An excerpt from the April - June 2011 Newsletter, in which Les wrote the following:

There are a couple of changes regarding my teaching. For one thing, I no longer hold to a Friday crucifixion. The three days and three nights of Matthew 12:40 and the High Day Sabbath [a special Sabbath apart from the weekly Sabbath] of John 19: 31 made me reconsider, and now I teach a Thursday High Day Sabbath and a Wednesday crucifixion. That backs up the full three days and three nights in the tomb. Another teaching change is that I no longer think the body of Christ will accompany Christ at his second coming. Matthew 25:31 makes it clear that only Angels will attend his second coming [see Revelation 19:14].

Over the years, Les rethought his teaching concerning the spelling of LORD (in all caps) always referring to Jesus Christ. He came to realize there are some verses in which that rule does not apply. The best means by which to discern what part of the Godhead a particular scripture is speaking about is to use the Miles Coverdale instruction for interpretation (slightly edited with more modern language): "It shall greatly help you to understand Scripture if you mark not only what is spoken or written but of whom, and by whom, with what words, where, at what time, to what intent, with what circumstances, considering what goes before and what follows."

What in the World - Resurrection & Easter

Somewhere along the line the church accepted the teaching of a Friday Crucifixion. However, if we abide with scripture, Jesus had to be crucified on Wednesday and arose sometime in the Saturday evening hours before the end of the Sabbath. When the women met Christ early Sunday morning on the way to the tomb, the grave had been empty for an unknown amount of time. We recognize Easter Sunday based on finding an empty tomb, not the actual Resurrection. We maintain that the Resurrection is of equal importance as the Crucifixion, because without it, Christ's death accomplished nothing. Scripture always trumps tradition. Keep this in mind as you hear preaching and teaching on Ash Wednesday and Lent, which are not mentioned in our Bible, and Easter which is mentioned only once.

First, it's important to recognize that the Jewish day begins and ends at 6 P.M. (sunset) with the daytime hours beginning at "First hour" from Dawn until 8 A.M and lasting through the "Twelfth hour" of 6 P.M. to sunset, and that Nisan is the months of March - April. Also, the six days of Passover were being observed, culminating with the yearly High Sabbath (Leviticus 23) a three-day feast beginning on Wednesday sunset. Below is a timeline of the events leading up to and including the death, burial, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. We will use the account from Matthew for the purpose of space, but you can read more detail from the other Gospels as well.

14th Day of Nisan (our Tuesday sunset to Wednesday sunset) ~ Christ betrayed (Matthew 26:14-25); Last supper (Matthew 26:26-29); Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane (Matthew 26:30-46); Christ on trial (Matthew 26:57-68, 27:1-31); Our Lord and Savior crucified (Matthew 27:32-50); Body of Christ quickly placed in the tomb on Wednesday just before sunset (Matthew 27:57-66)

15th Day of Nisan (our Wednesday sunset to Thursday sunset) ~ The first day of the feast and the first night and first day in the tomb.

16th Day of Nisan (our Thursday sunset to Friday sunset) ~ The second day of the feast and the second night and second day in the tomb.

17th Day of Nisan (our Friday sunset to Saturday sunset) ~ The third day of the feast, the weekly sabbath, and the third night and third day in the tomb, with the Resurrection taking place on the Sabbath, around sunset on Saturday.

18th Day of Nisan (our Sunday morning after Sabbath) ~ The tomb found empty (Matthew 28:1-8).

By this timeline, Christ spends three days and nights (nights and days) in the tomb (Matthew 12:40), arose on the third day (1 Corinthians 15:4) and the tomb found empty on Sunday morning.

Bullinger, E. W. "Appendix 156" Six Days Before the Passover, 1990, pg 181-182, The Companion Bible, King James Version, Kregle, Inc

The Jellybean Prayer

Red is for the blood He gave. Green is for the grass He made. Yellow is for the sun so bright. Orange is for the edge of night. Blue is for the sins we made. White is for the grace He gave. Purple is for His hour of sorrow. Pink is for our new tomorrow. A bag full of jellybeans colorful and sweet, is a prayer, is a promise, is a special treat!

- From the archives of Iris

Remembering Les & Iris ~ Les's Testimony

I was born into a Bible believing Christian home. At the age of twelve I was led to God's saving grace on the last day of Vacation Bible School by the pastor's wife. I grew in grace, knowledge, and a love of the Lord. During high school, one year at the state university, and three years of military service, I never deviated.

Everyone I associated with knew where I stood. In the service, I was stationed three different places: San Antonio, Texas; Tacoma, Washington; and Hot Springs Arkansas. In each place I was involved with a good church as in those days a good church was more prevalent than today. After returning to my home church in Iowa, the pastor asked me to teach a Sunday school class of high school boys and girls. After a few years I was invited to teach a nondenominational home Bible study that grew by five or six a week until the Lord forced our move to Oklahoma. After only a week in Oklahoma, a local pastor wanted to start a men's breakfast and Bible study at a local restaurant and asked if I would teach it. Then a second Bible study was started in another town 25 miles in the other direction. That led to teaching a Bible class in a state college one night a week. Tuition had to be paid, and we had to have a minimum of 15 students -- for 13 years we never had less than 45! By this time, we had four other cities as well, so for 32 years I went down the road five nights a week teaching two-hour studies that lasted from 7 to 9 pm. At one of those classes, a young man taped the teaching on a camcorder and took it to a TV station in Tulsa, without my knowledge and they in turn opened the door to our TV Ministry. That was in 1990, and the rest is history. How we thank the Lord for a life full of blessings!

Iris's recipe corner - Golden sunshine salad

1 - 3oz box lemon Jell-O, 1 - 3oz box of orange Jell-O, 2 cups of hot water, 1 1/2 cups of cold water, 2 bananas diced, 1 - 2 lb can of crushed pineapple (drain and save the juice), Grated longhorn cheese - optional, 1 cup of miniature marshmallows, 2 Tb of butter, 2 Tb of flour, 1/2 cup of sugar, a dash of salt, 1- egg(beaten), 1 - 8 oz tub of cool whip

Make Jell-O in hot water; after the Jell-O is dissolved, add cold water and let cool. Add bananas, pineapple and marshmallows, chill until firm. In a saucepan mix together the butter, flour, sugar, eggs, salt, and 1 cup reserve juice (if necessary, add water to make 1 cup), Cook until thick: cool until spreading consistency. Mix in Jell-O mixture. Fold in Cool Whip, reserving some to spread on top. Top with optional grated cheese to taste. Delicious!

Programming note: Local station WYBU had a time change, from 12:30 pm to 12:00 pm, Monday - Friday.