Greetings from Charlotte,
Mr. Meredith has returned from a very profitable trip to the Los Angeles area where he spoke last Sabbath, visited family and also made several other visits. Mr. and Mrs. Ames are back from Arizona where they were able to spend some time with family members. Mr. and Mrs. Crockett have been "lost in Arkansas" but are due back in Charlotte this weekend! Mr. Meredith, Mr. Turner and I just completed a phone meeting with our UK Board members—it was good to hear their voices again! We are planning a Regional Conference next Sunday, July 15, for deacons, elders and their wives here in Charlotte in order to cover the material that we have presented in other conferences around the USA. Mr. Ruddlesden reports that income for the first six months of 2007 is right on target, with expenses just under what was budgeted. Compared to June 2006, the number of new co-workers is up 42 percent and the number of donors us up 79 percent. These are very positive developments for which we can be very thankful to God
Church Administration
German Update
Mr. Adrian Kaefer reports that from January through June 2007, our German-language website, www.weltvonmorgen.org, had almost 30,000 identified visitors, which is an increase of 103 percent compared to the last six months of 2006. The number of booklet downloads was roughly 4,000, an increase of almost 8 percent compared to the last six months of 2006. About 10,500 articles were downloaded, an increase of approximately 32 percent from the last six months of 2006. In addition, 272 booklets, 329 articles and 70 copies of the Bible Study Course were distributed by mail.
We can also see from the number of visitors who only watch the table of contents and then exit the website, that there are many people who see the titles of our publications, but do not read any further. On the other hand, we have a good increase in printed literature orders. We have sent out already almost as many articles in the first six months of 2007 as in all of 2006. An interesting statistic: 36 percent of all visitors have added our website to their favorites, which means that they liked what they read and that they are likely to come back to it. The article "Should Christians Celebrate Birthdays?" has replaced the previous and long-time number one article ("What Does it Mean to Hallow God's Name?") and has now been distributed more than 4,400 times.
Miracle of Protection
Mr. George Schaubeck, our elder in Costa Rica, reports: On June 21, my son Johann was driving back home from work. After driving a few blocks, his vehicle stopped suddenly. It was raining tremendously, due to a tropical depression. The highways were full of mud and stones. That evening, the route that Johann usually takes was inundated by overflowing rivers, carrying and destroying automobiles. Thanks to the intervention of God, Johann's car stopped before he arrived at the area of this tragedy.
Arkansas Update
Mr. Rick Stafford, our Arkansas Area Pastor, reports: We have now concluded the third of twelve scheduled Speaking Fellowship meetings. The first meeting had 30 brethren in attendance, the second 36, and the third 54, coming from our six area congregations! Enthusiastic brethren call these meetings mini-Feasts as they respond to the exhortation to increase our fellowship opportunities as the day approaches. They donate a few hours once a month to encourage and support each other as they learn and practice serving and giving. A big hand is due to the ladies who outdid themselves again in serving a dinner! The Philadelphia spirit of brotherly love is heart-warming as Christ is bonding all of us together.
Living Youth Camp—Transportation and Medical Forms
To Be Read at Services: Attention All LYC Participants: The "transportation" and "medical" forms need to be submitted to Susanne Ruddlesden by Monday, July 9. Please fax your forms to 704-841-1922 and bring the originals with you to camp. Those who do not submit their Living Youth Camp Medical Form by the beginning of camp will not be able to participate in activities. Therefore, it is important to get those forms in.
Note: Even if you entered your transportation information online, you still need to mail or fax your completed transportation form. For further information, please call Mrs. Ruddlesden at 704-844-1960 ext. 235, or send her e-mail at [email protected].
Feast of Tabernacles 2007
Festival (Second Tithe) Assistance Requests—For USA Only
Attention USA Pastors: Please remember that the deadline to submit Festival Assistance Request forms to the Church Administration Department is Monday, July 16. All forms should be submitted by that date. Forms should be properly filled out by the members requesting assistance to attend the Feast. Also, the respective pastor should write his recommendation/comments on the form before submitting it.
Bushkill, Pennsylvania (Choir Director Needed)
If you have experience as a Choir Director and would like to serve in Bushkill this year, we could certainly use your services. Please contact Jonathan McNair at [email protected] or 516-724-4452 if you can assist in this way.
