Greetings from Charlotte,
On Wednesday, Mr. and Mrs. Weston and Mr. Dexter Wakefield left for the United Kingdom, on their way to the ministerial conference in Kenya next week. Next Tuesday marks the beginning of the first-ever Living Church of God all-Africa ministerial conference. Here in Charlotte, the semi-annual offer responses have been coming in at a good rate—over 36,000 at last count, which represents an increase from our average. We conducted an international Feast coordinators’ online meeting last Monday to begin preparations for the 2025 Feast of Tabernacles. Also, Mr. Mike DeSimone, from the Media Department, reports that we are beginning to have good success in increasing views of the Tomorrow’s World telecast on YouTube by testing and improving the “thumbnail” image, which is the image that YouTube uses to represent the video on its website. Your prayers for all of the efforts in the Work, as well as the ministerial travel and meetings in Africa, will be greatly appreciated.—Rod McNair
Church Administration
Tomorrow’s World Presentations
Last week, we held eight in-person events—three initial presentations and five follow-ups. These TWPs drew a total of 73 guests. We also held one online presentation for the Canadian subscriber base that drew a total of 85 guest connections, with an estimated 113 guests. This week, we will hold initial presentations in Richmond, Virginia; Columbia, South Carolina; Florence, South Carolina; Coffs Harbour, New South Wales, Australia; and Rodney Bay, St. Lucia, as well as two follow-ups. Thank you all for your continued prayers and support for the Tomorrow’s World Presentations.
Living Youth Program
West Virginia and Missouri Preteen Registration Opens
Registration for our 2025 Preteen camps in West Virginia and Missouri open this Sunday. Both camps run from July 27 through August 1. Information and registration for both these camps, as well as for our other camps this year, is available athttps://camp.livingyouth.org.
Comments
Where Is Your Heart? The Scriptures clearly reveal that God looks on our heart (1 Samuel 16:7) and that He tests our hearts and minds (Psalm 7:9) because “a man’s heart reveals the man” (Proverbs 27:19). Our thoughts, our goals, and how we use our time reveal what is in our heart—and this is why we are urged to “seek first the kingdom of God” (Matthew 6:33). Jesus’ focus was not on His own desires, but to “do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work” (John 4:34). Jesus’ mission was to preach the Gospel of the Kingdom of God, to warn the world, and to prepare a people to reign with Him in the Kingdom. He said that “where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:21). Jesus’ time, talents, and energies were committed to His mission—His heart was in the Work of God. If we are determined to follow in His footsteps, we need to examine our goals and priorities and ask ourselves, “Where is our heart?”
Have a profitable Sabbath,
Douglas S. Winnail
News and Prophecy – January 30, 2025
A New Age of Infectious Diseases: The H5N1 Bird Flu continues to make news. As reported by The Guardian, it has infected birds, cattle, sea lions, and humans. Scientists warn that this strain of bird flu is unique, acting as a “panzootic” disease that has the ability to cross lines between multiple species (January 15, 2025). As a University of Nottingham professor observed, “Panzootic is almost a new thing, and we don’t know what sort of threat it is…. We have some viruses that can infect multiple species, and we have some viruses that can cause massive outbreaks, but we haven’t tended to have the combination—that’s something of a new phenomenon…. That’s where H5N1 is going, and it just makes it so unpredictable. [It’s] unique and new in our lifetime and memory.”
H5N1 has now traveled to more than 48 different species of mammals and appears to be continuing. As scientist Ed Hutchinson from the MRC-University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research warned, “It is really hard for infectious diseases to effectively stop being specialists and move over into a new species. So when that happens, it is striking and concerning.” This virus has led to the death of millions of sea birds and massive declines in their populations, as well as the deaths of tens of thousands of sea lions and elephant seals. As The Guardian notes, “shrinking habitats, biodiversity loss and intensified farming create perfect incubators for infectious diseases to jump from one species to another.” And now that “three-quarters of emerging diseases can be passed between animals and humans,” some are sounding the alarm that “panzootics could become one of the era’s defining threats to human health and security.” Thankfully, the bird flu is not yet spreading between humans, but the implications of such panzootic diseases are still sobering.
Jesus Christ revealed to the Apostle John that before His return mankind would experience the worst period of disease, pestilence, and death in human history—including death caused by animals (Revelation 6:7–8). This new phenomenon of panzootic disease is something to watch we approach the end of the age. To learn more about this, be sure to read “A Pale Horse.”
Gold and Bible Prophecy: Gold was once a stable backing for many world currencies. A little more than 50 years ago, the U.S. dollar itself was backed by gold and was fixed at a value of about $35 per troy ounce. In 1971, currency inflation, economic competitiveness, and other factors moved then-President Richard Nixon to decouple the U.S. dollar from gold, making the dollar a pure fiat currency. Today, one ounce of gold costs roughly $2,700, and gold is currently at or near its highest value ever in relation to most world currencies.
The American dollar has been the world’s reserve currency for 80 years, but calls to dethrone the dollar are growing (U.S. News & World Report, November 7, 2024). China has been buying massive amounts of gold in recent years, likely toward that objective. In 2022, the U.S-led Western nations froze the assets of Russia to punish the nation economically after its invasion of Ukraine. This prompted China to dive into a gold-buying spree and reduce its massive holdings of U.S. Treasury notes. It has been estimated that China’s central bank has purchased 1,000 metric tons of gold since then and, according to one analyst, may now hold 5,000 metric tons (SeekingAlpha.com, December 25, 2024). One metric ton is 1,000 kg—slightly over 2,200 pounds. If such speculations are right, at gold’s current value of over $85,000 dollars per kilogram, China’s stockpile could currently be worth over $400B. China’s ultimate goal, and how much more they intend to buy, is unknown.
Bible prophecy makes an interesting comment about gold and people or nations that put their trust in physical wealth. Just prior to the return of Jesus Christ, people will throw their silver and gold in the streets (Ezekiel 7:19) because it will not protect them from the coming judgment. To learn more about what is really important in life, read or listen to “If I Were a Rich Man….” —Scott Winnail, Francine Prater, and Craig Marley