Living Church of God Update

Tuesday morning, during the Feast of Trumpets, we were greatly surprised and delighted to have Mr. and Mrs. Meredith with us. They both looked very well and also very happy to be with the Charlotte congregation. After morning services, they even remained for some time to fellowship with the brethren and to take part in the covered-dish meal.

Mr. and Mrs. Davy Crockett returned last night from a successful trip to New England, where he spoke on the Feast of Trumpets at the building of the first Sabbath-keeping church in the United States, located in Rhode Island. Mr. and Mrs. Richard Ames will be returning this evening, after a successful visit with the southern California congregations. My wife and I will be leaving Monday afternoon for the Feast of Tabernacles in France. We will be spending the Day of Atonement in Paris, where we expect to meet a few new people who have started attending services in recent weeks.

Just this morning, we received the following report from Dr. Winnail, who is presently in the Caribbean: “Last Friday, I flew from Charlotte to Miami and then on to Kingston, Jamaica. We had about 85 in attendance for Sabbath services, and after a pleasant lunch, I covered lesson 13 in the Living Leadership Course. On Sunday morning I listened to speeches by some of the leading men and then covered material on biblical qualities of leadership. We also made a brief tour of the University of West Indies campus in Kingston. On Monday, I flew to Barbados where we had more than 70 brethren meet for services on the Feast of Trumpets. We plan to visit the UWI campus here in Barbados before flying on to Trinidad on Thursday, where we will have a Bible study on Friday night and cover another lesson in the Living Leadership Course on the Sabbath. I plan to return to Charlotte on Sunday.”

Mr. Gerald Weston reports: We did a research study and found that delivery time for literature ordered from the Tomorrow’s World telecast is unacceptably long, due to border traffic and other factors. Therefore, with Headquarters’ approval, we decided to begin fulfilling all literature requests from our office in Mississauga (Toronto). By doing so, we can get literature into the hands of people in a matter of days, rather than weeks, and we believe that the added cost will be more than offset by keeping people more interested in the message.

Mr. and Mrs. Charles Moore from the Ottawa congregation were ordained deacon and deaconess on the Feast of Trumpets. Congratulations to both of them! Regular mail income here in Canada continues to remain 30% up from this time last year, for which we are very grateful. So far this year we have conducted 14 public Bible lectures, sending out more than 13,800 invitations, and seeing close to 20 people come along as a result. One thing we did on our last public Bible lecture was to send an initial invitation and then a reminder to arrive the week of the study. This produced a 4% response, double or more than what we typically see. We will do some additional testing to see if this is helpful in the long run.

Dr. Wilner Pierre, our Charlotte-resident deacon of Haitian origin, successfully conducted a public Bible lecture in Haiti last Sunday, September 28. He spoke on how to identify the true Church of God. A total of 51 persons were present, including 36 subscribers. Some of them attended the Feast of Trumpets the following Tuesday. The audience was very enthusiastic and stayed after the lecture to ask questions, especially concerning prophecy. The conference hall had initially been rented for just one hour, but the management of the hotel allowed an extra hour for free!

Mr. Dexter Wakefield, Florida Area Pastor, reports that September has been a lively month in his area. He received 20 GOTOs that month and, of those, six have already began attending. In Fort Lauderdale, attendance has been running in the 60s. Much of the GOTO activity has been in Tampa, where there was one baptism last month.

Attention Area Pastors: Please ensure that the following announcement is made at your congregations before the Feast: “Brethren are encouraged to bring a hymnal (one or two songbooks per household) from their local congregation’s supply for use at the Feast, but they should bring back to their congregations the same hymnals, after the Feast, so that an equal number of books is returned to each congregation.”

