Greetings from Charlotte,
This has been a busy week of pulling many things together as the Spring Holy Days draw near. Mr. Meredith and Dr. Winnail are finishing a number of writing projects and preparing for their trip to Ireland and the U.K. for the Holy Days and for Board meetings. Mr. Apartian and his wife will be visiting congregations in Martinique and Barbados, and Mr. and Mrs. Ames will be traveling to Alabama and Tennessee. Mr. and Mrs. Crockett will be visiting the congregation in Walterboro, South Carolina this weekend. Last Sabbath, Mr. and Mrs. Ames were in Bristol, Virginia, and Mr. Rod McNair was in Little Rock, Arkansas. Their reports follow. Because of our schedule during the Passover and Days of Unleavened Bread season, we will not produce The World Ahead on April 13 and 20. The next issue of The World Ahead will be April 27.
FROM THE PRESIDING EVANGELIST
(To be announced at services)
Dear Fellow Servants of Jesus Christ,
As the Passover quickly approaches, I want to thank all of you, once again, for your love, your loyalty and your help in the Work of Christ at the end of the age. As the final events of this age begin picking up steam, it is truly encouraging to see all the things we have preached and written about finally start to come to pass! Mr. Herbert Armstrong would literally be "jumping with joy" in the sense that he would see Christ's coming truly on the horizon. Even though we have had—and will have—trials and tests in our Christian lives and in God's Work, in the Big Picture we see working out it is obvious that God's hand is in world affairs in a powerful way and with us also, using and guiding us in completing the Work. We all need to pray fervently for God's guidance and for one another.
At this time, I hope every one of us can prayerfully examine ourselves as we, especially, should be close to God as the leaders in His Work. We all need to be going "all out" in study, prayer and fasting as the end of this age approaches. We need to do everything we can to have a more powerful impact on this sick and confused world out there. With this in mind, I ask all of you to do everything you can to give very generous offerings during this coming Holy Day season. The Work is coming along satisfactorily, but we truly need a surge in tithes and offerings in order to add new stations, hire the new ministers which are desperately needed, and do other critical things.
Please fervently pray also for God to add far more donors, co-workers and members. As these final prophetic events begin to come together, it may gradually become obvious to increasing numbers of our subscribers that God truly is intervening and that this is the primary place He is working at this time. We can pray that God will open their minds so they can respond and help us carry on this Work ever more powerfully.
Thanks for your response and for your prayers. My wife and I will be leaving Sunday night on an overnight flight for London. We will join Dr. Winnail in conducting the Passover and Holy Day services all over Britain during the coming days of Unleavened Bread. Please pray for us, for God's ministers and children everywhere, and rest assured that I will be praying regularly for all of you. Thank you again for your love and your help in completing this Work.
Your brother in Christ,
Roderick C. Meredith
CHURCH ADMINISTRATION
Visit To Bristol, Virginia. My wife and I enjoyed an uplifting and inspiring Sabbath with 51 dedicated brethren from Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina and Kentucky. The brethren are enthusiastic for God's Work and are looking forward to the Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread. Our oldest member, Mrs. Mayola Wilson, age 93, viewed the Tomorrow's World telecast at 1:00 that morning over Inspiration Network—she says she rarely misses a program. May we all rededicate ourselves to God and His Work at this season of the year.—Richard Ames
Visit To Little Rock, Arkansas. I had a very profitable trip to Arkansas last weekend, enjoying the hospitality of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Ogwyn. We shared a delicious meal and fellowship at the Ogwyns' home on Friday night with Mr. and Mrs. Barry Howdeshell; he is an elder in Little Rock. On the Sabbath, we had 39 in attendance in Russelville, and 89 in Little Rock, with a few folks coming down from Ft. Smith. It was good to see so many happy, enthusiastic brethren. And it was good to be back in Arkansas, where I first met my wife 10 years ago—and of where we both have many fond memories.—Rod McNair
FESTIVAL OFFICE
Please Register. The Festival Office is happy to report that, to date, 1,472 individuals (640 households) have successfully registered on the www.cogl.org Members Resources website. The registration process is going quite smoothly overall, despite the few difficulties we experienced at the beginning. Please register without delay if you have not done so—even if you are planning to attend your assigned Feast site. We need to see how our attendance figures progress for our hall planning, so we need everyone to register as soon as possible. The Feast sites descriptions online will be continually updated with new information as it comes available. If you have registered already, you may want to check in to your Feast site's information online from time to time, to see what's new.
