LCG World Ahead Weekly Update

The Passover and first Day of Unleavened Bread have gone very well around the world, with a number of areas reporting increases in attendance over last year. Mr. Meredith and Mr. Bob League conducted the Passover here in Charlotte and Mr. Meredith gave the sermon on the Holy Day. Mr. Ames spoke at a combined service in Anderson, South Carolina. Mr. Jonathan McNair and I conducted the Passover and I spoke on the Holy Day at a combined weekend in Kingston, New York. On the last Day of Unleavened Bread, Mr. and Mrs. Ames will be in Toronto, Canada; Mr. Jim Meredith will be in Pensacola, Florida; Dr. and Mrs. Will Pierre will be in Martinique and Mr. Hernandez will be in Peru. Please pray that God will continue to bless His Church and His people during this special time.—DSW

We are pleased to announce that Mr. Dexter Wakefield has been appointed Director of Public Relations for the Church. Mr. Wyatt Ciesielka will be Assistant Director. Mr. Wakefield and Mr. Ciesielka will be responsible for handling our relations with the media and other projects in the area of public relations at the Headquarters office. Please direct media inquiries here in Charlotte to Mr. Wakefield. We ask the staff to cooperate with them as they have needs concerning our public relations efforts. Also, we ask our ministers, regional pastors and leaders around the world to cooperate with our Headquarters Public Relations team and keep them “in the loop” so we are not blindsided by events occurring anywhere.—Roderick C. Meredith

The fourth consecutive Kingston Family Weekend was a smashing success! More than 100 brethren gathered at Epworth Retreat and Conference Center, near Kingston, New York for an exciting, fun-filled and adventurous first part of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. The theme this year was “Coming Out of Egypt as a Family.” Dr. Winnail and I conducted the Passover Service for the 44 members who were present. Friday morning started off with a group hymn sing and was filled with activities such as grinding wheat into flour and making unleavened bread with the flour, making rocket stoves and solar ovens, milking goats, pressing apple cider, purifying water and processing chickens! All of the food we made was served with the already special Night To Be Much Observed dinner. Sabbath morning was a more relaxed pace, with a mid-morning Bible study and a scrumptious bru nch. Afternoon services were also rewarding and included a very uplifting and sobering sermon by Dr. Winnail on being ready for the return of Christ. There were also six ordinations performed on the Sabbath: Mr. Wayne Tlumak was ordained a local elder and Mr. Lou Marchand, Mr. and Mrs. Darrell Jakubowski, and Mr. and Mrs. Randy Moran were ordained deacons and deaconesses, respectively. Saturday evening was kicked off with another great meal, followed by a barn dance. Many brethren came dressed in western apparel and square danced to the calling of Mr. Roy Leber. The weekend was capped off Sunday morning with a final meeting conducted by Mr. McNair who encouraged us to “Keep the family together” as we near the end of this age.—Jonathan McNair

Our beloved minister Mr. Mario Hernandez arrived on April 1 from Mexico City. Mr. Oscar Gutierrez and I met him at the airport and travelled to a member’s home where all the congregation was waiting; it was a very moving reception, full of joy for this wonderful visit. Mr. Hernandez shared with us anecdotes and lessons learned on his many trips. He also spoke about the different projects for the Work in the French and Spanish regions. Mr. Hernandez spoke about the three important harvest seasons in the year, which God uses to explain His plan to His Church.

Details of the 2013 Feast of Tabernacles Israel Tour are available for viewing on our www.cogl.org website. Registration will be open through Sunday, April 22. For a description of the tour and to register, please log on to your My LCG account at www.cogl.org. There you will find details of the planned itinerary as well as the cost of the land package for single or double occupancy (air fare is not included in these prices). If you do not have Internet access, please ask your Festival Advisor to register for you. Those who register will not be notified as to whether or not their transfer request has been approved until after registration has closed on Sunday, April 22. Transfer approvals will not be based on the order in which you register. Once approved, you will be directed to complete needed paperwork and submit a $350 per person deposit. Please note that even if you pre-registered, you must still officially register during the registration period. This will be a unique and exciting Festival experience that you won’t want to miss!—Jim Meredith

The @TomorrowsWorld Twitter feed is a great resource for breaking news, Bible, and prophecy comments. It is also one of the numerous approaches we are using to reach new audiences in order to proclaim the Gospel and also to warn the world. Using social media such as Twitter to proclaim the true Gospel of the coming Kingdom of God, and to sound the “Ezekiel warning” is not always popular, but nonetheless God has blessed us with rapid social media growth recently. For example, in just over a month, the @TomorrowsWorld Twitter account has grown from about 950 followers to over 5,500 followers. This is very exciting and we invite you to check out our @TomorrowsWorld Twitter feed if you haven’t done so lately. Also, remember that our @LCGinfo Twitter feed is a valuable resource for Church news and timely c omments on recent sermons, articles or telecasts. Thank you for your support and for your prayers for the success of these and our other initiatives to support the Great Commission.—Wyatt Ciesielka

To all Area Pastors: God’s Work continues to grow and as a result, the Media Operations Department needs a video editor to assist with the increased work load. Please review the job description below. If you know of an experienced video/media editor who is a Church member and can work well under deadline pressure, please e-mail me (rames@lcg.org). Also, the candidate should submit a resume to Mrs. Suzanne Pyle, (spyle@lcg.org), fax 704-844-1973, at the Human Resources Department here at Headquarters. Thanks for your help.—Richard Ames, Director of Media Operations

The Editorial Department is looking for a Managing Editor to assist in the planning, editing, design and production of the Church’s periodicals (primarily the Tomorrow’s World magazine and the Living Church News). The ideal candidate will have good capability in layout and graphic art and will be comfortable using Adobe InDesign. Experience with MacOS X is also desirable.

