Greetings from Charlotte!
Last weekend, our ministers presented four initial Tomorrow’s World Presentations (TWPs) and four follow-up TWPs attended by 99 guests and 207 members. Dr. Douglas Winnail reported from Belfast, Northern Ireland, “We had 60 people today for the TWP in Lisburn, Northern Ireland, with 31 guests (including several ministers). The audience was very attentive and positive. A number plan to attend the follow-up next week.” The other initial TWPs included Mr. Rob Tyler in Auckland, New Zealand; and Mr. Stuart Wachowicz in Saskatoon and Regina, Saskatchewan. Mr. Wachowicz will be giving a TWP this coming Sabbath, July 24, in Fredericton, New Brunswick, in Canada, and Dr. Winnail will be giving a TWP in London, England, this coming Sunday, July 25. Pray for their success and inspiration.
On Tuesday and Wednesday of this week, Dr. Winnail, Regional Director Peter Nathan, and Dr. Scott Winnail hosted a two-day UK Ministerial Conference in Cranford Village Hall, near our office in Kettering. It was attended by 20 ministers and wives in person, plus another 24 from the British Isles and Africa attending by Zoom. Mr. Christa Botha commented: “We were able to join the Leadership Conference which was broadcasted over Zoom for the benefit of all of us who could not attend in the UK. It was interesting to notice how the Work is done in other countries, besides here in South Africa. It became apparent that some challenges are not unique to our area only.”
In spite of high temperatures in Texas, campers and staff at the Living Youth Camp are enthusiastic and making good use of the time. Be sure to see Mr. Weston’s weekly video update for more information.
Responses from the co-worker letter are coming in, several indicating they are giving extra to help support the financial needs of God’s Work at this time. Please pray for all these initiatives and activities so that, with God’s great power and guidance, we may “turn many to righteousness” (Daniel 12:3).—Richard Ames
Church Administration
Sermons for Those Unable to Attend the Feast in Person
Attention Pastors: Because some members, for legitimate reasons, are unable to attend the Feast of Tabernacles in person, the Church provides access to Feast sermons by various means.
Many Feast sites will offer livestream or telephone connections to those assigned to the site. For those in your areas who can use this option, please make sure they have the information they need to do so. Though not a substitute for being present at the site, these connections give access to complete, live Feast services, including prayers, hymns, and special music.
Pre-recorded Feast sermons will be available for brethren who are unable to attend in person and for whom the livestream or telephone connections are not feasible. The sermons will be provided in three different ways. Please survey your congregations now to determine who will need the pre-recorded sermons and which of the three methods they will use to watch or listen:
1. The website: Pre-recorded sermons will be posted online (one per day) during the Feast.
- English-language Feast sermons will be posted at https://members.lcg.org
- French-language Feast sermons will be posted at www.eglisedieuvivant.org
- Spanish-language Feast sermons will be posted at youtube.com/IDVsermones
2. Direct/Private links to the sermons
If there are some who cannot access the sermons through the websites given above, private links for online access to this year’s pre-recorded Festival sermons will be emailed to the pastors in September, shortly before the Feast. You can forward that email to the members in your areas who are not attending the Feast in person and who need these private links to view the sermons online.
3. Physical DVD/CDs
We request that as many as are able access the Feast by livestream or telephone from their assigned site or get the sermons online. However, if there are brethren in your areas who cannot take advantage of these options, and need to receive physical sermon CDs through the mail, please send us their names and addresses before the following deadlines:
- All international requests for pre-recorded Festival sermon CDs are due by August 1, in order for the sermons to arrive before the Feast.
- August 15 is the deadline for recipients in the U.S.
Living Education
We are only three weeks away from the start of a new school year for Living Education–Charlotte. Twelve students will be arriving on August 12, with Orientation beginning on August 14, after which we’ll be into our fifth year. For those who are interested in attending during the 2023–24 school year, we will begin accepting applications on January 1. Prepare now by planning to take an SAT, ACT, or Accuplacer test within the next few months so you’ll be able to complete the application process in a timely manner.—Jonathan McNair
Feast of Tabernacles
Feast of Tabernacles in Costa Rica: Important Note
Those planning to attend the Feast of Tabernacles in Costa Rica: Please confirm your attendance by emailing our coordinator in Costa Rica, Mr. George Schaubeck, at [email protected].
