O Evangelho do Reino de Deus – É a solução!

 

Porque não consegue a humanidade resolver os seus problemas?

Sabia que na Bíblia o primeiro e último assunto pregado por Jesus se referiu ao evangelho do Reino de Deus?

Sabia que a ênfase dos apóstolos e dos primeiros que os seguiram estava no (anúncio do) Reino de Deus?

Consiste o Reino de Deus na pessoa de Jesus? Será o Reino de Deus Jesus vivendo a Sua vida em nós agora? Será o Reino de Deus algum tipo real de um futuro reino? Quer acreditar no que a Bíblia ensina?

O que é um reino? O que é exactamente o Reino de Deus? O que ensina a Bíblia? O que ensinava a igreja Cristã primitiva?

Entende que o fim não pode chegar até que o Reino de Deus seja pregado ao mundo para testemunho?

Link: O Evangelho do Reino de Deus

Letter: August 2, 2013

Dear Brethren and co-workers in Christ:

Another full week here in the Five Cities region of California.

So there is a lot to cover ranging from the upcoming Holy Days to the final phase of the work to hymnals to proclaiming the gospel to world news happenings to preparing the materials for this upcoming Sabbath.

Upcoming Holy Days

Several Holy Days will be here next month! Some videoing for a ‘behind the works’ type presentation was done this week and it is hoped that this will be ready in time for the Feast of Tabernacles.

As far as the Holy Days go, the next one will be the Feast of Trumpets.  It will be observed from sunset September 4 to sunset September 5, 2013.

Other than the weekly Sabbath, the next Holy Day will be the Day of Atonement.   It will be observed from sunset September 13 to sunset September 14, 2013.

If any of you wish to host services in your area for those Holy Days, please email me:cogwriter@aol.com.

The Feast of Tabernacles is also coming up.  This year it begins the evening of September 18th and continue until the Last Great Day which is September 26, 2013.

Here is a link to a listing of the biblical holy days, through 2024, with their Roman calendar dates: Holy Day Calendar.

As mentioned before, we have a webpage with information on the Feast of Tabernacles this year. You may wish to view from time to time as we updated it with more information this week:Feast of Tabernacles’ Sites for 2013.

Please think about where you may attend this year and let the coordinator for your preferred Feast site know via email.

Please try to decide where you plan to attend.

The Final Phase of the Work

We heard from two new groups in Africa, one in Zambia and another in Kenya.  Those in Kenya have a Church of God background, while those in Zambia seem very interested in the Church of God and are specifically checking out the Continuing Church of God (CCOG).

There are also others in other areas that are checking us out as well.  We also received a report from Ghana that books sent there are producing fruits.

Several articles were translated in the Spanish language and put on some of our websites. It was slightly delayed because we wanted to put a new URL (www.cdlidd.es) on the front and back covers.

The Mandarin Chinese version of Bible News Prophecy magazine was printed and picked up.  So, we now have printed materials in three languages, and have some other languages on some of our websites as well.

Someone has also expressed a willingness for us to use materials translated into another European language.  If this does happen, we plan to activate another URL we purchased this past Spring.

Regarding other media, I was a guest on the radio for about an hour yesterday.  I focused on what has been happening with the false gospel message involving ‘Mary’ that Pope Francis has been promoting.  Much of what was covered is included in this week’s recommended sermonette.

We also spent a lot of time this week on internet matters. We in the Continuing Church of Godare reaching people all over the world and leading the final phase of the work.

Hymnals

Finally had a little time to get back to the hymnal project. We are basically looking at producing an updated version of the 1974 hymnal. Basically what that means is that we will add our own front and back cover, but we are also trying to add some additional hymns that Herbert Armstrong approved after the 1974 hymnal came out. We have a tentative arrangement with Dr. Ross Jutsum to include several of his hymns that were often favorites of Herbert Armstrong in our upcoming hymnal.

However, this has resulted in having to modify the back of the book and index, so this will delay this project a bit. But it is my hope and prayer to get this out prior to the Feast of Tabernacles this year.  Please pray for that.

Administrative Matters

July was the first month that expenses for CCOG exceeded donations.  This was primarily because of magazine costs (including postage) and providing some assistance to our existing congregations in Kenya.

Overall, God has seemingly seen fit to move many of you to provide financial support through your tithes and offerings.  We are grateful for that.

World News Events

As most of you are aware, there were still issues in Egypt this week (e.g. Muslim Brotherhood insists on President Morsi’s return, while Obama Administration wants quick elections apparently to reduce its embarrassment).  Ultimately Egypt will change enough to support a leader that the Bible calls the King of the South (Daniel 11:40-43).

Iran is to get a new president this weekend.  Many in the West have hope in him, but (as expected) he seems to have views consistent with Iran’s ‘Supreme Leader’ Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. (Iran is changing a speaker, but not its nuclear message).  This probably will not bode well for Iran.

There were various reports of some type of a peace deal between the Israelis and Palestinians this week (e.g. Israel took official ‘peace deal’ step).  Yet, until both sides feel more pressure, the deal related to Daniel 9:27 will not happen.  If it does not happen by next month, this would suggest that the Great Tribulation will not begin before 2018.

On morality matters, Rhode Island and Minnesota began having homosexual ‘marriages’ yesterday.  It seems that more and more states in the USA are turning in that direction.  This will not bode well for the USA.

Speaking of the USA, it announced that it will close a lot of its embassies in Muslim lands (and also Israel according to one report) this Sunday because of fears of terrorist attacks (seeFearing terrorists, USA announces the closing of several embassies on Sunday).  Terrors are one of the prophesied curses that the USA is experiencing (Leviticus 26:14-20).

Suggested Sabbath Service

Here is our suggested format for Sabbath services on August 3, 2013:

Note: If you have a slow internet connection and/or prefer audio messages to audio-visuals ones, go to the YouTube link for the message, click on SHOW MORE related to the description. You will then see something that says, “Download MP3.” Below that is a link to an MP3 file. Most computers (and even some cellular telephones) will allow MP3 files to be downloaded and played. So, this is an option we have made available.

Some times putting all this together seems overwhelming.

Please pray as Jesus taught:

The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.  (Luke 10:2)

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Bob Thiel, Pastor and Overseer
Continuing Church of God

Letter: July 26, 2013

Dear Brethren and co-workers in Christ:

Another full week here in the Five Cities region of California.

So there is a lot to cover ranging from the Feast of Tabernacles to the final phase of the work to positive administrative news to world news happenings to preparing the materials for this upcoming Sabbath.

