Weekly Update

January 17th, 2019

Greetings from Charlotte,

Last weekend, Mr. Phil West conducted follow-up presentations to the Tomorrow’s World Presentations given a week earlier. Twelve returning guests and two new ones attended in Memphis, Tennessee. Ten returning guests and five new ones attended in Little Rock, Arkansas. This week I had two meetings with Mr. Ryan Dawson regarding new television stations. We were able to let go of several stations that are not producing well and pick up some exciting new stations, while still staying within our budget. I’ll be giving more specifics once contracts are completed. This week we recorded a new telecast titled, “Will America Be Great Again?” While I was the presenter, I say “we” because it is a serious team effort. In addition to the typical recording, we also re-recorded certain sections so that we can remove the hard ads, thus cutting the time by a few minutes. We believe these shorter programs, which will not be interrupted with ads, will work better on YouTube. In the Philippines, our program is broadcast on CNN, and this past week, 80 percent of the responses were from first-time callers.—Gerald Weston

Church Administration

Passover 2019—Repeat Announcement

Important Notice to All Pastors: In 2019, the Passover Service will be observed on Thursday evening, April 18. Please let us know as soon as possible if any of the congregations you serve will need additional Passover Service supplies (bread trays and/or wine trays or glasses) or a copy of the Passover Service recording and letter instructions (available in English, French, and Spanish). To ensure timely delivery and to save on shipping costs, we need this information before February 19 for international congregations and by March 19 for U.S. congregations.

Also, please let us know of any scattered members who are unable to keep the Passover with a congregation and who need to receive the Passover Service recording and letter instructions for observing it at home. International requests should be received before February 19 and U.S. requests before March 19. Please direct your requests to the Church Administration Department at [email protected] as soon as possible.

Living Education

Living Education will host a three-day family-oriented activity at the Blowing Rock Conference Center (brccenter.org), just outside Blowing Rock, North Carolina, as the Spring Holy Days begin. Together, we’ll focus on the lessons that God’s Holy Days teach us. We’ll begin by observing the Passover together on Thursday, April 18. Friday will be filled with learning activities, with a special focus on the nuts and bolts of how our next generation of leaders in the Church can come out of Egypt and move forward into the future. The First Day of Unleavened Bread will continue that emphasis, followed by concluding activities on Sunday, April 21. This activity is for members of all ages who would like to “come out of the world” and focus on fellowship, worshipping God together, and learning more about God’s way of life. The cost for the whole weekend, including accommodations, food, and all activities is $131.25 for adults and $106.75 for children. Registration will begin next week!—Jonathan McNair

Feast of Tabernacles

International Feast Sites in 2019

We are pleased to announce the international Feast sites that have been confirmed for 2019 and that will be open to international transfers. Some venues have not been finalized yet, so the country is listed but not the town:

Other international sites will be announced later as they are confirmed. Stay tuned to The World Ahead for more information about the Feast of Tabernacles 2019!

United States Feast Sites in 2019—Repeat Announcement

We are pleased to announce the 2019 Feast sites and coordinators for the United States:

Living Youth Program

Living Youth Friday Evening Bible Study

The online Friday evening Teen Bible Study on January 25 will cover Matthew 24:21–51, and will be given by Mr. Sheldon Monson. Join us at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. The chatroom will be open 30 minutes prior to the beginning of the study.

To join, just visit livingyouth.org, and follow the links to “Friday Evening Bible Study.” If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us at [email protected]. For those who are unable to make it to the study, archives of previous Living Youth Bible Studies, including last evening’s covering Matthew 24:1–20, can be found on the Living Youth website.—Josh Penman

