Living Church of God, World Ahead Weekly Update

While parts of the northern states are still struggling with mounds of snow and icy conditions, spring is beginning to burst forth in North Carolina! And the beautiful weather is just in time—with more than 160 subscribers registered, anticipation is building for our first Tomorrow’s World Special Presentation in Charlotte, to be conducted by Dr. Meredith this coming Sunday, March 6. Dr. Meredith has been busy this week preparing for his presentation as well as finishing a Tomorrow’s World article. Mr. and Mrs. Ames and Mr. and Mrs. Wayne Pyle just returned from a very profitable NRB (National Religious Broadcasters) convention in Nashville, along with Mr. and Mrs. Rod King and Mr. and Mrs. Gerald Weston. Mr. King and the Westons have also spent the last few days in the office here in Charlotte. The Media Department reports that Mr. Ames’ Tomorrow’s World program “Five Ways to Enrich Your Marriage” should receive more than 4,500 responses. Mr. Bill Whitaker reports that 25 visitors attended the follow-up Tomorrow’s World Special Presentations in Walterboro, SC and Savannah, GA last week. Dr. Douglas Winnail and Mr. Mario Hernandez are travelling and will be in Belgium this weekend for Sabbath services and visits.—RMc

Elder Marcel Ginier and his wife Jeanine, and deacon Etienne Duval, from Martinique had a successful visit last weekend to the neighboring French West Indies island of Guadeloupe. Their visit resulted in our broadcasting again our pre-recorded French radio program Le Monde de Demain, presented by Mr. Dibar Apartian, daily on a local station. Mr. Ginier also conducted services on the Sabbath there and visited with new prospective members.

Mr. and Mrs. George Schaubeck recently visited members and prospective members in the Central American country of El Salvador. On Friday evening, February 4, Mr. Schaubeck conducted a Bible Study and the following day double Sabbath services were held with an approximate attendance of 15. On Sunday, he baptized a new member. We now have for the first time in the Living Church of God a congregation in San Salvador, El Salvador!

As of March 3, just four days into registration, 3,127 brethren in the United States, Canada, and around the world have successfully registered at MyLCG (www.cogl.org) for the Feast. We wish to thank the Festival Office support and technical staff who have worked long and hard to make registration this year as smooth as possible. And thank you all for your patience while we work through the transfer request lists. If you are on a transfer waiting list, we will try to have an e-mail notification regarding your request sent to you as quickly as possible. If you have had difficulty registering, please let your local festival advisor know (or let us know at festival@lcg.org).

While most of our Feast sites have plenty of room, some have limited seating, which causes a challenge for accepting incoming transfers. Especially in Cobleskill, NY and Chattanooga, TN,where seating is limited, we need to know how many local brethren will be staying at their assigned site. Dozens of people are waiting to transfer in to these two sites, and we cannot approve their transfer requests until we are sure we have enough room. If you are assigned to Cobleskill or Chattanooga, please register by Sunday, March 20. After that date, we may need to start letting some more of our transfers in. Festival Advisors, if your congregation is assigned to Cobleskill or Chattanooga, please encourage everyone to register by March 20.

Our new Adventure Program for 2011 is set to go, with registration beginning on March 13. You will not want to miss this exciting program, with camping, mountain climbing, whitewater rafting, kayaking, and lots of fun! For all the details, tune in to this week’s Living Youth Online Bible Study, Sunday evening at 7:30 p.m. Just go to www.livingyouth.org for the access information to join the Bible Study. Don’t miss it!—Jonathan McNair

Mr. Crockett to Retire: Mr. Davy Crockett, who has served as the Director of Business Operations for the Living Church of God for the last six and one half years, has decided to transition into retirement on April 1, 2011. Mr. Crockett, who will be 72 years old this year, will continue to write commentaries and fulfill speaking opportunities in various congregations. Mr. Crockett’s service on behalf of the Church has been and will continue to be much appreciated.