Feast of Tabernacles

First, there is something from the Bible to notice related to the Feast of Tabernacles:

“At the end of every seven years, at the appointed time in the year of release, at the Feast of Tabernacles, when all Israel comes to appear before the LORD your God in the place which He chooses, you shall read this law before all Israel in their hearing. Gather the people together, men and women and little ones, and the stranger who is within your gates, that they may hear and that they may learn to fear the LORD your God and carefully observe all the words of this law, and that their children, who have not known it, may hear and learn to fear the LORD your God as long as you live in the land which you cross the Jordan to possess” Deuteronomy 31:10-13).

Notice that this reading of the law was to happen every seven years. I had long felt that this needed to be done, but had been overlooked by most COG groups. So in 2006, when I was first asked to give full sermons at the Feast of Tabernacles, I decided that I had to try to do this myself, so I did (see The Feast of Tabernacles: A Time to Learn the Law).

As it turns out, 2013 is seven years later. I believe that this was God’s timing, and perhaps one of many reasons that God wanted the Continuing Church of God to form prior to the start of the Feast of Tabernacles in 2013. Since the Bible teaches that the “word of the law” needs to be preached as part of the Feast of Tabernacles every seven years (Deuteronomy 31:10-13; cf. Nehemiah 6:73;7:1-3,8,13-17; Joshua 8:34), instruction about covering the law, especially through the light of the New Testament, has been conveyed to those giving sermons at the CCOG sites for 2013.

So, this will be another way that the Feast sites affiliated with the Continuing Church of  God will differ from those of many other groups.

As far as Feast sites, as mentioned before, we have a webpage with information on the Feast of Tabernacles. You may wish to view from time to time as we updated it with more information this week: Feast of Tabernacles’ Sites for 2013.

Please think about where you may to attend this year and let the coordinator for your preferred Feast site know via email.

All those sites are intending to have one of more sermons that will fulfill God’s commands in Deuteronomy 31:10-13.

The Final Phase of the Work

Work related to various aspects of the final phase of the work was accomplished this week.  This week I spoke to a pastor in India and sent him copies of the English version of Bible News Prophecy magazine.  He has stated that he would like to translate future versions into his native language of Telugu.

The week before I was speaking with John Hickey of New Zealand about aspects of the work and its final phase.  I mentioned to him that we in the Continuing Church of God need to go through doors that God opens, even if those are doors that others are not interested in or would be too concerned about how others would view them to actually go through them.

One radio door that has opened for me is to be a guest on the Nutri-Medical Report radio program on August 1, 2013 at 12:00 pm, Pacific Daylight Time over the Genesis Communications Network.  Despite the show’s title, the topics discussed will mainly be of a biblical/news/prophecy perspective when I am on.

Going over to Asia, we received a letter from the region of Kachinland from a Sabbath-keeping pastor there requesting literature and information about the Continuing Church of God.  Kachinland is in the northern region of Burma (and is considered a part of it by most outsiders).  We sent our Statement of BeliefsBible News Prophecy magazines, and other information there.  If he and those there remain receptive, this could be another door to go through.

The Spanish language version of Bible News Prophecy magazine was finalized and printed and put on one of our websites.  It was slightly delayed because we wanted to put a new URL (www.cdlidd.es) on the front and back covers.  Here is a link to the pdf version in Spanish:Noticias de la Profecía de la Biblia: Julio – Septiembre 2013 (note: the pdf magazine takes a little while to load and view).  We continue to have more materials translated into the Spanish language and believe that, over time, this will be a more effective open door.

The Mandarin Chinese version of Bible News Prophecy magazine was finalized, announced, and put on our www.ccog.asia website and is in the process of being printed.  Here is a link to the pdf version in Mandarin: 圣经新闻与预言2013 (note: the pdf magazine takes a little while to load and view).  This is one of the first times, if not the first time ever, that a timely COG periodical has come out in Mandarin Chinese that I am aware of.  We are excited about this door and hope to go through it as long as we can.  Our reach into China has increased tremendously in the past couple of months, and having earlier materials in Mandarin Chinese seems to be a factor (even though most article views from China are of English language articles).

Research was also conducted in the areas of church history and prophecy that I believe will bear fruit in the future and help with the fulfillment of Matthew 24:14.

We also spent a lot of time this week on internet matters.   We in the Continuing Church of Godare reaching people all over the world and leading the final phase of the work.

Administrative Matters

Good news!

The State of California formally approved the tax exempt status of the Continuing Church of God.  Unlike other states in the USA, the State of California requires churches to fill out a very long form and provide a lot of information for churches to be considered tax exempt in that State.

While contributions from the other 49 states in the USA were automatically ‘tax-deductible,’ we needed to get this letter so that all contributions from those in the State of California were also tax deductible.

Because of our status as a ‘corporation sole’ and other administrative decisions, I had concerns that there could be delays and issues getting the determination letter from the State of California.  I wish to thank all of you for your prayers on this.

As the result of getting State of California tax exempt status, we have also asked California if it is possible to receive an exemption from paying sales tax related to the production of our magazines.  This seems to be somewhat unlikely, but I request your prayers because this would save us a lot of money related to magazine production if this could happen.

Also, let me add that we are in the process of applying for tax exempt status in the nation of New Zealand.  I sent them various papers earlier this month to assist with this.  Earlier this week, I also sent them a scanned copy of the determination letter from the State of California.  Your prayers that the Continuing Church of God will find favor in the site of government officials in New Zealand on this matter would be appreciated (cf. 1 Timothy 2:1-3).

World News Events

Israel made various statements suggesting that Syria is provoking them to consider war, while a Syrian official at the United Nations made various statements suggesting that certain Israel actions need to be stopped and hinting that this may provoke Syria to consider war.  At the same time, some analysts have suggested that the USA is intentionally leaking information about certain Israeli military actions against Syria in order to provoke a war between the two.  Some information about all of this is in the article Syrian and Israeli officials seem to talk war; Some suspect that Obama Administration leaks are intended to get a war started.

In the meantime, Iran continues to have bought itself some time from direct military assaults and is working on its nuclear ambitions.  The situations in Syria and Iran must change and actions happening this week are consistent with that.  A King of the South will arise in the region of the Middle East and North Africa (Daniel 11:40-43), Syria will be involved, and Iran will not lead it.  Hence, if we see military conflict involving Syria, Iran (who is Syria’s closest ally), Israel, and/or the USA, understand where this will lead.

