Living Church of God World Ahead Update

Thank you for your prayers on behalf of the Public Bible Lectures that were given last weekend—they were certainly answered! In Blairsville, Georgia, 41 visitors joined 43 brethren for the lecture given by Mr. Martin Fannin. In Hawkins, Texas, 33 visitors attended the lecture given by Mr. Dan Hall. This was almost a 75% increase over the last public lecture given in Hawkins almost two years ago. Mr. Charles Ogwyn reports that responses to our Internet advertising continue to be very strong. “Our primary Google advertising was viewed 718,163 times with 9,300 people responding to the ads last week,” he reported. On Tuesday, Mr. Rod King taped program #350, titled “Will Jesus Christ Return Tonight?,” before heading back to the UK. Mr. Ames also taped a new television program this week. Mr. Meredith finished a co-worker letter, which was mailed yesterday in the United States, and is working on a script for television. In the coming week we will be preparing for the first in a new series of Regional Conferences that will be held next weekend in Tyler, Texas. Your prayers for the success of and safe travel to and from these conferences are appreciated. In the announcement below, we would like to share some of the exciting decisions made at the recent Board of Regents meeting for Living University.

On March 12, 2009, the Board of Regents of Living University decided to proceed with plans to admit at least four full-time on-site (residential) students at the Charlotte Center beginning with the fall semester in 2009. These students will work 20 hours a week in various departments at the Headquarters office, in addition to paying tuition and taking a full load of LU classes. The Church in Australia began a successful program for on-site students in 2008, and plans are underway to admit on-site Canadian students in either 2009 or 2010—depending on the availability of resources and student interest. Dr. Scott Winnail has been appointed as LU’s Vice President of Academic and Student Affairs to help develop this new program. He plans to move to Charlotte this summer to work with Dr. Michael Germano to sharpen the focus of Living University to provide more trained people to serve in God’s end-time Work. More details regarding this new program will be announced soon.

Important Notice to All Pastors: Passover services should not start before sunset. This year the Passover will be observed on Tuesday, April 7, a little less than four weeks from now. You should have already begun preparations, including hall arrangements, for your congregations to properly observe this solemn Feast. Let us know as soon as possible if any of the congregations you serve will need additional Passover service supplies (bread trays and/or wine trays or glasses) or even a copy of the Passover Service CDrecording.

Additionally, let us also know of any scattered members who need to receive the Passover Service CD and letter instructions to observe it at home. Please direct your requests to the Church Administration Department by e-mail at cad@lcg.org or by phone at 704-844-1960, ext. 248, as soon as possible to ensure timely delivery.

Mr. Mario Hernandez visited Lima, Peru from February 13-17. On the Sabbath of February 14, morning and afternoon services were held in Lima with 88 in attendance, including 26 from the Cerro de Pasco congregation. The following day, he presented a live radio program on a station that covers the greater part of Lima. His visit to Peru also included counseling and anointing brethren suffering from infirmities, as well as planning for the Feast of Tabernacles in Peru.

Mr. Marc Nicholson reports: On the Sabbath of March 7, the Blairsville, Georgia congregation hosted a Public Bible Lecture conducted by Area Pastor Martin Fannin. The event was most encouraging. Forty-one visitors joined 43 Blairsville brethren to hear a Bible lecture titled, “The Return of Jesus Christ.” Afterwards, many visitors stayed for fellowshipping and snacks. Sixty-seven booklets were requested and many visitors expressed a desire to attend future Bible studies and Sabbath services. Jesus Christ said, “The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest” (Luke 10:2). Let us all pray that God will continue to bless the success of future Public Bible Lectures.

Mr. Dan Hall reports: The Hawkins, Texas congregation hosted a successful Public Appearance on March 7, with 33 subscribers in attendance and two phone requests for tapes of the lecture. The brethren were overwhelmed by the enthusiasm of the guests and their sincere desire to learn more about God’s way of life! A number of the subscribers stated that they will be back for the follow-up this Sabbath.

Mr. Rick Stafford reports: Approximately 180 brethren representing all six of our Arkansas/Memphis congregations and brethren from other areas came together in Russellville and Little Rock to keep last Sabbath with Mr. Rod King. The brethren radiated with enthusiasm, warmth and gratefulness for being together in God’s Work. Mr. King gave an inspiring sermon titled “How to Prepare for the Passover.” After services we feasted on banquets prepared by the host congregations and fellowshipped for more than two-and-one-half hours.

Mr. Rod King reports: The congregations in South Africa and Kenya continue to do well. Now that we have a new television station in South Africa, we are receiving responses from other African countries, including Nigeria. Somehow, we even heard from a person in Greece!

The economic situation continues to cause concern but we are grateful that God has prepared us with some reserves that we can fall back on. Even so, we want to go on another TV station in Europe. Several false starts have shown us that our adversary has been standing in the way to thwart us. Please pray that a door will be opened for us.

This is the last call for participating in the Northeast Family Weekend in Kingston, New York! We only have a few spots left for last-minute participants, so register now if you are interested in attending. The activity will begin with a Church family gathering for the Night To Be Much Observed, and continue through the first three days of the Spring Holy Day Season. Many activities are planned, including a talent show, a dance, indoor and outdoor activities, food, fellowship and fun. For more information, please contact Juan Bermudez at jbermudez@lcg.org

International Registration Update

Almost 500 people have successfully registered or submitted transfer requests via the MyLCG section of the Member Resources website, www.cogl.org. Thank you for your patience if you experienced problems as we were working out some technical bugs in the system. For those of you waiting for transfer approval, we are anticipating being able to send e-mail notifications of approvals soon. If you have not yet registered for an international site and would like to do so, please log on to the MyLCG section of the Member Resources website, www.cogl.org, at your leisure and follow the registration instructions.

