Another major earthquake (this week in China); a volcanic eruption in Iceland that closed major airports in England, Scotland and Ireland; the threat of wars in the Middle East and the growing financial uncertainties in the world certainly fit Jesus Christ’s prophecies of events that will mark the arrival of the last days! Scoffers who assume that New Testament prophecies were only for the days of Jesus and His disciples might want to reconsider their claims. Here, in Charlotte, preparations for the Feast of Tabernacles registration in the USA and Canada are underway. We are also looking forward to the Council of Elders meetings next Thursday and Friday as well as a Ministerial Conference the following week. Mr. Meredith has been writing and conducting meetings. Last week, more than 175 invited guests attended Tomorrow’s World Special Presentations in the vicinity of Toronto, Canada; in Bluefield, West Virginia; and in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. My wife and I enjoyed a very pleasant and inspiring visit with brethren and guests in Pawtucket.

 

 

 

This year, the Second Passover should be taken shortly after sunset on Tuesday, April 27. This Passover is for those baptized members who were unable to take the first Passover due to unavoidable circumstances. The biblical instructions guiding this ceremony are found in Numbers 9:1-14.

 

 

Mr. Bruce Tyler reports: We had a very positive Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread here in Australia.  Our offerings for both Holy Days averaged out at just over a 15% increase above last year for which we are very thankful.  Michael Gill is off to Perth tomorrow [April 8] to speak to the management of the new digital television station there.  The program starts this coming Sunday with the digital transmission. We hope to see our audience begin to pick up again now that most of the country is converted to this new format.

 

Mr. Yvon Brochu reports: Last year on Pentecost day, Mr. Dibar Apartian gave a lecture for our French subscribers in the Quebec City area. One young man started attending from that day on. And last Sabbath we had five new attendees showing a real interest. They were already keeping the Sabbath by themselves and trying to understand God’s annual Feasts. These people are long term fruits of that lecture given by Mr. Apartian almost one year ago. It is a 25% increase of our small flock. The work lovingly performed by God’s servants sometimes produces its fruit only later on.

 

 

Mr. Wilner Pierre returned to Charlotte last Friday, after spending more than two weeks in Haiti to keep the Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread with our congregation in Port-au-Prince. He reports that the brethren there are doing well and are in good spirits. A total of 30 persons celebrated the Night To Be Much Observed with a satisfying meal featuring a roasted goat! The brethren there have also been blessed with an adequate hall where Church services can be held and a small office operated. In addition, a shipment of relief supplies was sent from Miami last week. Mr. Dexter Wakefield reports that “64 boxes weighing about 1,200 pounds were palletized and shipped by sea. We were able to get a freight consolidator to include the two pallets in a container bound for Port-au-Prince.” They are very thankful to everyone who contributed monetary donations and physical goods and to the Ft. Lauderdale congregation, which assisted in the coordination of relief efforts. 

 

Mr. Lascelles Fraser reports: One additional person from the Tomorrow’s World Special Presentationwas in attendance on March 20. Passover services were conducted at three locations for the first time, with an increased attendance compared to last year (64 over 46). Attendance at services for the First Day of Unleavened in Kingston and Mandeville was encouraging—most individuals were at services. There was a 24.1% increase in the offerings for the First Day of Unleavened Bread over last year. During the month, we decided to mail from our oversupply of booklets the titles that were offered on the TW program to reduce our inventories, only to be “hit” with a 100% increase in the postage rate. However we will continue with the initiative.

 

Space is still available in the Carolina Singles Weekend, and we are looking forward to an exciting weekend of learning, fun, fellowship and you!  Registration will only remain open for a short time, so for more information and to download the registration form, go to the Charlotte congregation website at www.charlottelcg.org (not an official Church website) and click on the “Carolina Singles Weekend” category.  Don’t miss out on this extraordinary opportunity. We look forward to seeing you in Charlotte! If you have any questions, contact Mark Smith at msmith@lcg.org or, by phone, at 704-844-1960, ext. 2238.

 

 

 

We are still accepting applications for adventurous young men and women ages 13- 20. 

 

This once-in-a-lifetime trip is planned for July 7-15, 2010. We will backpack roughly 35-40 miles through the most scenic and wildlife-filled portion of Rocky Mountain National Park. After this, experience the only “wild and scenic” designated river in Colorado by raft. A half-day whitewater rafting trip has been planned down the fast moving Cache La Poudre River, with nearly continuous Class II to IV rapids and little float water. On the last day of this trip we will take a 29-mile Mountain Biking Ride down the mountain from Trail Ridge Road to Estes Park. This classic is the famous ride featured on TV that everyone dreams of taking. We will begin our descent from 11,796 feet, on the highest paved continuous road in the country. We will descend through the pine and aspen forested mountainsides down to the wide glacial valleys. This area is known to be an area rich in Big Horn Sheep and Elk. This entire trip is an excellent value at only $350 per person. Check the youth website, www.livingyouth.org, for more details! 

