Greetings from Charlotte,
As Mr. Weston reported last week, both he and his wife have contracted the coronavirus. Be sure to pray fervently for their healing as well as others who became ill at or after the Living Youth Teen Camp. Several have already recovered, but the global danger has not significantly diminished. In the U.S., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has even recommended that vaccinated individuals wear masks “indoors and in certain parts of the country” (“CDC Changes Guidelines on Indoor Masks,” Wall Street Journal, July 28, 2021, p. A1).” Several headquarters employees are under quarantine and working from home. But the Work is moving ahead powerfully. We just received newly printed copies of Tomorrow’s World magazine, August edition, which posts a circulation of 488,000. We anticipate passing the half-million mark within the next two issues! This afternoon, our television crew will be taping my program “The Dangerous Times of the Gentiles,” offering The Beast of Revelation: Myth, Metaphor or Soon-Coming Reality? The three-and-one-half years leading up to the return of Christ will be very dangerous and ultimately include World War III and Armageddon. Be sure to read Luke the 21st chapter, in which our Lord admonished us to watch and pray always! The TV department is also working on the November Semi-Annual DVD “Taking a Stand: Three Censored Tomorrow’s World Telecasts.”
Headquarters is looking forward to the new semester for on-site Living Education students who will be arriving Friday, August 6. They will study a variety of subjects and experience challenging real life adventures in their pursuit of “Recapturing True Values.” We all should strive to be living those biblical values as we overcome day by day.
Mr. Peter Nathan visited our ministers in western Kenya where churches are not allowed to congregate. He writes, “Most of the congregations have been meeting in small groups in members’ homes to avoid the regulations. The actions of the pastors to care for their flocks has been most commendable.” Mr. Nathan then flew to Accra, Ghana to meet with several groups. Next he will be visiting the Ivory Coast and Togo before returning to the UK. Your prayers for Mr. Nathan’s travels will be appreciated. It’s encouraging to know that God has called or is calling people “out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation” (Revelation 5:9).—Richard Ames
Living Education
Feast of Tabernacles Virtual Choir
This year we are preparing for another Feast of the Tabernacles virtual choir. If you would like to participate, just go to https://www.lcgeducation.org/virtual-worldwide-chorus/. The sheet music is now available there, as well as all the instructions explaining how to record. Audio tracks for practicing are being prepared and should be ready by Monday morning, August 2. The deadline for turning in recordings is Sunday, August 22. We had a great response last year and we are hoping for even more voices this year! Participating is easy—just check out the website address for information.—Jonathan McNair
Internet Department
Important: New Website for Member Content—members.lcg.org—Repeat Announcement
We have some exciting news! Over the next few months we plan to make several updates to the Living Church of God website. We want it to be more helpful to non-members who are interested in learning about the Living Church of God. The homepage and content at “lcg.org” will more clearly convey to new people who we are and what we teach.
With this in mind, we have created a separate “Members” website where sermons, Mr. Weston’s Member Update videos, Living Church News articles, etc. will be available. This new member website is members.lcg.org, and it will continue to look and work like the LCG site you have used for the past few years.
It is important to note that if you are looking for the latest sermon or LCG update, you can now find it at members.lcg.org. If you need to search for any of these items, please be sure you use the search box on members.lcg.org, as much of the member content will no longer show up through Google or other search engines.
All of our material will still be available to the public, too, but now it is located at members.lcg.org.
Please pray that these updates to the site will help more people learn the Truth and begin attending services as God calls them.—Mike DeSimone
Feast of Tabernacles
2021 Virtual Worldwide Children’s Feast Choir
Thank you to all the parents who have expressed a desire to have your children participate in this year’s Virtual Worldwide Children’s Choir. As of Wednesday, we had 89 children from 16 countries who would like to take part. The deadline to submit recorded performances is Sunday, August 22. Any parents who would like their English-, French- or Spanish-speaking children to be a part of the choir, please contact Mr. Marco Manzo III at [email protected] as soon as possible. Mr. Manzo will give you instructions on how to proceed. We would like to extend a special invitation to more French-speaking children as there is still room for more French-speaking participants.
