Greetings from Charlotte,
While much of the world is sleeping in this morning after a night of frivolous partying to ring in a new Roman calendar year, we are busy in the office doing the Work to which we’ve been called. Mr. Wallace Smith and I recorded telecasts today, and others are taking care of end-of-year chores. While regular income has been rather anemic for several months, the year has ended with a very strong December and special donations of $20,000 or more have exceeded last year’s. Last week’s Family Weekends were a huge success, giving hundreds of members a welcome relief from the shallow music and worldly celebrations of this time of year.
More than one member has asked about a Church-wide fast for our members in Myanmar or due to the general state of the world in which we live. I’m therefore calling for our members to join in a voluntary fast on January 31. We understand that some members, such as those involved in Tomorrow’s World Presentations, will need to choose a day or two before or after due to previously scheduled events, but for the majority of us that Sabbath should work just fine. In addition to the situation in Myanmar, many of our members are suffering from individual trials of sickness, job loss, and/or financial difficulty. Let us beseech our Creator to intervene for His sons and daughters.
—Gerald E. Weston
Church Administration
Tomorrow’s World Presentations
Last week, we held one follow-up TWP in Lakeland, Florida; this presentation drew five repeat guests. This week, Mr. Rand Millich will travel to Oklahoma, where he will give initial presentations in Oklahoma City and Lawton. Thank you all for your continued prayers and support for the Tomorrow’s World Presentations.
Winter Weekends Report
This past week, we held several winter family weekend events, and the reports coming back from each of the weekends are overwhelmingly positive and encouraging. Spiritual bonds were built, friendships old and new were strengthened, meals were shared, and games were played—but most importantly, each of the weekends was an opportunity for learning and spiritual growth. Along with weekly Sabbath sermons, other spiritually uplifting activities included hymn sings, seminars, Bible studies, and question-and-answer sessions.
Brethren built bonds through fellowship and by having fun together with various sports and family games. In Charlotte, a new game was invented for the weekend, titled “That’s Not Cricket.” In Trinidad, they played actual cricket, as well as football, basketball, and other sports. The Kansas City weekend featured a “Walking the Streets of a Jerusalem Marketplace” event with games, educational booths, food, and activities for all ages. The weekend in Texas featured a fun show, various games, a cornhole tournament, and—perhaps most true to Texas—a Sunday brunch featuring smoked brisket. In Montgomery, Alabama, participants played various games, including a game comically named “Granny Pants.”
Thank you to everyone who worked hard to help facilitate these opportunities for the brethren to grow, build bonds, and come together as a spiritual family—and thank you to those around the world who prayed for the success of each of these events.
Living Youth Program
Living Youth Camp 2026
Registration for LYC 2026 Teen and Preteen camps in Texas starts this Sunday, January 4. Teen Camp is open for campers aged 13–17 and Preteen for campers aged 8–12. Teen Camp begins July 7 and runs through July 20. Preteen camp then begins and runs until July 24. Activities at Teen camp this year are planned to include daily Christian Living classes, Dance, Disc Golf, Gym Sports, Canoeing, Ultimate Frisbee, Aquatics, and more. For more information on either of the camps or to begin registration, please visit https://camp.livingyouth.org. We look forward to seeing you there! More information on Adventure and other Preteen camps will be available soon.
LYC Philippines Update
Mr. Joseph Gonzales sends the following report from the LYC Philippines camp:
The LYC Philippines 2025 camp has progressed very well and at this writing we are already on Day 2. Camp attendees consist of 20 staff and 29 campers which include 3 Malaysian teens. The camper orientation started with a “get to know you” activity around the campfire. The first two days have allowed campers to be involved in Speech and Communication, Choir, Song Leading, Flower Arranging, Dance, Financial Literacy, Leather Craft, Jewelry Crafts, Health and Wellness, and sports such as Basketball and Volleyball. Every day is begun with a Christian Living Class and concluded with an Evening Reflection and Hymn Singing. The weather at the camp has been fantastic and allowed us to fulfill outdoor activities. We are praying for excellent weather for our Day 3 and 4 as we will be having a major outdoor activity called Nature Trip and Wilderness Skills class. The new and returning campers are enjoying the classes and sports activities and making new friends and strengthening their common Christian upbringing and orientation. The theme of the camp follows this year’s camp theme on the wisdom from the book of Proverbs.
