Greetings brethren,
In Charlotte, we have been busy preparing year-end reports and planning for the future. Festival plans for 2006 are coming together and plans for the Ministerial Conference (May 15-17) are being finalized. More details about these events will be announced in the next several weeks as contracts are completed and signed. Mr. Meredith is making a church visit this weekend and will have more to report upon his return. I will also be making another church visit this weekend. Mr. Meredith announced last Sabbath that Mr. and Mrs. Rod King will be transferred to the UK this summer to help guide the growth of the Work in that part of the world. Mr. King will continue to administer the Philippines from the UK for the immediate future.
Note to Pastors, Elders and Video Recipients: We understand that with the addition of the News and Prophecy section in The World Ahead, the weekly update has grown in length and can be a challenge to cover during the announcement period at services. In order to conserve time and yet still help focus attention on important prophetic developments, you might want to briefly refer to the events covered in the News and Prophecy section and then post the News and Prophecy page on a bulletin board at services or make copies for distribution after services. To facilitate this, we will publish the News and Prophecy section at the end of the update on its own separate page. It might be helpful and informative to display the News and Prophecy pages for the entire month on a bulletin board so the trend of world events will become more evident. You could also begin posting the entire weekly issue of The World Ahead after reading from it during the announcement period. We plan to issue in the near future a monthly Ministerial Newsletter that will contain information that is more relevant to the ministry.
MEDIA
Mr. Wayne Pyle reports that since Christmas fell on Sunday this year and many people spent Sunday morning opening presents instead of watching television, this combination of events had a negative impact on TV responses last weekend. Your prayers for the broadcast will be appreciated.
Monitors Needed to Watch ALN this Sunday, January 1, 2006. Mr. Ames states that we need members who have expanded cable television to monitor a new TV network we are testing. It is called the American Life Network—designated in TV listings as ALN. If any of you are able to watch the Tomorrow's World television program airing at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time this coming Sunday morning on ALN, please email Wayne Pyle at [email protected] and let him know that you were able to watch our telecast on ALN. Please also give him your zip code. He needs this information by Monday morning, January 2. Thank you for your help.
COMMENTS
Year-End Evaluations and Plans: For most organizations, winding up another calendar year is a time for year-end reports, assessing problems and accomplishments of the past 12 months and mapping out plans for the coming year. If we are really serious about growing, overcoming and bearing spiritual fruit, we can benefit by using these same procedures in our own lives. In the coming week, it might be very helpful to spend some time reflecting on your actions and activities of the past year. Make a list of what you have accomplished and what problems you have had to deal with—and what lessons you have learned. Then make a list of goals that you would like to accomplish and challenges that you need to overcome. Study the Bible to find out what God has to say about the goals and challenges that you face (Psalm 119:105). Do some reading to find out what may be helpful in achieving your goals and overcoming your particular challenges. Get wise counsel about issues you face (Proverbs 11:14; 15:22). Then formulate some plans—with specific things to do—to achieve the goals you set. This is what Solomon meant when he advised, "Ponder the path of your feet, and let all your ways be established" (Proverbs 4:25-27).
Have a profitable Sabbath,
Douglas Winnail
NEWS AND PROPHECY—December 29, 2005
Wars and Rumors of Wars: Thomas Nichols, a professor at the U.S. Naval War College makes these sobering comments, "We are entering a new age of preventive war…the growing acceptance of preventive uses of military force…threatens to undermine coordinated attempts to battle terrorists and contain rogue states, and will render the United Nations even more irrelevant…The most worrisome possibility would be the rapid abandonment of international institutions by states strong enough to act…in such a world, the preventive use of force would be essentially ungoverned and ungovernable… This outcome represents a world in which international institutions have lost any ability to control the use of force…with catastrophic results" (World Policy Journal, Fall 2005). Professor Nichols is describing world conditions that Jesus predicted would arise at the end of the age (see Matthew 24:6-12, 21-22; Revelation 6:4).
Germany Taking Center Stage in Europe: "German chancellor Angela Merkel has been crowned the queen of the EU budget by the European press, with tabloid Bild am Sonntag calling her 'Miss Europe' and broadsheet FAZ splashing 'Angela Merkel impresses Europe' on its front page" (EUobserver, December 28, 2005). Also called the "Secret President of the EU," Ms Merkel tactfully cut through a French/British impasse over the EU budget this week. Chancellor Merkel, a physicist-turned-politician from East Germany, is gaining credibility and becoming a quiet powerhouse on the European scene. Germany's star seems to be on the rise again as German politicians jockey to become the leaders of an emerging European superstate—as prophesied in Daniel 2:33, 41-44 and Revelation 13:3-7; 17:12-13. This fragile, but influential superpower will be a serious threat to Israelite nations (Isaiah 10:5-11).
UK Energy Crisis Brewing: The UK (like the USA) is increasingly dependent upon foreign oil. By 2010, the UK's North Sea oil/gas reserves will supply only about 60% of the nation's needs (Time, December 20, 2005). A recent massive explosion and fire at an oil terminal north of London has stressed the British petrol industry (The Times, December 12, 2005). Spain and Italy have been accused of contributing to shortages of natural gas in the UK by hording supplies for themselves and have been reprimanded by Brussels for not implementing EU directives (EUobserver, November 29, 2005). Britain is being weakened internally and marginalized from Europe while Brussels exerts more power over once sovereign European countries (see Revelation 13:3-7; 17:12-13).
Bird Flu Peril: In December, the China Daily ran 16 separate articles on Bird Flu, and both China and the USA are developing vaccines to combat this impending epidemic (ChinaDaily.com, December 28, 2005). Meanwhile, Turkey reported another outbreak of Bird Flu within its borders (NewYorkTimes.com, December 28, 2005). The virus has not yet mutated to the point of human-to-human spread, but world governments are gearing up for what they perceive to be an inevitable development. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently released guidelines for families, businesses and communities to deal with this threat (see CDC.gov, December 28, 2005). World wide disease epidemics are one of the prophesied signs of the end of the age (Matthew 24:7).
–Scott Winnail, Daniel Bennett