Greetings from Charlotte,
This weekend, Mr. Jonathan McNair will be attending the Men’s Training Camp in Wilburton, Oklahoma, and I will be heading to the Men’s Training Camp in Weston, Oregon. Dr. Douglas Winnail will be conducting Tomorrow’s World Presentations in Augusta, Georgia and Summerville, South Carolina, and Mr. Wallace Smith will be conducting a TWP in Flint, Michigan. Our ministry will be giving initial and follow-up presentations elsewhere, as well. Please do be praying for the success of these efforts.
This week’s video update addresses the effects of the Canadian election, in which Mark Carney, the Liberal candidate, was given a full term as Prime Minister. As I mention at the end of the update, we must not get caught up in the emotions of things we cannot change. We are the children of God and our citizenship is in Heaven.
—Gerald E. Weston
Church Administration
Tomorrow’s World Presentations
The Tomorrow’s World Presentations are back in full swing after the spring Holy Days. Last week, we held three initial presentations—in London, Ontario, Canada; Asheville, North Carolina; and Charlotte, North Carolina. These presentations drew a total of 44 guests. This week, we will hold eight presentations—Augusta, Georgia; Des Moines, Iowa; Flint, Michigan; Cape Girardeau and Poplar Bluff, Missouri; Summerville, South Carolina; Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada; and Whangarei, New Zealand. Thank you all for your continued prayers and support for the Tomorrow’s World Presentations.
The Second Passover – Repeat Announcement
The Second Passover this year is on Monday, May 12, which means that it will be observed on Sunday evening, May 11, shortly after sunset. This Passover is for those baptized members who were unable to take the first Passover due to unavoidable circumstances, as instructed in Numbers 9:1–14. If you have any questions, please contact your pastor.
Living for Tomorrow 2025 – Blowing Rock, North Carolina – Repeat Announcement
This year’s L4T program at Blowing Rock will be conducted from May 23 to May 25. L4T is built for our adults aged 18–30 and is geared toward learning, fellowship, worship, and fun! The cost is $140 per person, which includes lodging, food, and inspiration. Arrival is on Friday afternoon, with dinner at 6:00 p.m., followed shortly by our first meeting at 7:30 p.m. Departure will be at noon on Sunday. To be part of this program, just go to https://www.lcgeducation.org/l4t-blowingrock-2025/ and sign up! The deadline to register is May 9, so act soon!
Feast of Tabernacles
Requesting to Transfer for the Feast
If you request a transfer out of your assigned site, please be prepared to be on a waitlist, especially if you are requesting to transfer into a site with limited capacity. We try very hard to accommodate the highest-priority transfer requests first. These include health, financial, service, and family considerations. While spending the Feast with longtime and close friends is a wonderful blessing, we cannot weigh these requests as highly as those previously listed. Please consider serving at your assigned site once every three years or so.
Booking Church-Negotiated Housing for the Feast – Must Read
If you use Church-negotiated housing for the Feast, please be sure to use the correct method for doing so. There may be a website link, a booking code, or a phone number for you to call. Using the incorrect method for booking Church-negotiated housing can cause several problems, not the least of which can be overspending on Feast housing. If you are unsure of the correct method for booking your housing, contact the Feast Site Coordinator or your local Festival Advisor.
Feast Websites Now Live – Repeat Announcement
The 2025 Festival site webpages are now live! All LCG brethren and Feast guests can access the Feast site write-ups at https://fot2025.lcg.org.
Feast Registration May 4 – Repeat Announcement
The 2025 Feast of Tabernacles general registration is quickly approaching! General registration is scheduled for May 4 at 12:00 p.m. (Eastern Daylight Time, USA) and can be accessed at https://fotreg.cogl.org. Please take the time to log in to your MyLCG account before then to make sure that you know your PIN and password. If you do not have Internet access and need help acquiring Feast information, please contact your local congregation’s Festival Advisor. If you don’t know who your Festival Advisor is, please contact your local Pastor.
Note to Festival Advisors: In preparation for Feast registration, please print the site descriptions and registration forms and distribute them to brethren in your area who need them. You can find these documents by going to https://fotreg.cogl.org, signing in using your PIN and MyLCG password, and clicking the “Advisor Access” link.
Living Youth Program
Texas Preteen Camp
Texas Preteen Camp is still open for registration and could use a few more high-school-age workers and adult staff, especially lifeguards. If you are interested in serving our youth in this way this summer, please visit https://camp.livingyouth.org to fill out an application.
