11/21/07
Greetings from Charlotte,
This has been a week to catch up after our series of meetings last week. Mr. Ames and I have been recording lectures for Living University classes. Mr. and Mrs. Meredith are on a short trip to the UK. A number of people from the office are heading off to be with family over the American Thanksgiving holiday weekend. Please keep Mr. Keith Walden and his family in your prayers, as well as many others around the world who are looking to God for His help and intervention.
Media
Mr. Wayne Pyle reports: This is a week of double good news for the Tomorrow’s World television program. First of all, last week’s program #306, “WHY Must Christ Come AGAIN?” set a new record for the Fourteen Signs booklet. The program brought in 4,167 responses. The previous record was 3,617, set over two years ago in January 2005. The second bit of good news is that this week’s repeat-telecast brought in a higher response than the first airing. This week we re-aired program #302, “Modern Morality and the Ten Commandments,” which offered The Ten Commandments booklet. From Thursday through Sunday, we received 2,505 phone calls, and we are expecting the final response to reach 3,255. The first airing back in April this year brought in 3,013 replies. So, this week’s response is 8.0 percent higher.
Comments
A Time To Be Thankful: While the American Thanksgiving is a tradition that dates back to the founding of the American colonies, taking time to be thankful to God is not limited to Americans. David wrote in Psalm 95:2 that we should come before God in a spirit of thanksgiving. The Apostle Paul urges Christians, “in everything give thanks” (1 Thessalonians 5:18). James informs us that God is the giver of every good gift (James 1:17). It is certainly appropriate to take time periodically to thank God for our calling, for the opportunity to understand the purpose of life and God’s way of life, for the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and for the opportunity for salvation that has been given to us by a just and loving Father and Creator. We can rejoice in the understanding of God’s great plan that peace will eventually come to this world, that the beauty of this earth will be restored and that all who have ever lived will have the opportunity to become part of God’s family. We can also rejoice in the truth that has set us free from the deception that has been fostered on the peoples of this world (John 8:32; Revelation 12:9). When you reflect on these things—it is a lot to be thankful for!
Have a profitable Sabbath,
Douglas S. Winnail
News and Prophecy—November 21, 2007
Will Belgium Cease to Exist? Belgian news sources are now predicting the possible split of the French-Flemish nation along ethnic lines. For the first time in 177 years, the Flemish majority in parliament voted along ethnic lines, forcing its will, and causing a crisis that has paralyzed the government for more than 150 days. The formidable national debt is now a major concern to Belgium’s creditors, as they ask the question, “who will repay the debt should the nation split?” Belgian government officials assure, however, that there will be no default on the nation’s loans. Illustrating the divided nation, Belgium’s Flemish region is known for its booming high-tech industries, while the French region of Wallonia has high unemployment rates (The Telegraph, November 15, 2007). God warned that the final revival of the Holy Roman Empire would consist of strong nations that will be very loosely tied together—as iron and clay (Daniel 2:33). As we watch the evolution of the European Union and its member states, we see the strength of the EU as a whole, but also the ever-divided and unstable nature of the “individual” states. Jesus also warned that a major sign of the end of the age would be “nations” or “ethnic groups” being increasingly pitted against each other (Matthew 24:3, 7). This is what we are witnessing today!
The Internet: A Playground for Pedophiles. In November, a UN-sponsored forum met in Brazil to examine how nations can prevent pedophilia on the Internet. Two thousand delegates from 100 countries discussed ways to protect children online. “We can do a lot in this area if there is good cooperation,” organizer Markus Kummer told Agence France-Presse (November 11, 2007). The Council of Europe backed a recommendation that access to child pornography, and predators’ “grooming” children online, be made crimes. The U.S. Justice Department says millions of pedophiles around the world are networking online. In June, British police broke up an online pedophile ring, identifying 700 suspects around the globe. A new Interpol policy seeking public tips about suspected crime has led to several arrests, including a Canadian schoolteacher, who was taken into custody in Thailand (Associated Press, November 6, 2007). Public tips also helped German investigators find a child molester in Vietnam and Cambodia after his face was unscrambled from digital swirls in photos of his activity. The assistant director of Interpol’s division on people-trafficking said, “Perpetrators can try to hide behind the Internet, they can try to live anonymously, but we are policing the Internet and we will get them.” God’s laws are in force even when people know nothing about them. Moses prophesied, “…take note, you have sinned against the LORD; and be sure your sin will find you out” (Numbers 32:23).
Subprime Mortgage Debacle Endangers World Economy. Reuters reported on November 7, 2007, that Moody’s Investors Service had assigned “junk” status to 88 classes of securities backed by subprime mortgages. Individual corporations hold securities which also back worker retirement savings. When housing values decline and interest rates rise, many homeowners with subprime mortgages cannot pay or refinance their loans and simply default. This causes huge losses for mortgage companies. Lehman Brothers predicts U.S. mortgage defaults will cost the world’s banking industry $250 billion over the next five years. In the last three months, Citigroup, Bank of America, Credit Suisse, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley and Deutsche Bank reported multibillion dollar losses—and more financial institutions are expected to follow. Bloomberg News recently reported the ultimate cost of mortgage defaults could reach $400 billion. Home construction has recently been the backbone of the U.S. economy, yet the greed of lenders and borrowers has caused a disaster threatening not only the U.S. economy, but economies around the globe. “As with the lender, so with the borrower; as with the creditor, so with the debtor. The land shall be entirely emptied and utterly plundered, for the LORD has spoken this word” (Isaiah 24:2-3).—Don Davis, Floyd Spencer, Scott Winnail
COGwriter 2007