10/15/09
From the Presiding Evangelist
Dear fellow servants of Christ,
We just completed an absolutely wonderful Feast of Tabernacles! Good reports are coming in from all over the world. It now looks pretty certain that our attendance will be at a “high” for recent years—well surpassing the 7,000 mark. The depth of unity and love among the brethren was outstanding this year and the sermons were apparently excellent as well.
I just want to thank you all very much for the encouragement, the warmth and the loyalty so many thousands of you have shown toward the Work and toward me personally during this time! My wife and I had a wonderful trip to Kauai, Hawaii, where the Feast was observed by 416 brethren. I had the opportunity to speak a total of six times—plus numerous counselings and anointings as well. I gave the opening night message, the opening day message the next morning on the first Holy Day, a midweek sermon on Wednesday and the Last Great Day message on the final Holy Day—all in person in Kauai. In addition, I gave a talk to the senior citizens and a talk to the deacons and elders luncheon as well. So I was busy, but am thankful that God kept me in excellent health throughout the Feast.
Brethren, one thing I tried to stress during my festival talks—and want to stress to you—is that as we get closer to the real end of this age, we really do need to bear down in our commitment to solid Christian growth and the absolute zeal we should have for letting Christ live in us and actually doing His Work “with all our hearts.” Over and over, God tells us that we must learn to put our “hearts” into serving Him. He does not want “Laodiceans” in His Kingdom. One of my favorite scriptures, among many others, is found back in Deuteronomy 4:29. After describing how the Israelites would bear children and grandchildren and “grow old in the land” and then how they would turn aside from God and finally repent after going into captivity, God states, “But from there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul. When you are in distress, and all these things come upon you in the latter days, when you turn to the Lord your God and obey His voice” (Deuteronomy 4:29-30).
We in the Living Church of God have no excuse to wait until the last second to repent and truly “go all out” in giving our lives to God and serving Him with all of our being! For we stress this “fire in the belly” concept over and over. But I hope that all of you ministers and leaders in the Work can continually emphasize this to the brethren so that this very Church can truly be used by God in a mighty way to proclaim His message. In that way, we will certainly be “laying up treasure” in heaven and receive a wonderful reward when Christ returns as King of kings.
Let us strongly encourage the brethren to truly change and to grow in their commitment to Jesus Christ and to His Work. Let us do everything we can to “build” on the zeal and momentum we should have all received from keeping the Feast of Tabernacles recently. Obviously, tremendously exciting and yet traumatic world events are just ahead. So let us go “all out” in truly seeking God and walking with Him that we may be His instruments in helping prepare for the King of kings.
Your brother in Christ,
Roderick C. Meredith
Church Administration
Greetings from Charlotte,
I trust that all of you have had an enjoyable and spiritually uplifting Feast of Tabernacles. Encouraging reports are coming in from around the world, in spite of some of the trials that a number of brethren encountered during the Feast—especially in the Philippines. As Dr. Meredith mentions above, the festival attendance this year was greater than last year. Here in Charlotte, we are getting back into the groove of daily tasks—and that includes preparing for the Feast in 2010! Living University classes resumed this week, and we have several Tomorrow’s World Bible Lectures scheduled over the next several weeks.
Feast of Trumpets in Manchester, Tennessee
Mr. James Sweat reports: Tennessee Area congregations—Chattanooga, Crossville and Nashville—with Athens, Alabama, merged for a record combined attendance of 213 for the Feast of Trumpets in Manchester, Tennessee. Dr. Meredith delivered a powerful motivating Feast of Trumpets sermon admonishing us to focus on the big picture revealed by this vital step in God’s plan instead of getting bogged down in the cares of this life. Many brethren commented regarding the strength and power of Dr. Meredith’s voice and how this sermon helped them, personally. In a special deacons and elders dinner, Dr. Meredith conveyed his gratitude for the selfless service and dedication to God and His people, while encouraging each to continue building the team. Members mentioned how happy, uplifted and greatly inspired they were to be there on this exceptional Feast day.
Papua New Guinea
Before the Feast, our local elder in Papua New Guinea was threatened with eviction from his property. This eviction was scheduled to take place on October 5 (during the Feast of Tabernacles). The eviction would have affected not only him and his family, but the Church’s weekly Sabbath and Holy Day services, as well as the Feast of Tabernacles. Now, Mr. Peter Devis writes: “My brethren I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your concern and prayers to the Eternal for the Work of God and for my family and that we be not evicted from this land. Even though the eviction date of October 5, 2009 came up and even though my family and I were shaken a bit, your prayers which were before the Eternal our God comforted and steadied us. There was no police to evict us and no one, it seemed, was interested in this mater at all…. The words of Mr. Tyler rings strongly in my head as he had stated to me by his email: ‘This will be another Red Sea Experience for you.’”
