11/02/06

Greetings from Charlotte, 

At this time of year, many of you in the northern hemisphere are enjoying the beautiful Fall foliage, while those “down under” are looking at the new leaves and flowers of Spring and early Summer.  Here in Charlotte, we are busy looking over Festival Surveys and planning for next year’s Feast.  Mr. Meredith is going over final proofs of the semi-annual letter that will be mailed on Monday to approximately 255,000 Tomorrow’s World subscribers.  Mr. Apartian spent part of Wednesday in the hospital emergency room as a result of a fall in his home.  He is back at work today—but he apparently enjoyed getting acquainted with the nurses at the hospital!  Mr. Bill Whitaker (elder in Walterboro, SC) was also briefly hospitalized last week due to some complications from a previous surgery and is now home and on the mend.  Mr. Ron McGowen (elder in Houston, TX) had a heart attack just after the Feast, but is feeling much better now. He will be having by-pass surgery on next Tuesday.  Please keep everyone in your prayers. 

FROM THE PRESIDING EVANGELIST 

Greetings fellow ministers! Many thanks to all of you for your help and inspiration to the brethren through the Feast! From all reports it was an outstanding Feast this year—and the vast majority of the brethren are still greatly encouraged as I hear from talking to many of you—plus reports coming in here. 

However, a few of our brethren have expressed concern about the recent visit to Charlotte from two of the leaders of the United Church of God. As you know, both Jim Franks and Clyde Kilough recently visited us here—after talking with Dr. Winnail about making just a “social” visit with us to strengthen our friendship and to explore ideas in a few areas where we could cooperate. Let me say immediately that they did not—in any way—try to talk about a coming “merger” or anything of the kind! We certainly did not bring that up. In fact, I kind of “squashed” even speculation on such a thing by pointing out early on that we each have totally separate agendas, different forms of government—which I expressed were very important to God—and different approaches to doing the Work.  

However, we did explore areas where, as “separated brethren,” we could still cooperate and express the Christian love to one another as we ought to do. We discussed—briefly in each case—how if an actual sex pervert were to be disfellowshipped or put out of our ministry or membership, we should let them know—and vice versa. Anything like that should be “shared” so that we can at least not, unwittingly, have this type of individual just “slip over” from one church to another. We all agreed enthusiastically with this.  

Also, we agreed to share information with each other and pray about outside attacks on the Churches of God. As during the “Receivership” crisis of 1979, when even the Catholic Church filed an “amicus brief” [friend of the court brief] showing their support for the privacy of churches from government intervention and regulation, we all should be mutually concerned about outside attacks on our peoples from the government or from any other source. As fellow Christians—even though we have different perspectives on government and doing the Work—we should constantly “love one another” as Jesus commanded us to do toward all men!  

You need to realize, some of you “stricter” brethren, we are not dealing with communists or Buddhists. We are dealing with others who believe many of the same things we do—though they have a different approach to government, to certain doctrines and to the zealous approach we wish to have in preaching the full Truth to the world. Yet, understanding these differences and not weakening our own agenda in that regard, we should and must love one another and try to help all men—and especially those who understand much of the Truth we do.  

So let us go forward with a balanced approach to this matter. And please be assured that Christ is guiding us here in Charlotte to maintain our doctrinal and corporate integrity and continue doing the Work which Christ has called us to do!  

CHURCH ADMINISTRATION 

Living 4 Tomorrow—Charlotte, December 2006 

Living Church of God young adults are invited to attend Living 4 Tomorrow – A Time 4 Young Singles.  Classes and evening activities will be conducted at our Headquarters facilities in Charlotte, NC.   The L4T program is open to ALL singles between the ages of 18 and 30.  The L4T format is one of classes and discussion periods focused for the young single Christian adult mixed with recreation activities and fellowship time.   The program will be from December 20-22 leading into the dinner-dance and other activities planned at Headquarters on December 23 and 24.  Applications and detailed information will be posted for L4T on www.youth-web.org (not an official Church website) and on the LCG Singles website www.lcgsingles.org.   If you don’t have web access, applications and additional information may be requested by calling Lambert Greer at 502-228-5917.  Please submit your application as soon as possible to assure your acceptance.   

Singles Seminar—Charlotte, December 2006 

A one day Singles Seminar is planned for singles of all ages on Friday, December 22, 2006.  The seminar will be conducted at our Headquarters facilities in Charlotte, NC.  Attend the Singles Seminar on Friday and be at Headquarters for the planned dinner-dance and social activities on December 23 and 24. Registration for the Singles Seminar and detailed information will be posted on the LCG Singles website www.lcgsingles.org.  If you don’t have web access applications, additional information may be requested by calling Lambert Greer at 502-228-5917.  Please register as soon as possible to assist us with advanced planning for the activity. 

MEDIA 

Mr. Wayne Pyle reports: Normally, time-change weekends—changing from daylight savings to standard time—do a number on our TV audience and reduce our response. This weekend may have been no different, but the response is higher than what our Friday morning projection indicated. We aired program #280, “Unlocking the Mystery of Revelation,” which offered Revelation: The Mystery Unveiled! From Thursday through Sunday, we received 2,362 phone calls, and we are expecting the final response for this week to go well over 2,900. 

