May 2024 Member Letter

May 9, 2024

Dear Brethren,

What a busy, yet wonderful Passover and Days of Unleavened Bread! My wife and I traveled from Dallas to Calgary, Alberta, Canada, for the Passover, Night to Be Much Observed and the first day of Unleavened Bread. While there, we met with a small but very warm group of members. There were 22 of us for the Passover and then a few additional young people for the Night to Be Much Observed and the first holy day. Our meal together on Monday night included beef tenderloin prepared by the local members. It was delicious!

After our time in Canada, we traveled back to Dallas for a couple of days and then on to the Dominican Republic, where we met with a growing group of new members. Most of the approximately 20 members in the local congregation have come into the Church in the past five years. They were warm and friendly and treated us very well. We had several meals together and a lot of laughs and good fellowship. My Spanish is still a work in progress, but I feel more and more comfortable communicating with the brethren on these trips to Spanish-speaking countries.

Like all of you, I am still reviewing the recent festivals and asking what I have learned and how this year’s Passover and Days of Unleavened Bread will affect my life going forward. This year, like many other years, I began the Passover service with this statement: “This is the most important Passover of your life, not because anything unusual will happen, but because it is the next one, and one more in our journey to the Kingdom of God and one closer to the return of Jesus Christ.”

This year, in my messages, I focused on the concept of change and how hard it is to make changes—even small ones—in one’s life. Sometimes it seems like we’re on “Christian autopilot.” That is, until something happens that wakes us up—usually a trial of some sort. In my travels I have been struck by two things: the strong commitment of the brethren and their endurance in the face of trials. In the Calgary group we had six men for Passover and 16 women. Several of the women were widows, some having lost their husbands as recently as a year or two ago. It was inspiring to talk to these ladies and hear how they are handling the trials that come with being alone. In every case, their church family and the truth God graciously gave to them so many years ago are the things that keep them going.

In my visits to congregations around the world, I’ve observed that none of us is immune to the trials of life, and rarely do we have a choice as to what those trials will be. But we do have a choice as to how we handle them. And I have to say, these ladies were an inspiration to my wife and me for the way they are handling their trials. 

In the Dominican Republic we met with a number of new people, including several in their 20s and one still a teenager. Our trip was equally inspiring to our trip to Calgary, but for different reasons. Our members’ enthusiasm for the truth and this way of life was truly contagious. We listened to their stories and their sacrifices, and we could not help but see God’s hand in their lives. Their warmth, “hunger for righteousness” and knowledge of God’s truth spoke volumes about these new members in the Dominican Republic.

Whenever I travel to the various congregations—in the U.S. and around the world—I always leave humbled by the members’ attitude, strong commitment and love for the truth. This makes me want to work harder at making changes in my own life. In my more than 50 years of ministry, I have counseled and baptized hundreds of individuals. In the course of counseling, I always focus on the need to change—to repent—while pointing out how difficult it will be. The point is that change, whether for a group or for an individual, is extremely difficult and a rare thing to behold.

Genuine change in one’s life requires a strong commitment and hard work. The easiest thing to do is to fall back into our comfort zone. Each year, during the Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread, I have made a commitment to do better, to be a better person and to more deeply appreciate the brethren and what they are going through. Life is short, and it is the people we come into contact with that are most important. God’s plan of salvation is clear and describes God as “not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance,” that is, change (2 Peter 3:9). That should be our focus as well, especially as we review the lessons from Passover and Unleavened Bread.

We are now in the 50-day countdown to Pentecost, which began on the day of the wave-sheaf offering, Sunday, April 28, and will conclude on Pentecost, Sunday, June 16 (Leviticus 23:15-16). The spring harvest of barley and wheat took place during this 50-day period in ancient Israel. In God’s plan of salvation, Pentecost pictures the sealing of the firstfruits and includes the coming of the Holy Spirit. But the harvest isn’t complete until the grain is separated from the chaff and stored on the threshing floor or in the barn for drying and maturing. Likewise, the process of our calling and being sealed as firstfruits is not the end of our story. We see that trials—the maturing process, if you will (James 1:2-4)—are important in producing the final product. After Pentecost, we await the next step in God’s plan, the return of Jesus Christ as pictured by the Feast of Trumpets (1 Thessalonians 4:16-18). And we are assured that Christ will bring His reward with Him when He returns (Revelation 22:12).

Before I conclude this letter, I want to give you a brief update on the possibility of building an auditorium and education center on our property in McKinney, Texas. We completed the architectural plans and the Ministerial Board of Directors approved the concept last December, but we ran into a snag with the cost. Since our original estimate almost two years ago, construction prices have basically doubled. We are still negotiating with three contractors (we began with five) who are willing to make some changes to the original design in order to save money on the final cost. Once those changes have been made and the savings calculated, we will assess the viability of building. I am happy to report that our financial position is strong. With no debt, we could easily obtain a mortgage, but we are not interested in taking on any long-term debt at the present time. (We would consider something short-term, two to three years.) Once the negotiations are complete and we know what the final price will be, we will make a decision to either go forward or put the whole project on hold for the time being. Please continue to pray for God’s direction in this matter.

As we count the 50 days to Pentecost, let’s be sure to reflect on what we learned during this year’s Passover and Days of Unleavened Bread. Change—repentance—is an important part of God’s plan! We rehearsed this in symbol during the recent festival, but it is the reality that matters most.

Sincerely, your brother in Christ,

Jim Franks