Witnessing in Vanuatu
Mr. Kinnear Penman reports: Our congregation in Orap Village, Vanuatu, recently had an opportunity to serve and witness to the broader community of the island of Malekula. In conjunction with the annual celebrations of Vanuatu’s national independence, a High School sports tournament was held in the village. Hundreds of competitors and their supporters were “in town” for several days. The organizing committee invited local churches to provide morning and evening devotions for those assembled. (There is no “separation of church and State” in Vanuatu whose national motto is “Long God Yumi Stanap” which in translation is “In God We Stand”). LCG’s assigned evening was actually Independence Day itself.
At 9:00 p.m. evening devotions started. Our minister, Mr. Jerry Sam, welcomed everyone with a brief introduction. Our congregation then sang a hymn, “Oh, That Men Would Praise Their God.” Mr. Sam then spoke for about twenty minutes on the coming Kingdom of God. The congregation then sang another song; this time in French. It had been composed by member Raymond Naguy and was themed on the spiritual armor of Ephesians 6. Mr. Sam then concluded the devotions with prayer. Our members received good, positive comments from those attending.
During the days of the tournament, Church members operated a small restaurant which sold dishes of meat, rice and vegetables. This was a successful enterprise which raised about US$400, which will be put towards completing a communal dining hall—which is under construction for weekly Sabbath and annual Holy Day use.
Feast of Tabernacles 2009
U.S. Feast Attendance
From the numbers reported on our Feast greetings, it appears that our actual attendance (not including shut-ins) was very good around the U.S. Our preliminary high attendance (not including shut-ins) was 4,007 this year, compared to 3,509 in 2008. This makes a projected attendance increase of about 14% this year at U.S. Feast sites over last year. We also topped the 4,000 mark in the U.S. for the Feast for the first time since 2004. In all but two sites (Hawaii and Newport) our attendance topped our expected (registered) mark.—Rod McNair
At Forges-les-Eaux, France, Joy Was at Its Best!
We knew God would bless us, but our expectations were by far exceeded in the way all of us reunited at Forges-les-Eaux. Genuine joy, enthusiasm, brotherly love and happiness were present. We had four baptisms of young people who had previously counseled with Mr. Rees Ellis. We also had one ordination, that of Mr. Eric Boyer of the Paris congregation as a deacon. Believe it or not, I baptized Eric 10 years ago at Forges-les-Eaux during the Feast of Tabernacles. In short, in French-speaking Europe, we are back as one family, thanks to God.—Dibar Apartian
Visit to the Philippines
Mr. and Mrs. Gaylyn Bonjour report: To say the least, our trip to the Philippines was eventful this year. Our trip over there was long, but mostly uneventful and relatively smooth. We arrived in Manila and transferred to Davao in Mindanao for the first four days of the Feast. It was a joy to see Mr. and Mrs. Casing and the brethren there again. We had four warm, sunshiny days in a private camp on Hope Mountain with about 75 happy and excited brethren. It was a happy time for all, reflecting on the coming Kingdom of God, and we made the most of it. It was a happy camp in good spiritual condition! We were very sad when it was time to leave.
We had an early morning Bible study before leaving. The Casings and the Bolences escorted us to the airport and we headed back to Manila, where we were met by one of the brethren there and a hired van and driver for the six-hour-plus trip to Baguio city in Luzon. We, of course, got caught up in the Manila traffic. That is an experience in itself. There was light rain at first, getting heavier as we neared Benguet Province, where Baguio city is located.
Baguio in the Tagalog language means “TYPHOON”—and did it ever live up to its name! It seemed as if we were driving up a waterfall as we drove around mudslides on the way in. At times, it was hard to determine where there was, or if there was, a road. There were to be in the next few days more than 100 mudslides, somewhere in the vicinity of (conservatively) three feet of rainfall in seven days, on top of the water already dropped by the previous typhoon, Ketsana, which had passed through about a week earlier, flooding Manila and killing more than 300 people.
While we were there, in and around Baguio, approximately 160 people died and others were or are still missing. What a terrible time for the Philippine peoples! More than 30 towns were flooded in Pangasinan, the province just below Benguet. Bridges were destroyed, roads eroded, trees and homes toppled—devastation all around.
The dams were so full that authorities had to release water to save the dams. Some of our brethren suffered monetary loss. The good news is that, while all of that was going on, we finished up the Feast of Tabernacles and the Last Great Day on a high note: We spent the remaining four days of the Feast with Mr. and Mrs. Osillos and 275 upbeat, warm brethren who were able to look past all of the trouble that was happening around them! The brethren in Baguio had not seen the sun the entire Feast of Tabernacles but it broke forth on the Last Great Day. All the while, we were having one of the most spiritually fulfilling Feasts in recent memory. The fact that some of them did not know what they would find when they went back home did not dampen their enthusiasm for what these Feasts are all about. It was uplifting to be with them—another happy camp.
