Dear Brethren and Co-Workers with Christ,
Greetings from Charlotte, NC! Prophesied events truly continue to cascade forward! We now read in the newspapers that Iran is fully capable of producing an atomic bomb! The nation has also recently tested a missile with which it could send that bomb to Israel and other nearby nations. Events in the Middle East are indeed ominous, and Christ certainly indicated that we should “watch Jerusalem.”
Meanwhile, a massive water shortage is building up in many nations all over the world. More than half of the United States is experiencing drought. Recently, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a “state of emergency” due to the state’s now three-year-running water crisis—its worst on record.
Around the world nearly two billion people don’t have access to clean, potable water. In China, available water supplies are estimated to support only about 650 million people—only half of its 1.3 billion population. Water supplies in India, Thailand, Pakistan and other nations in the far East are often polluted because of poorly maintained sewage treatment plants, clogged pipes and sewage which leaks into the soil and contaminates drinking water wells—causing sickness and death. In much of Africa, the same problems occur. Also in Africa, some 20 million people depend on drinking water from Lake Chad—an aquifer that has shrunk by 95 percent in the past 38 years! So millions on that continent are also in great danger of running out of potable water, running out of food and experiencing many other truly horrible problems that are reported on a daily basis.
For decades, we have told you about the many Bible statements indicating severe drought in the last days. These terrible conditions will not only affect far off lands, but will come to our shores here in the United States, Canada, Britain and Australia. Already, as I have indicated, we are experiencing drought in much of the U.S. and Australia has also experienced similar difficulties.
Dear brethren and co-workers, we truly are in the prophesied “last days” of this earth’s 6,000 year human civilization. Soon—hopefully very soon—Jesus Christ will return as King of kings and Lord of lords (Revelation 11:15). At that time, the deserts will “blossom as the rose” (Isaiah 35:1).
Before then, however, we will continue to experience the downward spiral of this world’s human civilization. We are already in the worst financial crisis in 60 years. Many of you are no doubt experiencing job problems and tight financial conditions. Yet, when we compare our need to “tighten our belts” and cut back on any excess expenditures, we can still be very thankful—most of us—that we live in relatively prosperous lands and still have our lives, our families and health intact. Down through the ages, as you know, the true people of God have experienced much worse difficulties than most of us are now experiencing. The book of Hebrews tells us, “Women received their dead raised to life again. And others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. Still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented—of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth” (Hebrews 11:35-38).
Remember, brethren, God is truly our “Father”! We must always remember that central fact of our existence! We must constantly “cry out” to Him to help us and to help others, and to help His Church actually do the Work of proclaiming His message to this dying world. His Word tells us that He will always watch out for us and take care of us. God tells us, “Let your conduct be without covetousness, and be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5). In the months and years just ahead before Christ’s return and our ultimate deliverance, we must learn to study, meditate on and believe in these promises from God Almighty! Then we must serve our God faithfully, truly obey Him and “keep His commandments” so that our prayers may be heard. Always remember the many verses that tell us, as does 1 John 3:22, “And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight.”
During times such as this, the Eternal God is looking for people who genuinely put their trust in Him. Through His servant David, God tells us, “But the salvation of the righteous is from the Lord; He is their strength in the time of trouble. And the Lord shall help them and deliver them; He shall deliver them from the wicked, and save them, because they trust in Him” (Psalm 37:39-40).
As I have said so many times, we are really, really serious about proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ around the world. With God’s help, we are trying to get the job done in every possible way. We strive to leave “no stone unturned,” as it were, in our efforts to reach every man, woman and child we possibly can. Our media efforts during the first two months of this year have been absolutely encouraging. My semiannual letter, mailed to approximately 400,000 subscribers around the world is drawing tens of thousands of requests for our first-time ever DVD-offer, “The Power of Prophecy.” Our original order for 50,000 DVDs was not enough to cover the response!
In the first two months of this year, we received more than 44,000 responses from the telecast in North America and internationally. The response in the U.S. and Canada is up 15 percent, and the response from brand new, first-time viewers is up 19 percent over the first two months of last year.
We are excited about our growth in television. As all of you old-timers in this Work know, from the beginning I have pushed and pushed to expand Tomorrow’s World TV coverage—domestically and abroad. We had so little money to start with, but scores of members, along with a number of co-workers, volunteered to sponsor free public access TV stations in the United States. Presently, we have 80 volunteers sponsoring over 100 local TV stations, which is a big help, and there is still a need for more who are willing to help sponsor local television, where such opportunities exist, even where we already have local commercial television. (If you would like to help, let me know the next time you write, and I will connect you to our employees who work with public access on a daily basis throughout the United States.)
We are currently airing the Tomorrow’s World television program on more than 200 TV stations and cable and satellite systems around the world. Based on TV ratings, our telecast is now being viewed by as many as 600,000 households each week. WGN America, the superstation in Chicago, is bringing in about 100,000 viewers every week—at 6:00 am Eastern Time each Sunday morning, and about 25,000 of these every week are brand new Tomorrow’s World viewers! Our coverage on the BET Network at 6:00 am Thursday mornings is drawing another 50,000 viewers each and every week. Our new prime time slot Sunday nights at 7:30 pm on The WORD Network (via DirecTV) is bringing in an estimated 60,000 viewers each week.
We want to cover the land—around the world—with the Tomorrow’s World telecast. But Jesus Christ makes it clear that we will not have gone through all the cities of Israel before He comes back to this earth (Matthew 10:23). Obviously, if you cannot see the telecast in your area on your TV set, we do not have enough television coverage. But you can help! You can help by praying fervently for God to bring Tomorrow’s World TV coverage to your area. As you have heard the old cliché over the years, the impossible takes a little longer, but with God all things are possible, especially when it comes to proclaiming His Gospel (Matthew 17:20 and 24:14). You need to be patient and even long-suffering, but God Almighty loves this kind of prayer from His children. Your prayers are vital for growth in your local area.
Again, dear brethren and co-workers, we must put our whole hearts in the Work which Jesus Christ is doing today! In that way, we will definitely “lay up treasure” in heaven and be given a greater reward when Christ returns to this earth as King of kings. Remember, you and I can never “out-give” God! He has given us our lives, our minds, our talents, our strengths—everything we have—and now He has opened our minds and “called us” to know Him and to have a part in the ongoing crusade of proclaiming His message to the world at the end of this age. So let us pour out our hearts to Him with thanksgiving, and ask Him for His help, His deliverance and His blessing on us—and on His Work—as this civilization comes to an end.
Each of us must “walk with God”—through God’s Spirit—and cry out to God to develop in us the radiant faith exemplified by the Apostle Paul at the very end of his life before he went out—perhaps on a cold, overcast morning—to be decapitated by his Roman captors. In those final weeks or months of his human life, Paul wrote, “For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing” (2 Timothy 4:6-8).
Let us also zealously go “all out” in fulfilling our part in His Work, and put our faith and trust in God just as the Apostle Paul did! Dear brethren and co-workers, the Work needs your help now! I have confidence that you will understand and that all of you who can will respond generously. The great God who gives us life and breath will bless you as you sincerely try to do your part in preparing for His Kingdom. Thank you, in advance, for your help, your support and your fervent prayers!
With Christian love,
Roderick C. Meredith