Comments
Loose Bricks or Big Picture: Over the years, many have come into contact with the Church and have been excited to learn the Truth. Others have been grateful to reconnect after having been away. Still others who have been part of the Church begin to look for loose bricks. From time to time, some begin to focus on doctrinal teachings or decisions they disagree with, editorial mistakes, misspoken (or misunderstood) words in a sermon, or personal offenses they have seen or experienced. It is easy to forget that no one is perfect and that God has used imperfect people down through the ages to do His Work—Moses, Aaron, Samuel, David, Peter, and Paul. To avoid slipping into this negative trap, we need to stay focused on the big picture. Is there a God? Is the Bible His inspired word? Does God have a Church? Where is it today? Where is the Gospel being powerfully preached? Who has had a more sure word of prophecy? Who is warning the world about sobering events that lie just ahead, before the imminent return of Jesus Christ? Who is preparing a people for the coming Kingdom of God? We need to stay focused on this big picture and not get caught up looking for loose bricks!
Have a profitable Sabbath,
Douglas S. Winnail
News and Prophecy—July 29, 2021
A Hidden Pandemic: The British medical journal The Lancet recently reported that, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, “1.5 million children around the globe have lost a parent, guardian or grandparent who helped care for them” (The Hill, July 21, 2021). The study authors note, “Orphanhood and caregiver deaths are a hidden pandemic resulting from COVID-19 associated deaths.” According to the study, one child is left behind for every two COVID-19 deaths, because one or more of their caregivers is gone. Sadly, this situation is not unlike that of the “AIDS orphans” who suffer around the globe.
While media reports often focus on the economic impact and deaths of the pandemic, the faces of young, suffering children are often overlooked. Yet, the Bible stresses the importance of taking care of orphans: “Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world” (James 1:27). Humanity should be moved by the suffering we see around us and earnestly cry out for Christ’s return and the end of suffering. Though the coming Great Tribulation will result in even more orphans, Bible prophecies describe a very encouraging future to follow. The vision of Isaiah depicts children in that future being cared for by the mighty—suffering and neglected no longer (Isaiah 49:22–23).
Today, the world is full of suffering for many people, including children. When Jesus Christ returns, the government of God will put an end to sorrow for all. To learn more about this wonderful soon-coming time, be sure to read or listen to The World Ahead: What Will It Be Like?
Europe to Counter China: China is developing a vast geographical infrastructure known as the Belt and Road Initiative, creating a new Silk Road. This project uses shipping, port development, railroads, and highways to increase global trade and generate trade revenue for China. In the last decade, China has spent massive amounts of financial and physical resources on this effort. Now, not to be outdone, “EU countries are finally getting serious about their response to China’s Belt and Road Initiative” (Politico, July 6, 2021).
The EU Commission intends to spend the next nine months planning several “high impact” and highly visible projects to promote its influence and its economy. While China’s initiative now accounts for $2.5 trillion in global projects to “create opportunities” for trade between nations, Europe is now “vowing to build a ‘globally connected’ EU which would allow the bloc to turn its attention to Africa and Latin America.” Currently, there is no budget for Europe’s effort, but European leaders are very much behind it. German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas observed, “We see China using economic and financial means to increase its political influence everywhere in the world. It’s useless moaning about this, we must offer alternatives” (Reuters, July 12, 2021).
Bible prophecy reveals that a coming European “beast” power will be a dynamic engine of global trade, making merchants of the earth wealthy (Revelation 18:1–3). Ultimately this global power will trade in “gold and silver, precious stones and pearls, fine linen and purple… ivory… wine and oil… cattle and sheep… and bodies and souls of men” (vv. 11–13). The coming European “beast” power will be a major global economic force, far more than it is today! A future European version of China’s Belt and Road Initiative could factor into this prophecy. For more insights into the future of Europe, read or listen to Fourteen Signs Announcing Christ’s Return.—Scott Winnail, Deborah Lincoln-Strange, and Rod McNair