Greetings brethren,
Are we in Charlotte or in San Diego? That's a question we ex-Californians are asking ourselves when we see such sunny and beautiful days in the midst of winter in Charlotte, North Carolina. We (especially I) are immensely enjoying them.
Dr. Douglas Winnail is in the middle of a trip to the United Kingdom and East Africa. We just received the following report from him: "I spent last Sabbath with our congregation in Radlett (north of London). It was good to see everyone again. On Sunday, I flew to Nairobi, Kenya. On Monday, we held a Bible Study in Nairobi and had one baptism. On Tuesday I flew to Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania with Mr. Muthama, our office manager in Nairobi. On Wednesday, we had a Bible Study in Dar and had seven baptisms—including Mr. Jerome Chembe and his wife (Mr. Chembe currently leads our group in Dar). Dar-es-Salaam sits on the Indian Ocean and I had the opportunity for a brief swim yesterday in the pleasantly warm emerald green water! This morning (Thursday) we had a profitable discussion with Mr. and Mrs. Chembe about plans for the Work in East Africa, then we flew back to Nairobi. Tomorrow, we will drive to western Kenya to visit three more congregations in Kenya. We will certainly appreciate your prayers."
CHURCH ADMINISTRATION
Ministerial Conference May 15-17, 2006. Last week, we e-mailed and also mailed an invitation letter for the Ministerial Conference to all the ministers of the Living Church of God. Preparations are well underway and we are all looking forward to a very profitable and successful conference.
Ministerial Resources Webpage. The Church Administration Department is in the process of updating and upgrading the Ministerial Resources webpage, to help the ministry in their service to the Church brethren. For those of you in the ministry, please take a look at the webpage to see what has been added recently. Please give us your feedback and suggestions on what you would like to see there in the future. If you haven't visited yet the site, the webpage is located at www.cogl.org under the "Church Administration" link. If you don't yet have a password, please contact Josh Beattie at [email protected].
News in Bits and Pieces—by Davy Crockett.
Our members often show great interest in news of the Work that they so diligently support. It demonstrates their commitment to fulfilling the Great Commission. With that in mind, here is some information on a number of "routine" matters that are part of doing the Work.
In an effort to improve the distribution of the Bible Study Course, the method of delivering the course is being changed. In the next monthly mailing of the course, new subscribers will receive the first four lessons with the test included. When the test is completed and returned, the next bundle of four lessons will be sent. Current subscribers will receive the lessons they need to round out the number to four. After that, they will receive subsequent lessons in bundles of four. We hope this will bring subscribers along more rapidly and solve many of the delivery problems we have experienced.
We are also working on streamlining the Tomorrow's World magazine renewal process for those subscribers who have not responded in two years. We will use a colorful card offering to renew the magazine. The renewal process may temporarily reduce our number of subscribers, but should enable us to get the magazine to new people who are interested in reading it.
This Sunday, a colorful advertisement offering our booklet Who Controls the Weather? will be included in the coupon packet inserted in 957,000 Sunday newspapers in Kansas City, MO and Little Rock, AR. In addition to distributing the booklet, we hope that it will greatly increase the number of new subscribers to the Tomorrow's World magazine, and point people to our telecast.
We are focusing on using our efforts on the Internet much more effectively.
The budget for 2006 has been approved by Mr. Meredith. Considerable work went into analyzing all our expenditures, and we were able to achieve a balanced budget based on projected income and expenditures. Thus far in January, our income has been sluggish and below budget. However, it does seem to be improving. This is not that unusual since many, especially in the USA, accelerate their contributions in December for tax planning purposes. We will greatly appreciate your prayers that God will provide the income we need to accomplish His work.
Contribution receipts for 2005 are now being mailed to our members, co-workers and donors.
Regional Family Weekend in Kansas City, December 2005
Our Regional Pastor Rand Millich reported that the regional family weekend in Kansas City went very well. In a relatively warm temperature, 315 attended the Bible Study on Friday evening followed by Sabbath services the next day, with 500 in attendance. Among the attendees were individuals from throughout the U.S. and Canada. After the Sabbath, they had a family dance as well as games and activities for children.
INTERNATIONAL
Caribbean Update. Mr. and Mrs. Paul Shumway left last Tuesday for Barbados for a church visit. They will be returning home next Tuesday. Mr. Clyde Skeete of our Barbados office reports that our caller statistical information shows that the percentage of new callers responding to our telecast is very high—in the vicinity of 30%. For the months of October and November, the total responses were 522, including 210 new callers.
Trip to Indonesia. Mr. and Mrs. Rajan Moses visited Indonesia last December. A total of 20 members attended Sabbath services, followed by lunch together with the brethren and a Question and Answer session in the afternoon. During this visit, Mr. Moses baptized three people.
