BULLETIN
THE WORD OF TRUTH MINISTRY
228 NORTH EL MOLINO AVENUE
PASADENA, CALIFORNIA 91101-1675
Otis Q. Sellers, Founder David R. Hettema, Director
Volume 2, No. 40 Jane Sellers Hancock, Editor June 2006
THOUGHTS FROM THE EDITOR
Jane S. Hancock
We call the time
period in which we now live the Dispensation of Grace. God is silent; there are
no miracles; sin and death rule. What we look forward to is the Kingdom of God.
God’s Spirit touches us all; there are manifest miracles; righteousness and
life rule. While the majority of people who live on earth today look for a
future home in heaven, we look forward to wonderful days on earth. Let’s
explore a few verses from God’s Word that make this so clear.
And the glory
of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together; for the
mouth of the LORD hath spoken it (Isa. 40:5).
What does this
mean? What does “the glory of the LORD” mean? What will happen when the glory
of the LORD is revealed? It means God takes over. Death stops. What does “all
flesh shall see it together” mean? They will see it together, feel the change,
in much the same way that the disciples felt it on the Day of Pentecost.
And it shall
come to pass afterward, that I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh; and your
sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your
young men shall see visions: and also upon the servants and upon the handmaids
in those days will I pour out My Spirit (Joel 2:28-29).
This is divine
intervention. It can come at any time. We don’t know. But when it comes, we
will know. We will see it together.
Whatever we need
provided will be furnished. Look at the miracles in John’s Gospel. These
miracles are a taste of what man can expect when God takes over. Read the
booklet, The 8 Signs of John’s Gospel, by David R. Hettema, from which
the following is a very brief summary.
Jesus changes
water to wine. The One Who changed the water into wine is the same One Who
created this world. Christ the Creator can override all the laws of time and
nature.
Jesus heals
the nobleman’s son. When God in Christ takes over this earth, He will do for
every individual living upon this earth what He did for the nobleman’s son. He
will remove all sicknesses. His power will instantly stop death and dying.
Jesus tells
the crippled man to walk. Jesus Christ can heal even existing conditions. When
the glory of the Lord is revealed, we will have changed physical bodies,
perfect ones, direct from God.
Jesus feeds
5,000 hungry people. When Christ rules the world, no one will be hungry. The
entire earth will experience this great change.
Jesus walks
upon the sea. He will again be the Master of the seas and all of nature’s
power.
Jesus gives
sight to a man born blind. Again Jesus has the power to give us perfect health,
a perfect body, to every living being upon this earth.
Jesus raises
Lazarus from the dead. And Jesus will raise every person who waits in the
grave, even after hundreds of years.
So shall My
Word be that goeth forth out of My mouth: it shall not return unto Me void, but
it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing
whereto I sent it. For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace:
the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all
the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Instead of the thorn shall come
up the fir tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree: and it
shall be to the LORD for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut
off (Isa. 55:11-13).
God demands that
His Words be listened to; He says that joy and peace will be a part of His
government; He says that nature will also respond; He says it will be for His
glory.
For yet a
little while, and the wicked shall not be: yea, thou shalt diligently consider
his place, and it shall not be. But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall
delight themselves in the abundance of peace (Psa. 37:10-11).
The “meek”
in the passage are those who submit to God’s will.
I will open
rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys: I will make
the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water. I will plant
in the wilderness the cedar, the shittah tree, and the myrtle, and the oil
tree; I will set in the desert the fir tree, and the pine, and the box tree
together: that they may see, and know,
and consider, and understand together, that the hand of the LORD hath done
this, and the Holy One of Israel hath created it (Isa. 41:18-20).
These descriptions
are of a beautiful day. How wonderful it’s going to be during the Kingdom of God!
FROM THE DIRECTOR
David R. Hettema
It is with
grateful joy to our great God and Savior Jesus Christ that we have attained a
goal that had seemed previously impossible.
