9/14/06
Greetings everyone,
This week, Mr. Meredith, Mr. Ames and Mr. Wally Smith recorded the following five telecasts:
Mr. Wally Smith is our new presenter. He made his two telecasts while visiting Headquarters this week. Dr. Doug Winnail will be flying tomorrow from Kenya to the United Kingdom. He will be spending the Sabbath in Scotland, before returning to Charlotte on Wednesday, September 20.
CHURCH ADMINISTRATION
Singles Activity and Family Dance in Charlotte
Many of our members have time off from work and school in the latter part of December and would like to have wholesome activities, apart from the worldly holiday. This provides an opportunity for us to have a combined Singles Activity and Family Dance, in December. The concept is to have a Singles Activity at the HQ building Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, December 20 through 22. Then, on Saturday evening after the Sabbath, we will have a Family Dance for everyone, including other congregations invited from a wide area. Sunday will be a family day at the same location with games and activities for various age groups. Economy rooms will be available at nearby motels as housing for those who need it. We will also be able to house some people in our private homes. If you are interested in participating in these activities, please put these dates on your calendar. Further details of events will be provided as the plans come together.—Davy Crockett
Spanish Work Update
New Radio Station in Santiago. From Santiago, Chile, our deacon reports that last July 24, we began broadcasting the Spanish radio program El Mundo de Mañana on Radio Arco Iris 105.3 FM every Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 8:00-9:00 p.m. We are also airing spots every two hours to promote the program. On August 21, we added another hour of broadcasting on the same days from 12:00-1:00 p.m. The cost per hour of transmission is approximately US$8. Another door that has been opened to us in Chile is a permanent ad in the religious bi-monthly magazine La Vitrina, through which we offer the Bible Study Course and our booklets in Spanish.
Spanish Web site and Magazine. In an effort to preach more effectively the Gospel of the Kingdom of God as a witness to the Spanish-speaking world, we began remodeling the Spanish Web site www.mundomanana.org earlier this year. At this new and improved site, you will find three issues of the online Spanish version of the Tomorrow’s World magazine, titled El Mundo de Mañana, several new articles, and booklets that can be downloaded. We also hope to upload the Spanish radio programs presented by Mr. Hernandez soon.
Canadian Update
Attendance continues to hold up well. Some groups take a step back, but others take two steps forward and the result is steady slow growth when you look at Canada as a whole. This is evident when reviewing the yearly averages. I returned home from a trip to Nova Scotia, after visiting several new people... and taking services in Halifax. We had a total of 16 in Halifax (the people from the Trenton group came down) and this was very encouraging. —Gerald Weston
United Kingdom and Philippines Update
I have just returned from a profitable trip that portends good progress in God’s Work. After leaving London on August 27th, Shayne and I spent three days in Charlotte where we were able to discuss the Work here in the U.K. as well as record two programs for Tomorrow’s World. As I continued with my journeys, Shayne stayed in Charlotte where she had meetings with key personnel who were able to give her good help with office procedures. I traveled on to Melbourne where I spent the Sabbath with our four children and three grandchildren after which I visited my 87-year old father in Sydney. The next two, after visiting my family, I was also able to catch up with Mr. Bruce Tyler and Mr. Dayrell Tanner. A recent Headquarters decision to appoint Mr. Tanner as Regional Pastor to the Philippines meant we were able to talk about the needs of the church there. Mr. Tyler is the Regional Director for the Australasian area which now includes the Philippines.
The next day, September 5, Mr. Tanner and I flew to Manila where we were met by our Pastor for Luzon, Mr. Basilio Osillos and his wife as well as our office secretary, Miss Merle Chua. We next flew to Cagayan de Oro in Mindanao for a conference for the ministers. There we ordained Mr. Valeriano Martin from northern Luzon. He has much experience in the church in Florida, Alaska and the Philippines and will be of great assistance to Mr. Osillos. We now have ten ministers in the Philippines. For about two weeks, we had been praying for a sixteen-year-old girl from Maranding. As was the case a year ago, her kidneys were not functioning properly and the doctors had decided to remove one of them that was diseased. Many in the church prayed for her and God heard their prayers. She had been transferred to the German Hospital in Cagayan de Oro and on the Friday morning, her pastor Mr. Gideon Benitez informed us that she had been completely healed. Our sixteen-year-old girl wishes to thank all those who prayed for her and thanks God for His mercy.