Applicants should be truly dedicated to the Church and have an excellent grasp of Church doctrine. The right candidate will have an eye for detail, be comfortable working in a deadline-driven environment and be a “team player,” able to cooperate effectively with staff in all headquarters departments. A successful candidate will be expected to relocate to Charlotte, and the Church will pay for reasonable moving expenses. We request that only those applicants who live and can legally work in the United States apply for this position. If you are interested in this position, please send your resume to: Human Resources Department, Living Church of God, PO Box 3810, Charlotte, NC 28227-8010. Fax: 704-844-1973; e-mail: hr@lcg.org.

Power to Overcome: The Scriptures clearly teach that we must be “overcomers” if we hope to be rewarded in the Kingdom of God (see Revelation 2 and 3). Overcoming involves recognizing and repenting of our sins and weaknesses. At the Passover, Jesus told His disciples to “be of good cheer” because He had overcome the world (John 16:33)—indicating that we, too, can overcome the temptations we experience in this world (Revelation 3:21). Peter records that we must be vigilant and resist the efforts of Satan, who is our adversary and is out to devour us (1 Peter 5:8-10). The Apostle John writes that to overcome Satan’s devices we also need to trust God to help us through our trials (1 John 2:13; 5:4-5). Paul states, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Roman s 12:21). This involves not only putting leaven (sins) out of our lives, but putting the “unleavened bread of sincerity and truth” into our lives—replacing sins with positive, godly thoughts and behaviors (1 Corinthians 5:8). This is one of the lessons of the Days of Unleavened Bread. To help us overcome, God aids us with the power of His Holy Spirit, which He makes available to us when we repent and strive to obey Him (Acts 1:8; 5:32). Let’s seek God’s help to use that power to recognize and overcome the temptations that we will face in the days ahead (2 Timothy 1:6-7)

Europe and Germany Stepping Up: “Pirates off the coast of Somalia will now have to contend with an EU naval force mandated on Friday by EU member states to launch attacks on its inner coastal territory.” Two French warships have now joined the four existing EU ships in order to add strength and versatility (EU Observer, March 26, 2012). Meanwhile in Germany, the former U.S. ambassador commented on Germany’s growing European leadership role, “Berlin will learn to lead Europe through the current crisis” and the Germans will basically “figure things out as they go.” He noted that of all the European nations, Germany would have the greatest influence on Europe’s future. He also pointed out that many German institutions are over 60 years old and need to chang e with the times—including the German police force (Deutsche Welle, March 28, 2012). Because of WWII-related constraints, the police have had difficulty containing and dismantling internal terrorist groups, including a neo-Nazi group responsible for the murder of nine immigrants from 2000-2006 (BBC, March 27, 2012). Bible prophecy reveals that a militarized European Beast power, led by Germany, will lead Europe and the world for a time (Revelation 17:12-13) and ultimately control the Holy Land (Daniel 2:40-44; 11:40-43). Events are “pushing” Germany to lead Europe at the same time the EU is being “pushed” to the use of force in distant areas of the globe. Interesting precedents are now being set. Our free booklet, The Beast of Revelation, provides prophetic insights about this coming worl d power.

Will the BRICS Gain Economic Domination? Two weeks ago in New Delhi, the BRICS nations of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa held their annual meeting. Critics note that “nothing appreciable” resulted from the meeting. Others wonder what future effects this alliance between nations representing almost half of the world’s population might have. One meeting resolution was to “press ahead with plans to create a ‘south-south’ development fund that might one day rival the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank.” They also agreed to push for greater IMF voting rights for developing countries, and to oppose western military intervention in Iran (Guardian.co.uk, March 29, 2012). The creation of a “development fund” is interesting because Russia, China and India already have military ties and perform joint military exercises annually. Although the BRICS are unlikely comrades, future joint economic ventures might draw these nations closer together. Bible prophecies reveal that near the end of the coming “great tribulation,” a vast army from north and east of Jerusalem will “trouble” the European Beast power, which will overrun the king of the South (Daniel 11:44-45). This 200 million-man army will ultimately destroy one-third of mankind (Revelation 9:13-19; 16:12-16). These “kings of the East” will likely spring from alliances of several very populous nations. For more information on this topic, review our free booklet Armageddon and Beyond.

Billions of Habitable Planets in our Galaxy? “A European team said on Wednesday [March 28] that about 40 percent of red dwarf stars—the most common type in the Milky Way—have a so-called “super-Earth” planet orbiting in a habitable zone that would allow water to flow on the surface.” This could equate to tens of billions of planets! However, these same researchers also caution that “…the rocky worlds spinning around red dwarfs are not necessarily cosy places for alien forms of life. Because red dwarfs are much cooler than the sun, any planets with liquid water will need to be orbiting much closer to the star than the Earth is from the Sun. That may mean they are bathed in damaging X-ray and ultraviolet radiation” (Reuters, March 28, 2012). The Bible states that the Earth is where God is now working and will one day serve as the location for His galactic throne (Revelation 5:10, 21:1-3). So there is currently NO “other life out there.” However, the great God, through His son, DID create all of the heavens (Ephesians 3:9; Colossians 1:15-16). God did not create the universe because He was bored, but rather, like everything else He created, He did so with a purpose. Will the universe be inhabited one day? What will become of these “rocky worlds” that could possibly sustain life if they had the right type of atmosphere? What will be the ultimate responsibility of the saints? For more information on this exciting topic, review our free booklet Your Ultimate Destiny.—Scott Winnail, John Meakin and Julius Hart