Over in South America, Pope Francis is visiting Brazil.  He made a visit to a Marion shrine over there (see Massive crowds meet Pope Francis at Marion shrine in Brazil and he speaks of ‘Mary’).  His continual focus on his version of ‘Mary’ may be setting the world up for ‘signs and lying wonders’ that the Bible warns about (2 Thessalonians 2:9-12), as female apparitions may have end time involvement in deception (cf. Isaiah 47; Revelation 17 & 18).

In North America more political posturing was occurring as another ‘budget crisis’ is expected (see Obama, McConnell, and the next budget crisis).  The Bible warns against debt accumulation and the USA seems determined to overlook this warning, despite statements from some politicians that recognize some of the dangers of it.  But the dangers are even bigger than most realize:

3 For the vision is yet for an appointed time; But at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; Because it will surely come, It will not tarry…5 Indeed, because he transgresses by wine, He is a proud man… 6 “Will not all these take up a proverb against him, And a taunting riddle against him, and say, ‘Woe to him who increases What is not his–how long? And to him who loads himself with many pledges’? 7 Will not your creditors rise up suddenly? Will they not awaken who oppress you? And you will become their booty. 8 Because you have plundered many nations, All the remnant of the people shall plunder you (Habakkuk 2:3,5,6-8).

The above prophecy will be fulfilled at the time of the end (cf. “The message was true, but the appointed time was long…in the latter days, for the vision refers to many days yet to come,” Daniel 10:1,14).  The nation with the greatest debt of all time is the United States of America, and on a per capita basis one of the top ones may be the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. It is the the United States and its Anglo-allies that have loaded pledges of debt in these end times that they really do not expect to pay back.

Now, the real cause of all of this overspending is sin. The USA has moved away from traditional marriage, expanded homosexual “rights,” increased its tolerance for pornography, exports entertainment with lower and lower standards, has violence in the land, encourages/engages in violence elsewhere, seeks to expand abortion, does not truly value truth, and basically is turning further and further away from biblical morality.

And while this is true for some other lands as well, the USA, with its earlier respect for certain Judeo-Christian values should know better. The New Testament clearly teaches:

48 For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required (Luke 12:48).

The U.S.A. and its Anglo-allies have been given much. The three “most sinful nations” according to a 2010 BBC report based on the classic ‘seven deadly sins’—lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy and pride’— were Australia, the United States, and Canada (‘The Most Sinful Nation on Earth,’ February 2010, p. 30). The United Kingdom was 6th on that list. And while one can argue if other nations should be ahead of them on a sin-list, the reality is that the Anglo-nations promote a lot of sin. And they accept more and more sin.

Despite its military strength (which is getting affected by the debt situation as well as homosexuality, etc.), destruction is coming to the USA (Daniel 11:39).  While the return of Jesus and the establishment of His Kingdom will reverse these and other problems, it is fairly clear that USA politicians will not.

Suggested Sabbath Service for July 27, 2013

Here is our suggested format for Sabbath services on July 27, 2013:

Note: If you have a slow internet connection and/or prefer audio messages to audio-visuals ones, go to the YouTube link for the message, click on SHOW MORE related to the description. You will then see something that says, “Download MP3.” Below that is a link to an MP3 file. Most computers (and even some cellular telephones) will allow MP3 files to be downloaded and played.  So, this is an option we have made available.

The gospel of the kingdom is being preached to the world as a witness and the end will ultimately come (Matthew 24:14).  Thank you for your prayers and support.

Sincerely,

Bob Thiel, Pastor and Overseer
Continuing Church of God

Letter: July 19, 2013

Dear Brethren and co-workers in Christ:

What a week this has been!

We in the Continuing Church of God are leading the final phase of the work and many events this week, as well as earlier, help show that.

Bible News Prophecy Magazine

At the beginning of the week, the English version of Bible News Prophecy magazine was mailed out to subscribers.

The Spanish language version of Bible News Prophecy magazine was finalized and is to be printed, and put on one of our websites.  It was slightly delayed because we wanted to put a new URL on the front and back covers.

The Mandarin Chinese version of Bible News Prophecy magazine is being finalized, to later be put on one of our websites, printed, and mailed.

Translations of the Bible News Prophecy magazine in Tagalog are in progress.

We also now are looking at getting the October-December 2013 edition of Bible News Prophecymagazine translated into the language of Kiswahili. Kiswahili (often just referred to as Swahili) is the native language for many in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of Congo, as well as Mayotte.

Additionally, we were asked this week if we would consider putting together a Telugu language version Bible News Prophecy magazine for the 74 million or so in India who read that language.  We have agreed to do so.  Presuming that we receive the translation of the October-December 2013 edition of Bible News Prophecy magazine into Telugu back in time (and it is not yet been put together in English yet), we expect to have this available in the Fall of 2013.

Reaching the World

Telugu has the thirteenth most native speakers of any language in the world.  By having many of our materials in Telugu and English this should better help us reach people in India (India is the second most populous nation in the world).

Speaking of India, the website www.ccog.in went live this week.  While it currently looks pretty much the same as our English-language website www.ccog.org, it is our intent to have information in Telugu, and perhaps also later some in Hindi (the Hindi language has the fifth highest number of native speakers).

Mandarin Chinese has the most native speakers of any language in the world (and China is the most populous nation on earth). About one out of every seven people on earth speaks Mandarin Chinese as their native language.  More information was added to the related website, www.ccog.asia, this week.

Spanish has the second highest amount of native speakers in the world.  Spanish is the official language of twenty countries.  More information was put online this week in the Spanish language.  We are still working on a separate Spanish language website, URL www.cdlidd.es (it is currently only slightly functional).  That URL is an abbreviation for Continuación de la Iglesia de Dios, which is a translation into Spanish of the “Continuing Church of God.”

English, while not having the greatest number of native speakers (it is third in the world), does have the greatest number of total speakers in the world and is currently the most understood language in the world.  English is the official language of 54 countries and 27 non-sovereign entities.  Additionally, it has become the language of international trade and even international pilots (amongst others) are required to learn it.

As far as doors in English, twice in July 2013, I was a guest on a syndicated radio program (on around 60 stations worldwide, plus the internet).   According to the program host, I was able to reach millions this month with the Church of God message.  As I have been on radio each month this year, according to his numbers, over one million people have been reached every month in 2013.  We also have a radio idea that we expect to try in about six months to try to reach other audiences.

We also spent a lot of time this week on internet matters. We also added a few links to www.cogwriter.com and other sites that should help us better reach people in Asia. We also took steps that will help us better reach people who understand English. We also looked at how to better reach those in Africa, Latin America, and elsewhere on the internet.

