Greetings from Charlotte,
The days are bright but the nights are cold in Charlotte this week, so it finally feels (somewhat) like winter! Mr. and Mrs. Gerald Weston are leaving tomorrow (Friday) for a Church visit in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on the Sabbath and a Tomorrow’s World Presentation in El Paso, Texas, on Sunday. My wife and I will be in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, for a TWP this Sabbath. Last weekend, we had four TWPs with a total of 123 guests—65 guests in Ocala, Florida, alone! With the January 22 Church-wide fast coming up next week, it may be good to review Mr. Weston’s comments about the purpose of the fast, as he wrote in the December 23 issue of The World Ahead (https://members.lcg.org/weekly-updates). Please keep all of those who are asking for God’s healing in your fervent prayers.—Rod McNair
Church Administration
Passover 2022
Important Notice to All Pastors: In 2022, the Passover Service will be observed on Thursday evening, April 14. 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). Passover Service recordings for 2022 were made by Mr. John Strain in English and by Mr. Rod McNair (translated by Mr. Yvon Brochu) in French. To ensure timely delivery and to save on shipping costs, we need this information before January 28 for international congregations and by March 18 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, and whether they will need a CD or a DVD. International requests should be received before January 28 and U.S. requests before March 18. Please direct your requests to the Church Administration Department at [email protected] as soon as possible.
These dates take into consideration the slowdown of mail service in some places because of the pandemic.
January 22 Church-Wide Fast Sabbath Services Livestream Next Week
As a reminder, the entire Sabbath Service (including hymns, prayers, announcements, sermonette, and sermon) on the Church-wide fast on the Sabbath of January 22 will be livestreamed from Charlotte. It will begin at 2:00 p.m., Eastern Standard Time (USA). Pastors: please make arrangements for your congregations to view the streamed service from Charlotte if at all possible. For congregations where the time difference makes this impractical, or for those needing Spanish or French translation, the recorded and translated services will be available at a later time. (For information on the simultaneous French translation from Montreal, see below.)
Simultaneous French Translation of Church-wide Livestream Services on January 22
The Montreal congregation will have simultaneous translation into French during the livestream Church-wide services on the Sabbath of January 22 (the Sabbath of the Church fast). French congregations and members who would like to connect to the Montreal transmission may do so via this Zoom meeting link (Meeting ID: 861 6391 7165 – Passcode: 538632). To connect by phone, you may call the following numbers in Canada, France, or Belgium:
Canada: +1 438 809 7799
Canada: +1 647 374 4685
France: +33 1 7037 2246
France: +33 1 7037 9729
France: +33 1 8699 5831
Belgium: +32 2 290 9360
Belgium: +32 2 585 5574
The Zoom meeting room will open at 1:30 p.m. and services will commence at 2:00 p.m. (Montreal/Charlotte Time).
Tomorrow’s World Presentations: What Guests Are Thinking
Do you ever wonder what’s on the minds of Tomorrow’s World subscribers? At each TWP, we normally have a “Question and Answer” session during which guests are given the opportunity to submit questions. The guest speaker and local pastor normally take turns addressing each question. Sometimes the questions are quite enlightening and give a glimpse into what is on the minds of our readership. At last week’s TWP in Spokane, Washington, these were several of the questions: “What is the difference between LCG and Seventh Day Adventists?”; “Why does LCG keep Holy Days if ceremonial laws were done away with?”; “Is COVID vaccine the mark of the beast?” Ask yourself—if you were asked these questions, how would you answer?
Young Adult Weekend in Delavan, Wisconsin
Twenty-nine enthusiastic single and married young adults from several U.S. states as well as Mr. and Mrs. Gerald and Carol Weston and Mr. and Mrs. Bob and Carla Rodzaj assembled December 31, 2021 to January 2, 2022 for a Young Adult Weekend on the shore of wintry Delavan Lake in southeastern Wisconsin. Interactive group sessions, presentations, Sabbath services, a question and answer session, and messages by Messrs. Weston and Rodzaj addressed the needs and issues young adults face today. The purpose of the event was to bring young adults together in a focused learning environment to revisit the foundational teachings and mission of the Church, to receive reinforcement and encouragement in their roles, and to forge new relationships and strengthen existing ones. Delicious, relaxed meals, enjoyable group games, and free time provided plenty of opportunities for everyone to mix, share their stories, build bonds, support each other, and simply enjoy time together. In every way, the event fulfilled its purpose.
