November 8, 2007
Greetings from Charlotte,
This week Mr. Meredith finished writing a semi-annual letter that will go to more than 300,000 people on our mailing list around the world. This weekend we are looking forward to the arrival of members of the Council of Elders for meetings that will begin next Monday. The meetings will address a number of issues: reports on this year’s Feast of Tabernacles and plans for the future, meeting present and future manpower needs, doing the Work more effectively and several doctrinal issues. Your prayers for the semi-annual letter, the Council meetings and the safe travel of those attending will be deeply appreciated.
Church Administration
News from Haiti
Last week, Tropical Storm Noel followed its path over the Caribbean Sea killing hundreds of people by floods and mudslides, mainly in the impoverished nations of Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Jove Jean-Pierre, our deacon in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, sent us the following report: “Our country just lived a ravaging week following the passage of Tropical Storm Noel, which, according to early estimates, killed more than 250 people in our islands. Thankfully, our members were not affected directly or in any serious way. We were unable to send you our weekly report on time, but at this moment of respite from the weather, I am happy to inform you that there were 16 of us present at services last Sabbath.”
Northeast Young Adults Ski Weekend
Register now for the Northeast Young Adults Ski Weekend! Take advantage of this opportunity to build bonds of friendship with other young adults, learn more about God’s way of life, and simply have a great time! This year’s location is Ludlow, Vermont, located minutes away from Okemo Mountain, one of the top ski areas in the Northeast. If you love to ski, this is the place to be. If you just enjoy being around other young adults, then you are welcome as well! Arrival is on Friday afternoon/evening, December 21. Departure is on Wednesday, December 26. The program will begin with a relaxing Sabbath brunch in the morning and services in the afternoon. After the Sabbath, you will be free to relax in our private lodge, or walk through the quaint town of Ludlow. On Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, we will have lectures in the morning, and skiing and fun in the afternoon! The evenings will be open for more social activities. The lectures will be provided by Mr. Gerald Weston, Mr. Jonathan McNair, and other guest lecturers. Lecture topics will be announced shortly. The closest airport is Albany, New York. If you fly into Albany, we will be able to provide transportation to Ludlow. The cost for accommodations, on-site meals, and lift-tickets is $300. If you don’t plan to ski, the cost is $250. Register now - space is limited. To register, go to www.formdesk.com/mcnair/form1. For questions and more information, contact Jonathan McNair at jmcnair@lcg.org.
Media
New Milestone for Tomorrow’s World Television
We are happy to report that as of this week, the Tomorrow’s World television program received its one-millionth response since the program started airing in January 1999. This response-count is from all our TV stations around the world, including Canada, the UK, the Philippines, the Caribbean, Europe, Africa, and, of course, the United States. It took six years to reach our first half-million, then less than three years for the next half-million. Various TV-ratings data indicate that the Tomorrow’s World telecast has now been viewed by more than 13 million households in the past eight years.
Comments
Working Together: Jesus referred to His disciples as His “friends” and encouraged them to “love one another” (John 15:12-17). The Apostle Paul referred to those who assisted him in his ministry as “my fellow workers” (Romans 16:3) and “fellow workers for the kingdom of God” (Colossians 4:11). He referred to members of God’s Church as “God’s fellow workers” (1 Corinthians 3:9) and “workers together [co-workers] with Him” (2 Corinthians 6:1). This is an exciting opportunity that carries a big responsibility. The Scriptures provide important guidelines about how to work together. We are instructed to “be perfectly joined together in the same mind” and not let contentions divide us (1 Corinthians 1:10-13). We are also advised to get along and live in harmony, to avoid being haughty and conceited or ambitious for a position, but to be humble and do what is right—to live and work together peacefully (Romans 12:16-18). If we can learn to “love one another” and treat each other as “friends” we will be more effective “fellow workers for the kingdom of God.” That is one of our major challenges today as Christians.
Have a profitable Sabbath,
Douglas S. Winnail
News and Prophecy—November 1, 2007
China Rises While the U.S. Falls. State-owned PetroChina just surpassed Exxon/Mobil as the world’s largest company, and the first firm to be worth one trillion dollars. China’s oil exploration efforts span the globe—now even into the Caribbean, just off the coast of Florida (Associated Press, November 5, 2007). God warned that as the end approaches, “the alien who is among you shall rise higher and higher above you, and you shall come down lower and lower” (Deuteronomy 28:43). Additionally, God warned that “a nation whom you have not known shall eat the fruit of your land and the produce of your labor, and you shall be only oppressed and crushed continually… So you shall be driven mad because of the sight which your eyes see” (vv. 33-34). Petroleum-derived chemicals are the backbone of Western society—from fuels to plastics, oil makes society go around. Today, China is reaping the fruits, in the form of oil, from the lands of other nations, including the United States. This should be sobering as we see God’s prophecies being fulfilled.
MRSA on the March! The deadly bacterium known as “methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is rapidly spreading, according to the New York Times (October 16, 2007), and may be twice as common as first thought, affecting 32 out of every 100,000 Americans. Hospitals and nursing homes have become breeding grounds for MRSA infections. In the U.S., 94,360 patients developed an MRSA infection in 2005, and 18,650 died. A recent study in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that MRSA fatalities each year may exceed those attributed to HIV/AIDS, Parkinson’s disease, emphysema or homicide. Dr. Elizabeth Bancroft, an epidemiologist with the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, calls the JAMA findings “astounding” and points out that the prevalence of invasive MRSA—infections in nominally sterile parts of the body such as organs or the bloodstream—is greater than the combined infection rates for all other invasive bacteria, including bloodstream infections, meningitis and flesh-eating pathogens. Reports of schools closing because of infected students are becoming more common, and experts remind us that frequent hand-washing can help reduce the incidence of bacterial transmission. God said that if we disobey Him, “The LORD will strike you in the knees and on the legs with severe boils which cannot be healed… He will bring back on you all the diseases of Egypt, of which you were afraid, and they shall cling to you” (Deuteronomy 28:35, 60).
COGwriter, 2007
Homo Sapiens on Verge of Extinction? The future of the human race is at risk if world leaders do not quickly address serious environmental issues, according to a United Nations Global Economic Outlook report. Australian Broadcasting Co. News reported on October 26, 2007, that UN researchers list global warming, dwindling fresh water supplies, unsustainable development and the extinction of species among the major problems that will impact human life on Earth. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon said tackling these issues is the great moral, social and economic imperative of our time, noting that if environmental degradation is not reversed, human development will be impeded and we can expect an increase in poverty and war. One UN Environment Program official observed that 60 percent of assessed ecosystems—including fresh water used by hundreds of millions of people—are being degraded or used in an unsustainable manner. Animal species are becoming extinct at a rate 100 times faster than in the past. Australian Senator Bob Brown observed, “We’re going to be—if we keep this course going—simply unable to cope.” Will humanity take the steps needed to avoid ecological disaster? The Bible indicates it will not! “They have made it desolate; desolate, it mourns to Me; the whole land is made desolate, because no one takes it to heart” (Jeremiah 12:11). Thank God for Jesus Christ! “And unless the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake, whom He chose, He shortened the days” (Mark 13:20).—Don Davis, Scott Winnail, Joe Brown