Greetings everyone,
Mr. and Mrs. Meredith are in Charlotte, North Carolina this week looking for a house. I have heard that they have made an offer and are waiting for a response from the seller. They will be in Houston for church this Sabbath.
Mr. and Mrs. Apartian have been packing this week, preparing to vacate their house in Rancho Bernardo. They expect to close on the sale of their house next week. Remember them in your prayers.
MEDIA
Status Report on New Booklet, The Middle East In Prophecy
Please announce: As previously announced, members automatically receive new booklets upon publication. Many of you are wondering why you have not yet received the new booklet The Middle East in Prophecy. Note, however, that the new booklet is in the printing process and it will be mailed as soon as the Mail Processing Department receives it.
CHURCH ADMINISTRATION
Attention Area Pastors:
Please check your Passover equipment and supplies in your area. If you have need of anything (trays and/or glasses) for the churches and video groups you oversee, send your request by memo to: Deborah, at [email protected] right away.
Also, canvass your members to determine who cannot attend the Passover service and must take it at home. If you can duplicate the Passover service audiotape you received in the past, do so for them. If you do not have a Passover service audiotape, or if you cannot duplicate it, request it right away.
International:
Kingston, Jamaica
"The Kingston, Jamaica congregation welcomed Regional Pastor Jonathan McNair on January 11th, for a quarterly visit. Two prospective members attended, bringing the Sabbath attendance to a record-high of 72 people. The Jamaican brethren continue to wholeheartedly support the preaching of the gospel, as the Tomorrow's World television program is broadcast each Sunday morning at 9:00 am. More than three thousand subscribers receive the Tomorrow's World magazine each issue, and many have requested booklets on a range of subjects. Our public lecture schedule for 2003 will begin in the town of Mandeville, on January 25th, with associate pastor Hugh Wilson conducting lecture. Subscribers who have requested two or more booklets have been invited. A second Public Lecture will be held in Kingston, in early May. Last year the Kingston lecture had an excellent turnout."
COMMENTS
I will be visiting Mr. Lambert Greer and the brethren in Louisville, Kentucky and Cincinnati, Ohio this Sabbath. This will be my first visit to Louisville in many years, so I am looking forward to the trip. Mr. Greer informed me that I should dress for cold temperatures, and he is expecting snow. Sounds invigorating to me!
We are all watching with concern the on-going geopolitical brinkmanship between "the Western nations" and rogue countries such as North Korea and Iraq. The leadership of both countries gives the world the impression that their citizens would willingly die in the defense of their beloved leaders—but I think we all know that is not true. It reminds me of the following story of two leaders who were bragging about their followers.
The first leader said, "If I pointed to the north and said, 'Go,' my people would—even over a cliff."
The second leader said, "If I pointed north, all my people would respectfully redirect me northeast or northwest, so we'd miss that cliff." (Leadership with a human touch, 1/2003)
The leaders of North Korea and Iraq will find themselves abandoned once the shooting and bombing commence—except for those who have no place to hide.
The United States and her allies have developed some of the most incredible weaponry in the history of mankind. Some believe we will see weapons unveiled in this war (if it happens) that will surpass the weapons used in "Desert Storm" as much as the smart bombs and cruise missiles surpassed the weapons of World War II. Others believe the "hi-tech" weaponry will be neutralized in part by "low-tech" methods that will be employed by the Iraqi military—putting civilians in harms way.
Scripture speaks of future regional and global wars with both hi-tech and low-tech components—and slaughter of civilians beyond our imagination.
Looks like we had better watch and pray to be accounted worthy to escape all these things, else we will suffer along with the world.
I hope that you all have a great Sabbath, and travel safely.
Carl E. McNair