Sometimes making housing reservations does not go as smoothly as we would prefer, so please be patient and flexible. That extends to our housing reservation contacts as well. Being ambassadors for Christ starts well before we arrive for the Feast—it starts as soon as we pick up the phone to call in our reservations. (Final note: When you register online and your transfer is approved, please feel free to make your housing reservations, if you have not done so already).
Living 4 Tomorrow – Michigan 2006. Living Church of God young adults are invited to attend the Living 4 Tomorrow program at the beautiful facilities of the Northwoods Christian Camp in Pickford, Michigan. The L4T program is open to singles between the ages of 18 and 30. We will also have a few cabins available for young married couples without children who would wish to attend. The L4T format is one of classes and discussion periods focused for the young Christian adult, mixed with recreational activities and fellowship time. The program fee will be $175 US. It will cover the cost of all lodging, food, and activities. Arrival date is the evening of Tuesday, July 11. Departure date is Sunday morning, July 16. Applications and additional information may be requested by calling Lambert Greer at 502-228-5917 or by email at: [email protected]. Apply soon and plan ahead, as airline tickets can be expensive if you wait too long.
MEDIA
Mr. Wayne Pyle reports that representatives from Janik & Associates (one of our media purchasing agents) visited Charlotte this week to sign a new non-exclusive contract. We want to utilize the expertise of several agents to enable us to reach different TV markets around the globe. The response to last weekend's program #269, The Power of God in History, by Mr. Ames that offered the booklet How God Intervenes in World Affairs is expected to go over 1,900. This figure is a bit lower than usual, possibly due to the time change that occurred in the United States over the weekend. Mr. Pyle notes, "the daylight savings changeover drops our response by about 30 percent below what we normally get."
FINANCE DEPARTMENT
In this Internet Age, we often receive requests from members, co-workers and donors about making contributions to the Work online. To accomplish this, there have been a number of obstacles to overcome, but by working with Bank of America over a period of several months, we have been able to make this new service possible. Online donations can now be made on the www.tomorrowsworld.org, www.lcg.org and www.cogl.org websites. This service should be operational on our websites starting on Sunday, April 9, 2006.
For those wishing to use this method of making contributions to the Church, please carefully read the following information which is found on the www.cogl.org website: "Many members and co-workers have asked to be able to make contributions on line. In response to these requests, we have set up procedures to make it possible to allow on line donations. Please click on the link and follow the instructions.
"Please note that we have made it possible for contributors to make donations to the church by using a credit card and Electronic Funds Transfer. We ask our members and co-workers to refrain from using credit cards for donations, since the credit card companies make a charge of 2.5 to 3% to the church for the service. We ask that members and coworkers use the EFT or Electronic Funds Transfer function by providing their bank routing number (found on the bottom edge of their paper checks) when setting up the account on line. Using this routing number allows for an electronic transfer of funds from the contributor's account into the church's account with only a very nominal fee being paid by the church. We hope you enjoy this service and that it serves you well."
Also note that donations by regular mail are still welcomed. Using either method, your donations will be gratefully acknowledged and may be tax deductible.—Davy Crockett
RISK MANAGEMENT
Primarily for USA Ministry. By now, most ministers should have received an email about driver applications for this year. We would appreciate your help in returning completed driver application forms (both for their own households and any area volunteer drivers in the U.S.) as quickly as possible. Our deadline for providing the LCG drivers list to Enterprise and our insurers (MVR's are obtained for us on the annual group list submission) is due fairly soon, and completing the process on this end takes considerable time. To serve you better, these forms have been made "fillable" on-screen (you may need a newer version of Acrobat Reader – the link to download is at www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html). Just type, click any applicable check boxes, print, make sure applicant has signed, and either scan/email to [email protected], or fax to 704-844-1976. Thank you for your cooperation in completing this important chore.—Tom Turner
COMMENTS
Eliminating Leaven. The Scriptures clearly indicate that during the Days of Unleavened Bread all leaven is to be removed from our homes and that anyone who eats leavened products is to be "cut off from Israel" (Exodus 12:15). This warning has motivated many to make a diligent effort to deleaven their dwellings before the Passover season begins. However, some go to extremes, not understanding the real reason for this process. I recall a member advising a new person that even books should be deleavened, "because you might have been eating a cookie while you were reading a book." This nearly caused a panic attack—because the new person's mate had a large library in their home and the new person envisioned having to search through the pages of hundreds of books looking for crumbs of leaven!
