From the Presiding Evangelist
Dear Fellow Servants of Christ,
An important matter has just come that I want to alert all of you faithful servants of Christ about. It involves Dr. Robert Thiel. While Dr. Thiel has declared himself to be a loyal member of the Living Church of God and has helped us in many ways with interesting ideas, suggestions and personal help, we do feel it is important for all of you to know that he is not our official "spokesman" in any way. He has written a number of things with which we do not agree.
Dr. Thiel has just published a highly speculative book about President Obama much of which we do not agree with. So it is important that all of you realize that—although I love Dr. Thiel personally—it is vital that each of you brethren check out carefully and prove to yourself whether any of his writings are valid if you read them. Although he has not stated it as such, some of our brethren may have assumed that Dr. Robert Thiel is an "official" spokesman for the Church on many matters. We want you to fully understand that this is not so. He is not in our employ, nor does he officially represent us in any way. So although we continue to wish him well, we do want everyone to know that when it comes to some of his unusual writings or concepts, they must stand on their own and not be represented as something from the Living Church of God. If you have questions about this matter, please counsel with your own local faithful Living Church of God minister.
In these difficult times, let us all be careful to "prove all things" and be sure where we stand before God. Also, we certainly want to love and forgive one another and keep working together in every way we can to accomplish the great mission Christ has set before us. Thank you for your understanding, your prayers and your loyalty.
With Christian love,
Roderick C. Meredith
Church Administration
Greetings from Charlotte,
Over the last week or so, a number of earthquakes measuring over 7.0 have shaken parts of the world—the east coast of the Philippines, El Salvador, Guatemala and Costa Rica—in addition to numerous smaller quakes that rattled southern California. These regions lie along the "Ring of Fire" that circles the Pacific Ocean. In America, the fireworks of the presidential campaign continue, as Europe struggles with its economic crises and the Middle East threatens to explode. Here in Charlotte, Mr. Meredith and Mr. Ames recorded new television programs this week. Last week's program by Mr. Meredith, entitled "How to Watch World Events," is expected to draw about 5,400 responses. This week we held a reception for on-campus students of Living University here in Charlotte, and we were able to conduct an online student assembly that also included on-campus students in Australia. This Sunday, Mr. Rod King will conduct a planning meeting in France for our European ministry. Mr. Ames plans to fly to Toronto next week to tape three programs for our Hong Kong telecast edition. As world events continue to move toward the climactic end of this age, please continue to pray for God's Work and for His people.—DSW
Tomorrow's World Special Presentation
Pontefract, UK: Mr. Rod King gave an inspiring presentation, titled "Our Royal Future," to an audience of 27 in Pontefract on Sabbath, 1 September. Several of the 13 guests said they want to come back. One extremely interested gentleman was from a small congregation of eight people who had already started keeping the Holy Days.—Jamie Meakin
Spanish Update
Costa Rica's Earthquake Report—God Protected Costa Rica: Last Wednesday, September 5, at 8:42 a.m., Costa Rica was shaken by an earthquake of more than 7.6 degrees. The earthquake—produced by the clash of the Cocos plate in the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean plate underneath Costa Rica—could have destroyed our country, had it not been for miraculous intervention.
We have been expecting this earthquake for more than 20 years and, for the last 15, the scientists here have been following the movement of the plates, measuring the plates move toward each other at a speed of 9 centimeters per year; although they couldn't exactly predict when the quake would occur.
Had the plates clashed head on, little in Costa Rica would have remained standing. But thanks to God, the clash was the subduction-type. The Cocos tectonic plate slid below the edge of the Caribbean tectonic plate at a descending angle of about 35 degrees, causing most of the energy to be released underneath, into the depths of the Earth. The energy released upwardly was mostly absorbed by a giant rock over which the Nicoya Peninsula lies, directly across the epicenter.
Still, many places suffered damage: landslides blocked highways, at least one important bridge collapsed, about 200 homes were destroyed and many buildings suffered considerable damage, among them an important hospital on the coast that had to be completely evacuated.
The Nicoya coast over the epicenter, mainly touristic beaches, rose by about one meter, causing the ocean to recede a few meters from the coast.
This year's Feast site at the Punta Leona vacation resort did not suffer even the smallest damage, in spite of being on the Pacific Coast and in front of the Nicoya Peninsula. Thanks to God's protection, no Church members suffered any personal or material damage. And God obviously protected the site where He decided to place His name this year.—George Schaubeck
Visit to Chile: Mr. Armando Orrego and his wife Juliana arrived in Santiago de Chile on Thursday, August 2, for a very profitable visit. On Friday they and Juan Quinteros visited a radio station currently transmitting our program, El Mundo de Mañana. They were also able to work out details for a possible future Special Presentation in Santiago. Twenty-five brethren met for services and enjoyed inspiring fellowship on the Sabbath day, and on Sunday several of the brethren gathered at the home of the Carvajal family to benefit further from the ministerial visit. On Monday, the Orregos travelled to Melipilla (about an hour from Santiago) to visit the Mellado family. Upon return to Santiago, the Orregos prepared for their travel back to Colombia.—Sergio Sepulveda and Alfredo Carvajal.
