Greetings from Charlotte,
We have just posted a new telecast by Mr. Wallace Smith this week that is dubbed in French, titled “Is Jesus God?” – “Jésus est-Il Dieu ?” It offers the booklet: Restoring Original Christianity – La restauration du christianisme originel. Work is being done on our new hymnal and I am sending out a letter to all attendees who may want to order a personal copy, as these need to be preordered. We expect to have it available sometime after the Feast. We have also been doing work on a new Living Church of God manual for the men’s Spokesman’s Club and hope to have at least a preliminary copy available before the start-up of clubs following the Feast. Mr. Robert Mucha has arrived in Charlotte from his home in Michigan. Mr. Mucha is an attorney who will be working in our Legal and Risk Management Department. Dr. Wilner Pierre and his wife Cecelia will be in Charlotte this coming week when he will record a new set of French radio programs for airing in Africa.—Gerald Weston
Church Administration
Tomorrow’s World Presentations
Last week we held four Tomorrow’s World Presentations that drew a total of 39 guests. The follow-up in Bakersfield, California, was particularly notable as it was the third follow-up in the series and drew a total of ten guests. Mr. Bardo reports that he has been surprised by the success of the Bakersfield TWPs. This week we will hold five TWPs, in England, Georgia, Wyoming, Colorado, and West Virginia. Thank you all for your continued prayers and support for the Tomorrow’s World Presentations.
Feast of Tabernacles
Final Preparations for the Feast of Tabernacles
With less than six weeks left before Opening Night, final preparations are being made for the Feast of Tabernacles 2024! Last Tuesday evening, the Festival Office conducted an online meeting with Business Managers and their assistants, and next Monday evening we’ll meet online with those heading up the Ushers/Greeters/Parking departments. Note to all brethren: Please be sure to check your email regularly for messages from your site coordinator.The email address associated with your MyLCG account will be his means of communicating vital information to you right up to the Feast.
Tithe of the Festival Tithe
For many decades, the Church of God has practiced what is called the “tithe of the Festival tithe.” What this means is that brethren who can afford it are asked to send a tenth of their Festival tithe to the Church before the Feast, to help pay for meeting halls and other Feast expenses as well as to help brethren around the world who have limited resources to attend the Feast (Deuteronomy 14:27; 16:14). If you are able and you have not already done so, please send in your tithe of the Festival tithe for this year. This contribution is greatly appreciated.
Feast Sermons for Those Unable to Attend in Person—Repeat Announcement
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 that site. This is the preferred option. Though not a substitute for being present at the site, these connections give access to live Feast services, including prayers and hymns.
Pre-recorded Feast sermons will also be available for brethren who are unable to attend in person and for whom the livestream or telephone connections are not feasible. The pre-recorded sermons will be posted online (one per day) throughout 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
Additionally, links to these pre-recorded Festival sermons will be emailed to pastors ahead of the Feast. You can forward that email before the Feast to the members in your areas who are not attending in person.
We request that as many as are able would please access the Feast sermons by livestream or telephone from their assigned site or view the pre-recorded sermons online. However, if there are brethren in your areas who cannot take advantage of these options and need to receive physical sermon discs through the mail, please send us their names and addresses and specify if they need DVDs (video) or CDs (audio only). We need these requests before the following deadlines:
- The deadline for international requests for pre-recorded Festival sermon discs is September 28. For those in regions with slow postal service, please send in your requests now or as early as possible in order for the sermons to arrive before the Feast.
- Requests for recipients in the U.S. must be received by October 10.
If possible, please do not wait until the deadline to send in your requests.
Activity Registration Is Open!—Repeat Announcement
Activity registration is now open and Living Church of God attendees and guests can sign up for Feast activities.
How to register: Simply go to fotreg.cogl.org, sign in, select “Register for activities,” and follow the prompts. Once you have signed up for activities, you can pay by selecting “Payments.” If paying by check, please read and follow carefully the instructions provided by your Festival Site Coordinator—and, of course, never send cash in the mail. And please note: While it is perfectly fine to give Holy Day offerings online on the Holy Days, payments for Feast activities should, of course, not be made on a Sabbath. Note payment deadlines for your specific site. The general deadline to pay by check is September 26. If you have questions, contact your Festival Site Coordinator.