Since it was necessary for the Continuing Church of God to form on 12/28/12, over 2,600,000 of our articles/pages have been viewed on the internet.  We had over 600,000 cumulative monthly unique visitors since we formed. According to AWstats (which was down at least three times this year, so it has under-counted certain periods) we have had visitors from at least 223 countries/territories connect with our materials at our websites.

As of yesterday 1,341 per day have subscribed to and receive our electronic Church of God News e-zine.

Additionally, as of this morning, we have had at least 79,307 views of the YouTube videos that we have on our ContinuingCOG and Bible News Prophecy channels.

Never before in the history of Church of God has any group reached so many with so little money by so few.

But some scoffed at the beginning of the efforts of the Continuing Church of God and others have discounted and/or despised what we have accomplished.

Yet, the Bible teaches:

1 ‘Behold, you despisers,
Marvel and perish!
For I work a work in your days,
A work which you will by no means believe,
Though one were to declare it to you.’ (Acts 13:41)

6 ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’
Says the Lord of hosts.  (Zechariah 4:6)

This work is truly starting to come to pass, though relatively few will believe it.  We in theContinuing Church of God are leading the final phase of the work.

YouTube Technical Matters

Of course we want to reach more than we have, and we will (cf. Matthew 24;14).

So to make that easier for some, as mentioned last week, if you have a slow internet connection, you can now simply listen to the YouTube sermon and sermonette videos.

Basically, if you go to the YouTube link (and we are also trying to put this in other places), click on SHOW MORE related to the description. You will then see something that says, “Download MP3.” Below that is a link to an MP3 file. Most computers (and even some cellular telephones) will allow MP3 files to be downloaded and played.

We went back to the past several sermons and sermonettes and added this audio file.

World News Events

Despite the goings on in Egypt, there are still calls for an Islamic caliphate in the Middle East as one Imam called for that amid cries of  from his supporters of “Down with peaceful solutions” (see Imam calls for Islamic empire and warns Obama).  The reality is that the Bible foretells the rise of a leader called the King of the South who rules lands that are currently predominantly Islamic (cf. Daniel 11:40-43; Ezekiel 30:1-9).  So, this type of leader will rise up.

Over in the West, the homosexual agenda moved forward in England and Wales this week with “royal assent” of homosexual ‘marriage’ (see Royal Assent given, England and Wales to have homosexual ‘marriage’).

Related to the Middle East, top military generals in the UK and USA announced that their governments may launch attacks into Syria to prevent various ones (including rebels that both those nations have claimed to support) from getting access to Syria’s chemical weapons (UK and USA reportedly considering invading Syria because of chemical weapons concerns).  The Bible teaches that Damascus will be destroyed (Isaiah 17:1) and military action is likely to be the cause.

The German press reported that former USA President Jimmy Carter who stated that it was his view that “America has no functioning democracy.“  He also said that the moral authority of of the U.S. has sharply declined due to excessive restriction of civil rights (see International survey reflects rise of China’s power and influence, and some USA issues.).

Things are changing in the Anglo-descended nations and many of those changes are not good.

Feast of Tabernacles

As mentioned before, we have a webpage with information on the Feast of Tabernacles this year. You may wish to view from time to time as we updated it with more information this week:Feast of Tabernacles’ Sites for 2013.

Please think about where you hope to attend this year and let the coordinator for your Feast site know via email.

We received a request from the Philippines to try to provide Feast of Tabernacles’ services there this week.  We now tentatively plan to do this.  And for several of the days, as well as possibly the Day of Atonement, we hope this will be a live feed or live Skype there.  More is expected to be reported about this later.

There also is expected to be an affiliated Feast of Tabernacles’ site in southern India.  If you are not currently part of the group there, but now may wish to attend, please email me (cogwriter@aol.com) for more information.

We finalized the decision this week on holding the Feast of Tabernacles in the USA at the Santa Maria Inn, in Santa Maria, California (about 160 miles north of Los Angeles). I was able to go and view the site on Sunday, but have not yet signed a contract for which of the meeting rooms.  If you plan to attend in Santa Maria we do need to hear from you.

If you are considering coming to Santa Maria, California for the Feast of Tabernacles, please email me. Currently, Santa Maria looks to be our smallest Feast site, so those of you in North America (or elsewhere) that plan to attend, please let me know so we will reserve the best possible room for services to meet our needs and size.

Suggested Sabbath Service for July 20, 2013

Here is our suggested format for Sabbath services on July 20, 2013:

Have a great and uplifting Sabbath.

Brethren you are in my prayers.

Sincerely,

Bob Thiel, Pastor and Overseer
Continuing Church of God

Letter: July 12, 2013

Dear Brethren and co-workers in Christ:

There has been a lot going on here from radio, to working on the Feast of Tabernacles, to working on the magazine, writing articles, to working on the websites, and working with multiple languages.

Bible News Prophecy Magazine

Because of miscommunications, technical problems, and travel, the July-September edition ofBible News Prophecy magazine was delayed.  The English version was finalized this week and is to be delivered to our office later today.  For those who have asked for more pre-addressed envelopes, they should be added to the mailing to include that magazine, which we plan to do next week.

The online version of the English edition is now available in pdf format: Bible News Prophecy, July-September 2013 edition.

The Spanish edition of the magazine (which is all translated) is expected to go to press next, and then also be available online as well.

After that, for the first time,we expect to have a version of the magazine in Mandarin Chinese!  This could be a first for any Church of God.  And even if not, I am unaware of any other group that has done this approach this year.  Whether we in the Continuing Church of God are first or not, putting materials out in Mandarin Chinese is a door to reach people that were not as reachable before.

Mandarin Chinese has the most native speakers of any language in the world.  About one out of every seven people on earth speaks Mandarin Chinese as their native language.  We worked with the graphics company on that this week and hopefully it will be ready within the next two weeks (as soon as they finish with the Spanish edition, Mandarin is next).

Spanish actually has the second highest amount of native speakers, and every edition of our magazine has so far been translated into the Spanish language.

English, while not having the greatest number of native speakers (it is third), does have the greatest number of total speakers in the world and is currently the most understood language in the world.

Reaching the World

The amount of people from China who have been reading our materials in English has basically tripled since January.  China is a country that seems to be showing more interest in what we are teaching, than they had in the past.

As far as other languages, we currently also have a couple of items at the website in the Tagalog language, which is the primary native language of the Philippines.

