Greetings from Charlotte,
Mr. Stuart Wachowicz led a conference for ministers and their wives in Canada this past Monday and Tuesday. This was the first time they were able to meet in person since the beginning of lockdowns. Forty were present in person at the new Living Church of God offices in London, Ontario, and another nine participated online, including Dr. Winnail and me, due to cross-border travel restrictions. Average attendance in Canada now stands at 878. That is up from 352 in 2001; and 50 percent of those baptized since 2005 have come to the Church with no Worldwide affiliation. This demonstrates that the Work of the Church to preach the Gospel to all the world continues. The final ministerial conference for this year in the United States is scheduled to begin this Sunday. We are welcoming Mr. Julian Braddock and his family, who have arrived here in Charlotte for a period of ministerial training. We recently had a resolution for a modest estate that was willed to the Church. Because of some technical matters, it took six years, almost to the day, to settle the matter. If any of you are planning to name the Living Church of God in your will, we have a resource called Planned Giving that may be helpful. And thank you to those who make the choice to include the Church.—Gerald Weston
Church Administration
Recent and Upcoming Tomorrow’s World Presentations
Last week, we held five Tomorrow’s World Presentations—four initial presentations, in St. Louis, Missouri; Cookeville, Tennessee; Blue Ridge, Georgia; and Springfield; Illinois; and one follow-up, in Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia. These presentations had a combined total of 98 guests. This week we have eight presentations: two initial presentations, in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada; and Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada; and five follow-ups, in Fargo, North Dakota; St. Louis, Missouri; Cookeville, Tennessee; Blue Ridge, Georgia; and Springfield; Illinois. Thank you all for your continued prayers for these presentations.
Feast of Tabernacles
Activity Registration Is Now Live!
Activity registration is live and Living Church of God attendees and guests are now able to sign up for activities at the Feast.
How to register: Simply go to members.lcg.org, click on “MyLCG” at the bottom of the page, sign in, click on “Registration” on the right-hand side of the page, and click on “Activities Sign-up.” To pay for activities, please read and follow carefully the instructions provided by your Festival Site Coordinator—and, of course, never send cash in the mail. Note payment deadlines for your specific site—if you have questions, contact your Festival Site Coordinator.
Comments
The Importance of Vision: In Proverbs 29:18 we read, “Where there is no vision, the people perish” (KJV) or “Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint; but happy is he who keeps the law” (NKJV). Vision is the capacity to see the real future. That future is found in the Bible—the revelation of God. The biblical vision is the Gospel, the good news of the coming Kingdom of God (Mark 1:14) and the ultimate purpose of human existence—gaining eternal life and reigning with Jesus Christ in the Kingdom (Matthew 19:28–29) to bring peace, justice, and prosperity to the peoples of the world (Isaiah 9:6–7). Today, that exciting vision of the future has been lost or forgotten or never heard by most people on earth. As a result, many have no sense of purpose other than “doing their own thing” (Judges 21:25). The Sabbath is a good time to thank God for revealing to His people this exciting vision of the future and of His way of life that is a mystery to the world today (Matthew 13:10–17; Mark 4:11).
Have a profitable Sabbath,
Douglas S. Winnail
News and Prophecy—August 25, 2022
Monkeypox—the Next Big Plague? Monkeypox has public health and government officials worried. First identified in 1958 in a group of African monkeys, monkeypox was discovered in humans in 1970. The disease was mostly localized to several central and west African nations until 2022.
Now there are cases around the globe: "In all, the global monkeypox outbreak has seen more than 26,000 cases in nearly 90 countries since May" (YahooNews, August 5, 2022). However, it should be noted that 98 percent of these cases are in men who have sex with men [MSM], but not among female homosexuals. Although there are a small number of cases outside this high risk group, the CDC states: “At this time, data suggest that gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men make up the majority of cases in the current monkeypox outbreak.” The NBC published a story claiming public health agencies failed to recognize the key role of sexual transmission, thus leaving MSM at increased risk: “Now, however, an expanding cadre of experts has come to believe that sex between men itself… is likely the main driver of global monkeypox transmission” (August 17, 2022). That is, experts say that the specific means by which men have sex with other men is directly connected to the higher risk of transmission, not simply skin contact. Also, surfaces around the infected person are much less likely to transmit the virus (Newsweek, July 5, 2022). Public health officials hesitate to label monkeypox as a sexually transmitted disease out of concern for stigmatizing the homosexual population. However, a growing body of medical evidence places the blame for the current, virulent outbreak of this disease squarely on male homosexual sexual activity.
For most people, monkeypox is unlikely to be a risk. Generally, transmission apparently requires intimate contact with a person who is infected (or their bedding/clothing)—much like AIDS does (NBC). Sadly, monkeypox appears to be another disease that would not be spread if humans chose to live by God’s commandments, limiting sexual relations to marriage between one man and one woman. This is also the cheapest and quickest way to stop the current outbreak. To learn more about how obeying the Ten Commandments can stop diseases, read or listen to “AIDS Can Be Stopped!”
Human Brains Need a Break from Thinking: Have you ever noticed that when you think a lot, you feel tired? New research shows that there is a reason (MSN.com, August 11, 2022)! When we tax our brains during a “long, grueling day sitting at a desk,” a chemical by-product is released (glutamate) that is toxic to the brain. We produce this chemical when we use our brains heavily, and it builds up in the pre-frontal cortex. Too much of this “thinking chemical” results in fatigue, tiredness, and difficulty thinking. Ironically, when many people feel tired and sluggish, they just work harder. However, the result is reduced productivity. Researchers are learning that one of the most effective ways to clear glutamate from the brain is sleep. A lead author on the recently published report noted that “there are no shortcuts to stop your brain making you tired, with a nap the only cure.”
The Creator of the human body certainly understood this chemical process when He designed us to need regular sleep. Psalm 127 says that sleep is a gift God gives to those He loves (v. 2) and other scriptures highlight how the pursuit and possession of worldly goods can often rob us of that needed rest (e.g., Ecclesiastes 5:12). And those who obey the Fourth Commandment, setting aside the seventh day of the week, Saturday, as the weekly day of rest (Exodus 20:8–11), enjoy an even broader break from the demands of the week. The Sabbath command reminds us to take time to cease from our labors and to rest and refocus regularly on God and His way of life. Today, many people work seven days a week, failing to allow their bodies and brains to rest, and robbing them of the healthful balance we all need. If we were to seek God’s guidance and obey His commands, our bodies, brains, and lives would be richly blessed. To learn more about the physical blessings available to us through obeying God, read our free booklet Biblical Principles of Health.—Scott Winnail and Francine Prater