It was a blessing to be there with them. This will be one of those “benchmark” Feasts that you look back at and measure others by. Thank you, every one of you, for your prayers on behalf of the Filipino brethren and us.
Comments
Goals for the Coming Year: In the book of Proverbs, Solomon advises, “Ponder the path of your feet, and let all your ways be established. Do not turn to the right or the left; remove your foot from evil” (Proverbs 4:26). As we return from the Feast, inspired by the sermons and fellowship, it is a good time to think about setting goals for the coming year. What changes would you like to make or do you need to make to improve your physical or spiritual health? What can you do to improve your relationship with God or with your family? What can you do to serve God and others more effectively? How can you prepare now for the Kingdom of God? It will be profitable to think and pray about these issues in the days just ahead. The Apostle Paul urged Christians to “walk circumspectly [carefully, diligently]” and to make the most of the time at our disposal (Ephesians 5:15-16). Peter exhorted his audience to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18). What goals can you set and work toward in the coming year that will help you prepare for the Kingdom of God?
Have a profitable Sabbath,
Douglas S. Winnail
News and Prophecy—October 15, 2009
In Second Try, Irish Vote “YES” on Lisbon Treaty. Newspapers round the world ran the headline, “Irish vote YES,” on the first day of the Feast of Tabernacles (October 3, 2009). European perspectives were mostly positive about the resulting vote, with the current EU President calling it “a great day for Europe.” Meanwhile, the responses from Ireland varied. One Irishman recounted his reason for voting yes: “It is much better for us not to be isolated.” Poland and the CzechRepublic are both expected to ratify the treaty following the Irish vote (Der Spiegel, October 3, 2009). However, news from Ireland paints a slightly different picture of the situation. A leader of the opposition movement commented about the vote, “Of course I am disappointed, I think we have made a mistake. It just shows how scared people are… Mr Farage, the MEP for south east England, commented: ‘I think the whole thing has been an absolute travesty of democracy. The way this thing has been conducted is more akin to Zimbabwe or Afghanistan. This has not been a free and fair referendum’” (Telegraph, October 3, 2009). Free election or not, the Irish voted “yes” and Europe has gotten its way. Now it will be interesting to see how the treaty plays out. Prophecy foretells of an eventual unification of 10 “kingdoms” in modern Europe, under one leader and one religious system, at the end of the age (Daniel 2:40-44; see Revelation 17). Events appear to be taking place to support God’s prophesied future!
Leaving the U.S. Dollar Behind. In covert meetings around the globe, Russia, Brazil, China, Japan, Gulf Arab states and France have been discussing and planning for a move away from the U.S. dollar as the currency for global oil trade. A Chinese finance minister recently commented that Russia would also be trading in rubles in the foreseeable future. Last month Iran announced that it would begin holding its foreign currency reserves in Euros, rather than dollars. “Chinese financial sources believe President Barack Obama is too busy fixing the US economy to concentrate on the extraordinary implications of the transition from the dollar in nine years’ time. The current deadline for the currency transition (as outlined by these nations) is 2018” (The Independent, October 6, 2009). In the short term, the world is turning to the euro and the yen as reserve currencies, instead of the dollar (New York Post, October 13, 2009). Long ago, God prophesied that the global dominance of the Israelite-descended nations would come to an end, due to their rejection of Him. The Bible reveals their prestige will decline dramatically (Deuteronomy 28:43-44). The tide of world politics and finances is changing and the Israelite-descended nations’ future is in for a major change due to their rejection of the one true God. The Israelite nations must come to understand that they “need” God and “need” to do things His way. Once this realization occurs, they will again be blessed abundantly, along with the rest of the world!
Garbage Everywhere. At the American Society for Microbiology conference a few weeks ago, researchers presented findings demonstrating that “dangerous staph bacteria have been found in sand and water for the first time at five public beaches along the coast of Washington, and scientists think the state is not the only one with this problem.” Other studies have found staph bacteria in Florida beaches. Many beaches also close due to high fecal bacteria concentrations. Researchers note that beachgoers should not be alarmed by these findings, but should take precautions to bathe after swimming in the ocean and to cover cuts when playing in the sand (Associated Press, September 12, 2009). Thousands of years ago, God gave simple principles to ancient Israel that were designed to keep them healthy, safe, and make them a model nation for the world. One of these statutes was to “bury” human waste in the ground, outside the camp” (Deuteronomy 23:12-13). Today, there are many public health problems around the globe that could easily be solved by following biblical health laws, including proper disposal of human waste. These recent reports are part of the reason the creation groans in agony to be delivered from the bondage of corruption (Romans 8:19-22).—Scott Winnail, Dan Bennett, Gloria Millich
COGwriter 2009