Greetings from Charlotte,
We would like to test Dr. Wilner Pierre’s newly recorded 15-minute radio programs by airing them five days a week in French-speaking Africa. Unlike television, radio needs daily airings to effectively build a following. Our goal is to use these programs to direct people to the French YouTube channel and to subscribe to Le Monde De Demain, our French magazine. Also regarding the French language, Mr. Jake Boyer dubs a new telecast into French each week. This week it was Mr. Wallace Smith’s telecast “How to Build a New World”—“Comment bâtir un nouveau monde”—and offers The World Ahead: What Will It Be Like?
The Australian office along with our Charlotte Headquarters IT and TV departments are working on producing Hindi language telecasts. They will be working on creating a Hindi YouTube Channel for Tomorrow’s World and post the first Hindi video on the Hindi TW website.
This week’s video update includes items on our trip to South America, the reason the Tucson, Arizona, congregation has had to find a new meeting hall, a funeral Mr. Paul Kearns performed that was attended by the Princess of Tonga and her husband, and what appears to be the imminent collapse of Haiti. The instability in that country is having ramifications in North, Central, and South America. Your prayers for the success of all our new initiatives and for the protection of all our members in a world spiraling out of control are appreciated.—Gerald Weston
Church Administration
Tomorrow’s World Presentations
This past week marked the last of the Canadian online TWP presentation series. Four presentations covering topics such as “The Seventy Weeks Prophecy,” “The King of the North and the King of the South,” and “The Mark of the Beast” drew at least 266 unique individuals. The series so far has resulted in one new request to attend services and three new donors. Canada plans to host in-person TWPs over the summer and revamp the online presentations for next winter.
Elsewhere, last week we hosted eight in-person Tomorrow’s World Presentations that drew a total of 142 guests. This includes a follow-up in Devonport, Tasmania, which drew 29 repeat guests and two new guests. This week we will host seven presentations—three initial and four follow-up presentations. Thank you to everyone for your continued support and prayers for the Tomorrow’s World Presentations.
Passover: Deadline for Requesting Supplies and Materials—Repeat Announcement
Important Notice to All Pastors: March 17 is the U.S. deadline for requesting Passover Service supplies (bread trays and/or wine trays or glasses) or a physical copy of the Passover Service recording and letter instructions (available in English, French, and Spanish) for congregations. Requests for Passover Service recordings and letter instructions for home observance, needed by members who are unable to keep the Passover with a congregation, should also be received by this deadline. Please direct your requests to the Church Administration Department at [email protected]. In 2024, the Passover Service will be observed on Sunday evening, April 21. This year we have a new Passover Service recording presented by Mr. Wallace Smith. Note: As in the last couple of years, the digital Passover Service recording is available to pastors and video recipients via the FTP site, and a private YouTube link will also be provided.
Living Youth Program
LYP Teen Camp Talent Show and Chorus
Each year, the Camp Talent Show is a highlight of our two weeks at Lone Star. Many of our campers practice for months in preparation—and it shows with the quality of talent that we see every year. For campers who are interested in performing, now is the time to begin practicing your special piece! It’s also the time to sign up so we know you’re hoping to participate. Just click on the link below and you will receive more information regarding this year’s show, guidelines for song selection, and a link to upload a recording of the piece you’d like to perform. Just go to (Login to MyLCG) and sign up to be part of the show!
In addition, we will be organizing a Camp Chorus. Singing in a chorus at camp with dozens of other young people is a way to praise God and inspire your fellow campers! If you’d like to participate in the camp choir, please sign up soon. This sign-up opportunity also includes our staff, as we will be having a staff chorus as well. So, for campers and staff alike, please sign up today to get your name on the list to receive more information, music, and rehearsal tracks to use for practicing. Just go to (Login to MyLCG).—Jonathan McNair
Comments
Are You a Peacemaker? We are living in an angry age where hate and violence and the talk of war are everywhere. Yet, we have been called out of this world to reign with Jesus Christ when He returns to bring peace to this planet (Isaiah 9:6–7). As Christians, we must strive to “live peaceably with all men” (Romans 12:17–21). We can become peacemakers by not reacting angrily in situations, not seeking to get even, by treating others like we would like to be treated, and by overcoming evil with good. Solomon observed, “A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger” (Proverbs 15:1). Solomon also stated, “He who covers [overlooks and forgives] a transgression seeks love, but he who repeats [or keeps talking about or won’t let go of] a matter separates friends” (Proverbs 17:9). Peacemakers go to their brother or sister in a spirit of meekness to resolve issues (Matthew 18:15; James 3:13–18). King David wrote that peace is the result of learning to love and follow the laws of God (Psalm 119:165). Let’s make that our goal.