Again, USA and Canada registration will not be open until after the Spring Holy Days. Registration for USA and Canada sites will begin on Sunday, May 3, at 12:00 noon (EDT). We will soon be posting more information about the USA and Canada sites, which are:

The Feast of Tabernacles 2009 will once again be observed at the Barbados Beach Club, on the scenic Maxwell Coast Road in Christ Church, Barbados. Envision the coming Kingdom, while sharing the beauty and tranquility of the Island and fellowshipping with the warm Barbadian brethren. Bathe on white and fine sandy beaches, just 200 yards from the Hotel. Cruise the Caribbean Sea and swim with the turtles. Visit spectacular Harrison’s Cave or take a voyage to the bottom of the sea on the Atlantis Submarine.

For a peaceful, rejuvenating Feast, come join us! Rates at the Barbados Beach Club are all-inclusive (breakfast, lunch and dinner, and drinks throughout the day). The double occupancy rate at the Barbados Beach Club is US$95 per person, per night. Single occupancy is US$165. To make reservations at the Barbados Beach Club, call 1-246-428-9900 and request to speak to Deborah, and mention that you are with the Living Church of God. The Hotel’s website is www.barbadosbeachclub.com. If you would like to attend the Feast of Tabernacles in Barbados, request a transfer by registering through the MyLCG section of www.cogl.org.

Recently, both the Tomorrow’s World and LCG websites have been upgraded to better allow visitors to share our articles, commentaries and other content features with their friends. Icons have been added to the bottom of content pages, allowing visitors to share the material with their friends or make it available through a variety of social media sites. Thanks to this change, Facebook became one of the top 15 sources of visitors to lcg.org in the last 30 days! In other words, not only are many visitors to our websites using social media, many of their friends are also coming into contact with us—perhaps for the first time—in this way!

Social media, which includes social networking and bookmark-sharing websites, is rapidly changing the way the Internet is used and information is found online. It is interesting to see how this new phenomenon, and the technology behind it, may be useful in helping the Church carry out the commission that Christ gave to His disciples.—Internet Operations Department

The Importance of Fellowship: David wrote, “How good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity” (Psalm 133:1). Jesus enjoyed, and looks forward to enjoying, the opportunity of future fellowship with His called and chosen disciples (Luke 22:15-16). He also stated that His true disciples would be recognized by the love they have for one another (John 13:35). In the same manner, the Apostle Paul urged Christians, “let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day [of Christ’s return] approaching” (Hebrews 10:24-25). The Sabbath is a wonderful time to enjoy the opportunity to fellowship with God, with Jesus Christ and with others of like mind.

Is Iran Galvanizing the Arab World? On March 6, Morocco cut off diplomatic relations with Iran, citing Iran’s actions to change the religious character of Morocco’s monarchy. This move was backed by Saudi Arabia. Morocco also denounced recent remarks by a former Iranian Interior Minister, who said that “Bahrain used to be Iran’s 14th province.” These recent remarks also put much of the Arab world into an uproar. Because of these remarks and Iran’s nuclear threat, many Arab nations led by Saudi Arabia are now on a diplomatic offensive against Iran. However, Arab nations led by Saudi Arabia are also treading carefully so as not to invite a Shiite backlash (Stratfor, March 7, 2009). Scripture makes it plain that, at the end of the age, a King of the South (a geographical reference from the point of Jerusalem) will arise on the world stage. This King of the South will lead a confederacy of nations (Psalm 83:5-8) that will attack the King of the North (see Daniel 11:40). Currently, there is no clear King of the South. However, events are taking place in the Arab world that may pave the way for the appearance of this future “king.” Through its “brazen” actions, Iran may be pushing much of the rest of the Arab world together.

More Rumors of Wars. “North Korea put its military on combat alert on Monday as United States and South Korean troops began a major joint exercise, and warned that any attempt to block its upcoming satellite launch would spark a war. The communist state also severed its last communications channel with South Korea for the duration of the 12-day [annual] exercise by tens of thousands of [U.S. and South Korean] troops, which Pyongyang has branded as a rehearsal for invasion. The moves follow a threat last week against South Korean civilian airlines using the North’s airspace, forcing them to re-route flights… ‘The KPA Supreme Command issued an order to all service persons to be fully combat-ready… A war will break out if the US imperialists and the warmongers of the South Korean puppet military hurl the huge troops and sophisticated strike means to mount an attack’ [stated the North Korean military]” (Mail & Guardian [South Africa], March 9, 2009). Jesus Christ warned that one sign of the end of the age would be “wars and rumors of wars” (Matthew 24: 6). He continued by noting that we should not be soon troubled, because these and other signs must come to pass before His return. As we hear of more wars and rumors of wars, we should realize that the end of the age and Christ’s return are approaching!

Increasing Drug Resistance. According to a study just published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, the primary influenza strain (H1N1) is now resistant to the main drug used to treat and prevent it—Tamiflu. Just last year, only 19% of the H1N1 viruses tested were resistant. This year, resistance jumped to 98%! Researchers are amazed by how rapidly the influenza virus has developed resistance (Yahoo News, March 2, 2009). Disease-causing viruses are becoming increasingly resistant to drugs designed to combat them. In turn, fewer and fewer drugs are available to prevent and treat these illnesses. God warned that, at the end of the age, one of the signs of Christ’s impending return would be the unprecedented spreading of pestilences or plagues around the world (Luke 21:11). With the unprecedented level of world trade and travel today, as well as the increasingly deadly diseases now available, Christ’s prediction about the last days is becoming a much more imminent reality. As time goes on and diseases become more dangerous and prolific, we must not fail to “pray without ceasing” for God’s people around the globe.—Ben Whitfield and Scott Winnail