The Word of Truth
Ministry has now recorded upon digital masters almost every written study and
audio recording that the late Otis Q. Sellers had produced and presented to his
followers through his ministry. Go to our Web site, www.seedandbread.org,
to see what is available.
Those who do not
have access to a computer may order the audio disks from The Word of Truth
Ministry and listen to your selections on your MP3 compact disk player.
Reaching this goal means that the joyful command given in the Scriptures to
“proclaim the Word, in season and out of season” is now a worldwide reality for
these messages of Truth written and voiced by Otis Q. Sellers.
We are grateful
to Robert (Bob) Hammond who spearheaded this project. He and his numerous
helpers have achieved a great goal. Send inquiries to our e-mail correspondent,
Bob Hammond, at roberthammond@earthlink.net, or the Ministry at wordoftruth@earthlink.net.
Written correspondence may be addressed to The Word of Truth Ministry, 228 N.
El Molino Ave., Pasadena, CA 91101-1675.
To anyone who
purchased the booklet, Matthew 24 and the Consummation of the Eon, by
John Ribbens, during our year-end sale, please check to make sure that
the two charts are on pages 87 and 89. If your book does not have the
charts, please write to our office and we will send the charts to you. We
apologize for the inconvenience.
In Isaiah 55:11
God makes this declaration concerning the Words that He speaks: “So shall My Word be that goes forth out of
My mouth: but it shall not return to Me void, but shall accomplish that which I
please and shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.”
People are
finding The Word of Truth Ministry. Many are “just beginning” into the truths
proclaimed through the Web site and the printed page. Many have questions that
need answers to add to the truths of their discovery, such as: “What is the Kingdom of God?”; “Why don’t
you teach that the dead go to heaven?”; and “Almost 99 percent of Christians
believe that the ‘rapture’ is what is coming next, how can you deny that? Isn’t
that what the Bible says?”
I have very
strong feelings that this Ministry should
RETURN TO THE BASICS and spend the next several months going over basic
truths about the Kingdom of God, about death, about resurrection, and about the
soul—those studies discovered and expounded by Otis Q. Sellers. In his memory
we should be adding our voice to those things already written, already spoken.
We need to return to the teaching of the basics for those who are new to these
ideas, who are searching for Truth. Doing this will encourage and strengthen
those that God’s Spirit has prompted to inquire into His Word for the Truth.
Our late friend
Harry Wells once told us that we were too complacent in the Truth: “You folks
who have the truth about the Kingdom of God are sitting on the best-kept secret
in the world.” We don’t want to sit on that secret any more. We want to make
the Truth comprehensible to all. Therefore, back to the basics. &
BIBLE STUDY AUDIO TAPES
By Otis Q. Sellers, Bible Teacher
The entire Tape Library (TL) series, consisting of numbers
TL-001 to TL-570, is still available on MP3 compact disks. A complete subjects
list may be obtained from our Web site, www.seedandbread.org, the home
office in Pasadena, California, or writing/e-mailing:
The Word of Truth Ministry
Mrs. Gwen Staiger, Recorder
121 Wood Oak Dr., Joshua, TX
76058
The Dutch Lachai-Roi Web Site
Read Seed &
Bread and One-A-Day in Dutch on the European Web site: www.lachairoi.org. Johan Hansen and
his son, Arnoud, translated these particular Otis Q. Sellers' publications because
they appreciated his independent studies, finding answers to unsolved problems.
Errata
The WOTM Bulletin,
December 2006, Page 4: News Briefs.
First column, first paragraph—the booklet title for Grace Publications’
transcription version of Otis Q. Sellers’ tape was titled in error, The REAL
Story of Christmas. It should have read:
Reflections On The First Christmas.
BIBLE STUDY SATELLITE GROUP LOCATIONS
Many Bible study groups,
visited by our late teacher, Otis Q. Sellers, continue meeting within the
United States. Also, similar groups meet throughout various parts of the world.
As a service to those who lack a local Bible study location, preferring to
study God’s Word and fellowship with similar believers utilizing Sellers’ Bible
study materials, we now have some locations available, listed below.
