Open
Letter from Nadab and Abihu
By
David Brassfield (This version very slightly edited and arranged by D. Dingley)
An
open letter to the congregation of
Brethren;
It
is with the utmost humility that we inform you of
a change of worship practices in your normal sacrificing.
Be assured that we are bringing about this
change only after much prayer and study.
We
have recently concluded an in-depth study of the
Law as delivered by our brother Moses that covered
400 days. (We might note that is ten times the
length of time it took the Lord to impart this Law.)
We
have decided to bring about a change in the type
of fire used in worship. We are aware that there
is a standing tradition among us of using only one
source of fire, but we, as
holy priests, do not feel
obligated to blindly follow tradition. Numerous polls of our worshipping
clientele indicate the overwhelming
opinion that they do
not care where we get the
fire used for their
sacrifices just as long as
the service is
conducted in a respectful and
meaningful way.
We
are in agreement with this growing majority, as
we cannot see how a change in fire will affect anything
in the least about our sacrifices. The animal
is still properly cooked, and the incense still
burned. We are of the mind that were we to
secretly substitute a different fire it would be
impossible for any of the worshippers to know a change
had taken place.
Besides
all this, we became aware of the fact that nowhere
in the Law does the Lord expressly and specifically forbid the use of
what some of our detractors
have referred to as "strange
fire." We feel that the lack of such a restriction
was meant to give us freedom. For those
who disagree, we would ask you to show us any
place in the Law that tells us we cannot do something
the Lord has not seen fit to specifically condemn.
We
also wish to point out that the congregation of
Now,
to set the minds of some of you at ease, we will
continue to offer a traditional service using the
old-fashioned fire, as well as this progressive service
with the new fire. As a matter of fact, we
may occasionally use the old fire in our progressive service for special feast
days. In this way we hope that our
older citizens are
still comfortable even though
they dogmatically
insist on a worship style
which is declining and
we believe to be stunting our
growth.
Consider
the freedom this new practice affords us! We
will no longer have the expense of maintaining a
constant fire in one location. This will also make
it possible to appeal to a younger audience as
we discover more entertaining ways to "light
the fire" of our
assemblies. (We hope you caught
the little play on words
there!)
For
those who still oppose the use of this new fire, we
ask you not to be judgmental
of new ideas. We also hope
you will not use this change as an excuse to
divide our people or stir up trouble within the
congregation. We remind you that this has been
well thought out and the majority of elders
have signed on
with us. It is true we have not included our
father Aaron in this deliberation; but we were well
aware of his tradition-bound views and still plan
to leave him in charge of doing the traditional
service anyway. We also have not consulted
Moses, but his humility is well known and
we are confident he will want to uphold the majority
decision in this effort to improve our worship
and to appeal to those outside our fellowship.
We
are very much looking forward to our first new fire
service. We hope you will make a special effort
to be present to witness a new age of enlightenment
in the
See
you there. Bring some extra barbecue sauce, for
we think this new practice is going to spread like
wildfire! For freedom’s sake! And on fire for God!
Nadab
& Abihu, DDLP, PHD
Doctors
of Divine Law and Progress; Progressive Heart Degrees.
P.S.
After the successful changeover in this part of
our worship, future plans include the ordination
of women priests, inter-idol fellowship activities
with the various pagan groups nearby, and
a special service called, "It doesn't have to be Passover to celebrate
Passover anymore."
“Now
Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it and
laid incense on it and offered unauthorized fire before the Lord, which He had
not commanded them. And fire came out from before the Lord and consumed them,
and they died before the Lord” (Leviticus 10:1-2).
_________________________________________________________________________
David
has preached with the Newalla, Okla., congregation
since 1986. He and Carol have been married
for almost 30 years, and they have a son, a
daughter, and one grandson.