Note: There may still be some activities at your site that are not yet open for registration. If you have any questions about the activities at your site, please contact your Festival Coordinator.
Comments
Hope in Satan’s Divided World: Our world seems to be falling apart! On the global stage, winds of war are blowing in the Middle East, Europe, and Southeast Asia as heavily armed nations jockey for power. With elections in over one hundred countries in 2024, political parties are bitterly opposing one another as they hurl insults and accusations. Racial, ethnic, and gender issues are ripping apart schools and communities and families are being destroyed—but few realize why. Yet, the Bible reveals that Satan is the “god of this age” (2 Corinthians 4:4); that he is a rebel (Isaiah 14:12–15), the author of anger, hatred, and lies (Galatians 5:19–21) that lead to chaos and confusion (1 Corinthians 14:33) and even wars (James 4:1–5) that will reach a climax at the end of the age (2 Timothy 3:1–5). However, we are also told in the Scriptures that Jesus Christ will return as the “Prince of peace” (Isaiah 9:6–7) and the “Savior of the world” (John 4:42). Are we praying and preparing for that long-anticipated Day?
Have a profitable Sabbath,
Douglas S. Winnail
News and Prophecy—September 5, 2024
AI Is a “Master of Deception”: Artificial intelligence (AI) is taking the world by storm. You can now use AI to learn languages, translate documents, compose music, and even write term papers for school. AI is everywhere, but its potential for danger and harm is still not fully understood—and is often underestimated. In a recent report published in the journal Patterns, researchers studied multiple AI types and found that many employed lies and deception to succeed at their tasks—even when programmers worked to steer the AI toward being honest and truthful (StudyFinds.org, May 12, 2024)! One study author explained that “we think AI deception arises because a deception-based strategy turned out to be the best way to perform well at the given AI’s training task. Deception helps them achieve their goals.” He also warned, “As the deceptive capabilities of AI systems become more advanced, the dangers they pose to society will become increasingly serious.” In a world that is becoming remarkably dependent on AI-driven technology, and in a world where so many people readily believe all the information they are fed by their computers or smartphones, it is not difficult to imagine where this computer-generated deception could lead.
Nearly two thousand years ago, Jesus Christ stated that Satan the devil is “a liar and the father of it” (John 8:44). Centuries earlier, the prophet Isaiah warned of a coming time defined by widespread deception: “No one calls for justice, nor does any plead for truth. They trust in empty words and speak lies; they conceive evil and bring forth iniquity” (Isaiah 59:4). Who would have guessed that technology created by mankind would not only assist in the propagation of lies, but also begin to generate its own? As we look around the world and we see computer programs acting more and more like human beings, the pressing question becomes “Where will it all lead?” To find out more about this future, be sure to read “Lies, Lies, and More Lies.”
Why Don’t Americans Want Children? Today, fewer Americans than ever are having children. In 2023, the fertility rate in the United States actually fell to 1.6 births per woman, and that is below replacement level, which is 2.1 births per woman (CNBC, August 16, 2024). However, Americans are simply following a trend that is evident in many other Western nations.
One of the major reasons frequently cited for not having children is the economic cost of raising a child today, but there are also other reasons. In some cases, a couple may not be able to conceive a child, while others prefer to pursue their personal careers or maintain their chosen lifestyles. Others believe that remaining childless will make them happier. According to a recent Pew Research study, of those surveyed who were under 50 years old but said they will likely never have children, the majority—57 percent—said they simply do not want children! Many (44 percent) said they have other things they want to focus on.
So, what do these findings reveal? Deciding to focus only on our own lives, happiness, and interests is a form of selfishness. It is interesting that the Bible states that one of the signs of the coming end of the age is that people will be “lovers of themselves… despisers of good… and lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God” (2 Timothy 3:1–5). As modern societies lose sight of the Scriptures, they are no longer taught that God instructed human beings to “be fruitful and multiply” (Genesis 1:22) and that “[c]hildren are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from Him” (Psalm 127:3, New Living Translation). As more people in our modern secular societies choose to forego having children, they also deny themselves the tremendous joys and satisfaction that God intended to be blessings for living His way of life. To learn more about how to raise children who become a blessing, be sure to read Successful Parenting: God’s Way.—Scott Winnail, Rod Wissinger, and Craig Marley