Festival Registration
As of today, more than 3,600 members and prospective members around the United States and Canada have registered online for the Feast. The Festival Office and the Festival Coordinators thank all those who have gone through this process. This is immensely helpful, as plans go forward for the Feast sites. If you haven't registered yet, please remember to do so by July 15. If for any reason you are unable to register, please see the Festival Advisor in your congregation.
Have a profitable Sabbath,
Douglas S. Winnail
News and Prophecy—July 5, 2007
Will Israel Attack Iran? On June 11, 2007, Israel successfully launched its most advanced spy satellite ever. This device's orbit will carry it over Iran, Iraq and Syria every 90 minutes (Jerusalem Post Online [JPost.com], June 11, 2007). According to senior U.S. sources, the U.S. and Israel have a joint military strike plan in place for destroying Iranian nuclear facilities. One U.S. senator is calling for an early strike to take out Iranian bases thought to be supplying fighters and arms to the resistance in Iraq (JPost.com, June 10, 2007). Meanwhile, the Israeli air force is practicing long-range bombing maneuvers in preparation for a strike against Iran (JPost.com, June 21, 2007). They are also bracing for confrontation as early as this summer with one of many enemies: Iran, Hezbollah, Hamas, World Jihad, or Syria (JPost.com, June 25, 2007). Richard Bolton, former U.S. Ambassador to the UN, has simultaneously been pushing the U.S. to "act now" to relieve Iran of its nuclear capability (JPost.com, June 27, 2007). Israel continues to be at the center of rising Middle East tensions. God prophesied that Israel and Jerusalem would be embroiled in conflict prior to the return of Christ and would have many enemies (Zechariah 12:2-3). Israel will be engaged in increasing conflict as time and prophecy march on.
Farm Fertilizer is Killing the Gulf of Mexico. Louisiana's Times Picayune newspaper reported last month (June 9, 2007) that the "dead zone" in the Gulf of Mexico is growing. Each spring, water from farms across the U.S. heartland drains into the mouth of the Mississippi River. Laced with chemicals farmers use to fertilize wheat and corn crops, the water empties into the Gulf of Mexico, causing unnatural algae to bloom for several months, depriving sea life of oxygen. This season's "dead zone" off the coast of Louisiana covers an area the size of the state of Connecticut. University of Michigan professor Don Scavia said: "You reach a point where you've shifted the ecosystem to a completely different domain, and the recovery from that may be impossible. There will be a time when the critters that typically occupy the sediment in those areas can no longer recover." Those "critters" are worms and bottom-dwelling organisms that form the foundation of the food chain supporting all other sea creatures. The problem has been known since the 1940s, but federal and state programs addressing chemical and waste pollution entering the Gulf have been ineffective. The Bible predicts that all ocean life will eventually die. "Then the second angel poured out his bowl on the sea, and it became blood as of a dead man; and every living creature in the sea died" (Revelation 16:3). Could man's poor stewardship of the earth contribute to this catastrophic end-time event?
Most People Will Soon Live in Cities. The majority of human beings will live in cities by sometime in 2008, according to the executive director of the UN Population Fund, who warned that crowded conditions will raise "the threat of increased poverty and religious extremism, unless the needs of growing urban populations are met. Without proper planning, cities across the globe face the threat of overwhelming poverty and limited opportunities for youth" (Associated Press, June 27, 2007). She also noted that when cities fail to meet the needs of growing populations, religious beliefs become extreme. "Extremism is often a reaction to rapid and sudden change or to a feeling of exclusion and injustice, and the cities can be a basis for that if they are not well managed." Overpopulation strains a city's ability to provide public health and safety services, clean water and sanitation, setting the stage for life-threatening epidemics and crime. Isaiah warned: "Woe to those who join house to house... till there is no place where they may dwell alone in the midst of the land!" (Isaiah 5:8). God did not want mankind to crowd into cities; after the Noachian Flood, He took steps to disperse the population: "Therefore its name is called Babel, because there the LORD confused the language of all the earth; and from there the LORD scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth" (Genesis 11:9).—Don Davis, Scott Winnail