Have a profitable Sabbath,
Douglas S. Winnail
News and Prophecy—March 7, 2024
Reasons for Hamas Attack on Israel: January 15 marked 100 days since Hamas’ savage October 7 attack on Israel. The attack triggered a prolonged response from Israel, intent on wiping out Hamas in the Palestinian territories. But what was behind the initial attack? Western media tend to point to years of “Israeli subjugation.” However, a different picture emerges from other sources, including the testimony of a key Hamas leader.
The Palestine Chronicle reported on January 14 that Abu Obeida, the spokesman for Hamas’s military arm, delivered a televised speech marking the 100-day milestone, in which he clearly outlined in his own words the reason for the deadly attack. Obeida declared, “We look back 100 days to remember the educated, the complicit, and the incapacitated among the world powers governed by the law of the jungle, reminding them of an aggression that reached its peak against our path (Al-Quds) and Al-Aqsa, with the start of its actual temporal and spatial division, and the bringing of red cows as an application of a detestable religious myth designed for aggression against the feelings of an entire nation in the heart of its Arab identity, and the path of its prophet (the Night Journey) and Ascension to heaven” (emphasis added). Al-Quds is an Arabic name for Jerusalem; Al-Aqsa is a mosque on the Temple Mount. And the “red cows” refer to five spotless red heifers imported to Israel from Texas in 2022 (Jerusalem Post, September 20, 2022). The Bible prescribed the ashes of a spotless red heifer for cleansing from defilement (see Numbers 19). These animals, donated by an American who bred them for this very purpose, are seen by many Orthodox Jews as making it possible to begin again to offer animal sacrifices. Of course, any such action threatens the status quo on the Temple Mount, and the growing interest in this possibility seems to be what Abu Obeida was referring to.
Jerusalem will become the focal point of the strife in the Middle East. There are other issues, but this city, its Temple Mount, and the threat of Jewish worship on this highly contested site will be a flashpoint for future prophetic events that will profoundly impact the modern nation of Israel—and the entire world. For more information, read or listen to “Jerusalem: Future Capital of the World.”
Who Really Rules Britain? Immigration is a powerful force that brings many changes. While it is politically incorrect to point out concerns with uncontrolled immigration, overwhelming numbers of unassimilated migrants have the potential to radically change the culture and values of nations. Such changes are stirring a powerful backlash around the globe, including in Europe and Britain, where native cultures are being disrupted and overwhelmed.
In a recent article in the Telegraph, former Home Secretary and British politician Suella Braverman wrote a scathing essay on the incapacitating impact of massive Islamic immigration into the United Kingdom. In her article, "Islamists Are Bullying Britain into Submission," Ms. Braverman, herself a daughter of immigrants from Africa, points out how the growing political force of Islamists in the British parliament is changing the course and composition of the nation. She states, “The truth is that the Islamists, the extremists and the anti-Semites are in charge now. They have bullied the Labour Party, they have bullied our institutions, and now they have bullied our country into submission.” In her no-holds-barred warning, Braverman highlights backroom deals, intimidated colleagues, hijacked elections, and other examples, pointing to the apparent cowardice of fellow MPs and the desperate need for courage in both the nation’s government and its people.
Watching nations like Britain undergo such drastic social and moral changes is sobering, but not surprising. Bible prophecies have long predicted that if Israelite-descended nations, including Britain, turn away from God, then the “alien who is among you shall rise higher and higher above you, and you shall come down lower and lower.… he shall be the head, and you shall be the tail” (Deuteronomy 28:43–44). We are watching this coming to pass today. To learn more about the chaos growing in America, the UK, and Europe due to unrestrained immigration, read our recent Tomorrow’s World article “The Chaos of a Borderless World.”—Scott Winnail