We desire making available those Bible study groups not listed,
but only with their advance permission. If you happen to be a Word of
Truth “satellite” Bible Study Group and would like to have your group listed in
future Bulletins, please send us by “snail mail” or e-mail your
location, meeting frequency/times, host/moderator, contact information, and any
additional comments. May our gracious God bless all!
In Southern California (Los Angeles
Area):
The Word of
Truth Ministry, 228 N. El Molino Ave., Pasadena; Sundays from 10:45 a.m. to
12 p.m. Mr. David Hettema presides; Dr.
Milton Hammond alternates. Hettema may be reached at (626) 794-0819. Hymn
“sing-a-long” before service. “We continue studies based upon the Biblical
records of our Bible, and written/spoken words of the late Otis Q.
Sellers.”
In New York (New York City Area):
The YMCA,
125 W. 14th St. (between 6th & 7th Avenues), New York City, the last Sunday of each month
from 2 to 4 p.m. Mr. Luis Casillas,
moderator. Contact Mr. Mike Steele by e-mail: quickby@juno.com. “We use
O.Q. Sellers’ Seed & Bread leaflets (found on www.seedandbread.org) as a
guide for our discussions.”
In New York:
Endicott,
No regular schedules. Contact Mr. Robert Briggs at (607) 746-4870 for
information.
In New Jersey:
430 Boulevard
Ave., Pitman, Mondays from 7:30
to 9:30 p.m. Mr. Sam Marrone presides
as host and may be reached at (856) 589-6256. Marrone notes, “Bring your Bible
and a hunger for the Word.”
In Texas (Houston Area):
5847 Chinaberry
Drive, Houston, Sundays from
10:30 a.m. to 12:30 or 1 p.m. Mr. and
Mrs. Don Black are hosts and may be contacted at (713) 462-2250. “We usually
listen and study one of Otis Sellers’ tapes.”
In Minnesota (St. Paul Area):
622 Selby Ave.
(Room above Mississippi Market Food Co-op), St. Paul, Every other Friday,
6:15 p.m. Mr. Nathan C. Johnson
presides and may be reached at (651) 737-0144 (work). Johnson encourages:
“Please contact me, and come enjoy your time around God’s Word with our group.”
“Exalted by the God [even] . . . our Lord Jesus Christ,
Who exalts us in every spiritual exaltation among the most elevated [ones] in
Christ, according as He chooses us in Him before founding His order, we to be
holy and flawless in His sight, in love designating us beforehand for the place
of a son for Himself through Jesus Christ, in accord with the good pleasure of
His Will, for the extolling of the glories of His Grace, which graces us in the
Beloved One, in Whom we have the redemption through His blood, the forgiveness
of sins in accord with the out-flowing wealth of His grace; which He lavishes
toward us in all wisdom and prudence.”
Ephesians 1:3-8;
The Resultant Version, Seed &
Bread No. 58.
Bible Study “Question and Answer Column” Coming Soon
We need your
questions! For those individuals or Bible-study groups meeting regularly within
the United States, or throughout various parts of the world, we wish to extend
a chance to share your in-depth Bible-study questions with us. Also, if there
is a Bible-study subject that has not been addressed in the last two or so
years in this Bulletin, please let us know what it is. The “better
ones,” submitted to The Word of Truth Ministry by “snail mail” or e-mail
and answered, may be published at a future date in this new column. We
reserve the right to edit (usually for better grammar or punctuation) all
submissions. For you all, even those who lack a local Bible study location,
this allows a chance to “connect” with the Ministry via your Bible questions!
Please be patient with us pertaining to your Bible-question answers, as we
shall answer them eventually.
NEWS BRIEFS
E-Mail Ministry Group Expanding
Thanks to
your continued interest, our “e-mail group” has expanded again! We have been
providing what we like to call “encore presentations” of some of Otis Q.
Sellers’ finer writings, published in his earlier The Word of Truth
magazines.