Comments

Be Alert and Watch! Today, as world events continue to move towards the fulfillment of long anticipated prophecies, we face dozens of distractions. Television, computers, e-mails, iPods, jangling music, job pressures, and family concerns constantly pull our minds in different directions. Yet, the Scriptures warn that Christians must be alert and watch for the convergence of a specific series of events that will mark the approaching end of the age and the imminent return of Jesus Christ. The admonitions to be alert and watch appear numerous times in the New Testament (see Matthew 24:42–44; 25:13; Mark 13:33–37; Luke 21:34–36; Acts 20:31; 1 Thessalonians 5:6, 20). The events making news today—droughts, floods, earthquakes, hurricanes, spreading violence, wars—converging at the same time we see the decline of Israelite-descended nations and the rise of nationalism in the world—especially in Europe, where we will see the emergence of a power with links to the ancient Roman Empire and an ecumenical-minded Roman Church—should be sobering to anyone with an understanding of Bible prophecy. These events should motivate us to grow spiritually and prepare for roles that we have been called to play in the coming Kingdom of God (Daniel 7:27; Matthew 19:28–30; Revelation 5:10). We also need to remember Jesus’ warning that if we are not watching, we will be taken by surprise and not be ready for His return (Revelation 3:3). However, Jesus promised, “Blessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes, will find watching.… Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect” (Luke 12:37–40).

Have a profitable Sabbath,

Douglas S. Winnail

News and Prophecy—January 17, 2019

Will the World “Fall Apart” in 2019? The London Telegraph recently published an article with the sobering title “Geostrategic dystopia: is this the year the world falls apart?” (January 7, 2019). The article states, “This is the year that serial hammer blows to the Western alliance system and the edifice of global governance threaten to bring the old order tumbling down…. Pax Americana is unravelling. The transatlantic concord underpinning the West since the 1950s is dying. Nato, the G7, the G20, the WTO, and the EU are all in varying degrees of crisis.”

Citing the Eurasia Group, the article features numerous ominous terms and descriptions: “Europe’s leadership vacuum… constitutional crisis [in the U.S.]… preemptive cyber strikes… global tech cold war… accident in the South China Sea… populists gain real power on Europe’s largest stage.” These dramatic terms were not used to sensationalize the global situation, but merely to describe events that could occur in the coming year or the near future, based on what is happening today.

But, will the world completely “fall apart” in 2019? Probably not! However, Jesus Christ stated that, at the time of His return, the world will be like the “days of Noah,” with some semblance of normalcy (Matthew 24:37). Yet other scriptures reveal that the world in Noah’s day was also filled with violence and corruption (Genesis 6:5–12), and prophecy tells of increasing social chaos ahead (2 Timothy 3:1–4). The Bible also mentions specific signs that will occur as we approach the end of the age (Matthew 24:3–8). While the world is not going to fall apart in 2019, we need to watch world events in the light of Bible prophecy as we see Christ’s return approaching. For more insights into what 2019 will hold, view our telecast “2019 in Bible Prophecy.”

Britain Votes “No” on May’s Brexit Plan: Britain is scheduled to leave the European Union on March 29 of this year. Yet, this week, British MPs voted “No” on a British exit plan that has been more than two years in the making (BBC, January 15, 2019). While European leaders have referred to Prime Minister May’s exit plan as the best solution possible, the votes against the plan were more than two to one—the greatest defeat in history for any British government. EU leaders are now scrambling to prepare for a “hard exit”—in which Britain leaves the union without a plan in place.

Some are calling for another British referendum on whether Britain should stay in the EU, and European Council President Donald Tusk suggested that Britain simply remain a part of the union (Reuters, January 15, 2019)—an option most think is impossible at this point. Still others believe a “hard exit” is the best deal for Britain as it would provide the greatest flexibility and the least restrictions (FOX, November 16, 2018). A hard Brexit could also save Britain from paying the EU a penalty of 39 billion pounds (about 50 billion U.S. dollars).

So what is the future for Britain? No one can know for sure how the Brexit situation will play out. However, Bible prophecy reveals that Britain, along with many other Israelite-descended nations, will experience a continuing decline on the world stage and increasing conflicts with Europe. To learn more about the future of Britain and her allies, read or listen to The United States and Great Britain in Prophecy.—Scott Winnail, Chris Sookdeo, Francine Prater, John Meakin, and Deborah Lincoln-Strange