We need to remember that the deleavening of our dwellings is a physical exercise to help us understand the importance of identifying and eliminating the spiritual leaven that we tolerate in our lives and do not like to recognize as sin. Sometimes in our zeal to remove physical leaven, we overlook the real spiritual intent of this process—and we take the Passover harboring anger and being judgmental towards neighbors we are commanded to love (Galatians 5:14-15). Yet Jesus emphasized this spiritual dimension of the law by pointing out that God regards hatred and judgmental attitudes as murder, and lust as adultery (Matthew 5:21-30). Paul emphasized that we should not go through the Days of Unleavened Bread carrying a lot of spiritual leaven (I Corinthians 5:1-8). The real thrust of Paul's admonition to "examine" ourselves (I Corinthians 11:27-32) was to address and eliminate the sinful attitudes and behaviors that were so evident in the lives of the members of the Church in Corinth. They, too, may have been more worried about bread crumbs than overcoming and eliminating the real sins in their lives.
Have a profitable Sabbath,
Douglas Winnail
NEWS AND PROPHECY—April 6, 2006
Severe Weather in Australia. Two powerful tropical cyclones (hurricanes) recently battered northern Australia. The most recent, Gloria, caused major flooding but missed a major population center (MSNBC.com, Mar. 31, 2006). One of our Australian ministers, Mr. Rod King, writes about Cyclone Larry which hit northern Queensland two weeks ago: "Just over a week ago Glenda's brother, Larry, smashed into the Queensland coast on the other side of the continent. The town of Innisfail was in the direct path of this tropical monster and though the storm only lasted four hours, virtually every house in the town was either destroyed or badly damaged. The surrounding agricultural area was devastated. The entire banana crop of northern Queensland has been destroyed. This provides more than sixty percent of Australia's banana market and will take up to three years to recover. Due to quarantine regulations overseas, supplies from countries such as the Philippines will not be imported. Prices in Sydney and Melbourne have gone from two dollars per kilogram to seven dollars in a week… one station (ranch) owner reported seeing sharks fifty miles inland as flood waters allowed them to travel up swollen rivers." More cyclones could possibly strike the northern Australia coasts. God promised to curse the produce of the land when nations sin (Deut 28:18). We will continue to see more destructive weather negatively affecting Israelite nations.
Who Owns Great Britain? "The prime minister revealed that Downing Street (his residence) is supplied with French electricity, German water and foreign gas… Over the past 20 years, many British utility companies have been snapped up by foreign predators. Even companies with the most British of names—Thames Water, London Energy—have fallen prey to overseas bidders" (Daily Mail, Mar. 25, 2006). In the meantime, the British government is creating a national identity card that will contain a great deal of personal information, ultimately serving as a European identity card, which will provide Brussels with detailed information on each citizen (Mail On Sunday, Mar. 26, 2006). Britain continues to give more of its power and authority to the EU, just as God predicted—almost to the point of voluntary enslavement (Deut 28:33, 43-44).
Drought, Hunger, and Catastrophe in Africa. "More than half of Africa is now in need of urgent food assistance…" Nearly 200 million people are malnourished and this number is rising (see Matt 24:7; Rev 6:5-6). Although drought is a major factor in the food-shortage situation, many experts, both within and outside of Africa, cite civil unrest and corrupt leadership as primary reasons for the dire situation. In fact, with honest and caring leaders, many assume that numerous African nations could be food exporters and eliminate the problems of hunger currently ravaging the continent (BBCnews, Jan. 31, 2006). God promised Abraham that all nations would be blessed through his seed (Gen 26:4). As God begins to remove His blessings from the continually sinning nations of Israel, and as these nations pull out or are thrown out of other countries, many other nations of the earth are suffering. As the world suffers, we need to pray more fervently for God's Kingdom to come and bring the "times of refreshing" this world so badly needs (Acts 3:19)—Scott Winnail, Don Davis, Dan Bennett