We also are looking at putting materials together in Kiswahili.  Kiswahili (often just referred to as Swahili) is the native language for many in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of Congo, as well as Mayotte.  We currently have many congregants in several of those countries, and based upon the growth there believe that getting materials in the Kiswahili language is a door that God is opening for us at this time.

As far as doors in English, on July 8, I was again a guest on a syndicated radio program. I was able to bring up matters such as abortion and changes that are happening that will allow the rise of the Beast power.

I had meant to pre-announce this interview last week in the weekly letter for those who would have liked to listen to it, but the Monday date slipped my mind then.  I will try to pre-announce one or more other radio interviews in the future if I get a chance.  Since I am normally a guest, sometimes I get last-minute invitations, which do not allow for pre-announcement.  And when I can, I normally accept interview offers.

We also spent a lot of time this week on internet matters.  We added a few links to www.cogwriter.com that should help us better reach people in Asia.  We also took steps that will help us better reach people who understand English.  We also are looking how to better reach those in Africa, Latin America, and elsewhere on the internet.

YouTube Technical Matters

We realize that watching YouTube videos can be problematic, especially if you have a slow internet connection.  We are still looking at better ways to handle this.  The first move we made, months ago, was to use less megapixels as that was not only a possible problem to view (because of internet speed), but also for us to upload (took over 24 hours to upload one sermon).

Anyway, we have an interim solution for those who would prefer to simply listen to the sermon and sermonette videos.

Basically, if you go to the YouTube link (and we are also trying to put this in other places), click on SHOW MORE related to the description.  You will then see something that says, “Download MP3.”  Below that is a link to an MP3 file.  Most computers (and even some cellular telephones) will allow MP3 files to be downloaded and played.

We went back to the past several sermons and added this.  We also are adding it to some of the sermonettes which are on the BibleNewsProphecy YouTube channel.

World News Events

The situations in Egypt (Egypt’s military-backed government orders arrest of Muslim Brotherhood leaders) and Syria remained in the news. Russia’s President Putin warned the West that it may not like what will happen in that region because of its desire to remove Syria’s President Assad (see Russia’s Putin blasts West on Syria and Western media disapproves of his position on homosexuality).  Although Vladimir Putin is right about that (and he is right to oppose marriage between homosexuals), the Bible clearly teaches that a power will rise up in the Middle East and North Africa known as the King of the South (Daniel 11:40-43; Ezekiel 30:1-9).  What the West has been doing has been helping facilitate his rise.

Yet, this will rise will result in a plan to destroy the Anglo-nations and the Jewish nation of Israel (Psalm 83) as well as an eventual, but less successful, attack on Europe (Daniel 11:40-43).

Feast of Tabernacles

As a reminder, we have a webpage with information on the Feast of Tabernacles this year. You may wish to view from time to time as we expect to update it with more information as it becomes available: Feast of Tabernacles’ Sites for 2013.

Please think about where you hope to attend this year and let the coordinator for your Feast site know via email.

We have tentatively decided on holding the Feast of Tabernacles in the USA at the Santa Maria Inn, in Santa Maria, California.  I sent emails and made telephone calls to them and hope to possibly visit them again this Sunday.  More information about that is expected for next week.

If you are considering coming to Santa Maria, California for the Feast of Tabernacles, please email me.  I need to decide how large of a room to reserve and have other matters to deal with that hearing from those of you who plan to come will be helpful.  Currently, Santa Maria looks to be our smallest Feast site, so those of you in North America (or elsewhere) that plan to attend, please let me know so we will reserve the best possible room for services to meet our needs and size.

Suggested Sabbath Service for July 13, 2013

Here is our suggested format for Sabbath services on July 13, 2013:

Brethren, there is a lot of work to be done.  Remember the words of Jesus:

37…”The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few.  38 Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.” (Matthew 9:37-38)

And yes, I know I have ended with those verses before, but the need for more laborers still exists.

Brethren you are in my prayers.

Sincerely,

Bob Thiel, Pastor and Overseer
Continuing Church of God

Letter: July 5, 2013

Dear Brethren and co-workers in Christ:

It has been another busy week here in the Five Cities region of California.

From the daily news posts, to magazine issues, to research, to handling emails, to working on the Feast of Tabernacles, reviewing baptismal procedures, and radio, a lot has been going on.

Crying Aloud, Sparing Not

On July 1, I was a guest on a syndicated radio program.  I was able to bring up the biblical connection between the record heat in parts of the Western USA with the overturning of theDefense of Marriage Act and biblical prophecies, such as Deuteronomy 29:23-25 (see alsoAfter DOMA overturned, Western USA hit with massive heat wave: any connection?).

The Bible teaches:

1 Cry aloud, spare not;
Lift up your voice like a trumpet;
Tell My people their transgression,
And the house of Jacob their sins.  (Isaiah 58:1)

And, I also cited the above scripture.  But brethren, there is more disturbing news that governments do not wish to be told about sin.

Several days ago in the United Kingdom, an American street preacher was arrested and questioned about his beliefs after saying that fornication and homosexuality are a sin (American street preacher arrested in the UK for declaring homosexuality ‘sin’).

While we in the Continuing Church of God still declare those transgressions of God’s law sin (1 John 3:4, KJV), since this is an evil time, there will be time for that the prudent will not always speak out (Amos 5:13).

However, because we primarily utilize the internet, radio interviews, and our own printed publications to declare the truths of the Bible, we can still speak out more than others who are often more concerned about their image and/or being on certain television stations.

As far as the internet goes, we are looking at expanding the low-cost Google campaign we began last month.  Basically, we are looking at adding more “key words” that other churches are not particularly interested in that we in the Continuing Church of God can target at a very-low cost.

Two Items Affecting End Time Prophecy

While a lot is going on, there are two items that will impact end time prophecy that have recently been in the news.

The first to mention here is the situation in Egypt.  Presuming the Egyptian military keeps elected President Morsi from being president (they declared someone else as interim president, see Adly Mansour installed as Egypt’s interim president), this will represent a major setback for the Muslim Brotherhood and its ambitions, at least in the short-run.

The Muslim Brotherhood wants to basically put together a confederation of Islamic nations that will resemble the biblical King of the South, with a leader that they call a Caliph.  Bible prophecy shows that ultimately this type of confederation will form (Military’s deadline passed for Egypt’s President Morsi to step down and it has stepped in: What is ahead for Egypt?).  So, whatever seeming setbacks there have been in Egypt should be understood in the light of biblical prophecy, such as those found in Daniel 11:40-43 and Ezekiel 30:1-8.