Australia Update. According to Mr. Bruce Tyler a recent Tomorrow's World program presented by Mr. Meredith generated 20 new visit requests in Australia. Mr. Tyler writes: "All the ministers will be busy visiting these folk in the coming weeks. Not all these people are planted in 'good ground' and it remains to be seen just how many will produce good fruit. Of course it is now our job to water the crop and see then just what increase God gives." Mr. Tyler also informs us that the response to Mr. Meredith's November semi-annual letter finished up being 18% in his region. "The organization for the Australia church office move to Adelaide," he added, "continues to be on track. It appears that we are being very well received in the community. We are looking forward to further growth in 2006, especially after everyone is 'settled.'"
COMMENTS
As Christians, how should we face tragedy? How should we receive bad news without becoming discouraged, or without losing faith? Can we truthfully remain positive in a world filled with bad news and negativism? A few days ago, a fellow minister gave me some good and bad news, but he referred to the bad as being "less good news." I liked his approach. It was positive. In a sense, generally speaking, all of us have a tendency of focusing often on the negative aspect of things. For instance, what are your first thoughts when you get up in the morning? Are they pleasant or disturbing? Are they positive or negative? Are you more preoccupied with the chores ahead of you that day than with thanking God for His blessings? Think of it! Every day, we have the opportunity to meet new challenges, to help our fellowman, to grow closer to God, and to serve Him. Those are positive thoughts. They are uplifting. They should dominate our thinking, not only when we wake up in the morning but also throughout the day—no matter what the circumstances. God is positive. His laws are positive. His love is positive. The Apostle John was inspired to write, "There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love" (1 John 4:20). Christ wants us to be a light, not darkness. Light is positive, darkness is not. As members of God's Church, we are ambassadors of Good News—that is our mission. Undoubtedly, prophecy has its positive and negative sides. But as ambassadors of Christ, we should inspire our neighbor to trust God, to believe in His love, to understand the purpose of life and to appreciate it. A positive attitude is indispensable to accomplish our mission.
Have a nice Sabbath,
Dibar Apartian
NEWS AND PROPHECY—January 26, 2006
German Politicians Criticize Chirac for Nuclear Comments. "French President Jacques Chirac's assertion that France would use nuclear weapons against any state that carried out a terrorist attack against it has met criticism in Germany… 'This is a unilateral declaration on the part of the French president, and it's something he ought to have discussed with his European partners first,' Weisskirchen (CDU representative) said" (Deutsche Welle on-line [Germany], Jan. 20, 2006). Dissatisfaction with Mr. Chirac's comments were expressed in Germany, a nation currently embarking on a process of eliminating even nuclear power from within its bounds. God warns of a time to come when His people, the descendant nations of Israel (Jacob), will be taken into captivity for their sins (Isaiah 5:13). As we in the Church are aware, France is one of these nations but, up until now, has appeared to be closely aligned with Germany. Now we may be seeing a rift develop between this Israelite nation and Germany; clearly this latter nation will ultimately be closely aligned with the Beast power of Revelation.
ESA Signs Galileo Contract. "The European Space Agency (ESA) and Galileo Industries have formally signed a contract to develop the ambitious navigation system [recently launching a test satellite into orbit]. Europe hopes this will rival the reigning US GPS network" (Deutsche Welle on-line, Jan. 20, 2006). Europe's plan with the Galileo project is to eventually place 30 satellites in space, totally weaning Europe from the need to use U.S. GPS satellites that are controlled by the U.S. military. Additionally, the Galileo project is expected to create more than 100,000 jobs and 250 billion euros in European revenue by 2020. Much of this revenue will be enjoyed by Germany, home to the Galileo project European headquarters.
Palestinian Government Resigns after Hamas Victory. "The ruling Palestinian Fatah party has accepted defeat in parliamentary elections, handing victory to the Islamist militant party Hamas and threatening to derail the Middle East's fragile peace process." Hamas has recently commented about the need for cooperation in the new Palestinian government, appearing to conflict with recent comments from the President Mahmoud Abbas (basically stating that violence is an acceptable tool in the current Arab-Israeli conflict). The opinions of European and U.S. leaders expressed disappointment in the Palestinian election results. Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said that the victory of the Islamic militant group Hamas in Palestinian legislative elections was a "very, very, very bad result" (TimesOnline.com, Jan. 26, 2006). Time will tell how the EU and other world governments will ultimately react to a legitimate Hamas-ruled government in Palestine. What will usher in the "times of the gentiles" in the city of Jerusalem (Luke 21:24)?
China's Economy Grows 9.9% in 2005. This translates into US $2.3 trillion. China's economy, now ranked 5th in the world, recently outpaced France. Strong future growth is predicted in China for years to come as exports and internal consumption continue to rise (Chinadaily.com, Jan. 25, 2006). As China's economy strengthens, so will its ability to impact and influence regional and global politics. Ultimately, God prophesies that a 200 million-man army will wipe out one-third of mankind (Revelation 9:13-21). This army will likely come from the north and east of Jerusalem (Daniel 11:44), from an area that likely includes China. The Chinese have throughout history been known for their exceedingly large armies and workforces. Early dynastic emperors periodically used million-man armies and workforces comprised of multiple millions of workers. Expect to continue to hear more of Chinese political, economic and military successes as prophecy marches on.—Scott Winnail and Daniel Bennett