In my sermon Tuesday afternoon, here in Charlotte, I mentioned that one of the best ways to describe the Feast of Trumpets is to call it the Feast of Overcomers. The promises made to the seven Churches, described in the book of Revelation, are to overcomers. All of the apostles were overcomers. The Apostle Paul himself, despite his much suffering, remained strong until the end. He did not look back. An overcomer does not look for excuses. He does not blame others for his own mistakes or shortcomings. He does not fear the future, nor is he defeated by discouragement. As Paul said, “One thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13-14). We must follow his example. Jesus Christ Himself was an overcomer while carrying out His mission on earth. He told us, His sheep: “Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). This is the message and the very hope we should carry with us during the entire Holy Day season—and to the end. In the present chaotic days, when the world is in total turmoil, our eyes should be constantly on Christ, and our hopes in His promises. We read in Hebrews 13:5, “Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’” What a marvelous way of starting the Feast of Tabernacles!

King of the South and Currency. Last week, “chiefs of five of the six-member, oil-rich Gulf Cooperation Council approved a proposal to create a monetary union as a move toward adopting a single currency, according to the AFP. The six Islamic states constituting the Gulf Cooperation Council are Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Oman pulled out of the agreement last year. Five states in the compact have agreed to set 2010 as the target date for the creation of a monetary union and the adoption of common currency. The emergence of an Islamic single currency among these oil-rich Middle Eastern countries marks a significant step in the emerging worldwide movement to abandon national currencies in favor of regional currencies, along the model of the EU members, which have abandoned their national currencies in favor of the European Central Bank and the euro” (WorldNetDaily, September 21, 2008). Although we do not yet know what nations will ultimately compose the King of the South, the creation of a regional currency among Arab nations will certainly act to further unite these nations. We also know that the King of the South will eventually “push against” the coming Beast power (see Daniel 11). We must certainly continue to “watch the Middle East” as prophecy unfolds!

Pride of Your Power Will Be Broken. “The US will lose its status as the superpower of the world financial system. This world will become multipolar” with the emergence of stronger, better capitalized centers in Asia and Europe, Mr. Steinbrück (the German Finance Minister) told the German parliament. “The world will never be the same again” (The Financial Times, September 25, 2008). “‘Absurd, absurd, absurd,’ said one German diplomat [following President Bush’s recent address to the UN General Assembly]. A French woman called him ‘yesterday’s man’ over coffee… There is another way to put it, too: Bush was a laughing stock in the gray corridors of the UN... But the ridicule was a new thing. It marked the end of respect… A new America is on display, a country that no longer trusts its old values and its elites even less: the politicians, who failed to see the problems on the horizon, and the economic leaders, who tried to sell a fictitious world of prosperity to Americans… The Americans are now paying the price for their pride” (Der Spiegel, September 30, 2008). In the wake of the U.S.-induced global financial crisis and other powerful geopolitics, the above comments ring powerfully of God’s warning to the Israelite-descended nations. Addressing the result of Israel turning their back on God, He warned, “I will break the pride of your power…” (Leviticus 26:19). We are now witnessing the powerful reality of this sobering prophecy develop.

Iran Nearing Nuclear Capability. “Iran is nearing the ability to arm a nuclear warhead even if it insists its atomic activities are peaceful, the European Union” recently warned. According to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Iran recently added 30% more centrifuges to its current 3,000, greatly increasing its capacity to produce enriched uranium. “Part of the report [from the IAEA] touched on what appeared to be drawings and calculations by Iranian engineers on reconfiguring its Shahab-3 missile to be able to carry a nuclear payload. Iranian officials say the missile has a range of 1,250 miles—enabling a strike on Israel and most of the Middle East.” A German member of the IAEA commented, “Iran needs to explain why its military is so deeply involved in its nuclear program.” Experts suggest that Iran will have nuclear capability in six months to two years, heightening regional fears (Yahoo News, September 24, 2008). As prophecy marches on and nations around the world become more volatile, the threat of “wars and rumors of wars” becomes ever greater (Mark 13:7). It is interesting that Iran as a nation has been shunned by most of its Arab neighbors due to the wild and unpredictable nature of its leaders. These characteristics are very interesting given the content of God’s prophecies.—Joe Brown, Floyd Spencer, Ellis Noll and Scott Winnail