The second to mention is the news about the USA’s reported espionage of the European Union in general (including the USA allegedly placing listening devices in some of the EU’s important buildings) and Germany in particular (see Germany: USA is engaged in ‘cold war’ against us, Europe furious and EU tells USA to stop spying on it as it asks for more information andGermany most upset by USA espionage).

Allegedly, the USA collects about as much information on Germany as it does the nation of China.  It is obvious that some in the government of the USA do consider that the European Union (and in particular Germany) as a major threat.  The Europeans, including the Germans, are discussing issues and have grave concerns about the USA.  While most in the USA do not consider that the Europeans could be a threat, some who have inside information apparently see this differently.

Because of these news reports, even if the allegations are not true (and they have not been publicly denied by the USA as I write this), this is going to result in the USA telling the European Union a lot about what it has been collecting, how it has collected the information, and what it does with the information.  Furthermore, this will result in the USA reducing some of its espionage (at least for a time) against the Europeans.  This will make it easier for the coming European Beast power to launch a surprise attack against the USA.  The sermonette recommended for today covers some of this.

And though most do not seem to believe that this is possible, the Bible clearly teaches that the power with the strongest military fortresses (which is currently the United States) will be taken over by the final European King of the North per Daniel 11:39.

While the USA does seem to spy on everyone it can, it is interesting to note that according to a 2010 document allegedly from its NSA (referred to in various news reports this week), the nations of Canada, the UK, Australia, and New Zealand are considered to be ‘close friends’ and do not need to be spied on like other nations.  The USA is tied closer to its Anglo-allies than most have realized.  And the fate of those nations will, to a major degree, be tied into the fate of the USA.

Feast of Tabernacles

As a reminder, we have a webpage with information on the Feast of Tabernacles this year.  You may wish to view from time to time as we expect to update it with more information as it becomes available: Feast of Tabernacles’ Sites for 2013.

Please think about where you hope to attend this year and let the coordinator for your Feast site know via email.

John Hickey sent in the following information about the site in New Zealand:

The name of the place is Cheviot Park Motor Lodge and their website ishttp://www.cheviot-park.co.nz/ .  They are prepared to offer a 10% discount on accommodation to any of our members who are attending so long as they mention it when booking.

Whangarei District will pleasantly surprise you. Unspoilt landscapes, truly spectacular coastline and variety plus. A space to experience adventure, warmth, culture, excitement and peace. The perfect place to revive, to breathe, to reconnect. That’s why we love it here.

Just two hours from Auckland, our sub tropical region is the perfect base to explore the rest of Northland – you may never want to leave.

We have tentatively decided on holding the Feast of Tabernacles in the USA at the Santa Maria Inn, in Santa Maria, California.  More information about that is expected for next week.

Matthew 28:19

One issue that the COG I was last part of that was not resolved before I left it had to do with Matthew 28:19 and baptism.

I had discussed the matter once with a leading evangelist and he told me that he was not sure that Matthew 28:19, as found in most Bibles, including the NKJV, should be there.  Because of this, that church put out a baptismal letter allowing the baptismal statements to be done one of two different ways.   This seemed to blatantly go against the biblical admonition about speaking “the same thing” (1 Corinthians 1:10) and raised concerns as there is supposed to be “one baptism” (Ephesians 4:5).

Anyway, that COG also had not resolved the matter for another man who now is currently part of the Continuing Church of God, so he asked me to look further into this matter, and I did.

Basically, the conclusion of the matter is that the following verse is actually in the Bible:

19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,  (Matthew 28:19, NKJV)

For those that I have personally baptized already, I had included the appropriate part of this as part of your ceremonies in the past and plan to continue to keep it in for others.

More on Matthew 28:19 can be found in a new article titled: Is Matthew 28:19 in the Bible?

More on baptism can be found in the article: Baptism and the Early Church.

Suggested Sabbath Service for July 6, 2013

Here is our suggested format for Sabbath services on July 6, 2013:

Brethren, pray for spiritual gifts and the fruit of the Spirit as the Apostle Paul wrote:

1 Pursue love, and desire spiritual gifts…(1 Corinthians 14:1a)

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.  (Galatians 5:22-23)

Brethren continue to set your lives according to the teachings of the Bible.  You are in my prayers.

Sincerely,

Bob Thiel, Pastor and Overseer
Continuing Church of God

Letter: June 28, 2013

Dear Brethren and co-workers in Christ:

After 22 hours of straight travel, my wife Joyce and I returned from Italy and back to the Five Cities region of California on Sunday.

Because of limited internet access while in Europe, it has taken most of this week to get somewhat caught up from being gone.  We were far enough behind that I asked someone else to assist with uploading various translations into Mandarin Chinese as well as Spanish to two of our sites, as opposed to me doing all of that myself as I usually do.  This should be completely caught up later today.

Also, on administrative matters, we have had a ‘temporary’ bank account that was needed until certain corporate documents were received back from the State of California, and then needed to wait over six weeks for delays from the bank (with no explanation from the local branch other than them telling us that they had no idea why their corporate office kept delaying this) in order to open the regular bank account.  The experience reminded me of the following:

12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.  (Ephesians 6:12)

Anyway, the temporary account was closed yesterday and the regular corporate bank account was opened yesterday as well.

Speaking of delays, while the Continuing Church of God has tax federal exemption in 49 US states and all US territories, we ask your prayers that our State of California exemption request would be processed quickly and that we will find favor in the site of the officials reviewing it would be appreciated (cf. 1 Timothy 2:1-2).  With the problems that some groups have had with the IRS (and that does not include the Continuing Church of God), and the fact that our position on matters such as abortion, homosexuality, etc. differ from those held by many government officials, political bias against those of us who dare to stand for biblical morality is a concern in California.

Matthew 24:14: Reaching the World

We had looked to doing a major Google campaign to promote our videos last month, but the proposal from the “expert” there showed that he did not really understand our needs, so that project has been temporarily shelved.

However, we did begin a lower-cost campaign that seems to have successfully reached thousands in the month of June.  Basically, there are “key words” that other churches are not particularly interested in that we in the Continuing Church of God can target at a very-low cost.

Why?  Basically because there is no competition to drive up the price.

Currently, not only do we in the Continuing Church of God reach more people than the vast majority of Church of God groups combined, on a per member basis, we reach several times as many as any group I am aware of ever has in the history of Christianity (though possibly excluding the Apostle Peter’s first sermon in Acts 2).  We in the Continuing Church of God are leading the final phase of the work.

