Greetings everyone,
Lately, we have been having rather cool and cloudy days in San Diego. What happened to our customary warm and bright sunshine? I personally think that God is preparing "some" of us gradually to get used to the Charlotte weather before we move there in a few months! For what it's worth, today's temperature in Charlotte was 57º; in San Diego, 65º; in Paris (France), 54º; and in Helena, 19º.
We just learned that Mr. & Mrs. Don Davis arrived safely in Charlotte yesterday, after four days of driving. They can now have a restful Sabbath!
MEDIA
Telecast Update
Messrs. Meredith and Ames are busy making TV programs in order to have enough on reserve during our move to Charlotte, next February. They made the following tapings on Thursday, October 31:
#162 RCM - "What IS the Great Tribulation?" - Offers WAA - Airs Feb. 16
#163 RCM - "WHO will cause the Great Tribulation?" - Offers BR - Airs Feb. 23
#164 RFA - "Facing Your Fears" - Offers audiotape (#160 + #118) - Airs Mar. 2
#165 RFA - "The Seven Seals of Revelation" - Offers DOL audiotape - Airs Mar. 9
Web Update
Last week, the Church Web sites recorded their first visit from the southeast African nation of Mozambique. This brings to 159 the number of countries known to have visited the official Living Church of God Web sites.
INTERNATIONAL
A brief report from Nairobi—by Mr. Ernest Owino
"I just made it back here this afternoon after more than two weeks of travel—visiting with individuals and congregations in western Kenya. And it has indeed been a very hectic and tiring—though very spiritually rewarding—journey. On the Sabbath of October 12, I established a new video group in Opoya, where we had over 18 in attendance. It may be significant to note that a number of perceptive Seventh Day Adventists are coming our way—even some of their church elders. Apparently, our message is going out sound and clear and, hopefully, God will bring more into this fold […]
"During the last three Sabbaths away from Nairobi, I was able to serve the Opoya (Oct. 12—18 in attendance), Opoya & Ndhiwa (Oct. 19—18 & 61 in attendance, respectively), and Opoya, Ndhiwa & Got Kojowi (Oct. 26—17, 63 & 27 in attendance, respectively) congregations. Hopefully, this gives you a clue of the developments of the Work in East Africa. I should be visiting other outlying areas also very soon."
CHURCH ADMINISTRATION
Some encouraging statistics
- The year-to-date average weekly Sabbath attendance in Canada has increased by 17 percent over last year—from 327 in 2001 to 382 in 2002.
- A total of 92 people have been baptized in the USA and Canada so far in 2002, a 35 percent increase over the same period last year (68 baptisms).
- So far we have added a total of 15 new video groups around the world in 2002:
3 in Canada, 1 in Colombia, 1 in Indonesia, 2 in Kenya, 5 in the Philippines, 1 in
the USA and 2 in Venezuela.
COMMENTS
Sometimes, despite our good intentions to do things right, we fail because of our own ways of reasoning and of doing things, rather than God's. In my last week's Comments, I showed the importance of respecting the right priorities in our lives—a lesson we learned during the Feast of Tabernacles.
There were, of course, many other lessons of great value taught during those sermons, but some missed them because of their absence or their being late at services. One such lesson is: PUNCTUALITY. How punctual are you in your daily activities? Were you punctual during the Feast? Were you on time at services and for all other activities? Some people are habitually late. Some even believe that it is customary or "polite" to be late for an invitation. What a senseless idea! According to the Webster's dictionary, being PUNCTUAL is "acting at an appointed time or at a regularly scheduled time." This is a good definition but it lacks something. The Larousse, the authoritative French dictionary, defines PUNCTUALITY as "the quality of a person who is always on time." When put together, these two definitions throw a better light on the subject. As Louis XVIII, a king well-known for his many mistakes, stated, "Punctuality is the politeness of kings." At least on this point, he was right!
The Bible clearly teaches us that punctuality is indispensable to enter the Kingdom of God. All of us need to make a thorough study of this subject during our own private Bible studies. One thing is sure: God is always on time. He is, indeed, an ON TIME God. Everything in the whole creation, everything in the entire universe, is governed by this basic law. Precision and punctuality are attributes of God's nature. The more scientists make new discoveries, the more they become aware of this. But how about us, God's people? How punctual are we in all of our daily activities? Are we always ON TIME, as God is?
Remember the parable of the ten virgins Christ told us in Matthew 25. Five of them were wise, and five foolish. But rather than watching and praying, all of them (the Church) slumbered and slept. At midnight, when the Master came, they all rose and trimmed their lamps. But the foolish realized they did not have enough oil. By the time they went to "buy" some, it was too late. The door was shut!
Don't you think it's high time for us to hear this wake-up call and to learn to be punctual?
Y'all have a wonderful Sabbath.
Dibar Apartian