At lunch that day, we got to meet another young man whom God healed. Richard Benitez, the son of our elder in Bukidnon, Freddie Benitez, was set upon by hooligans late last year. They mistook him for someone they wished to take revenge upon and attacked him with machete knives, cutting into his ear and scalp. The blow fractured his skull and he was in a critical state for some weeks. He has now recovered and wishes to thank those who prayed for him earlier this year. We returned to Manila for the Sabbath where Mr. Tanner gave a sermonette about responding to correction. I spoke about financial management through tithing and developing work skills and business opportunities.—Rod King
FINANCE AND MAIL PROCESSING DEPARTMENTS
Holy Day Envelopes (Repeat Announcement). Fall Holy Day envelopes should begin arriving in your mailbox soon. You may notice that we have switched to a larger green envelope this year. The larger envelope is actually less expensive and allows us to use the inserter machine instead of inserting each envelope by hand. So we are actually saving the Work money and several days of labor. If you did not receive your envelopes by September 12, please let us know right away and we will send you another set of envelopes for the fall Holy Days. It saves the Work valuable time if you can use the pre-printed envelopes with your name, address and PIN. You can contact us by phone at 704-844-1970, or by e-mail at gbonjour@lcg.org or jruddlesden@lcg.org.
Hall and Reimbursement Checks (Repeat Announcement). Please note that our last scheduled day to print checks before the Feast will be Friday, September 29. We will not be able to print any checks again until Thursday, October 19. Invoices received before September 28 will be paid before the break. Invoices received after September 28 will not be able to be paid until October 19. If you have questions regarding specific invoices or payments, please contact Samanthia Kreis in the Accounting Department at 704-844-1960, ext. 236.
To All Video Recipients: If you normally receive the packages for your local congregation via private courier (i.e. FedEx or DHL), please call the local courier’s office to let them know that you will be unavailable during the Feast of Tabernacles period to avoid extra charges associated with returned packages.
FEAST OF TABERNACLES
Hymnals (Repeat Announcement). As in the past, members should bring along Church hymnals to the Feast site they are attending. On the last Sabbath before the Feast (September 30), each household is encouraged to take enough songbooks (one for every two persons) from their local congregation’s supply. Additionally, an assigned person should take a few extra songbooks for general use at the Feast. Be sure to bring the hymnals back to your local congregation after the Feast. It may be helpful to label hymnals as belonging to your congregation, in case they get mixed-up with others at the Feast.
Oxnard, California
Festival Meetings Moved to Embassy Suites. The Festival meetings in Oxnard will not be held at the Performing Arts and Convention Center, as previously announced in the Festival Planner 2006. The Festival meetings have been moved to the banquet rooms of the Embassy Suites Mandalay Resort (2101 Mandalay Beach Rd, Oxnard, California 93035, Phone 805-984-2500).
Reduced Rates at Embassy Suites (Repeat Announcement). Accommodations are available at a reduced rate for Living Church of God attendees. When contacting the resort (805-984-2500) ask for “In House Reservations” and identify yourself as being with the Living Church of God. Discounts are based on selected view and length of stay.
New Braunfels, Texas
Sea World Discounted Prices! We have discovered this week that the Church is eligible for a much better Sea World entrance rate of $21.99 (ages 3–9) and $28.99 (ages 10–adult), which is a 40 percent savings from what was originally quoted! If you are interested, please contact Mr. Brown by phone at 254-366-7182 or by e-mail at wadebrown70@yahoo.com. We must buy the Sea World tickets by Monday, September 25, so let him know right away if you’re interested.
Limited Parking in New Braunfels. The facility where services will be held, the McKenna Events Center, has limited parking spaces. If you require handicapped parking, please contact Mr. James Quinters at 281-351-1388 so that we ensure that your needs are met. All others who are able to share rides to services are encouraged to do so.
MEDIA
Mr. Wayne Pyle reports: With the addition of five new TV stations, this has been an exceptionally busy, jam-packed week for us in the TV-Media Department. For years, we have been trying to get into the Jacksonville, Florida area, but it never worked out. This week we were finally able to wrap up a contract with a Comcast leased-access TV station, which reaches 268,000 households in the Jacksonville community. We will start airing on Sunday mornings at 8:30 a.m. on channel 99, beginning September 24. On Monday, September 18, we will start airing on community TV, channel 20, in Niagara Falls, at 6:00 a.m. This station reaches 70,000 households. We have also gotten on stations in Saginaw, Kalamazoo and Portage, Michigan, which, combined, reach a total of 107,000 households. The stations are so new, the TV managers have as yet to give us assigned airing days and times. Stay tuned!
Our brand new leased-access station in Orlando, Florida, channel 21, is off to a great start, reaching 405,000 households on Saturday nights in prime time at 9:30 p.m.