We have other ideas that I believe will help us reach more in a very cost-effective manner, including a unique video project that I hope we will be able to get to this summer.  It may be an interesting and effective “door” to reach those who are unsure what to so (cf. 1 Corinthians 16:9; 2 Corinthians 2:12.   More information on that is planned to be discussed as that project moves further along.

In terms of literature, I worked on the Bible News Prophecy magazine this week, including communicating with a couple of our translators and meeting with the layout company.  The layout company and two of the translators are a little behind, but we still intend to get the next edition out in multiple languages.

Our translator for Mandarin Chinese asked for statistics on reaching those in the People’s Republic of China this month, and since I shared those with him, thought that many of you may be interested in this.  As of a few moments ago, we have had just about 10,000 articles viewed from locations that AW Stats identifies as coming from China during the June 2013.  And if you add those in Taiwan and Hong Kong, then it is well over 10,000 so far this month.  The internet seems to be the best way to directly reach China at this time as the Chinese thus far have seemed to block our physical literature when we tried to send it in.  I believe that the internet is one of the doors that God has opened up for His Philadelphia remnant (cf. Revelation 3:7-8; 1 Corinthians 16:8-9).

We are on track to have about 300,000 article views on the websites this month, as well as thousands of YouTube channel views.  The message is getting out, but we have so much more to reach.

World News Trends

Last week I mentioned the trend towards civil unrest and protests.  Protests have continued in Brazil and are expected to greatly increase in the next couple of days in Egypt.  As I mentioned last week, protests were a factor in the so-called ‘Arab Spring’ and hence seem to be playing into the rise of the prophesied King of the South.

On the world scene, the USA is losing a lot of respect.  The Russian newspaper Pravdaessentially said that Barack Obama was the President of Sodom and Gomorrah because of the increasing acceptance of homosexuality and the homosexual agenda in the USA.  Pravda’s article basically said that the USA was getting weaker in many areas and that no one, including “Tiny Britain” will be able to back the USA up in the future.

On June 24, 2013 in the USA, a civil rights panel ruled that an elementary school was discriminating against a cross-dressing 7 year old boy because it would not allow him to regularly use the girls’ toilet (Civil rights panel rules it is discriminatory to not let a boy regularly use girls’ toilet).

On June 26, 2013, the Supreme Court of the USA rule that the Defense of Marriage Act was unconstitutional (Russia calls Obama President of Sodom and Gomorrah and the US Supreme Court ruling on homosexuality today confirms it).  Supreme Court Justice Kennedy claimed that there was “no legitimate purpose” in defining marriage as between a man and woman and not equating that to homosexual unions.  Apparently, he does not agree with the words of Jesus:

4 “Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’  5 and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’?  6 So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.”  (Matthew 19:4-6)

Homosexuality is condemned by the Bible and the Bible does not condone homosexual marriage. but refers to homosexuality as an abomination (Leviticus 18:22; 20:13).

Someone sent me the following news excerpt, and I have included some his comments in italics below it:

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) had a two-word response on Wednesday to Rep. Michele Bachmann’s (R-MN) assertion that the Supreme Court tried to “undo what a holy God has instituted” by striking down the federal same sex marriage ban: “Who cares?”

To me it may be the defining comment of our nation in this age. It is so profound when you think about it.

The USA, in my view, has past the point of no return.  While there are Americans (including Canadians) that hold views closer to the Bible on certain points, the reality is that the governments of the USA and its Anglo-allies seem determined to march towards immorality and destruction.

Many of the leaders in the USA and other Anglo-lands do not care about biblical morality.  In Romans 1:18-31, the Bible condemns various forms of immorality, including homosexuality and lesbianism.  It then concludes with the following:

32 who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.  (Romans 1:32)

Notice that not only those that participate in immorality are condemned by the Bible, but also those that approve it.   Surely this is a prophecy for our time!

The end-time sorrows and troubles in Western society have begun (Matthew 24:5-8), and the acceptance of immorality will lead to destruction (Romans 1:18-32; Daniel 11:39).

Furthermore, there were indications that the leadership in Germany wants increased acceptance of its military (see Germany’s elites want more acceptance of its military; How can the coming European power defeat the USA?) while the USA made another announcement relating to reducing its (US Army announces cuts).  The world is more dangerous than many in the USA seem to realize and the USA pulling troops (and earlier tanks) out of Germany will make the Germans more likely to attack the USA.

Feast of Tabernacles

As a reminder, we have a webpage with information on the Feast of Tabernacles this year that you may wish to view from time to time as we expect to update it with more information as it becomes available: Feast of Tabernacles’ Sites for 2013.  Please think about where you hope to attend this year and let the coordinator for your Feast site know via email.

We have heard that more and more plan to attend the Feast site in Kenya.  The growth in that part of the world (some are in Tanzania and Uganda) is very encouraging.

We expect to have more information on the USA and New Zealand Feast sites next week.

Suggested Sabbath Service for June 29, 2013

Here is our suggested format for Sabbath services on June 29 2013:

As the Apostle Paul wrote:

2 Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving; 3 meanwhile praying also for us, that God would open to us a door for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ (Colossians 4:2-3)

Brethren, you are in my prayers.  Please pray for us and that God will open the doors for us and that we will have the wisdom to recognize and go through them.

Sincerely,

Bob Thiel, Pastor and Overseer
Continuing Church of God

Letter: June 21, 2013

Posted on June 21, 2013 by CCOG

Dear Brethren and co-workers in Christ:

My wife Joyce and I are still in Italy and are to fly back to California on Sunday.

Because of the schedule, very high heat, trying to keep up with emails, and traveling, it has been a full week.

We were able to go to Vatican City to video segments for one or more sermons.  Because of a scheduling conflict and changes with the new pontiff, I decided it was best to meet with someone related to church history at the Church of Santa Pudenziana instead of physically seeing Pope Francis in a crowed audience in St. Peter’s Square.

We hope to be able to do more video tomorrow in Italy for another sermon.

We were contacted by a COG-related group in Europe a few times this week who expressed some interest in the Continuing Church of God. At minimum, they appear interested in at least some type of cooperation with us.

World News Trends

There were two major news items in terms of trends to mention.

The first was there were a lot of protests in the nation of Brazil and still in Turkey.  There were also protests in other lands.  The time will come when  more serious protests will be seen in the USA.  There will also be protests in Europe.  It may well be that European protests will lead to the rise of the King of the North of Daniel 11.

Protests were a factor in the so-called ‘Arab Spring’ and hence seem to be playing into the rise of the prophesied King of the South.