 

 

U.S. and Canadian Registration opens Sunday, April 18 at 12:00 pm (EDT).  You can now access full descriptions for all these sites (nine in the U.S. and three in Canada) by clicking on “2010 Feast Information” on the right side of the screen (after you login to your MyLCG account at www.cogl.org).  If you do not have a computer to register, please see your Festival Advisor in your congregation.  Each congregation has a Festival Advisor, and he should be able to help you register.  If you don't know who your Festival Advisor is, contact your Pastor.

 

Special Needs at the Feast: If you have special needs (such as handicap-equipped housing, etc.) and need to obtain housing early, please contact the Festival Coordinator for the site you wish to attend.  He will notify the Festival Office of your needs.  If you have any questions or need assistance registering, please contact the Festival Office at festival@lcg.org.

 

Festival Advisors: Please check the MyLCG website (www.cogl.org) for descriptions of the different Feast sites, as well as registration and volunteer forms, and please distribute these to brethren who do not have Internet access.

 

The Feast of Tabernacles in Prescott, Arizona will be held in the same location as last year’s Feast; however, it is now under new management and has a new name.  Please be aware that the Festival Brochure lists the site under the old name.  Below is the corrected information for the Feast venue in Prescott:

 

Wyndham Garden Hotel—Prescott

4499 East State Route 69

Prescott, AZ  86301

+1-928-777-0770

+1-877-515-5118

The Feast of Tabernacles in Mexico will be celebrated at the Hacienda San Miguel Regla in the state of Hidalgo. The town of San Miguel Regla dates back to the 18th Century and is famous for its historical and architectural value. The Hacienda is surrounded by 34 acres of woods and gardens and enjoys a lake for canoeing and fishing. The complex has 150 rooms equipped with television and a fireplace. It also provides a karaoke bar and lounge, outdoor pools and Jacuzzi, free wireless Internet, mountain bike rental, horseback riding, volleyball and basketball courts, mini golf, etc. The Hacienda’s website is www.sanmiguelregla.com.

 

The price per night, per person, is USD$65 in a double room. Children 13 years of age and over pay USD$55, children under 13 years of age pay USD$33 and there is no charge for children under 6 years of age. Lodging prices include three meals a day, welcome cocktail, medieval dinner, coffee break, round trip transportation from Mexico City to San Miguel Regla and transportation to the basaltic prisms—a wonderful site of God’s creation.

 

If you would like to attend the Feast in Mexico this year, please register at the MyLCG section of www.cogl.org and contact Madeleine Lincoln-Strange at mlincoln@lcg.org or, by phone, at +1-704-844-1960, ext. 2217. Simultaneous translation into English will be available at this site.

 

 

 

The Peruvian brethren invite you to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles 2010 in Huancayo, the capital of the Junin Region, located in the Peruvian central mountain range, more than 10,000 feet above sea level. The Feast of Tabernacles will be held in the La Colombina complex, ten minutes from Huancayo. The complex is one of the most important Haciendas in Valle Mantaro, built between 1905 and 1910, restored and preserved in its entirety. You can check out its website at www.conafovicer.com/centro_recreo_huancayo.php. The complex provides comfortable rooms furnished with a private bathroom and cable television, a dining area, sports center for volleyball, badminton, soccer fields and large pools. There are also pleasant rest areas in a peaceful country-side landscape similar to the Swiss Alps, due its proximity to the snow-capped mountain El Sapallanga.  

 

The very affordable cost for eight nights, including meals, is USD$98 or 280 Peruvian soles. The brethren in Lima will rent a bus travelling to the Feast site (approximately a seven-hour trip) for a cost of USD$7 or 20 Peruvian soles. There is also a nearby airport to Huancayo. The flight is 45 minutes and costs US$95.

If you would like to attend the Feast in Peru this year, please register at the MyLCG section of www.cogl.org and contact Madeleine Lincoln-Strange at mlincoln@lcg.org or, by phone, at +1-704-844-1960, ext. 2217. Simultaneous translation into English has not been confirmed yet.