The Revelation booklet had been offered in 14 TV airings previously and in the most recent airing last month, this booklet broke our all-tome record for a single telecast with 4,880 TV requests, and the exact same telecast back in April drew 4,762 TV responses. Overall, the Revelation booklet is our third highest-pulling booklet among our TV viewers. 

Last week we finished digging out from under thousands of responses that came in during our Festival break. The North American numbers came together to show that a new milestone had been achieved—over 700,000 responses since the Tomorrow’s World program was launched in January 1999 in the United States and Canada. 

Thanks to this week’s TV replies, the total cumulative North American response since January 1999 is now up to 705,341, bringing the total response from all TV stations around the world to 875,874 responses. In the nearly seven years since our first year in 1999, the telecast around the world grew at an average of 57 percent per year.   

COMMENTS 

Setting Right Goals.  Successful people set goals.  They stay focused and work hard to achieve those goals.  God wants His people to do the same thing.  This theme runs through the Scriptures.  Jesus said, “seek first the kingdom of God” (Matthew 6:33), “live by… every word that proceeds from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4) and be a light to the world (Matthew 6:14-16).  Isaiah urged, “Seek the Lord while He may be found” (Isaiah 55:6-7).  Paul wrote, “Study to show yourself approved unto God… rightly dividing [be able to explain] the word of truth” (II Timothy 2:15).  Peter said, “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (II Peter 3:18).  What goals have you set for yourself for the year ahead?   When setting goals we need to seek wise advice and get a “multitude of counsel” (Proverbs 14:12; 15:22).  We also need to “ponder the path of our feet” and avoid getting distracted by thoughts and activities that will divert our attention and keep us from achieving the most important goals in life.  In the coming year, let’s stay focused and work towards reaching the right goals that God has revealed in His word! 

Have a wonderful Sabbath,

Douglas S. Winnail 

 

NEWS AND PROPHECY—November 2, 2006 

Watching Germany Rise Again.  After WWII the German army was reorganized to prevent it from terrorizing Europe again. Now the German army is reorganizing again, this time for the purpose of not only “defending the fatherland,” but also pursuing enemies outside the German borders (Financial Times, October 24, 2006). Germany’s responsibility of guarding waters off Lebanon is one indication of how tides of military “protection” are changing in Germany. In addition to the German army now being able “go on the offense” for the first time in just over 60 years, former German defense minister Rupert Scholz recently called for developing nuclear weapons in order to “protect” against future terrorist aggression (Expatica Magazine, January 26, 2006). The now “offensive army” may also have a “nuclear option” at its disposal in the not too distant future. Germany demonstrated twice in the last century that it had the will to enforce its desires on Europe and beyond, and Bible prophecy indicates that it will do it again in the near future (Isaiah 8:4-10; Zechariah 10:10-11). It is likely that we are watching this once powerful nation return again to its former glory! 

Rumors of Wars. Last week, North Korea stated that if South Korea enforced UN sanctions against the North, it would be a “Declaration of Confrontation” and that South Korea would “pay dearly.” South Korea retaliated to the threat by holding its “largest ever” military exercise (Bloomberg.com, October 26, 2006).  Meanwhile, Iran will begin ten days of large-scale “war games” in the Persian Gulf and Sea of Oman this week, demonstrating its defense capabilities (Reuters, November 1, 2006).  While prophecy skeptics dismiss these actions as “something these nations have done for thousands of years,” they overlook the fact that for the first time in history, the nations involved have or are developing the capability of nuclear annihilation—something unique to this time in history.  There have always been “wars and rumors of wars,” but never before have local and regional wars been able to threaten the existence of all life on earth. These are the types of wars and conflicts Christ referred to in His end-time warnings (Mark 13:7-8). 

Hunger and Disease Stalk Africa. The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reports that in six southern African nations, 14 million people—half of them children—are at imminent risk of starvation even while they face some of the world’s highest rates of HIV/AIDS infection. These two crises are devastating the populations of Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe. According to the UNICEF, “The 1992 famine was almost exclusively drought-related. In this [current] crisis, each of the affected countries has been stricken by the HIV/AIDS pandemic, which has reduced agricultural productivity and food security” (www.unicef.org/emerg/southernafrica). Because of the dual killers (famine and disease), these countries are at risk of failing as viable nation-states. In this region, 25% of people in the productive age group (15-49) are living with HIV—and thus, within a decade, 25% of the population will likely be dead. This means fewer healthy working adults must support more people. HIV/AIDS households can experience an 80% income drop. Seeking money to buy food for their families, some women turn to prostitution, accelerating the spread of HIV/AIDS. “In a region already bearing the full brunt of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, the food crisis presents a new and ominous threat to the survival of the most vulnerable—the children and the women,” said a UNICEF regional director.  Long ago, God explained one of the fundamental causes of the current crisis in southern Africa, “a man who commits adultery lacks judgment; whoever does so destroys himself” (Proverbs 6:32, NIV). The people suffering in these troubled nations need God’s life-giving commandments—and soon!—Don Davis and Scott Winnail

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