Greetings from Charlotte,
Things are moving along at Headquarters. Online registration for Living University's second semester classes has begun. The classes being offered are listed on the Living University website: www.livinguniv.com. Mr. Meredith and Mr. Ames taped television programs today. Mr. Meredith recorded program #324, "The REAL Future of True Christians," which will be aired in March 2008 and will offer the booklet Do You Believe The True Gospel? Mr. Ames taped program #323, "The Prophetic Day of the Lord," which will air in March 2008 and will offer The Day of The Lord CD. This afternoon I am giving a lecture on end-time prophecy at a university near Charlotte, and I will be in New England for services this weekend. Mr. and Mrs. Crockett will be attending a Church campout in Georgia this weekend. Please keep Mr. Keith Walden and his wife Renee in your prayers. Mr. Walden's condition is quite serious.
Church Administration
Tornado in Lansing, Michigan
Mr. Daniel Friz, Michigan Area Pastor, reports: None of our members in the Lansing congregation were injured or had their property suffer serious damage when the F-2 tornado that devastated Williamston, Michigan, went through the Lansing area on October 18. The tornado, which struck at night, badly damaged most buildings in the Williamston business district, except the building owned by one of our members who has his barbershop there. Except for a few lost shingles, the shop is intact. North of Williamston, the twister passed within a mile and a half of another member, killing a couple when their entire house was carried 300 or so feet and dropped into a small lake. The storm then traveled about 80 miles northeast and, later that night, hit in the Flint area near where another Church family lives. Our members in the area suffered no damage. God mercifully protected His people that night.
Fifteenth Anniversary Celebration—Additional Information
Thank you for your enthusiastic response to our request last week for a "hand count" of those planning to attend the services/dinner-dance in Charlotte the weekend of December 29. Our tentative dinner-dance attendance count stands at 323, with some congregations yet to respond.
We feel certain that some may not have been prepared to make a decision on such short notice. For this reason, we ask that you make a hand count of any who did not raise their hands last week, but who have now decided they will attend. Area Pastors, please send only the additional number of attendees to [email protected] by early next week.
The details for afternoon Church services, evening dinner and dance are as follows:
Location: Hilton Charlotte University Place
8629 JM Keynes Drive
Charlotte, NC 28262
Tel: 704-547-7444
www.charlotteuniversity.hilton.com
Dinner: $25.00 per person (we are attempting to negotiate a lower price for children under 12)
Lodging: Hilton Charlotte University, $99.00 per night
Best Western Independence (near the HQ building), $60.00 per night
Tel. 704-845-2810
Our IT Department is putting together a registration page on the MyLCG site, which should be available within a few days. Instructions on how to access it will be provided in next week's The World Ahead.—Davy Crockett
Married Couples Seminar/Singles Seminar
Thank you for the prompt response to the hand counts for these two activities, planned for the weekend of December 28-30. Please note that we have rescheduled the Singles Seminar to Sunday, December 30. The Married Couples Seminar remains scheduled for Friday, December 28. We have put together a preliminary schedule, as follows:
Friday, December 28: Married Couples Seminar
1:00-5:00 Married Couples Seminar
5:00-6:30 Catered dinner for seminar participants and their children
6:30-8:00 Married Couples Bible study
Sunday, December 30: Singles Seminar
10:00-12:15 Singles Seminar (morning session)
12:15-1:15 Catered lunch for seminar participants
1:15-6:00 Singles Seminar (afternoon session)
Additional Information: Meal prices are yet to be determined for both seminars. Singles of all ages are invited to attend the Singles Seminar. We are making plans for babysitting services during the Married Couples Seminar; parents may be asked to assist in babysitting for a short portion of the seminar, on a rotational basis. More registration information for both activities will be forthcoming. For more information, contact Lambert Greer (Singles Seminar) at 502-228-5917 ([email protected]) or Rod McNair (Married Couples Seminar) at 704-844-1960, ext. 212 ([email protected]).
Finance
Thank you for using the pre-coded green Holy Day envelopes, particularly in the USA, this past festival season. This greatly improved the accurate and timely processing of the offerings. Every time you use a pre-coded envelope, it is like adding an extra offering of time, accuracy and money saved in processing. If you ever need extra tithe envelopes, please let us know and we will send them to you. Also note that the receipt you will receive in November should have your offerings recorded for September and October. As always, if you notice that we have miscoded a donation, please notify me, Jerry Ruddlesden, at 704-844-1970 or at [email protected]. –Jerry Ruddlesden
Mail Processing Department
We are happy to report that we are caught up in mail processing at this time. It takes awhile to wade through the accumulation that occurs when we are off for the Feasts. We want to thank all of you who have been submitting literature tracking information on the www.cogl.org website and we encourage continued participation. We have an emerging picture of mail transit times, which we will show to our personal USPS mail representatives. They are now working on mail entrance situations that we have been able to call to their attention. It is hard to fix a problem if you don't know it exists.