Are You Easily Entreated? The Apostle James describes a Christian using God’s Spirit as “peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated” (KJV) or “willing to yield to reason” (Amplified Version) or “reasonable” (James 3:17, NASV). Such persons will not erupt in indignation or anger if someone questions their actions or decisions. They will not be so convinced that their opinions or actions are right and therefore ignore advice and counsel from others. Solomon made a similar observation that “The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but he who heeds counsel is wise” (Proverbs 12:15). Solomon also repeatedly stressed the value of being receptive to counsel (Proverbs 19:20, 27; 22:17). Paul told Timothy that real Christians are “temperate [self-controlled]... gentle, not quarrelsome” (1 Timothy 3:2-3). A truly humble Christian will be approachable, have a teachable attitude that is open to instruction, suggestions and correction and able to work smoothly with others. This is a goal we can all strive to achieve.

 

Have a profitable Sabbath,

Douglas S. Winnail

 

 

End of an Experiment? Is the European monetary union, referred to by many as the “European Experiment,” approaching the end of its rope? George Soros, financial speculator and former board member of the Council on Foreign Relations, recently warned, “The eurozone area and wider European Union is now ‘on the brink’ of disintegration unless Germany steps up and provides loans at below-market rates to Greece… It is 50-50 whether the eurozone breaks up. The damage that break up would cause is so great, that I think that as people realise it, they will pull back from the brink.... a solution has to be found in a matter of days.” Many economists have noted a lack of fiscal policy as a major factor in the unraveling of the euro. Currently, the International Monetary Fund is being tapped for the tremendous task of assisting in saving the failing situation in Europe (Financial Times, April 11, 2010). The unstable “iron and clay” makeup of the end-time beast is clearly prophesied (Daniel 2:33, 41-43). The current 27-member EU configuration (16 in the eurozone) exceeds the prophesied 10 kings of the final Beast power (see Revelation 17). Will the EU totally break up? Or will a smaller number of European nations move ahead “full speed”—perhaps under a new configuration and with a new currency, like the reinvigorated Deutsche Mark (that is currently trading at almost twice the value of the euro, although trading can only go one-way at this point)? The months and years ahead could see drastic change in the geopolitical landscape of Europe.  

 

Underground Economy. Nearly 100 ft below the border with Egypt and Gaza, hundreds of tunnels literally power the economy of the Palestinian Territories. Many of these tunnels are large enough to support the transport of livestock. Goods from children’s marbles, to automobile parts, to produce make their way through the tunnels all day long, every day. The Egyptian attempt at dismantling these tunnels has been ineffective. Those running the tunnels simply cut through the barriers and the transport of goods under the border continues within hours. Although the Egyptian efforts have resulted in the closure of 500 of the smallest tunnels, more than 700 tunnels remain in operation. Due to the sea blockade of the Territories, tunnels now support most of the trade in and out of Gaza. Through the tunnel trade, many poor and uneducated Palestinians have become super-wealthy, and could become the next leaders in the territory—a phenomenon that worries many (The Times, April 9, 2010). Jerusalem and the surrounding area has been a trouble spot for millennia. While Israel holds tight to the land that God gave them, the Palestinian people yearn to return to the land they held before God gave it to Israel, as well as for most of the last 1,000 years. It will truly take the King of kings to create and enforce a fair and equitable situation in the Holy Land.

 

Shoe-Throwing Now Legal for Muslim Protestors in Britain. Scotland Yard has agreed to allow Muslim protestors to throw shoes in political protests on British soil. The rationale declassifies such protests from “violent” because this behavior is “traditionally” the way Muslims demonstrate. Law enforcement personnel or politicians may be injured in such protests, but that no longer matters. Even heavy and dangerous ski boots, which can clearly cause damage, may be used (Sunday Times, April 11, 2010). This is on the heels of a similar ruling in which Muslim female health professionals no longer have to wash their arms up the elbow in order to prevent disease spread in hospitals, because certain sects of Islam view the showing of arm flesh as immodest (Telegraph, April 1, 2010). Political correctness is a powerful movement that is giving way to foolhardy decision-making. Isaiah was inspired to prophecy about the Israelite-descended nations, “…The whole head is sick… From the soul of the foot even to the head, there is no soundness in it… Strangers devour your land in your presence…” (Isaiah 1:5-7). Because Israel has turned from the true God and no longer maintains a knowledge of His ways, God has given them over to a “debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting” (Romans 1:28). What a sobering but telling spectacle to watch!—Scott Winnail and Sue Bennett

COGwriter 2010

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