Greetings from Charlotte,
This week, Mr. Ames’ telecast on “The ‘Good News’ Gospel!” was dubbed and posted in French as “L’Evangile de la ‘bonne nouvelle’,” offering the booklet The World Ahead: What Will It Be Like? Mr. Christo Botha reported from South Africa that in some areas of the Western Cape they have experienced winds of up to 140km/hour (87 miles/hour), fueling raging fires that have destroyed homes and property, including historic buildings—a number of them dating back to the 1700s. Pretoria and Johannesburg, as well as the Free State and Lesotho, were hit by torrential rains last Sabbath, making travel for services difficult. Brethren affected by the storms reported that they were quite stressed during and after the storms, but all are safe. We may later receive reports of damages to their properties that will obviously have financial consequences. Meanwhile, this is the season for severe storms and tornadoes here in the United States and this year is no exception. Parts of Louisiana received a foot of rain in a matter of hours this week—flooding parts of New Orleans and surrounding areas. These storms remind us to pray for one another. Be sure to properly prepare physically and spiritually for the upcoming Passover and Days of Unleavened Bread.—Gerald Weston
Church Administration
Tomorrow’s World Presentations
Last week we held six Tomorrow’s World Presentations. Five initial presentations were held in the U.S. states of Texas, Maryland, and Virginia, and in Adelaide, Australia, and one follow-up presentation was held in Florida. The Adelaide presentation was notable because out of the 618 people invited, 49 guests attended—an 8 percent response rate. All told, these presentations drew 144 guests. This week, we will host four follow-up presentations. Thank you to everyone for your continued prayers and support for these presentations.
Update on Brethren in Haiti and Myanmar
We know many of you are praying for brethren in violence-torn areas of the world, such as Haiti and Myanmar, and here is an update on brethren in those countries. Dr. Wil Pierre recently reported that our brethren in Haiti are still fine, having their basic needs met. While it’s not safe for them to travel throughout the city in Port-au-Prince, they are still connecting for services online, which is greatly encouraging. Regarding Myanmar, Mr. Rob Tyler recently reported that “it seems as though the situation has calmed down for now, our members have been given permission to go back to their homes, but with the advice they may need to flee again at a moment’s notice.” But he also reported that some brethren still are in more imminent danger in the southern part of the country, because of the forced conscription into the military. Your continued, fervent prayers for our brethren are greatly appreciated.
Living 4 Tomorrow: Memorial Day Weekend in Blowing Rock, North Carolina
Preliminary plans are being made for a “Living 4 Tomorrow” weekend for young adults, ages 18 to 30, at Blowing Rock over the Memorial Day weekend. Participants will plan to arrive on the afternoon of Friday, May 24, and depart Sunday afternoon, May 26. If you are a young adult and want to learn more about “Living 4 Tomorrow,” clear your calendar for these dates! We plan to focus intensively on building truly successful lives. How can young adults build a positive, fulfilling, and godly life in an age when pitfalls, traps, and dead ends prey upon so many? How can young adults who understand the Truth of God and His way overcome the pulls that lure them away from God’s paths and out of His Church? These are the vital issues we will consider. Cost is only $135, including food and accommodations. For planning purposes, we need to know by Sunday, April 21, if you are interested! Log in to MyLCG for more details and a link to register. Questions? Contact Mr. Jonathan McNair at [email protected].
Living Education
The LivingEd–Charlotte students enjoyed a short spring break this past week, with our ladies travelling to historic Charleston, South Carolina, and the men spending two days backpacking in the Roan Highlands along the Appalachian Trail. With the end of the school year right around the corner, we’re preparing for finals, as well as our last big activity of the year—a three-day adventure at the Nantahala Outdoor Center. Why do the students experience a variety of activities as well as time in the classroom? It’s simple. The goal of Living Education is to develop the whole person. Students build an understanding of Godly principles, but also learn to practice patience, endurance, drive, and develop an appreciation of God’s creation and local history. We learned this from Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong, whose goal was to develop a college that taught excellence in godly living—putting godly knowledge into practice. While Ambassador College may only be a memory, the values and principles that were taught are still alive and well. For more information about Living Education–Charlotte, just go to lcgeducation.org.—Jonathan McNair
Living Youth Program
LYP Texas Teen Camp Talent Show and Chorus
Each year, the Camp Talent Show is a highlight of our two weeks at Lone Star. Many of our campers practice for months in preparation—and it shows with the quality of talent that we see every year. For campers who are interested in performing, now is the time to begin practicing your special piece! It’s also the time to sign up so we know you’re hoping to participate. Just click on the link below and you will receive more information regarding this year’s show, guidelines for song selection, and a link to upload a recording of the piece you’d like to perform. Just go to (Login to MyLCG) and sign up to be part of the show!
