Because of it he decided to study writer in Big Sandy, Texas. The inter- your vision of the future doesn’t leader to start the process,” he said. he Supreme Court of the Unit- everything he could about that govern- view is edited for length and clarity. include the enemy, you’re not going “We can start the process.” ed States announced on Sept. ment bureau and the income tax: their T11, 2012, that it would consider history and the laws and court deci- 10 years now hearing the case of a Church of God sions that have defined them for the last THE JOURNAL: Does it look like member who believes the Internal century. you might be able to argue your case Revenue Service and the U.S. income Incredibly, in his journey before the Supreme People of the Sign: tax are “applied unconstitutionally” through seven courtrooms in Court? Can you give A tale and therefore illegal. seven states, he has acted pro us a little information Jeffrey T. Maehr says he felt chal- se; that is, without benefit of about that? of a not-so-merry-go-round lenged by the law on IRS taxation legal counsel. In his argu- Jeffrey Maehr: It back in 2002. So he wrote the IRS ments before the highest essentially started Mr. Dickerson attended Ambas- fore that, the Radio Church of God, seeking clarification. court in the land, he intends about 10 years ago. sador College, Big Sandy, in the late I was interested in the story. That started it all for the church to do the same. You know, we’re ex- 1960s. He lives with his wife, Cathy, I rarely read a book in one sitting member and resident of Pagosa If the court hears the case, pected to know the in Arkansas. but pretty much accomplished it on Springs, Colo. The folks at the IRS Donald Verrilli, U.S. solicitor law, and obviously this one. I was intrigued by Mr. would not give a straight answer to any general, or an assistant will from a biblical stand- By John Dickerson Fransson’s tumultuous life, to say the of his questions, he says. They would represent the United States point we’ve all been INCOLN, Ark.—From the least, and that he became a success- send him form letters or just ignore his and the IRS. Jeffrey Thomas studying law and all very beginning of People of ful person with the odds against him. questions, he told THE JOURNAL in an Maehr, petitioner, will repre- Jeffrey Maehr that kind of thing. L the Sign, a new book by The sign in People of the Sign interview in September 2012. sent himself. But secularwise I Wade Frans- refers to the WCG’s belief in the Dr. Maehr, a 59-year-old chiroprac- didn’t know diddly about anything. son, I was fas- Sabbath. The book speaks of a group tor who left his practice several years Phone interview I just wanted to know a little bit cinated by the that believes it was set aside by God ago to begin what he calls a health- The rest of this article is based on a more when I was challenged on a few story. signified by that sign. and-wellness service, was flabbergast- telephone interview with this writer things. So I started digging. It starts with Without giving too much away, ed by what he saw as the IRS’s lack of on Sept. 20, 2012. In it Dr. Maehr THE JOURNAL: So what kind of the history of I’ll mention that Mr. Fransson relo- communication. speaks from Pagosa Springs with the See CHURCH OF GOD MEMBER, page 6 the author’s fa- cates to Alaska, then to Sweden, ther, from Swe- then back to Washington, then back den, who mi- to Alaska. The story becomes quite a grates to Can- merry-go-round, or we might say a ‘It’s a God Thing’ theme ‘Virtuous Woman’ theme ada seeking a Wade Fransson not-so-merry-go-round. better life. After many unhappy experiences His father drifts westward and in as a teenager and a horribly rebel- of Big Sandy conference of Tulsa conference Victoria, B.C., meets the woman who lious attitude, Wade Fransson even- By Dixon Cartwright The writer and her husband, Josh, live in Avinger, would become the author’s mother. tually lands in Ambassador College IG SANDY, Texas—Women of several Church Texas, with their two children. The Webbs are part of Then the narrative traces the dys- in Pasadena, Calif. His AC experi- of God fellowships met here May 19, 2012, for the Buckaroo Bob’s Neighborhood functional family that develops as his ence shapes the rest of his story for a conference sponsored each year by the Church traveling ministry. They enjoy per- father finds success as an ironworker good and bad. B of God Big Sandy (CGBS). forming music at churches they visit. in San Francisco, Calif., and the fam- I was impressed by Wade’s deep The conference’s theme this year was “It’s a God ily seems to have a happy life.