2/2/06

Greetings brethren, 

From London, England, Dr. Doug Winnail called this morning to inform us that he will be returning to Charlotte tomorrow afternoon after a very successful trip to East Africa. He will be writing about his trip in next week’s Update. Mr. Roderick Meredith, accompanied by Mr. Mario Hernandez, will be in Mexico this Sabbath (I hope Mr. Meredith will use some of the Spanish words he knows—as I did during my last trip to Mexico—to let our Spanish brethren know that we at Headquarters are polyglots!). Mr. Rod McNair will be visiting the Milwaukee and Chicago congregations this weekend. He will also be spending some time with Mr. Darrel Lovelady and his family. 

MEDIA 

This has been a most exciting week in the Media Department, as this week’s telecast, “2006 and Prophecy,” generated more than 3,100 responses for the booklet Fourteen Signs Announcing Christ’s Return. What made the week particularly exciting is that the program was first aired just four weeks ago.  Normally, second airings draw significantly lower responses than first airings, but this week’s second time around did considerably better than the first. This week’s response of over 3,100 requests for the Fourteen Signs booklet is the second highest response ever received for this booklet.  A year ago one of Mr. Meredith’s programs produced 3,617 requests, which still holds the record for this particular booklet.  

Over the past six years, the Fourteen Signs booklet has been offered on the telecast more than any other booklet and has generated over 74,000 responses from TV viewers.  In addition, the Tomorrow’s World Web site has brought in nearly 30,000 requests for it, besides thousands of downloaded copies, and another 6,000-plus requests have come through subscriber letters.  In all, more than 110,000 copies of Fourteen Signs Announcing Christ’s Return have been requested in the United States and Canada in the past six years.—Wayne Pyle  

Encouraging Increases in Co-workers and Donors 

The latest co-worker and donor numbers are most encouraging.  We are beginning the month of February with 2,247 co-workers, which is 8 percent higher than a year ago and our highest count to date.  Our donor count reached 1,926, which is 7 percent over last year’s figure.  These are good increases.  Since our first year in 1999, our overall co-worker and donor counts have grown at an average annual rate of 50 percent per year.  We certainly thank God for the growth He is so generously giving.—Wayne Pyle 

CHURCH ADMINISTRATION 

Personal Correspondence Department  

The primary purpose of the Personal Correspondence Department (PCD) is to respond to questions about the Church, its doctrines and beliefs. This is accomplished by coordinating the booklets, magazines, reprint articles and the Letter Series (L/Series), which outlines the various doctrines of the Church. This department is a function of Church Administration. The year 2005 was a record year for the PDC with 2,897 responses to questions from TV program viewers, TW subscribers, Bible Study Course students, and members. That averages about 241 per month or about 16 responses per day for the 184 work days involved. Of the total 1,852 were email responses and 1,045 were hard mail. The two most often asked questions are: “What denomination are you?” and “What are the differences between you and the rest of the COGs?” The most frequent Bible question is about the thief on the cross.—Gary Ehman 

Feast of Tabernacles and Member Resources Web site 

According to Mr. Rod McNair, the festival staff looked at two more Feast sites this past week— plans continue to go forward. The Member Resources Web site for Living Church of God members is in the process of being updated with a new design and many new features.  “You can take a look at it at www.cogl.org” writes Mr. Rod McNair.  “Some features are not yet online, but will be working soon!” 

Chattanooga Family Weekend 

Those attending the Chattanooga Family Weekend (March 3-4, 2006) should take note that Sabbath services on March 4 will be held at 1:30 p.m. at the Convention Center in downtown Chattanooga. For further information contact Ronney or Debra Downs by e-mail at debrabluebaby810@netzero.net or by phone at 423-622-0574. 

INTERNATIONAL 

South Africa. Mr. Syd Hull, South Africa Regional Director, reports that the TV program in South Africa is yielding very good fruit.  He wrote, “It is patently clear from the responses that we will have a new church in Durban. We have also placed ads in three newspapers in Mauritius Island and we are now receiving a good response from there. We are supplying this people with literature from South Africa.  This is very encouraging!” 

Philippines. Mr. Rod King, who will soon be moving to the United Kingdom to pastor our UK congregations, recently visited the Philippines from where he informed us that, since conducting a renewal program, our Tomorrow’s World subscription list in the Philippines has grown by 50 percent in the last 12 months.  

Three Living Youth Camps were conducted in the Philippines in 2005.  Pastor Gideon Benitez reports that 27 campers, ages 12 to 15, with a few 16 to 17-year olds, participated at the LYC in Bukidon last December. The following were some of the subjects taught at this camp:  Keeping of the Sabbaths and the Feast Days; God’s Creation; The Life of King Solomon; Repentance and Baptism; Dating and Marriage; How and When to Pray? 

