7/13/06
Greetings from Charlotte,
Summer may be here, but many things are happening. The Middle East threatens to burst into flames at any time. Plans to unite Europe continue quietly behind the scenes. Mr. and Mrs. Meredith are visiting churches and family in the western USA. Mr. and Mrs. Ames are on a trip to update their perspectives in key places in Europe. The Living 4 Tomorrow program for young singles is underway in Michigan and the Living Youth Camp will begin next week. Please keep in your prayers everyone who will be traveling over the next few weeks.
CHURCH ADMINISTRATION
Australasia Update
Mr. Bruce Tyler reports: This has been a very busy time for us all here at the office in Clarendon. Last month, we received 30 new visit or GOTO requests from Tomorrow’s World subscribers. This shows the continuing and growing interest in the Work we are doing. Apart from that, my wife and I finally managed to get into our “new” home. Our “goods” arrived last Tuesday and we are still unpacking. Somewhere during the last two weeks, we very fleetingly remembered we had our 36th wedding anniversary.
Recently, the Adelaide church members helped package Mr. Meredith’s semi-annual letter. Mr. Ian West describes below how it was all accomplished: “Since the establishment of the Church Regional Headquarters in Clarendon, South Australia, the Adelaide brethren have often expressed their desire to help the Work in some way. This desire was given an opportunity for fulfillment with the need for Mr. Meredith’s semi-annual letter to be mailed to Tomorrow’s World subscribers throughout Australia.
“On Sunday 25 July 2006, the members of the Adelaide church came together at the Clarendon Historical Society hall to fill and address about 14,000 envelopes. Beginning at 7:30 a.m. with the set up of the hall and finishing at 5:30 p.m., the brethren, under the supervision of the Headquarters’ office manager, Mr. Robert Tyler, worked hard to complete this massive task in one day. Even a lunch break had to be enforced by Mr. Tyler because of the enthusiasm of the brethren.
“Wonderful fellowship was enjoyed throughout the day, both while working and during the BBQ lunch and afternoon tea-break, bringing to mind Psalm 133:1 ‘Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity.’ At 5:30 p.m. the vast majority of the work was finished and the semi-annual letter was almost ready to be mailed. The brethren left Clarendon that evening feeling tired but fulfilled in doing their little bit to help God’s Work.”
Mr. Kinnear Penman reports from New Zealand: We continue receiving good responses to the programme on Prime TV. A total of 468 calls were received in June; of these, 222 (47%) were from first time callers. A total of 964 mail items were posted. We received 78 Bible Study Course test cards back during the month. (While not an absolute total of the numbers are actively pursuing studies on our Bible Study Course, it is a good comparative figure from month to month. Knowing how many are actively studying is really impossible to determine.)
Wyoming Family Weekend: Area Pastor Ben Whitfield reports that the seventh annual gathering in Saratoga included a Friday evening Bible study by Karl Beyersdorfer, a Sabbath service conducted by Regional Pastor Dr. Jeff Fall, a Saturday evening lecture by Elder Dana Glatz on Proverbs 31, and a Sunday morning lecture on leadership by Dr. Fall. The weekend concluded with a Wyoming Fish Fry—with freshly caught fish!
FEAST OF TABERNACLES
Ocho Rios, Jamaica. For those persons attending the Feast in Ocho Rios, the date for full payment to be made has been extended to Wednesday, August 30.
Poconos, Pennsylvania. We are planning to have four Festival Choir selections at the Feast of Tabernacles in the Poconos. There are also a few spaces for special music solos. We also need an accompanist who is familiar with chorale music. If you are interested in participating in the Festival Choir, if you can serve as an accompanist or if you would like to perform for special music, please contact Mr. Ron Peterson by e-mail at jerg2@aol.com, or by phone at 863-858-4090, or write to:
Ron Peterson
7881 Habersham Dr.
Lakeland, FL 33810
The Poconos Festival Children’s Choir will be conducted by Mrs. Margie Dulaney. Parents of children 4 years old and up interested in participating should contact her by e-mail at margiedulaney917@cs.com, or by phone at 540-662-3696, or write to:
Margie Dulaney
801 Allen Dr.
Winchester, VA 22601
FROM THE FINANCE OFFICE
It is encouraging that the Work’s income thus far for July is up a little over budget. However, the income for June was under our budgeted amount by 6% for the month, which means we are below our expected revenue by 1.1% for the year to date. This dip in income is probably due to the fact that Mr. Meredith’s semi-annual letter to all our subscribers was sent out a little later than usual. One benefit of the delay is that we would have the new booklet by Dr. Winnail, entitled The Bible: Fact or Fiction?, printed and ready for distribution when the requests for the booklet start to come in.
Responses are now coming in at the rate of several hundred requests per day and the booklets are being mailed out promptly to those requesting it.
Please pray for the success of the semi-annual letter, for the income of the Work, and for the booklet to have a profound, positive impact upon those receiving it.—Davy Crockett
MEDIA
We aired program #277, “Seven Keys to Effective Prayer,” offering the booklet, Twelve Keys to Answered Prayer (TK). From Thursday through Sunday, we received 2,378 phone calls. Nevertheless, it looks like by the end of the week we will eclipse the 3,000-mark.