Upon receipt of this information Mr. Schaubeck will provide you with Feast lodging instructions as well as transportation instructions between the airport and the Feast site in Punta Leona.—Spanish Department
Volunteers Needed—Repeat Announcement
Some Feast sites are still in need of volunteers for specific areas of service. Pianists are especially needed. If you can help in the following areas, it would be greatly appreciated:
- Boerne, Texas – Pianist
- Fontana, Wisconsin – Pianist
- LaGrange, Georgia – Pianist
Comments
Seeing God’s Guidance: Today, everyone wants to “do their own thing.” However, the Bible records the tragic results of this approach (Judges 21:25; Jeremiah 9:12–16). Instead, we are told to “Seek the Lord while He may be found” (Isaiah 55:6) and that God will look to those who are humble and teachable and “[tremble] at My word” (Isaiah 66:2). King David, a man after God’s own heart, modeled the attitude that God is looking for when he wrote, “Teach me, O Lord, the way of Your statutes… Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (Psalm 119:33, 105). Jesus instructed His disciples to “live by… every word that proceeds from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4). Jesus also taught, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled” (Matthew 5:6). An important lesson of life is that if we desire to succeed in any endeavor—including in God’s Work—we must seek God’s guidance in all the decisions that we make—because that leads to lasting rewards.
Have a profitable Sabbath,
Douglas S. Winnail
News and Prophecy—July 21, 2022
Britain’s Getting a New Prime Minister: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson recently resigned as the Conservative Party head and informed Parliament he would step down as prime minister once a new party head takes over. In his nearly three-year term, Mr. Johnson is credited by many with moving Brexit along through the British Parliament and leading the Conservative Party to a landslide election in 2019. His resignation follows a host of resignations from governmental ministers in his own party—ministers who resigned not over political issues, but issues of character and trust. Potential candidates for the position of prime minister are queueing up, and although there are a few favored candidates for the top post, much will occur before Johnson’s successor is announced in September. As the Wall Street Journal has noted, Britain’s next prime minister will face tremendous challenges, greater than any seen in many decades.
Does Scripture give any indication of who the next British prime minister will be? And does God have anything to say about the character of leaders at the end of the age? The Apostle Paul prophesied that in the last days people and even leaders will be: “lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God” (2 Timothy 3:1–4). The Bible also notes that the leaders of the Israelite-descended nations will become increasingly self-centered, caring more about themselves than about the people they are elected to serve (Ezekiel 22:7; 34:1–10). They will lead at a time when society is confused about right and wrong (Ezekiel 22:26; Isaiah 5:20) and thus more interested in maintaining a desirable narrative than in promoting truth and justice (Isaiah 59:14).
The sad reality is that whoever is chosen as Britain’s next prime minister will either play into the present decline in morality, justice, and truth, or have to swim upstream against it. This prophesied global reality highlights Jesus’ comment that His Kingdom is “not of this world” and that His followers would not participate in the carnal striving of this age (John 18:36; 2 Corinthians 6:17). For greater insights into the politics of the end of the age, be sure to read The United States and Great Britain in Prophecy and also “How Would Jesus Vote for President?”
Global Recession Coming? The International Monetary Fund (IMF) warns that the world is at increased risk of a recession in the coming year (The Guardian, July 13, 2022). Inflation rates in nations around the globe are increasing, and world governments are increasing interest rates in response. The crisis in Ukraine as well as China’s repeated COVID-19 lockdowns have greatly impacted global commerce. The IMF’s managing director recently noted that “further disruption in the natural gas supply to Europe could plunge many economies into recession and trigger a global energy crisis.”
Inflationary pressures are also causing the value of global currencies to fall. The euro recently declined to its lowest point against the U.S. dollar in two decades, reducing the purchasing power of the currency and Europe as a whole. And while many governments are increasing interest rates to try to slow inflation, others fear that raising rates could plunge their economies into recession.
Bible prophecy indicates that a German-led European “beast” power will arise in the future, wielding immense political, religious, and military power. This entity will build an economic engine through which many nations of the earth will be made rich (Revelation 18:3). If many countries around the globe do go into recession, what influence might Europe gain if it could lead them out of recession? To learn more about Germany and Europe’s future leadership role on the world stage, be sure to read or listen to The Beast of Revelation: Myth, Metaphor, or Soon-Coming Reality?—Scott Winnail and Francine Prater