Let Jesus be Your Guide in 2018
A Thought for the New Year
“If you put sin out of your hand and far away from you, and let not evil dwell in your tents; Then can you lift up your face to Him without stain of sin; yes, you shall be steadfast and secure; you shall not fear. For you shall forget your misery; you shall remember it as the waters that pass away. And your life shall be clearer than the noonday, and rise above it; though there be darkness, it shall be as the morning. And you shall be secure and feel confident because there is hope; yes, you shall search about you, and you shall take your rest in safety”. Job 11:14-18
Editor’s Comments: A true leader is someone who is purpose driven and yet serves the people he or she leads. The Israel Truth Movement has had many such leaders over the past century but there are three that stand out; two of these are in the past and one is current.
You know, back in the 1990’s, the flagship of the Movement, so to speak, was listing badly and it looked like the downward spiral was unstoppable. But, then, a new leader stepped up and together with a team of like-minded Israelites, he did what he does best, he led. I think our UK correspondent, Alan Edwards, summed it up best, “Michael Clark was a Godsend to BIWF, UK, he possesses the right mix of humility, strength, respect and determination and this is why the UK Israel movement is becoming more effective each year in reaching out to our brethren across the world.” So, dear reader, you can see why we are so honoured to have Mr. Clark lead off this issue, by taking us back through Memory Lane.
The other two are voices of the past but their words reverberate equally today. Our founding president, Professor Edward Faraday Odlum lived at a time before we published our predecessor magazine, so we can’t be certain what he would say to you today. But we think his son, E.F. Odlum, would have done him proud by echoing his words. The other is Jacob W. Parker, who was probably the most renowned of all our presidents of the first half of the 20th century. Indeed, I can think of only one since his time that would match his leadership and that is our late president Jim Read (1986-2009). What a great leader in Israel was Jim.
Let’s read what our three leaders say or would write to you today. Of course, it goes without saying that our current board, led by Bob Vermaat, wish you all the best for 2018.
From Michel Clark:
Hello to my many friends and readers of the TKC magazine on this entrance to another year on God’s Great Calendar.
My first experience of visiting Canada on lecture tour was in 1974. When I reached Vancouver, I was welcomed by the full committee of the Association of the Covenant People and introduced by Reverend Joe (with wife Mary) Sproule, whom I knew from his many attendances at the BIWF Summer Conventions in England. It was a memorable occasion being shown over the printing press floor at Seymour Street and I left with a large bundle of booklets gifted to me.
When I reached Victoria and met the Abraham’s, a wonderful, elderly couple, it seemed like I had reached the last outpost of the British Empire; Dorothy and husband Ted had carried on a witness there to British Israel since the early 1900s.
On a subsequent tour in 1996, things had changed somewhat, as the Association had moved to Burnaby, but meeting with Association President, Jim Read and Vancouver BIWF’s Tom Mitchell for the first time was a huge blessing. There was also the memorable meeting-up with war hero Squadron Leader Phillip E.M. Leith, who was our esteemed patron in BIWF UK. Phillip served as aide-de-camp to the Earl of Athlone, Governor General of Canada and his wife, Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone, who served as life-long Patron-in-Chief to BIWF. Many of Phillip’s ancestors were members of the clergy in the Protestant Christian faith and he himself tried to live by the same faith. His convinced British Israel belief undoubtedly came from his significant wartime contacts and experiences.
From E.F. Odlum:
“Whenever a new year is begun it is the usual thing to look both backward and forward, like Janus, from whom we get the name January; backward over the year or the years gone by and forward to the year or year’s ahead…..
This brings me to my New Year wish to all British Israelites – to all Canadians – and to all people, whatever their name, nationality, race, creed, political leaning, social status, financial position or educational standard may be. May they do nothing this year to oppose or thwart the will of the Ever-Living God of Abraham, of Isaac and of Israel, but, on the other hand, do everything they can to help to accomplish His will on earth. Then will this New Year be the best one this discord-torn old world has ever seen.”
From Jacob W. Parker:
[Words after the salutation] “What the world needs – yes, what the Christian world needs is a more perfect knowledge of the Word of God. Christians must be taught the Gospel of the Kingdom of God on earth. They must be brought face to face with the glorious fact that the Throne of the LORD still rules in majesty in the earth, and that a descendant of David still rules in the “Appointed Place”. That fallen and lost Israel still lives, by the Grace of God, and that Israel’s Redemption is a fact of history; and God has performed His Oath to our fathers in these latter days. Soon we must be prepared to face the grand climax of history when the “Son of man will come in His Glory and all the Holy Angels with Him, and He will sit on the Throne of His Father David, and of His Kingdom there shall be no end. The zeal of the LORD of Hosts will accomplish this.””