The Journal: News of the Churches of God

'Teaching the Law' series offered

IRVINE, Calif.--Mordakhai Joseph of Van Nuys, Calif., and Dale Stogner of Irvine, two longtime Church of God members, announced on May 21 the beginning of a videotaped series of lectures covering Genesis through Deuteronomy titled "Teaching the Law."

Each lesson in the series lasts 45 minutes and features Mr. Joseph as the teacher.

Mr. Joseph was born to an Orthodox Jewish family in Aden, Yemen. From age 4 through 19 he lived in Israel. Then he resided in Paris, then moved to New York. In 1969 he became a member of the Worldwide Church of God.

From 1970 through 1975 Mr. Joseph served on the faculty of Ambassador College, Pasadena, teaching modern and biblical Hebrew. In 1975 he entered the field ministry of the WCG, serving in the Pasadena area and other congregations.

In the mid-1990s he served for two years in the Global Church of God. He now attends the Orange County Fellowship of God, which meets in Irvine.

The "Teaching of the Law" series is on the Internet at Barnabas Ministry's site, www.biblestudy.org, as downloadable audio files, said Mr. Stogner.

Or order a copy of the series on audiotape from the Bible Sabbath Association at 3316 Alberta Dr., Gillette, Wyo. 82718, U.S.A. E-mail the BSA at giveshare@vcn.com.

The BSA charges $2.50 per tape to cover the costs of duplication and overhead.

"We appreciate the BSA's efforts to distribute the series," said Mr. Stogner. "Each tape will have two lessons on it."

Mr. Stogner said he hoped other qualified teachers of "the law" will help with future lessons.

"It is not possible to understand the New Testament if you do not understand the Old Testament," he said. "Many of the controversies surrounding the books of Galatians and Romans, etc., could be avoided if people had the proper background. The New Testament magnifies the Old Testament, so the Old Testament needs to be understood."

Further, said Mr. Stogner, the law of God is expressed throughout the entire Bible "and includes God's value system, God's character and personality, how God thinks, etc., and is not limited to the Ten Commandments and the Old Covenant."

"We will attempt," he continued, "to point out the difference and the errors made between legalists trusting in obedience for salvation and those who have a false idea of what grace is to the point where they believe there is no law today. And we believe that the Jewish traditions, while perhaps containing some wisdom, are not Scripture, and scriptural teaching has precedence over any man or group of men's teachings."

Mr. Stogner said the series makes no reference to the Worldwide Church of God or any of its offshoots.

"This will hopefully make the lessons timeless and usable by any group that sees value in them," he said.

Groups or individuals who would like to become nonexclusive distributors of the series may contact Mr. Stogner at (714) 730-3561.

The lessons are copyrighted, but permission is granted to anyone to reproduce and distribute individual lessons as long as they reproduce and distribute them in their entirety.

"We need all the help we can get distributing the lessons, and a grass-roots effort will be welcomed," concluded Mr. Stogner.

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