Feast of Tabernacles 2012
The Feast is just over three weeks away! As the Feast of Tabernacles draws near, please note the following items:
Opening Night Service: The Opening Night service this year is on Sunday night, September 30. As has been longstanding Church of God practice, brethren are encouraged to make every effort to arrive at their Feast site where God has "placed His name" in plenty of time to attend this evening service. There will also be a special DVD welcome message from Dr. Meredith during this service. Also as a reminder, September 30 at sundown will begin the first day of the Feast, which is also a Holy Day. Check with your Feast Coordinator for the starting time of the Opening Night service at your site.
Activity Payment Deadlines: Many of our coordinators are trying to finalize attendance numbers for the planned activities, and many venues require that the Church makes pre-payment for those activities. Please note the instructions—including deadlines and methods of payment—for the Feast site where you will be attending. This information can be found on the Web site for each Feast site (check www.lcg.org for more information). Everyone's attention to this will greatly facilitate final plans falling into place and will help ensure that we are able to provide the best possible activities for you and your family!
Holy Day Offerings: If you are traveling internationally for the Feast, it is recommended that you leave your Holy Day offering in your home country. This will ensure that you receive proper documentation for a tax deduction, if your country allows it. You should make an additional offering at the international site you attend, and should plan accordingly. Your attention to these instructions and your use of the preprinted Holy Day envelopes is greatly appreciated.
Hymnals: Brethren are encouraged to bring a hymnal (one or two songbooks per household) from their local congregation's supply for use at the Feast, if they don't have a personal hymnal to take. For those who do take a congregational (blue) hymnal, please be sure to bring the hymnal(s) back to your congregation after the Feast, so that the number of hymnals returned to each congregation is equal to the number of hymnals taken.
Services before and after the Feast of Tabernacles (Repeat Announcement)
Attention all Area Pastors: As requested last week, please send to [email protected] the time of services and contact person for each of your congregations for the Day of Atonement as well as for the Sabbaths just before (September 29) and just after (October 13) the Feast. The information will be collated and made available for members travelling to and from the Feast sites and needs to be posted as soon as possible so that members can finalize their plans.
Living Youth Programs
Teen Bible Study—Sunday Evening
This Sunday evening the topic is "Lot's Wife: Remember Lot's Wife," presented by Mr. Sheldon Monson. The chat room is open at 6:30 p.m. (Eastern Time) and the Bible Study runs from 7:00–8:00 p.m.
Finance Department
U.S. Hall Rentals (Repeat Announcement)
October hall rental vouchers should be faxed or mailed to Accounts Payable by September 14 to ensure processing before the Feast of Tabernacles.
Payments (U.S.) (Repeat Announcement)
Please note that our last scheduled day to print reimbursement checks will be Monday, September 24. We will not be able to print any checks again until Tuesday, October 16. Any invoices we receive before September 20 will be paid before the break. Any invoices we receive after September 20 will not be able to be paid until October 16. If you have any questions in regards to specific invoices or payments, please contact Samanthia Kreis in the Accounts Payable Department at 704-844-1960 ext. 2236 or send e-mail to [email protected].—Jerry Ruddlesden
Internet Operations
Tomorrow's World mobile apps available from the marketplace (Repeat Announcement)
Earlier this month, we successfully launched the Tomorrow's World mobile apps on the Google "Play" Store and the Windows Phone Marketplace. Although the Tomorrow's World apps have been available from the www.TomorrowsWorld.org website for a while, their availability from the app marketplaces now opens up the possibility to reach additional millions of people! As mentioned previously, there are well over 1.2 billion active mobile-broadband subscriptions worldwide, and experts predict at least 5 billion mobile-broadband subscriptions by 2017, so this is a huge "open door" for the preaching of the true Gospel! For Android or Windows Phone users, please simply go to your marketplace and search for "Tomorrow's World" to find and install the app. And, please consider posting a brief, positive review, and giving the apps a "5 star" rating. Please note: if you have previously installed the Tomorrow's World app from the www.TomorrowsWorld.org website, then you should uninstall the app from your phone before downloading the new app from the marketplace. iPhone and Blackberry app development continues, and we hope for a limited iPhone and Blackberry release soon.—Wyatt Ciesielka
Comments
The Importance of Doctrine: The Apostle Paul commended Christians in Rome because they "obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine [teaching]" which was delivered to them (Romans 6:17). He also urged the young evangelist Timothy, "take heed to yourself and to the doctrine… for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you" (1 Timothy 4:16). However, Paul also warned repeatedly that "in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy…" (1 Timothy 4:1-3). He also warned that as the end of the age approaches, one-time believers would "not endure sound doctrine" but would "have itching ears" and follow various teachers—turning their ears away from the truth to fables (2 Timothy 4:1-4). In order to avoid being deceived and misled, we need to study the Scriptures carefully so that we know what the Bible teaches as doctrine (example of the Bereans, Acts 17:10-12), and exercise the spiritual discernment that comes from nourishing and using the gifts of the Holy Spirit (2 Timothy 1:6-7).