As we did in the past, we are asking once again for any information relating to mail problems. We are not guaranteeing solutions, but we can at least try to make things run more smoothly. We start our day in prayer asking for God's help in accomplishing the great task that He has given to all of us as the body of Christ to preach the Gospel as a witness to the world and to reach out to those who are scattered in this end-time. Thank all of you for your prayers and support. We appreciate all that you have done and are doing. Keep up the good fight. So will we.—Gaylyn Bonjour
Comments
Pay Attention to Prophecy: Jesus told His disciples to stay alert and watch for the fulfillment of specific prophecies that will mark the approaching end of this age (Matthew 24). He also warned in the parable of the foolish virgins that many will be caught napping and unprepared by the surge of events that will precede the return of Jesus Christ to this earth (Matthew 25:1-13). It is truly amazing how God has given His Church a "more sure word of prophecy" (2 Peter 1:19, KJV) so we can warn this world about the prophetic significance of both current and impending world events (Ezekiel 3, 33). Yet, misguided teachers have ridiculed the Church's understanding of prophecy and accused Church members of suffering from "prediction addiction." As we see world events building to a prophetic crescendo, let's make sure we are building a closer relationship with God and that we are learning to really live by every word of God (Matthew 4:4).
Have a profitable Sabbath,
Douglas S. Winnail
News and Prophecy—November 1, 2007
Personal Information at Risk in Britain. The British Justice Minister is poised to "rubber stamp" controversial security measures at his meeting with the EU. "Medical records and other highly personal details of British citizens' lives are to be handed to foreign governments… The files will be made available for even the most minor offences… which could include motoring fines." And this will happen "without any debate in Parliament" (The Mail on Sunday, October 21, 2007). EU officials continue to draft legislation centralizing power and laws of EU nations. Also, it appears that the revised "treaty" or former European Constitution will soon be ratified at the governmental level in most nations, bypassing the people. Currently, Ireland is the only EU nation planning a national referendum (Daily Mail, October 19, 2007; The Times, October 20, 2007). More than 20 European nations are surrendering their sovereignty and financial resources to a centralized body of mostly unelected and unregulated officials in Brussels. Europeans may soon awake, wondering where national identity went. Revelation 17:12-13 warns of ten nations giving their power to a Beast power or central government. This process is happening in Europe now, as nations freely give away what they will not be able to recover.
Microsoft and the EU. An EU high court ruled again last month that Microsoft must pay a fine of more than 200 million euros and share some of its privately-developed intellectual property in order to stimulate competition in European technology. Google, Apple, Intel and others may be next (International Herald Tribune, September 16, 2007; The Times, September 25, 2007). Some argue that this case, which is expected to be appealed to the EU's highest court, is "the tip of the iceberg" in the EU's plan to impose its regulations on all international trade. The EU's massive trade block gives it powerful sway over companies who want to trade within it. In one case, companies desiring to sell cosmetics, deemed safe on the international market for decades, must register a list of product chemicals with Brussels by June 2008. However, European counterparts need not register their products for at least three years. Critics see this as an EU effort to stem international imports—creating more opportunity for national firms (Wall Street Journal, October 31, 2007). God warned Israel about its sins, "you shall be defeated by your enemies… I will break the pride of your power… your strength shall be spent in vain…" (Leviticus 26:17, 19-20). This prophecy can also apply to the areas of finance and trade.
Extreme Stress Affecting One-Third of Americans. A recent American Psychological Association (APA) survey reported that stress levels have risen for 50 percent of Americans in the last five years, and one-third report "extreme" stress in their lives. The APA executive director for professional practice says 75 percent of those responding to an online questionnaire pointed to work and financial difficulties as the main stressors in their lives. Other stress factors included workload, children, low salaries, work/family balance and lack of opportunity for advancement at work. An equal number said they experienced headaches, fatigue, irritability, insomnia, anxiety and muscle tension because of stress. Over half said stress caused friction in their relations with family, friends and associates. Many admitted indulging in damaging behaviors like alcohol abuse, eating high-sugar "junk" food, and tobacco use, because of high stress. These and other stress-induced bad habits contribute to high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes and other disorders, which in turn lead to higher levels of stress. The APA said people should identify causes of their stress as a first step in dealing with it. Many survey respondents credited reading, music, exercise and time spent with family as stress reducers. Prayer also eased the stress of 34 percent of people (MedicalNewsToday.com, October 26, 2007). God teaches, "… do not worry, saying, 'what shall we eat, drink? or wear?' For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things" (Matthew 6:31-32).—Don Davis, Dan Bennett, Gil Morris and Scott Winnail