Your prayers for our Church-organized camps and activities are greatly appreciated!
Comments
A New Year? In Winter? Why do we in the Living Church of God not engage in “New Year’s” parties or festivities—or even the greeting “Happy New Year”? Because the new-year celebrations our world just observed are from pagan sources, which you can read about in the commentary by the late Gary F. Ehman, “The Two Faces of New Year Celebrations,” posted on TomorrowsWorld.org this week. We live in this world, so it’s not wrong to use the Roman calendar as a part of functioning in it—but we are not to be of this world. As Jesus prayed to the Father, “I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one” (John 17:15). Let’s thank God for the fact that He has called us out of ancient superstitions and customs of this world and called us into His sanctifying truth (John 17:17)!
Have a peaceful Sabbath,
Rod McNair
News and Prophecy
The Changing Focus of Women and Men: In the United States, about 69 percent of adults aged 18 to 34 who have never been married express a desire to marry someday (Pew Research Center, February 15, 2024). Additionally, only about half desire to become parents one day—unlike decades ago, when most young adults desired both marriage and children. Only 20 percent of young adults think it is very important to be married to have a fulfilling life. And just 22 percent feel it is very important to have children.
A related study found that, while 80 percent of U.S. twelfth-grade students in 1993 said they wanted to be married one day, that number fell to 67 percent over the next thirty years (Pew Research Center, November 14, 2025). Concerning parenthood, the percentage of twelfth graders wanting to have children one day fell over that same period from 64 percent to 48 percent. Even more striking is the change among girls. In 2023, significantly more boys expressed desire to marry one day than girls (74 percent vs. 61 percent). While “the share of boys saying this is virtually unchanged over the 30-year period… the share among girls dropped by 22 percentage points.”
Over the last several decades, women greatly surpassed men in university graduation rates and as a percentage of the employed workforce (The Atlantic, July/August 2010). Women are also increasingly disinterested in marriage and family. During the same time, rates of depression among women aged 15 to 49 increased markedly, demonstrating their increased unhappiness (BMC Psychiatry, March 20, 2025). Could there be a connection? You can learn more about the principles that speak to these powerful trends by watching “The Effects of Feminism: 50 Years Later.”
The Cosmic Giant That Whispers God’s Greatness: Astronomers have discovered an ultra-massive black hole hiding in plain sight at the very heart of the Cosmic Horseshoe galaxy, five billion light-years from Earth (New Scientist, August 7, 2025). Weighing 36 billion times more than our sun, it dwarfs the black hole at the center of our own Milky Way galaxy. This heavenly leviathan bends light itself, warping space and time with its incredible gravitational pull.
Yet, even as scientists boast of it being the largest black hole ever found, Scripture quietly reframes the scale. In Isaiah 40:12, the prophet asks, “Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, measured heaven with a span”? The God who “stretches out the heavens like a curtain” (v. 22) sees this black hole not as a cosmic giant, but as a speck in the palm of His hand. What we call massive, God sees as a small, simple element of His greater and grander work.
Psalm 147:4 reminds us that “He counts the number of the stars; He calls them all by name.” While humanity strains to measure the size of one black hole, God effortlessly tracks and names every star, every galaxy, and every gravitational effect. His knowledge is not bound by the limits that restrict us, and “His understanding is infinite” (v. 5). We should stand in awe of such incomprehensible truths, as did Job: “Indeed these are the mere edges of His ways, and how small a whisper we hear of Him” (Job 26:14). This incredibly massive black hole is a small glimpse of God’s divine power. The One who spoke stars into existence holds even the greatest of them in effortless balance, and you can find out more about this limitless God by reading or listening to our study guide The Real God: Proofs and Promises. —Scott Winnail, Francine Prater, and Richard Franz