In addition, we will be organizing a Camp Chorus. Singing in a chorus at camp with dozens of other young people is a way to praise God and inspire your fellow campers! If you’d like to participate in the camp choir, please sign up soon. This sign-up opportunity also includes our staff, as we will be having a staff chorus as well. So, for campers and staff alike, please sign up today to get your name on the list to receive more information, music, and rehearsal tracks to use for practicing. Just go to (Login to MyLCG).—Jonathan McNair
Business Office
Green Holy Day Envelopes Have Been Mailed—U.S. Only—Repeat Announcement
Green Holy Day envelopes for the spring Holy Days, including Pentecost, were mailed out the week ending March 9. If you have not received yours and would like the personalized, pre-addressed offering envelopes, please contact [email protected] or call the office (704-844-1970) and we will mail you a set. If you choose to donate through the envelope system, using these pre-addressed envelopes greatly speeds up the counting and receipting process, which in turn saves valuable time and money.
Comments
Prepare for the Passover: In just over a week, we will be observing the Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread. These annual Festivals are a memorial of the sacrifice that Jesus Christ made for our sins and a reminder that we need to recognize and eliminate sin and inappropriate aspects of our lives. For the Passover period to be meaningful and not just routine, we need to do our part to prepare for this important part of God’s plan of salvation. To put the Passover into perspective, it will be helpful to read and meditate on the gospel accounts of the events in Jesus’ life that led up to the Passover, the crucifixion, and the resurrection. Putting our own period of self-examination into this biblical context will help us appreciate the tremendous significance of Christ’s sacrifice—for us individually and for the whole world. Spending time every day preparing for the Passover will pay real dividends for our spiritual growth.
Have a profitable Sabbath,
Douglas S. Winnail
News and Prophecy—April 11, 2024
Reject God and Kill the Elderly! In a recent opinion piece for The Telegraph, author Tim Stanley asked a probing question: “But what happens to a society, many of whose laws are based upon the Ten Commandments, when the vast majority of citizens no longer believe in the teachings of Moses or St Paul?” (March 31, 2024). Stanley went on to make clear that laws treating human life as sacred and a culture that supports the heroic efforts of the medical profession to preserve life emanate from a foundation influenced by the Ten Commandments and other biblical principles. Yet, today, as we see the Ten Commandments and Scripture increasingly excised from society, life is becoming a mere commodity.
Stanley’s comments were in response to an article by former legislator and political commentator Matthew Parris, who outlined a rationale for terminating the lives of the elderly once they become an economic burden on society—likening them to commodities that outlive their usefulness (The Times, March 29, 2024). Parris states that, eventually, suicide will “be seen as a normal road for many to take, and considered socially responsible—and even, finally, urged upon people,” and he calls that “a good thing.”
However, the Bible defines murder as sin (Exodus 20:13), and human life is sacred, made in God’s own image (Genesis 1:26–27). In fact, Christians are told plainly that their bodies are not their own, contrary to popular belief (1 Corinthians 6:19). With this perspective, taking our own life is also clearly murder, and a sin. Yet this moral position means nothing when the Bible is no longer a foundation for morality. As Tim Stanley noted in the conclusion of his essay, “In an atheistic culture, beyond the here and now, there is little to live for—and when the here and now become unbearable, nowhere to turn but death.” The title of his article is chillingly true: “An age that rejects God ends up killing its old.” When it comes to life and death, our post-modern societies are becoming brutal—just as they were prophesied to do (2 Timothy 3:1–4). To learn more about this disturbing trend, read or listen to “What Is the Value of Human Life?”
“The Grim Future for British Boys”: In recent decades, school curricula have been deliberately changed to be more girl friendly. These major efforts have aimed at narrowing the supposed “pay gap” between men and women. Scholarships have been established to boost female university participation. Women’s health is often prioritized in policymaking. Some governments, like that of Great Britain, even have a “Minister for Women.” Yet, one of the big casualties of this one-sided effort is that boys and men are failing abysmally.
As the Sunday Telegraph announced, boys in Britain are facing a “grim future” (The Telegraph, March 31, 2024). For decades in the developed world, women have graduated from university at far higher rates than men. Boys’ standardized test scores are significantly lower than those of girls, and men are dropping out of the workforce at record levels. Despite these alarming statistics, few seem to care. Why are boys and men stuck in this downward spiral while girls and women are constantly improving? Some suggest that boys’ failure in school leads them to expect to underperform in the workplace. Andy Eadie, assistant headteacher at Cardinal Langley school in Rochdale, UK, observed that many teachers “write off” boys when they enter the classroom, and thus make no effort to help them succeed. Low expectations can also breed low performance. And the increasing number of boys growing up in homes without fathers means many young men have no role models for success.
While the idea of the intact family, with a married father and mother, has been devalued and put down for decades, even secular research has concluded that children from intact families are more successful and healthier than those from single-parent homes. This principle is clear in the Bible as well. God created the first family with both a mother and a father. As our civilization experiments with novel social roles and politics-driven values, our children and ultimately society suffer the consequences. To learn more about this sobering trend, watch our Tomorrow’s World Viewpoint video “The Suppression of Males.”—Scott Winnail and Francine Prater