West Virginia Preteen Camp
We still have space for a few additional campers and adult staff at the Preteen Camp in the beautiful mountains of West Virginia, scheduled for July 27–August 1. If you are interested in joining us, please register as soon as possible.
Comments
The Church as a Watchman: Throughout history, God has used His servants to warn His people of coming events. Moses warned the Israelites that disobedience to His laws would bring punishments (Leviticus 26:15–39). Isaiah was told to tell God’s people their sins (Isaiah 58:1). Jeremiah warned the Israelites “you have forsaken the Lord…. Your own wickedness will correct you” (Jeremiah 2:17–19). Hosea’s message was that “they sow the wind, and reap the whirlwind…. Israel has forgotten his Maker” (Hosea 8:7, 14). Ezekiel was commissioned to be a watchman to the house of Israel and told he would be accountable for delivering God’s warning to them (Ezekiel 3:17–19). In Ezekiel’s day, the Israelites had already gone into captivity, which means that Ezekiel’s message must be delivered to modern Israelite nations today. Let’s pray that God will open doors to enable His Church to deliver that warning and that we stay focused on that mission.
Have a profitable Sabbath,
Douglas S. Winnail
News and Prophecy – May 01, 2025
A New Pope Coming: After weeks of battling with his health, 88-year-old Pope Francis died on April 21. His twelve years in the papacy were marked by what many saw as liberal changes in the Roman Catholic Church. Some were supportive while others were condemning.
The conclave to elect his successor has been set to begin on May 7. According to Catholic doctrine, any “baptized Catholic male with the use of reason” can be elected pope, though it has been more than 500 years since someone who was not already a cardinal has been chosen (Catholic.org). Much speculation surrounds the upcoming papal election. Some want the next pope to continue in the way of Francis, with continued liberalization, while others emphasize the need to return to clear Catholic orthodoxy, lest there be a schism in the church (The Times, April 23, 2025). Some speculate that the next pope could come from the global south, such as an African cardinal, while others feel he should again be a European, or even an Italian. Regardless of human desires, the biblical truth is that God raises up and sets down powerful human leaders on the earth in order to ultimately bring about His own plans (Daniel 2:21).
And what are those plans? Bible prophecy indicates that there will be a future, powerful religious leader who will support and exalt a coming European “beast.” This man will symbolically have “two horns like a lamb,” but will speak “like a dragon” (Revelation 13:11). Catholics believe that the pope is the successor of the Apostle Peter and that the next pope will carry on his spiritual lineage. However, history and the Bible teach otherwise. To learn more about the history of this false Catholic teaching, read “The Petrine Deception.”
Science Plays God: When the movie Jurassic Park was first released in 1993, moviegoers reveled in the idea that science could resurrect the dinosaurs. Most, however, understood that the idea of recreating dinosaurs from fossilized DNA was far-fetched. Fast-forward 30 years, and that once far-fetched idea is becoming reality!
The Austin, Texas, firm Colossal Biosciences has set its sights on the “de-extinction” of animals they deem to have had a beneficial impact on the biosphere. To accomplish this, scientists are using advanced gene-editing technology to modify the DNA of existing species (DW, April 8, 2025). In their first public attempt, scientists took recaptured DNA from a tooth and an ear bone of dire wolf specimens housed in museums. They then edited the genetic code of the gray wolf to better match that of the extinct wolf species, making just 20 changes across 14 genes. The fertilized embryos were then placed into surrogate hounds, and 62 days later the world saw the birth of “dire wolf” pups for the first time in several millennia. The company warns that they do not know how long the pups will live because this is a genetic experiment. But to date, Romulus and Remus, along with their younger sister Khaleesi, are growing large quickly. They “will be larger and more muscular than related modern gray wolves if and when they reach adulthood.” The company is now working on the “de-extinction” of the woolly mammoth and plans to have a live baby by 2028. It hopes to use its technology to help reverse man-made extinctions brought about over the past couple of centuries.
The work of Colossal Biosciences is exciting yet sobering. When humans gain the power to re-create extinct creatures—and even create new creatures—by rewriting genetic code, what could come next? What must man think of himself when he can bring about such fantastic accomplishments? And who decides what lines can or cannot be crossed? There were reasons why God chose to confuse human language at the tower of Babel (Genesis 11:5–9). Seeking to play God without the wisdom of God is a dangerous game. To learn more about the Creator of science, read “God and the Foundation of Science.” —Scott Winnail, Rod Wissinger, and Francine Prater