If you want to be
added to this list, please send an e-mail request to The Word of Truth Ministry
address at wordoftruth@earthlink.net, or to the e-mail correspondent,
Bob Hammond, at roberthammond@earthlink.net.
As a reminder to
those of you already on the list, please send your new e-mail address when you
change your provider. If you have not received any updates for a long time,
please send us your updated information by e-mail.
New Project: Translating Seed &
Bread (Semilla y Pan) In Spanish
We are working on making
available Spanish translations of all our Seed & Bread Bible
studies. Ten years ago, we started to translate into Spanish the first three Seed
& Bread leaflets and now desire to finish the job. However, we need
volunteers to help us do this. If
you have good Spanish-language writing and translating skills, are familiar
with Sellers’ materials, and would like to help, please let us know. We need
translators, as well as good proofreaders.
We appreciate
that this is not a simple task. Recalling the late Otis Q. Sellers’ many studies
of Greek words, and their many mistranslations by others into the English
language, we may encounter somewhat similar challenges with the
Spanish-language translations. Please contact The Word of Truth Ministry
at 228 N. El Molino Ave., Pasadena, CA 91101-1675 or at wordoftruth@earthlink.net.
Another New Project: Sunday Morning
Bible Studies
“Sunday Morning
Bible Studies” are intended for those wishing to hear lessons from our
Sunday-morning, progressive Bible studies in Pasadena, California. The materials
contained on our Web site are transcriptions of Sunday morning Bible studies
taught by our Bible class teachers, Mr. David R. Hettema and Dr. Milton B.
Hammond. We are placing them onto the Web site one topic at a time, with 10
messages per topic. For those of you who have not seen our Web site lately, we
invite you to take a minute and look up www.seedandbread.org. We are
also offering them to our readership for $7 per compact disk. Send your order
requesting which disk you desire to The Word of Truth Ministry.
Compact Disk Orders Exceed Expectations
We have responded
to all of the orders we received as a result of our Web site “Christmas
Special” sale of 2006. Due to the fact that many orders for the compact disks
and the Seed & Bread volumes exceeded our expectations, they also
exceeded our capacity to produce!
Since we are more
of a “mom and pop” operation, this means that filling the large volume of
orders is challenging. On Sunday mornings before and after Bible Class,
we reproduce compact disks, label, case, compile and bubble-wrap; assemble
booklets and bind; and then fill many shipping boxes.
We appreciate
your continued patience. And, for this, we convey a sincere “Thank you!” Also,
to all who have contributed their time and effort in making this a reality, we
also express a gracious “Thank you!” May God continue to benevolently bless
this undertaking.
A Bit of Useful Trivia
We have received
orders from some readers for “the works” on our available CDs (both audio and
written materials), which include practically all of the historical studies by
the late Otis Q. Sellers, as well as other Bible students of the Ministry. Most
of the materials that we have in publication form, including Sellers’
Bible-study-subject booklets, Seed & Bread, The Word of Truth
magazine volumes, exist on seven disks. Additionally, we now have ALL of
Sellers’ 570 Tape Library/Lecture audio lessons existing on 57 disks! Also
available is an audio CD on Sellers’ booklet, The Rich Man & Lazarus,
nicely narrated by the late Harry G. Wells. All materials are listed on our Web
site, www.seedandbread.org., and are found optionally listed in our Bulletin
enclosure for ease of ordering by regular post-office-delivery mail.
“But as it is written, ‘Eye has not seen, nor ear heard,
nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for
those who love Him.’”
1
Corinthians 2:9, NKJV
HONORARY AGENT IN GREAT BRITAIN
Our honorary agent, George T. Morris, provides a supply of
Word of Truth materials. A list of materials and prices will be sent by writing
or e-mailing:
Mr. George T. Morris
67 Wood Lane, Sutton Coldfield,
West Midlands, B74 3LS,
United Kingdom
E-mail: geo.morris@virgin.net
Web Site: christianindividualism.info
WE GET LETTERS
“Thank you for
the recent packet of marvelous Biblical material. I always enjoy the Bulletin
and I was happy to know [that] you are still publishing [More] Seed
& Bread.”