The second (and related) major news trend to mention is that the current President of Egypt, Dr. Morsi, who ended up getting into office after protests in Egypt, made the news for something he said:

June 16, 2013…

Morsi, this week, called for a holy war on Islam’s Shia sect, which makes up nearly 40% of the Muslim population of the Middle East. Morsi referred to Shia Muslims as “unclean” and called for the extermination of what would constitute the majority of the population of Iraq, Iran, large portions of Kuwait, Azerbaijan, Yemen, Nigeria, Ghana, Lebanon, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and a dozen other nations.

Morsi called for Egyptian “fighters” to begin a war on Syria, Iraq and Iran, http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/06/16/309361/obama-morsi-plunge-middle-east-into-chaos/ (see also Egypt’s Morsi taking ‘King of the South’ steps, but…)

This is important because he is indicating that the Sunni Muslim nation of Egypt wants the Sunni Muslim nations to take over or somehow change the influence of the Shi-ite Muslim dominated Iran, Iraq, and Syria (though most of the people in Syria are Sunni Muslims, their President Assad is a Shi’ite Muslim).

I have warned for some time that the nations in the biblically-prophesied King of South are mainly Sunni Muslim, and hence this suggests some type of change in Shi-ite Muslim influence.  In my view, despite problems that he will have, Dr. Morsi helped set the stage for the King of the South this week.

Worldly Trend Toward Further Immorality

The next item I wish to mention is not a news item per se, but an item a sign of the times that I want to comment upon.  That subject is public appearance and dress of people, particularly females.

The Western nations no longer seem to highly prize modesty in female apparel (though female politicians tend to remain modest in their dress–and no, I do not approve of the trend of some males to show significant amounts of their underwear that their pants should be covering up).

The Bible teaches:

8 I desire therefore that the men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting; 9 in like manner also, that the women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with propriety and moderation…(1 Timothy 2:8-9)

Immodesty in dress is now mainly considered to be acceptable or simply daring, as opposed to being immoral by many.

What is considered to be acceptable dress for public display (mainly for females) continues to the trend to show more skin, more cleavage, and more of their figures.  This is not good.

Another trend, which is appearing in the USA as well as Europe (where I am writing this from) is the trend for women’s clothing to become more and more sheer.  So sheer, that one can often look through the clothing to the skin (slips and other covering items are often missing).  This is not a positive trend but is another that I wanted to mention.

The end-time sorrows and troubles in Western society are still in the beginning stages (Matthew 24:5-8), and will get much worse according to the Bible (Matthew 24:21-22; 2 Timothy 3:1-7), and the acceptance of immorality will lead to destruction (Romans 1:18-32).

Feast of Tabernacles

As a reminder, we have a webpage with information on the Feast of Tabernacles this year that you may wish to view from time to time as we expect to update it with more information as it becomes available: Feast of Tabernacles’ Sites for 2013.  Please think about where you hope to attend this year and let the coordinator for your Feast site know via email.

The Internet

Despite travels and research, we were able to make posts to the internet and handle most of the emails (though some email responses had to be delayed somewhat).  As mentioned before, we are reaching people in at least 215 countries and territories around the world with the websites and YouTube videos.

Suggested Sabbath Service for June 22, 2013

Here is our suggested format for Sabbath services on June 22 2013:

As the Apostle Paul wrote:

9 And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, 10 that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, 11 being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.  (Philippians 1:9-11)

Brethren, you are in my prayers.  Please pray for our safe return.

Sincerely,

Bob Thiel, Pastor and Overseer
Continuing Church of God

Letter: June 14, 2013

Dear Brethren and co-workers in Christ:

My wife Joyce and I arrived in Rome, Italy yesterday.  So, between that and various meetings, this has been a different kind of week for us.

We are scheduled to pick up tickets next week in order to see Pope Francis (in a public, not a private session) next week.  Since I wrote a book with him on the front cover, and have been keeping an eye on him, I believe that this visit can be helpful in many ways.

Feast of Tabernacles

As mentioned last week, the three sites that are currently planned for the Feast of Tabernacles (and more may be possible) are in nations of Kenya, New Zealand, and the United States.  There is also a group in India, and they will likely have something there as well.

We are working on the Feast and also sent an announcement out about the three of them toThe Journal: News of the Churches of God.  Hopefully, this may allow others with a Church of God background to possibly contact our leaders in each of those countries.

We also now have a link with information on the three Feast of Tabernacles this year that you may wish to view from time to time as we expect to update it with more information as it becomes available: Feast of Tabernacles’ Sites for 2013.

The Internet

We held meetings related to getting the non-English language websites up this week.  We also had meetings about how to better reach people over the internet.  We also worked on another English language site that we hope may attract others who are looking for the true church.

The www.ccog.asia website is now ‘live,’ but has only very limited information now.  This is intended to primarily be a Chinese language website.  Several articles are translated into Mandarin Chinese and we are working to improve this process and make more information available in the Chinese language.

The websites for the Tagalog and Spanish languages also have been worked on and we expect to report more on them later.

We have already reached people in at least 215 countries and territories in the past several months, but want to reach more people in them.  Matthew 24:14 is going to be fulfilled, and the internet is apparently going to be one of the major tools to better accomplish that.

World News Items

Weather extremes have continued to be in the news, mainly in the USA and Europe.

Also, there has been some backlash by the Russians (Orthodox) (see Russia takes a positive step against the worldwide homosexual agenda), Southern Baptists, and the Pope of Rome concerning the homosexual agenda this week (Southern Baptists condemn new BSA homosexual position; Pope Francis concerned about homosexual lobby and corruption in the Vatican).  Yet, June also being declared “Gay Pride” month with certain Protestant support (seeJune is ‘Gay Pride Month’ and lies are being spread) shows that the world’s churches have a certain division about homosexuality now.

The Pope himself keeps trying to push an ecumenical agenda, while also admitting that there is corruption in the Vatican (Southern Baptists condemn new BSA homosexual position; Pope Francis concerned about homosexual lobby and corruption in the Vatican).  He again made statements about his church being poor, which suggests that he intends to do some type of possible wealth redistribution.  If so, this may well play into the development of a religion that more of the world will willingly follow (Revelation 13:4,8), though others will essentially be forced to (Revelation 13:15-18).

Suggested Sabbath Service for June 15, 2013

Here is our suggested format for Sabbath services on June 15 2013:

As the Apostle Paul wrote:

18 Brethren, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.  (Galatians 6:18)

Thank you for your prayers and support.

Sincerely,

Bob Thiel, Pastor and Overseer
Continuing Church of God