Our new station in Phoenix, KAZT-TV, matched last week’s count with 50 replies. The new leased access station in Seattle generated seven replies for about $14 per response. The new station in Salt Lake City failed to start on Thursday because of some kind of channel mix up and miscommunication between the station’s sales department and traffic department.
The highest response to this week’s lit offer, Twelve Keys to Answered Prayer, came two years ago from program #192, “Peace of Mind Through Prayer,” which produced 2,798 responses. Thus, this week’s program sets a new record.
As of this week, we are 31 percent above last year at the same time for TV response in the United States and Canada.—Wayne Pyle
COMMENTS
Are You Filled with the Spirit? In the Scriptures we read of numerous people who were “filled” with God’s Holy Spirit—John the Baptist, his mother Elizabeth and his father Zacharias (Luke 1:15, 41, 67). On the day of Pentecost the disciples were “all filled with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:4). Later Peter and Paul were described as being “filled” with the Spirit (Acts 4:8; 9:17; 13:9). Paul admonished the brethren, “do not be drunk with wine… but be filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18). How do we become filled with the Spirit? If we repent, make a commitment of baptism and receive the laying on of hands, we are promised the “gift” of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38). God gives His Spirit to those who obey the commandments (Acts 5:32). That spirit must be nourished daily by regular prayer and Bible Study (II Corinthians 4:16). Paul’s admonition to Timothy to “stir up” the gift of God’s Spirit indicates that there are things we can do to become filled with the Spirit! Let’s make sure we are doing our part to nourish and exercise the fruits of God’s Spirit so we can be instruments in His hands.
Have a profitable Sabbath,
Douglas S. Winnail
NEWS AND PROPHECY—July 13, 2006
America Will Soon Go Broke! Because of its economic indebtedness, America has lost the ability to direct its own future. Foreign bankers and governments control the money and oil needed to power an energy-dependent and debt-riddled nation. The Bible warns, “The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender” (Proverbs 22:7). The U.S. borrows more than $2 billion daily to fund its government at home and its global military operations. In 2006, Americans will buy $810 billion more in goods and services than they will sell overseas. To compensate, the government just prints more money, putting the nation in danger of drastic inflation (Weiss Research, Money and Markets, July 3, 2006). With the declining dollar comes a decrease in its purchasing power. Thankfully for the U.S., nations holding dollars have not foreclosed on them yet, knowing that doing so too quickly would destroy the value of the currency they possess. Treasuries around the world are slowly diversifying out of dollars, and into gold, euros and other more financially stable options. So far, the decline has been relatively slow, but America is becoming “hated among nations” (Matthew 24:9). At some point, if a country with large dollar holdings decides that the planet would be better off without the U.S., it can “pull the trigger” and quickly bring about America’s economic destruction.
A Return to Ancient European Roots? As Finland takes the reigns of the EU presidency for the next six months, it will begin “weekly news bulletins in Latin on the special EU presidency web site.” A Finnish Latin scholar observed, “I hope that all EU documents are soon translated into Latin which is such a clear language.” The editor of the Finnish presidency Web site stated, “Using Latin is a way of paying tribute to European civilization and it serves to remind people of European society’s roots, stretching back to ancient times.” The Vatican is currently the only other European entity publicly publishing in Latin (The Guardian, July 3, 2006). Students of history will remember that three primary tools for maintaining unity in the Roman Empire of old were: a common currency, a common language and a single emperor. The latest version of the Roman Empire, as some are calling the EU, already has a common currency. Will it opt for a common language too? Remember that it was also a common language that united the ancient world at Babel (Genesis 11:1-9). The Bible also reveals that a single emperor or leader, complete with the emperor cult of the ancient Caesars, is yet to come (Daniel 11:36-40).
Loss of Another Sea Gate? The Falkland Islands, a lonely outcrop of rock and rain off the coast of Argentina, have been abundantly blessed thanks to the presence of the British, adding to the fulfillment of the prophecy, “In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed…” (Genesis 22:18). The Falklands were first settled by the French and British (1764 and 1765). Replaced by the Spanish in 1770, Britain regained control a year later. In 1820, Argentina acquired the islands, but the British regained them thirteen years later. Argentina attempted to gain sovereignty again in 1982, but was unsuccessful after a three-month war with Britain (Encyclopaedia Britannica online, “Falkland Islands,” July 10, 2006). The local populace continues to prefer British to Argentinean rule. These islands are a strategic sea gate for commerce traveling around the tip of South America and lie in a rich fishing and oil exploration area. Recently the Argentinean government “warned of ‘drastic change’ in its quest for sovereignty over the Falklands,” going so far as to ask the United Nations to become involved in the dispute. Argentina’s new, world-wide public relations campaign aims to garner support for reacquiring the Falklands (The Times, June 27, 2006). As the “pride” of Israel’s power continues to break, we may see the loss of yet another of Britain’s important sea gates (Genesis 22:17).—Don Davis, Scott Winnail, Dan Bennett
COGwriter 2006