“I’ve been
wanting to thank all of you for your faithfulness in serving Christ and
carrying on Otis Sellers’ work.”
“I’m glad to hear
that you book, tape and disk sale was so good! The written work and the tapes
I’ve been so glad to have [used] in the many past years.”
“Thanks for
sending out [PDF copies of] The Word of Truth magazine, [and] thanks for your
faithfulness for getting out the truth of GOD’S WORD; it’s so wonderful to
understand what the WORD teaches us than what men would have us believe. Man
and religion would have us in bondage to ‘control our minds and money,’ but
thanks to great teachers like [the late] Mr. Sellers and all of you at the WORD
OF TRUTH, through GOD’S WORD, we have been made free indeed.”
Referring to
receiving The Word of Truth magazine through the “e-mail newsletter”: “It’s almost as though this teacher [Mr.
Sellers] is still among us.”
“Thanks for the
[e-mail newsletter] messages, I really look forward to receiving them.”
(See below)
We are honored to bring onboard one of our Newest
Board Members, Mrs. Gwen Staiger from Joshua, Texas, who has been
handling for years, along with her husband, Jim, our tape-recorded
Ministry, which is now considered our audio MP3-CD Ministry.
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Our Word of Truth Ministry Board of Directors:
Mr. Robert (Bob) Hammond (also newly elected); Mrs. Jane
S. Hancock, Bulletin Editor; Mr. David R. Hettema, Executive Director; and
Dr. Milton B. Hammond.
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Thoughts On Psalm 23
Joanne L.H. Johnson
One of Israel’s
greatest warrior kings, King David, wrote the most famous of all psalms, Psalm
23. This psalm is particularly popular at funerals, both read aloud and written
into memorial services brochures. However, I, as a former military wife, see
this psalm like the words of a very loyal soldier who has found enormous trust
and rest in our Almighty God. (All verses shown quoted from New American
Standard Bible [NASB] unless otherwise noted.)
According to The Hebrew-Greek Key Study
Bible, New American Standard [Bible], compiled and edited by Dr.
Spiros Zodhiates, in a footnote quoted beneath this psalm (page 732), it says:
“This psalm was written by David during a time when he was fleeing from Saul.
He had been wandering from place to place. He was in exile from his own people
and constantly living among strangers, even enemies. His life was continually
being threatened. It [the psalm] is an outpouring of David’s confidence in the
LORD and trust in His care for him in every moment of his life even to the
point of death. With His [Jehovah’s] loving care and concern there could
be no reason to fear even before his enemies.”
Psalm 23:1
begins: “The LORD is my Shepherd; I shall not want.”
The first part of
this verse, “The LORD is my Shepherd . . .” could very well be tied into how
our Great God and Savior Jesus Christ described Himself in John 10:11-15: “I
am the Good Shepherd; the Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.
He who is a hireling, and not a shepherd, who is not the owner of the sheep,
beholds the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep, and flees, and the wolf snatches
them, and scatters then. He flees because he is a hireling, and is not
concerned about the sheep. I am the Good Shepherd; and I know My own, and My
own know Me . . . and I lay down My life for the sheep.” Consequently, with
what most soldiers go through, it seems more like this to me: “My Sovereign
LORD (Jehovah Messiah) is my guide/scout/protector (or ‘Shepherd’) to me in
ANY awful situation—ALL my necessary protection and other painful needs are ALL
covered in Him.”
Psalm 23:2: “He
makes me lie down in green pastures: He leads me besides quiet waters.”
Coming from concentration
and attention of the battlefield, this could very well be: “He provides the
necessary solitude and restorative rest in Him (He makes/causes me
to lie down in wonderful, peaceful, green, comfortable pastures) for my next
ferocious and furious battle: He leads/guides me besides the
waters of quietness (He provides almost noiseless solitude with maybe pleasant
restorative sounds, perhaps like a spring of water or a flowing brook) after a
horrible, bloody battle.”