Have a profitable Sabbath,
Douglas S. Winnail
News and Prophecy—September 6, 2012
Iran's Defensive Preparations: In response to the growing threat of an Israeli military attack, Iran is planning a massive defense drill in October, involving their air defenses, army and revolutionary guard (Reuters, September 1, 2012). "Today our systems are prepared in a serious way for modern air threats," noted Iran's air defense commander (ibid.). An Iranian naval commander said that Iran now sees Israel and the U.S. as one, so if Israel attacks Iran, Iran will counter-attack both Israeli and U.S. targets (Reuters, September 5, 2012). Turkey's prime minister has stated that an attack on Iran could cause an "apocalypse" in the region (Ynet News, September 5, 2012). As tensions rise, the U.S. is moving another carrier group to the Persian Gulf to join with two existing fleets for a 12-day naval exercise from September 16-27 (DEBKA, September 5, 2012). This exercise involves militaries from 25 nations including Britain, France, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (ibid.). Tensions are rising as the biblical Holy Days approach in late September and early October. Will Israel attack Iran, with or without the U.S.? Will Israel back down or be pressured to do so by the U.S. and EU nations? The Bible tells of a coming temporary peace between Israel, Middle-Eastern, and European nations (Daniel 9:27; Psalm 83:1-8) and that no matter what happens with Iran, Jerusalem will not be destroyed; however, it will be controlled by armies of the coming Beast power (Luke 21:24) and become a seat of power for the prophesied Man of Sin (2 Thessalonians 2:3-4). For more on this exciting topic, review our booklet The Middle East in Prophecy.
Australia's Economic Woes: The resource-based Australian economy has greatly benefited from massive iron ore exports which have supported China's economic boom. "China takes 25% of Australia's exports and iron ore accounts for 60% of all the goods Australia sells to China. One reason Australia avoided recession during the global downturn of 2008-09 was that it had a well-run banking system. A much bigger reason was that the country had become a giant pit from which China could extract the minerals it needed for its industrial expansion" (The Guardian, August 29, 2012). The Chinese economy is now rapidly slowing and significant reserves of iron ore have been amassed, putting the Australian economy at risk. "It has an over-valued currency, an over-valued property market, and its major customer is now desperately pulling every available policy lever in the hope of avoiding a hard landing" (ibid.). God promised to bless the Israelite-descended nations, including Australia, the UK, and the USA with abundance beyond measure if they obey and walk with Him (Deuteronomy 28:1-13). God also warned that if His people despised His ways, foreign nations would consume their resources (Leviticus 26:16; Deuteronomy 28:33)—yet Australia continues to promote abortion, an anti-God mentality and homosexuality as a normal lifestyle. The Bible clearly states that serious consequences will strike the Israelite nations that forget their God (Hosea 8:14).
Why Is Faith Failing in the USA? Since 2005, Americans calling themselves "religious" dropped by almost 18 percent, while those claiming to be "atheist" rose from 1 percent to 5 percent (BBC Magazine, August 21, 2012). Why? One commentator observed, "the young are leaving conservative churches because they disagree with traditional views on homosexuality." He even calls this event a "widespread falling away," pointing out that many leaving "organized Christianity" are choosing to remain "spiritual" but to do it on their own time and in their own location. "If God expects nothing of you but to be nice and to be happy, why roll out of bed on Sunday morning, even for the most progressive of liturgies?" (ibid.). About 17 percent of Americans are of the "stay-at-home" persuasion. Among 18-29 year-olds the number is 30 percent! In recent years, conservative evangelicals have been labeled judgmental, anti-homosexual, hypocritical, and out of touch. Many believe church attendance will continue to decline unless churches "change" enough to stay popular (ibid.). God's people should never purposefully give offense (1 Corinthians 10:32). But Jesus Christ taught that His message and His Church would not be popular (Matthew 10:22; John 15:18). God expects His Church to teach the Truth regardless of its popularity. This Truth, when believed and practiced, will finally set humanity free (John 8:32). God does have a true Church, and our booklet Where Is God's True Church Today? shows where it is.—Scott Winnail and Justin Ridgeway