Letter to the Brethren: November 20, 2025

Dear Brethren and Co-Workers in Christ:

Greetings from Grover Beach, California.

We continue to work on literature in multiple languages, as well as working to put more booklets ready to be printed by our replacement for Amazon Kindle.

Parting From THE WAY

Many Protestant scholars teach that there was a parting of the ways.

What really was the parting of the ways?

It was the separating between THE WAY of original Christianity (e.g. Acts 9:2,19:9,19:23,24:22) and what became the Greco-Roman confederation, mainly in the second and later centuries.

The Protestant scholar Dr. James D.G. Dunn wrote:

Whether Jewish Christianity could or should have been retained within the spectrum of catholic Christianity is an important question which it may now be impossible to answer. (Dunn JDG. The Parting of the Ways: Between Christianity and Judaism and Their Significance for the Character of Christianity, 2nd ed. Hymns Ancient & Modern Ltd, 2006, p. 313)

Well, that question is not impossible to answer–IF ONE BELIEVES THE BIBLE! The original faith, which Dr. Dunn calls Jewish Christianity, should have been retained by those who claim to be Christian!

Nor did original Christianity disappear.

The fact there would be problems from early times was known by the Apostle Paul who warned:

8 Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ. (Colossians 2:8)

20 … Guard what was committed to your trust, avoiding the profane and idle babblings and contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge — 21 by professing it some have strayed concerning the faith. (1 Timothy 6:20-21)

7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; (2 Thessalonians 2:7)

Paul was warning about philosophies, what is claimed to be knowledge, and traditions of men that opposed the truth of the Bible.

Many do not want to actually do what the God of the Bible wants related to His law. The Apostle Paul gave the following warnings and teaching:

3 As I urged you when I went into Macedonia — remain in Ephesus that you may charge some that they teach no other doctrine, 4 nor give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which cause disputes rather than godly edification which is in faith. 5 Now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith, 6 from which some, having strayed, have turned aside to idle talk, 7 desiring to be teachers of the law, understanding neither what they say nor the things which they affirm. (1 Timothy 1:3-7)

Notice that the purpose of the law is love, yet there are those that strayed and used idle talk to turn people away. This was  perhaps the core reason that there was a parting of the ways between the faithful and the bulk of those who claim to follow Jesus.

Jesus came to magnify the law, basically by showing it had to do with love, not just outward show or acts.

Jesus’ half-brother Jude wrote:

3 Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. (Jude 3)

It should be clear that Christians are to hold to the original faith of the first century and not the changed faith of the second century that many have followed.

The Apostle Paul twice exhorted Christians to “continue in the faith” (Acts 14:22; Colossians 1:23), not change it. He also wrote to “continue in faith” (1 Timothy 2:15), “the doctrine. Continue” (1 Timothy 4:16), and “continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them” (2 Timothy 3:14). Paul also praised Timothy because he “carefully followed my doctrine, manner of life” (2 Timothy 3:10).

Anyway, the recommended sermon this week is titled: .

Here is a link to a related article: What was the Parting from the Way?

The Protestant world has failed to realize how far from the original faith it has departed from.

That is one reason that we offer the free documented eBook, Hope of Salvation: How the Continuing Church of God Differs from Protestantism, to them and others interested in the truth.

Of course, the Greco-Roman Catholics have parted from THE WAY as well, and that is one reason that we offer the free documented eBook, Beliefs of the Original Catholic Church: Could a remnant group have continuing apostolic succession?, to them and others interested in the truth.

Here is a link to the recommended sermon for this Sabbath: Parting from THE WAY.

North Carolina Visit

As mentioned last week, my family and I are planning to go to North Carolina later this month. With the government increasing air travel options, we have now purchased tickets to fly there.

We plan to have Sabbath services 29 November, probably about 15-20 miles south of Charlotte, NC.

If any would like to attend, please send an email. My email address remains COGwriter@aol.com

Visit and Healing

Pastor Tiongik Sawek sent the following photos and report from the Rift Valley of Kenya:

Pastor Cheruiyot to the right and Pastor Sawek to the Left
(the one in he middle, whose name I do not have, was healed)

Youth in the Chepkoloni congregation of the Continuing Church of God

REPORT AND GREETINGS FROM RIFT VALLEY

Dear Sir,

Hope you are doing well.

Aim also very fine, I just want to pass greetings to you in the name of Jesus Christ. We had a nice trip to Chebirbelek and Chepkoloni  to spread the word of God. We received a warm reception from our brothers and sisters.

They had a lot of questions about CCOG. We answered them and were very happy and satisfied. They told us to visit them next time and requested the books of CCOG.

At that place we meet an old age mother who earlier got accident and she uses wheelchair. The old grandmother later took us to meet one of their youth members who has been heal where we managed to pray for them.

In that connection we are planning to visit the same place on January 2026.

During the trip I was accompanied by Pastor David Cheruiyot  from North rift.

With this letter I have some of the photos of the mentioned persons whom we meet.

Attached are the photos we took during the visit.

Thank You.

May God be with you.

Yours sincerely.

 

Pastor Sawek

So, there are visits and a healing.

We continue to strive to reach and teach all that we can (cf. Matthew 24:19-20).