Dear Associates, Students and Friends:

The New Year’s Day for 2000 has come and gone and there was no catastrophe (except if the football team you wanted to win at one of the Bowl games in the USA lost to the other team). Really, the day was a time of rejoicing and rejuvenation for most people around the world. Yet as a historian I have the distinct feeling that the Years 1998 and 2000 will both go down in history as two of the most important years in the history of the world. That is because of some "small beginnings" that have taken place (or will take place) in these two years that the world knows nothing about at the present time. These "beginnings" are shown in my new book on the Temple. It is now at the printer. It will be published this year of 2000, and in our hands in a month.

The information in that book (which I first gave in outline form on the Internet and in my Prophetic Report to all of you on the mailing list in April, 1998 shortly to be given in full to all in the world who want the information) will be a bombshell to the theological and political worlds as events relate to Israel, Palestine and the City of Jerusalem. This book is going to stir up the pot! A whole new way of looking at the Jerusalem of Jesus and King Herod will be available for all to see with the biblical and secular evidences that anyone would need to comprehend the truth. This new book in A.D.2000 will be a revelation to most people. People will finally be able to understand the TRUTH about Jerusalem. It will result as a turning point in the understanding of past history of Jerusalem and in the Bible itself. Believe me, I am myself amazed at what this new book that I have written reveals. I believe you will feel the same when I offer it to you soon, and when you read the marvelous and wonderful teachings that it provides from the Bible and history. It will straighten out some of the fundamental historical and prophetic teachings of the past and it will place the TRUTH once again into people’s hands about Jerusalem and the Temples of God that once graced that city.

This book will be followed later by the publishing of the Original Bible by the Original Bible Project. That published work of the Holy Scriptures will set the pace for the restoration of the full truth of the biblical revelation, both for the Old Testament and the New Testament. God is about to give all the tools that any person should require to finally have the TRUTH in their grasp so that they can know of a certainty (without having to rely on humans to interpret the teachings of God for them). You who are God’s own people will have in your hands the means to discover and to be sure of the real TRUTHS that God has made available for mankind. They are glorious indeed. You and I should thank God that we are living in this period when these new and astounding TRUTHS are being presented once again to the general public. In truth, God is using us (and I mean you and me) to help present these wonderful and informative facts to the world at large.

As a matter of interest and usefulness let me give you a few words about the Original Bible Project (OBP). There is no one more excited about the OBP than I. However, I must again mention that the OBP is a completely separate organization from ASK. Although on occasion, Ramona Jean has tried to extend the courtesy of answering your questions regarding the progress of the OBP, usually by sending extra copies of their Newsletter to each of you personally, her hands are full in trying to keep up with ASK duties. She does not have the time to answer questions about OBP that should be sent directly to them. Direct your questions to Robert Ellsworth, Suite #1, 408 S. Pasadena, CA, 91105. You can also find their Web Page in a link that we provide on the ASK Web Page. You should refer all questions to them about the Project. They will be most happy to help you with any of your queries. I believe that this year 2000 and 2001 (certainly by the end of 2001 when the new Millennium officially begins with New Year’s day in 2001), the Original Bible should be complete. What a revelation that translation will be. I am anxiously awaiting its arrival to teach the truth.

What this all means is the fact that the years 1998, 2000 and 2001 will be regarded as some momentous times in the prophetic and doctrinal plan of God and Christ Jesus to get out the fullness of the Gospel to the world, but as far as the world is concerned they have little knowledge of these important occurrences that are now happening. But it won’t be long until the whole world will finally wake up and realize just what God has been doing to bring His TRUTHS to the world. God always starts small and usually within historical environments that are insignificant as far as the world is concerned. But when the full teachings of God begin to be known in the world (and this will happen in a profound and expansive manner in the next five to ten years), the world will look back and see clearly that these years that we are now experiencing are some of the most pivotal years in human history for the presentation of the TRUTHS of God to the world.

Indeed, there is an astronomical event that will occur within a twenty-four hour period that is bridging the dates of May 5^th and 6^th of this year 2000, that many people who believe that heavenly signs point to impending prophetic events mentioned in the Holy Scriptures are watching with close attention. That is the time when most of the planets (along with the Sun and Moon) will be found in one sign of the Zodiac (this is called a "Massing of the Planets"). This is a most unusual astronomical event that for the past twenty years people have been reading in the so-called astrological magazines will usher in a NEW BEGINNING in some new way for the whole world. The astrologers are expecting something big and outstanding to occur in the world that will alter the course of human history and the civilizations that we now enjoy. There was a similar "Massing of the Planets" in the year that Christ was born (I show what that important event meant in my book The Star that Astonished the World). But with this one that is just on the horizon, even more celestial objects are involved in this unique "Massing of the Planets." Now I want you to know that I am no astrologer (a heathen art that is condemned in the Holy Scriptures), but I am a person who is deeply interested in the various "signs of the heavens" which Christ Jesus commands all of us who are Christians to watch as they occur in the heavens (Luke 21:25). I personally believe (and I have been saying this for the past 15 years to our Associates who have asked me) that this particular "Massing of the Planets" in the sign of Taurus (the Bull, signifying domestic tranquility and peace) may have significance for the Christian world.

So, for the month of April I will be offering as a Prophetic Report a full interpretation on what this "Massing of the Planets" could mean for the Christian world. If you would like to see and appraise my judgment in regard to this phenomenon, you should mark your coupon and send it back so that the office will send you the new Prophetic Report titled: "The Massing of the Planets – A.D.2000." You may be surprised at what this particular sign might mean. It may well be the very celestial sign that God intends for His people to witness as an assurance that what has started small and almost undetected by the world in this crucial year of 2000 and 2001 will be the initial phase of events leading directly to the End-Time occurrences found in profusion in the Prophets of the Old Testament and in the teachings of Christ and the apostles in the New Testament. Believe me, we are on the threshold of the most important times in human history as far as this world’s civilizations are concerned. If you want to be up-to-date on what is happening in a prophetic sense, you should send back your coupon letting the ASK office know that you want the new Prophetic Report for April. You will then have in your hands some of the biblical material you will need to be assured that God is very much active in all affairs in this world. This world will soon witness a major change in values in regard to the biblical revelation. The Holy Scriptures are about to come back with full power and glory in their divine authority. You can know ahead of time what will happen in this regard. Mark the coupon now.

For all of you who support ASK with your offerings and contributions each month, I want to specially thank you for helping me to present the Gospel of Christ to the world. It does take funds for us to operate as an effective tool in getting out the Gospel of God’s truth, and the majority of you realize this and are willing to help us to meet our financial obligations. There are others of our readers who simply ask for us to send everything free to them (and they do not think it necessary to even send us the cost of postage). True, there are the legitimate people such as prisoners or those who are homeless or without any income whatever whom we are most willing to send our material without cost (and we will continue to do so), but there are others who want our research without feeling the slightest need to support us financially. Such an opinion is wrong. We need the funding from all of God’s people (not just a few who have their hearts in this work). Thank you so much for the support you give. God bless you for it. Until next month, 

Ernest L. Martin