COMMENTS
Have we learned the three major lessons the book of Jonah teaches us? The price of obedience to God, the importance of repentance and the true meaning of mercy. For most people in the world, this book simply describes the story of a man swallowed by a big fish—a whale, as they call it. In their unbelief, they even ridicule the story. How about us? Do we really understand its teachings? Why did Jonah flee, rather than obey, when God first called him for a mission? Wasn’t he a prophet of God? Yes, but he was also a human being who let himself be guided by his carnal feelings. Jonah knew that God is “a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, One who relents from doing harm” (Jonah 4:2). In other words, in his selfishness and pride, Jonah was unhappy with God showing compassion to spare the lives of a great many people. It hurt Jonah’s self-image. To him, his pride as a servant of God was more important than the lives of thousands of people.
Isn’t this the way we sometimes act in our relationships with each other? We let our pride dictate our thoughts and deeds. Jonah, in the belly of the big fish, learned the lesson of disobedience and repented of it, deeply. When we read his prayers (Jonah 2), we realize that they are mostly quotations from the Psalms. Chapter 2 of this book also reveals the necessity of our own repentance before seeking baptism in a watery grave (a total immersion in water) and our coming into “newness” of life, symbolizing the resurrection of the dead. However, repentance alone is not sufficient. After baptism, we must grow in the grace and knowledge of the Truth. We have to abandon our carnal ways of thinking and acting to begin to think and act God’s way. Jonah obeyed God’s order the second time without really grasping the depth of God’s love toward everyone. Jonah was unhappy and he complained because God showed mercy toward sinners. He felt that his mission had been in vain. Here then is the third major lesson we can learn from this book: our utmost need to be merciful toward each other whatever the circumstances. Remember Christ’s own words as He told us to be merciful as our Father in Heaven is merciful (Luke 6:36). God illustrated this lesson to Jonah by raising a plant and destroying it the next day. He showed Jonah that being merciful toward people is far more important than showing pity toward any other creation of God on earth. How sad that most people don’t learn these three lessons when reading the book of Jonah!
Have a joyful Sabbath,
Dibar Apartian
NEWS AND PROPHECY—September 14, 2006
A Nation of Criminals. The cost of criminal detention in the United States is an indication of the nation’s moral fiber. U.S. taxpayers are bearing an ever-increasing penalty for America’s broken religious, educational, political and criminal justice systems. More than 13 million adults pass through America’s jails and prisons annually. New laws have increased the current inmate population to 2.2 million. The U.S. has almost 5,000 jails and correctional institutions, which cost an estimated $60 billion per year. (Washington Post, June 8, 2006). One of every 136 people in the U.S. is behind bars. From June 2004 through June 2005, approximately 1,100 inmates per week—more than 500,000 in a year—were added to the prison population. Local jails hold about one-third of U.S. inmates—nearly 750,000—while the remaining 1.4 million are in federal or state prisons, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics. Judges, increasingly reluctant to release people before trial, often hold the accused in local jails (Associated Press, May 22, 2006). Speaking of civil authorities, God’s word says: ”Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God…For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil” (Romans 13:1-3). Additionally, God prophesied through Paul that “in the last days… men will be… lovers of money… disobedient to parents… unholy… unforgiving… without self-control… despisers of good… headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God” (II Timothy 3:1-5). All of these characteristics are abundant in society now and lead to much greater rates of incarceration.
Giving Over Their Power. Although the United Kingdom will likely not be among the nations loyal to the Beast power at the very end, actions in Britain are representative of what is occurring or will occur all across Europe. The British government recently signed a European Evidence Warrant agreement with the EU, giving European judges the ability to order British police to carry out EU-initiated investigations on British soil (Telegraph, June 2, 2006). This type of agreement will be entered into by other European nations in the future, as these nations give more of their power over to what will very likely become the Beast of Revelation. John was inspired to write about ten nations that would “receive authority for one hour as kings with the beast. These are of one mind and they will give their power and authority to the beast” (Revelation 17:12-13). Nowhere else on earth do we see historically independent nations freely relinquishing so much of their sovereignty and power to a central authority, like we do in Europe today. We are witnessing the fulfillment of end-time prophecy before our very eyes.
Chinese-Russian Ties Continue to Strengthen. The Year of Russia is the banner in China in 2006. Some 206 different events spotlighting Russian culture and advances are scheduled to occur across China, including productions from the Bolshoi Theater. President Vladimir Putin visited China in March to assist Chinese President Hu Jintao in inaugurating the year’s events. 2007 will be celebrated as The Year of China in Russia and will spotlight similar Chinese cultural and technological events. These nation-wide events are designed to tie the nations of China and Russia more closely together (China Daily, March 18, 2006). God tells of a time, near the end of the tribulation, when nations from the north and east will overwhelm the King of the North (Daniel 11:44-45). Apparently an army of 200 million men will be used to complete this horrific task (Revelation 9:13-20). A combined force from Russia and China would relatively easily be able to muster an army of this magnitude, and will also have the financial and technological resources to back it.—Don Davis and Scott Winnail