Dear Brethren and Co-Workers with Christ,
Dr. Meredith is very busy this week, so he has asked me to write this month’s letter, to keep you up-to-date on the news of the Work and the condition of our world. He asks me to convey to you his deep appreciation for your prayers, and for your faithful and heartfelt support of God’s Work in this end-time! Without your support, the Tomorrow’s World telecast, magazine, Internet, and congregational outreach would suffer greatly. We thank you for the generosity of your dedication, commitment and financial support!
Although God has called us all to be good stewards, we see around us many examples of irresponsible stewardship, particularly in the governments of our nations. In the parable of “The Faithful Servant and the Evil Servant,” Jesus said: “Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his master will make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of food in due season? Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. Truly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all that he has” (Luke 12:42-44).
Has the U.S. Pentagon demonstrated good stewardship? This news headline seems almost unbelievable: “Audit: US cannot account for $8.7 billion in Iraqi funds” (Associated Press, July 27, 2010). Does the U.S. government just give money away without any accountability? The Baghdad-datelined article states: “A U.S. audit has found that the Pentagon cannot account for over 95 percent of $9.1 billion in Iraq reconstruction money, spotlighting Iraqi complaints that there is little to show for the massive funds pumped into their cash-strapped, war-ravaged nation.… It’s cash that Iraq, which relies on volatile oil revenues to fuel its spending, can ill afford to lose…. ‘The breakdown in controls left the funds vulnerable to inappropriate uses and undetected loss,’ the audit said.”
Can you imagine any successful organization conducting business in such a way that it cannot account for 95 percent of its spending? No! And if we do not as a nation repent of our poor stewardship, God will continue to allow the U.S. and other modern Israelite nations to self-destruct! As Dr. Meredith warns in his upcoming “Personal” in the September-October 2010 Tomorrow’s World magazine, “Another huge problem now looming just ahead is the financial crisis, which is affecting not only the U.S., but also much of the rest of the world. Yet it will affect America more dramatically than most other countries—for the U.S. has become the world’s ‘biggest debtor’—and is printing money like crazy—creating trillions of dollars of ‘monopoly money’ backed up by essentially nothing!” (p. 2).
This irresponsible fiscal approach assumes that U.S. productivity will continue to flourish, and that our grandchildren and great-grandchildren will pay for our massive indebtedness. But on June 9, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke warned the House Budget Committee that the federal deficit is on an “unsustainable path.” Erskine Bowles, co-chair of a Presidential commission to reduce the federal deficit, told Parade magazine, “If we don’t solve the debt problem, we will be paying $1 trillion in interest in 2020. That’s money we can’t spend on Social Security, Medicare, education, infrastructure, or innovation to make sure America is competitive in a global economy. This debt is like a cancer [emphasis ours] growing within the country. To fix it, we’ve got to make decisions that are politically tough” (July 4, 2010, p. 8).
Will we be able to stop this deadly “cancer”? Can you even imagine paying $1 trillion dollars in interest? As I have emphasized in my Tomorrow’s World Special Presentations, there is a solution to the global financial crisis. If every nation—and particularly our Western nations—would choose to obey God, we would not only turn this crisis around, but we would abundantly prosper. Our nations need to repent of their godless ways, and to repent of stealing from God! Stealing from God? Notice what God says to us through the prophet Malachi: “Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, ‘In what way have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings. You are cursed with a curse, for you have robbed Me, even this whole nation” (Malachi 3:8-9)!
God condemns not just individuals for stealing from Him, but “even this whole nation”! If our peoples and governments would obey God by paying their tithes and giving their offerings, He would fulfill this promise: “‘Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house, and try Me now in this,’ says the Lord of hosts, ‘If I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it’” (Malachi 3:10).
Of course, the probability of national repentance is near zero, but God has given us the mission to warn our nations, and call them to repentance! Many of you have benefited from God’s blessings for your obedience and generosity. As Jesus said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35). Be sure to read Dr. Meredith’s article, “Financial Security and Blessings,” in the May-June 2010 Tomorrow’s World magazine, if you have not already read it. The article is also available on our Tomorrow’s World Web site.
The Living Church of God takes very seriously its responsibility for stewardship. As many of you know, we published our 2009 annual audit in the July-August Living Church News. From that audit, you can see the emphasis we put on the Mission that Jesus Christ has given His people. In 2009, 47.16 percent of our expenses went toward “feeding the flock”—teaching those whom God has called. Another 44.95 percent went toward “preaching the Gospel”—the public outreach of Tomorrow’s World. Just 6.45 percent went toward administrative expenses, and another 1.44 percent was set aside as a surplus for assets. As our Director of Business Operations, Mr. J. Davy Crockett, III, wrote in that issue: “Our job is to be faithful in matters financial at every level and phase of the Work, using the resources that God provides in the most effective way possible to carry out the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20). The independent audit is only one factor in our efforts to be certain that we are good stewards in carrying out the responsibilities we have been given at the headquarters of the Work” (“Audit 2009: ‘Prove Me Now Herewith…’,” p. 17).