Prayer Request from Australia. Please pray for Mr. Ken MacLeod, our local minister in Perth, Western Australia.  He is afflicted with cancer, which seems to have progressed extremely rapidly in just the past few weeks.  He is getting significantly weaker as time passes.  He has served faithfully as one of our ministers in Australia since 1977.  Your prayers for him and his family will be much appreciated.   

COMMENTS 

Just what is humility? We have heard many sermons on this subject and have read what the Bible says about it. But how humble are we, truthfully? Mr. Herbert Armstrong used to say that some people claimed “to be humble and proud of it.” Probably, you know the proverbial saying, “What you are speaks so loudly that we don’t hear what you say.” As Passover approaches, we need to take time to examine ourselves to see whether we exercise humility in our relationships with others—at home, at work, in the Church, or with anyone we encounter. Are we, for instance, proud that God has given us the understanding of His Truth? If so, we don’t really know what humility is. Are we proud if we occupy an important post at work or in the Church? If so, we don’t really know what humility is. Are we proud to be among the “weak” of the world God has called, without doing our part to grow in grace and in knowledge? If so, we don’t understand what real humility is. The Apostle Paul, speaking of Christ’s humility, exhorts us, saying, “let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.” (Philippians 2:3-4). All of us in God’s Church are looking forward to being in the Kingdom and to occupying an important post. But if we don’t understand that our ultimate goal is to be faithful and humble servants for all eternity, we don’t know what humility is. To serve is our ultimate goal. King Solomon wrote: “The fear of the LORD is the instruction of wisdom [other translations read: Teaches wisdom], and before honor is humility.” (Proverbs 15:33). 

Have a wonderful Sabbath,

Dibar Apartian 

NEWS AND PROPHECY—February 2, 2006 

EU Extends Aid to Palestinians in Bid to Prevent “Mini-Iran.” “EU foreign ministers meeting on Monday [Jan. 30] agreed to continue aid to the Palestinian Authority under strict conditions put to election winner Hamas, fearing a complete cut-off of funding will create room for Iran to step in” (EUobserver.com, Feb. 1, 2006). EU leaders fear that should the EU cut off funding, Iran and Saudi Arabia might step in and become the major funders of the Palestinian cause. Europeans are cautious because they fear a potential radical Islamist movement could easily center itself in Palestinian areas. Prophetically we know that Europe also must continue to keep its “hand” in the area of Jerusalem and will work to prevent Arab rule in this area. Hamas recently rejected demands by the big 5 (Germany, France, Britain, China and the US) to avoid violent conflict and recognize Israel’s right to exist. 

Growing Rift Between The North and The South. “Controversial drawings of the Muslim prophet Mohammed published last autumn by a Danish newspaper have led the EU into a spat with parts of the Muslim world, with gunmen gathering before the Union’s Gaza headquarters on Monday.” Hamas has also called on Islamic nations to boycott Danish goods in reaction to the publication of the drawings of Mohammed. The EU recently became involved in the debate and unanimously agreed that freedom of the press was a cornerstone of the EU, thus supporting Denmark. Earlier this week Saudi Arabia recalled its ambassador to Denmark and religious leaders called for a boycott of Danish goods. In a recent meeting between a Saudi Arabian and EU trade officials, the EU stated that any boycott of Danish products would be seen as a boycott of the EU itself and would require referral to the World Trade Organization (EUobserver.com, Feb. 1, 2006). The Arab League Secretary General recently characterized the European press as being anti-Islam (Middle East Times Online, Feb. 1, 2006). Tensions between Europe and the Muslim world continue to escalate, just as is prophesied in the pages of our Bible (Daniel 11). 

Powder-Keg in Gaza. Since Hamas’ election last week, the Palestinian situation has worsened. Violence has escalated against both Hamas and ex-Fatah officials. Israel voted to stop paying customs taxes to the Palestinian Authority – about US$50 million annually, which supports more than 135,000 civil government employees including police. The current president, Mahmoud Abbas, recently stated that he would not form a government with Hamas unless it stopped its violence and recognized Israel’s right to exist—a 180-degree departure from Hamas’ traditional stance. In reality Abbas cannot form a government without Hamas, which now holds the majority of seats in the government (TimesOnline.com, Feb. 1, 2006). A power vacuum appears to be forming within the Palestinian Authority, which is having a major cashflow problem with salaries for government employees, including the police. Who will step in and stabilize the situation? 

Powerful Words from Venezuela. “CARACAS, Venezuela—The World Social Forum ended in Venezuela, with President Hugo Chavez warning that to remain relevant, the annual gathering must take bolder steps, such as addressing the role of militaries in defending against U.S. imperialism. ‘Down with the U.S. empire!,’ he said to rousing applause from activists Sunday…”  The 6-day forum drew more than 70,000 participants from around the world, according to organizers, although most were from Venezuela (Associated Press, Feb. 1, 2006). President Chavez’s comments reflect a growing worldwide movement not only against the U.S., but also against western nations that might be associated with or seem similar to the U.S.—Scott Winnail, Daniel Bennett

COGwriter 2006

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