Cartwright’s Journal Out: FOT, CGI, UCG, Myanmar, and Kachinland

The latest issue (#153, print date July 22, 2013) of The Journal was sent out electronically today.

It has a listing of a variety of Feast of Tabernacles’ sites, including three for the Continuing Church of God (which can, with additional details, be found in the article Feast of Tabernacles’ Sites for 2013).

The front cover had an article about a joint COG. Big Sandy and CGI Pentecost service:

BIG SANDY, Texas—The head- quarters congregation of the Church of God International (CGI), which meets in nearby Tyler, met with the Church of God Big Sandy for the Day of Pentecost on Sunday, May 19. “It was espe- cially meaningful to be in fellow- ship with brethren of several different organizations on Pentecost,” said Charles Groce, chief ex- ecutive officer of the CGI. “Mr. Havir’s invitation for collective worship was well received and continued the Church of God Big Sandy’s outreach to brethren of like mind.”

One of the lead articles by Dixon Cartwright has the following about UCG:

Victor Kubik, until recently a member of the United Church of God’s council of elders, is its new president. The news of Mr. Kubik’s new post came May 8, 2013, in an announce- ment from Robin Webber, council chairman. Mr. Webber served recently as acting president after 76-year-old Dennis Luker’s death on March 14 in the Seattle, Wash., area.

I reported about some of this last May (see Victor Kubik is UCG’s new president). Speaking of UCG, a UCG member named Tina Engelbert had an article in The Journal about her views on women political leaders. For a biblical view on the role of women in the New Testament, please check out the article: Women and the New Testament Church.

The back cover of The Journal had the following from Leon Sexton of Legacy Institute:

I am astonished at the development taking place in the country now called Myanmar. (“Myanmar” is a closer pronunciation of the old name for the country than the British in- vention of “Burma.”) We also came for Passover in 2012. Myanmar is changing dramatically since then. New cars pack the streets in Rangoon…

In Kachinland, Northern Myanmar, there is continuous fighting between the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and the Burma Army. Most of the fighting is taking place along the border with China in the east…

China has been investing in Myanmar heavily for at least a decade, and now, with the visit of former secretary of state Hillary Clinton and President Barack Obama, the United States will invest in Myanmar to counter the Chinese. Also, it is a little known fact that Myanmar is rich in rare-earth minerals (REMs), including gold and uranium. Myanmar also has reserves of oil and gas. It is a wealthy country in terms of natural resources…What that will mean is uncertain, but what is sure is that opportunities for preaching the gospel will be increased manifold. Please pray for God’s work in Myanmar and the rest of Southeast Asia.

Myanmar/Burma and the border regions there have long been in my prayers. We actually sent three different issues of CCOG’s Bible News Prophecy magazine to to Kachinland two days ago. It is an area that is poor, but long has had COG interest. It is an area that I not only pray about, but with our new websites for the region (www.ccog.asia and www.ccog.in), as well as literature, an area we are actively trying to reach.

The Journal itself is available by paid subscription (though Dixon Cartwright says some subscriptions are free to those who cannot afford it) and often tends to take a non-Philadelphian era view of certain church matters. But I will add that agree that areas such as Myanmar and Kachinland need to be better reached per Matthew 24:14 and Matthew 28:19-20, and we in CCOG are trying to do so.