Living Education
Though summer may seem far away, we’re already making plans for our 2022 Men’s Training Camp in Blowing Rock, North Carolina. We’ve locked in our dates for the weekend of June 24–26 and should have plenty of room for all who are interested in coming. This event is particularly geared toward men in the Southeast, within a few hours’ drive of Charlotte, but we welcome men from other areas who wish to join us.—Jonathan McNair
Comments
The Most Important Quality: The people of God understand the importance of keeping the commandments and watching Bible prophecy. Yet, in our zeal to obey God, we can sometimes overlook another important quality—the need to develop and exercise godly love. Jesus said that the second of the two greatest commandments is “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:36–40). The Apostle Paul said that without godly love, all other things amount to nothing (1 Corinthians 13:1–3). The word for love (agape) in these verses refers to an unselfish outgoing concern for others: being patient, kind, not proud or rude, and not sitting in judgment of others, but focusing on what is positive, right, and good (1 Corinthians 13). This special type of love is one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit that needs to be visible in our lives as Christians (Galatians 5:22–25). Let’s ask God to help us develop this most important quality.
Have a profitable Sabbath,
Douglas S. Winnail
News and Prophecy—January 13, 2022
Iran’s Hatred of Israel and the West Grows: In a November 2021 interview, Iranian Armed Forces spokesman General Abolfazl Shekarchi set forth his and Iran’s government’s ideological view of the West (MEMRI.org, December 22, 2021). He again identified America as “the great Satan” and other aligned nations like Britain and France as “smaller Satans.” The general went on to label any nations, including Arab Muslim nations, that collaborate with Israel as “part of that [Israel’s] regime.” He also stated, “If we say that the false Zionist regime must disappear—and inshallah it will—the Islamic world will celebrate on that day…. On that promised day, we will make maximal use of our means.”
The hatred of the Iranian leadership for Israel and the West is very clear. Their goal is the “annihilation” of Israel—in Shekarchi’s words, “the regime occupying Jerusalem.” The reaction of the nation’s Arab neighbors who have signed cooperation agreements with Israel is yet to be seen, but Germany has recently repeated its commitment to protect Israel (Times of Israel, November 25, 2021). Bible prophecy indicates that two political and military confederacies will focus their interests on Jerusalem in the future. The Bible calls these entities “the king of the North” and the “king of the South” (see Daniel 11). While the exact configuration of these two “kings” remains to be seen, the extreme antagonisms that are developing could hasten the formation of these two prophesied groups. For decades this Work has warned its readers to watch the Middle East—especially now as we see a major showdown in the making. To learn more about the future of this turbulent region, be sure to watch “Five Prophetic Signs for the Middle East.”
Insights from Kazakhstan: In the last couple weeks there have been mass riots in several cities in Kazakhstan, a Central Asian nation the size of Western Europe (BBC, January 6, 2022). Rioters have looted, burned down buildings, and caused additional destruction, and some have been shot by the state military. Labeled “terrorists” by the ruling party, rioters have also taken over the international airport and apparently hijacked several aircraft (Deutsche Welle, January 5, 2022).
The Kazakh president has requested assistance from the Collective Security Treaty Organization, a group of former Soviet nations led by Russia, originally formed about 30 years ago to resist outside threats, and has authorized troops to “shoot to kill.” Russian paratroopers have now assisted in putting down the uprising (Reuters, January 7, 2022). Internet to the country has been cut, so real-time news is difficult to find. It appears that some of the nation’s military are supporting the protesters who are demonstrating against rapidly inflating fuel costs.
The situation in Kazakhstan illustrates how people can react when they are put under intense pressure by rapidly rising costs—in this case gasoline. When people are poor and cold and cannot afford fuel for vehicles or heat, violence can quickly erupt and threaten to destabilize governments. The Kazakh minister of security was removed by the president last week and the prime minister’s government has resigned. Could situations like this happen in other nations? Even in Western democracies? The third horseman of Revelation represents future scarcity and extreme prices for life-sustaining goods (Revelation 6:5–6), and Jesus warned of conflict and scarcity at the end of the age (Matthew 24:7)—saying that such events will only be the “beginning of sorrows” (v. 8). As nations print more money to fend off economic woes and inflation increases, we should not be surprised to see more civil revolts in response to government actions. To gain a prophetic perspective on world events today, be sure to watch “A World on Fire.”—Scott Winnail, Chris Sookdeo, and Francine Prater