Again, we appreciate the dedicated support from all of you in helping to fulfill the Great Commission! We also appreciate your generous response to Dr. Meredith’s recent co-worker letter in support of Living University. Fall Semester classes began just yesterday, August 16. More than 150 students around the world will study and learn true values and inspiring biblical truths in their own homes through distance learning. For more information, go to the Living University Web page: www.livinguniv.com.
Our Church Administration office recently reported that in July, compared to last year, attendance at our Sabbath services around the world has increased by an encouraging 10.2 percent overall—and in the U.S. by 12.0 percent! A significant amount of that increase is due to our Tomorrow’s World Special Presentations [TWSPs]. We appreciate those of you in central Texas who attended Dr. Meredith’s inspiring presentation in Dallas on July 10. So far in 2010, our telecast presenters and area pastors have given presentations in Johannesburg and Cape Town, South Africa; Kingston, Jamaica; London, England; Port of Spain, Trinidad-Tobago; and 13 cities in Canada including Toronto, Winnipeg, Prince George, and Dartmouth. By the time you receive this letter, Evangelist Gerald Weston will have given presentations in London, Windsor, and Chatham, ON (August 17-19). In the U.S., so far this year, others of you attended presentations in Brooklyn, NY; Glendale, CA; Atlanta, GA; and Knoxville, TN. Evangelist Dr. Douglas Winnail just gave presentations in Oklahoma City and Tulsa, OK this past weekend. In addition, other ministers gave presentations in cities too numerous to list here. Be sure to monitor the Tomorrow’s World Web site for upcoming scheduled TWSPs!
As long-time supporters of Tomorrow’s World, many of you have read our booklet The Holy Days: God’s Master Plan. You know that Jesus, the Apostles, and the New Testament Church of God observed the weekly seventh-day Sabbath and the seven “annual Sabbaths”—the festival days that God commanded. They did not observe pagan holidays disguised with counterfeit Christian ideas. If you have not already read Dr. Meredith’s eye-opening booklet, Satan’s Counterfeit Christianity, be sure to order your free copy or read it on-line at our Tomorrow’s World Web site. Jesus told His brothers to go up to the Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem. Later, Jesus went up to Feast, and on “the last day, that great day of the feast” He proclaimed, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water” (John 7:37-38). The Apostle John comments: “But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified” (v. 39).
One way in which the Living Church of God strives to follow the example of Christ and the Apostles is by observing the biblically commanded annual Feast of Tabernacles. The eight-day festival begins this year on Wednesday evening, September 22, and will be attended by thousands of our Church members. Even if you have never attended before, Dr. Meredith has asked me to encourage you co-workers to attend one of our festival sites—even for just a day or two, if you are able—so you can experience for yourself some of the blessings of living God’s Way. Right now, festival coordinators are preparing for our meetings at nine sites across the U.S., three in Canada, and another 24 around the globe. If you are interested in attending, just go to our www.cogl.org Web site and click on “Feast of Tabernacles” at the left of the screen, then select “New visitor?” in the “Feast Site Registration Information” box on the next screen. There, you will find information that will help you plan your visit. Or, if you are already in contact with a Living Church of God minister, please contact him to let him know that you are a co-worker interested in attending one of our Feast sites.
This is a most exciting time of the year for God’s people, as we come together to rejoice in obedience to our Father in heaven and our Lord Jesus Christ. We look forward to the time when all nations around the world will learn to observe the Feast of Tabernacles and send representatives to Jerusalem to worship the King, Jesus Christ. “And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles” (Zechariah 14:16).
We look forward to—and pray for—that time when the Prince of Peace and King of kings will govern and educate the whole world in the way of true righteousness and godliness. In the meantime, we all have the responsibility to prepare the world, the Church, and ourselves for the glorious return of Christ. As we begin taping Tomorrow’s World telecasts for the new season, tell your friends and family how to find the program in your area. Of course, the telecast is always available on our Tomorrow’s World Web site. And pray for more laborers to join us in the exciting spiritual harvest God is now providing. May God bless you for your dedication, commitment, and support of the mission Christ is actively guiding day by day!
Your servant in Christ,
Richard F. Ames