The Dynamics of Friendship: The Scriptures reveal that if we want to have friends, we must learn to be friendly and that true friends are supportive during difficult times (Proverbs 17:17; 18:24). Friends are people in whom we can confide and share important thoughts and concerns (John 15:15). Real friends may not always agree with us, and sometimes they will tell us things about ourselves, our plans and actions that we need to hear, but may not want to hear (Proverbs 27:6, 17). The Bible cautions that we should choose our friends carefully because we are influenced by the company we keep (Proverbs 12:26). Abraham chose to be a friend of God by obeying His instructions to leave his former way of life (Genesis 12:1-4; James 2:23). Abraham understood that friendship with the world and its ways would alienate him from God (James 4:4). Jesus told His disciples, “You are My friends if you do whatever I command you” (John 15:14). Let’s seek to be a “friend” of God by following His instructions and be true friends to those who will not influence us in the wrong direction.

German Defense Minister Resigns in Scandal.Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, Germany’s Defense Minister, resigned Tuesday amid pressures related to plagiarism in his doctoral dissertation. Apparently, more than 20% of his dissertation was copied without attribution. Guttenberg is considered by many as “Germany’s most promising politician.” Although Chancellor Merkel tried to protect him, his action of essentially “lying” in an academic setting is forcing people to question his integrity in other areas and responsibilities. Thousands of graduate students across Germany also wrote an open letter to Mrs. Merkel calling for zu Guttenberg to step down. An article describing the scandal ended with the observation: “As for Mr. zu Guttenberg himself, it would be unwise to write him off. By stepping down now, he hopes to preserve much of the goodwill he has accumulated over the past few years. His resignation may be a prelude to resurrection rather than the end of a brilliant career” (The Economist, March 1, 2011). Mr. zu Guttenberg was one politician who many Germans still trusted. The scandal has changed that view for many. Even though plagiarism appears to be a “minor” sin in relation to other horrendous abuses by public officials, it breaks the 8th and 9th commandments and results in consequences. Mr. zu Guttenberg may reemerge in politics in the future (and this bears watching), yet his actions and their ramifications reinforce the biblical principle, “be sure your sin will find you out” (Numbers 32:23).

Who Is a Religious Oppressor? Professing Christian students on the University of California Davis (UC Davis) campus have been faced with a unique challenge. The school’s recent policy statement on religious discrimination clearly indicated that only those in “minority religious groups” can experience religious discrimination. This opens the door for atheist or other professors to cause all kinds of problems for professing Christian students. Because they are not in the religious minority, they could be treated badly because of their faith and technically not be “religiously discriminated” against. In response to a legal letter filed against the school, UC Davis officials temporarily removed the policy statement for further review, noting that if it is put forth again, it will be “appropriately revised” (OneNewsNow.com, February 17, 2011). A policy about religious discrimination being possible only against minority religious groups in a nation that stands on roots of the Bible is both sobering and prophetic. God warned long ago that the continuing departure of the Israelite-descended nations from the way of God would result in nations who no longer understand the difference between right and wrong. In fact, they are prophesied to re-label good things as evil and evil things as good (Isaiah 5:20).

Conquering AIDS God’s Way. A recently published study in the online journal PLoS Medicine revealed startling findings about the AIDS epidemic in Zimbabwe. In recent years, “HIV prevalence has declined in Zimbabwe by approximately 50%.” HIV is the virus that causes AIDS. The primary reason it has declined is not condom use, as many public health experts appear to wish, but rather fewer sexual partners. In fact, the study authors cite better education and more intact marriages as the key to reduced promiscuity. More specifically, it was much easier for men to act on the “being faithful” prevention messages due to a “stronger marriage pattern” in the nation (citation: Halperin DT, Mugurungi O, Hallett TB, Muchini B, Campbell B, et al. (2011) A Surprising Prevention Success: Why Did the HIV Epidemic Decline in Zimbabwe? PLoS Med 8(2): e1000414. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1000414). For decades, public health efforts have attempted to battle HIV infection while “avoiding” promoting moral or Christian behaviors. Now, health officials seem amazed by the drastic reductions in HIV infection rates due to behaviors that are godly, God-ordained, and promoted by the Bible! Thousands of years ago, God directed humans to marry (Genesis 2:18, 24) and commanded them to confine sexual relations to marriage (Exodus 20:14). God promised that obedience to His commandments would result in “none of these diseases” befalling them (Exodus 15:26). God’s principles are simple and plain and result in blessings. It is exciting to see the blessings of adherence to God’s principles born out in modern public health research!—Ray Clore, Deborah Lincoln-Strange, Scott Winnail