Psalm 23:3: “He
restores my soul: He guides me in the paths of righteousness for His Name’s
sake.”
This is Hebrew
poetry in its finest, reflecting back on the second and first verses. After
seeing what most combat soldiers through, it seems more like this to me: “He
fully restores my entire, weary being/soul, after being shot at,
shell-shocked, and totally ‘nerved out’ by the enemy: He leads/guides me
in His perfect paths of His Righteous Order for His Own Name’s sake
or final purpose (see Isa. 46:9-10 and 48:9)—NOT any man’s/woman’s
preferred order or purpose in ANY way, shape or form!
Psalm 23:4: “Even
though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil; for
Thou (You) art (are) with me; Thy (Your) rod and Thy (Your) staff, they comfort
me.”
Again, we find
the wonderful, reflecting repetitions of soothing Hebrew poetry. This verse
impresses me with this thought: “Even though my everyday ‘walks in life’ and
encounters include every evil thing or satanic situations out there and I know that
I can expire or die at any moment (with resurrection in view through God in
Christ) (‘I walk through the valley of the shadow of death’), I have
absolutely no need to fear ANY evil or satanic situation; for You (Jehovah) are
with me; when I ‘trip over myself’ (cause myself to think wrongly) or place
myself in extremely harmful or dangerous situations, Your ‘rod of correction’
and Your ‘staff of Fatherly Love’ brings/guides me back/towards to Your ‘fold’
or safe haven of rest with Your righteous laws in effect (refer to Psalm
1:1-2)—You (Jehovah Messiah) guide me and show me a way out of
every unnecessary, harmful or dangerous situation out there known to mankind.”
Psalm 23:5: “Thou
dost (You do) prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; Thou
hast (You have) anointed my head with oil; my cup overflows.”
Here is a
beautiful word-picture, another fine example of reflective Hebrew poetry,
comparing itself to the verse above it. This leaves me with this strong
impression: “You (Jehovah Messiah) are known to quench my thirst (both
literally and figuratively in God’s Word), feed me, cloth me, protect and
preserve me in the presence of ALL of my enemies; You, my Almighty God and
Anointed Savior, have anointed me (referring to King David, anointed by the
Prophet Samuel); my blessings from You are innumerable—they are countless
(‘my cup overflows’).”
Psalm 23:6 ends: “Surely
goodness and loving-kindness will follow me all the days of my life, and I will
dwell in the house of the LORD forever.”
What a
statement of faith in God in Christ! Here David absolutely knows and trusts
God that “goodness and mercy or loving-kindness” will “follow me all the
days of my life,” probably referring to a future time when he will again rule
over Israel, as found in Ezekiel 37:25. This psalm was perhaps written after he
made his covenant with God (2 Sam. 7:8-16), as obviously members of King
David’s family (such as his sons Amnon, Absalom and Adonijah) caused him a
great deal of trouble during his lifetime. Again, the last part of this verse
seems to refer to a future time period, when King David will “dwell in the
house of the LORD forever,” where Otis Q. Sellers noted the word “forever”
means “in respect of the eon” (see Seed & Bread issues No. 127, Olam
And Aion; No. 128, What Does Aion Mean?). Perhaps the
“house of the LORD” would be a reference to the rebuilt Temple in Jerusalem in
the future Kingdom of God (Isa. 66:20).
Today, in this, God’s silent Dispensation of
Grace, we are confined to the study of the entire Word of God, both Old and New
Testaments, with many wonderful examples of faith in God in Christ. These are
ascertained throughout His Word and emphasized in Hebrews 11. Perhaps one of
our life-goals should be following King David’s example of totally trusting and
finding rest in our Almighty God, Who, as the late Otis Q. Sellers emphasized,
is the Jehovah Messiah of the Old Testament and the Jesus Christ
of the New Testament. And, may we continue believing/having faith in Him.
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