Letter to the Brethren: December 23, 2021

Dear Brethren and Co-Workers in Christ:

Greetings from Grover Beach, California.

There was a deadly typhoon in the Philippines. I have not yet received a response to my inquiry with our leading man there. We have concerns that his area was affected–please keep the brethren in the Philippines in your prayers.

Over in Africa, our youth camps in Kenya are to start tomorrow, which is a little later than usual. We hope to have a report on them in a later Letter to the Brethren.

Richard Close Update

Deacon Richard Close, who lives in Pennsylvania, is still recovering and this seems to be going slowly.

He is still not available for counseling, etc.

His daughter Elizabeth requested continued prayers for him.

Mozambique and Kenya

Malawi-based CCOG deacon Radson Molozowa sent the following photos and report:

Am visiting Mozambique encourage and meet brethren

Yesterday I meet church host for Domasi, Nasiyaya, Nagaga,Mkwamba, Taulo.

Today am keeping Sabbath with brethren at Domasi

It’s a wonderful trip and the brethren are eager to hear the word of God

I will continue update you about my trip

Best regards

Radson

Glad he could make the trip.

In other African news, Pastor Sawek reported yesterday that evangelist Evans Ochieng and his family visited last Sabbath in South Rift, Murkan-Junction in Kenya, and we have been able to supply the needed cement for the floor of the church building there. He reported that the people were grateful for the visit and the cement.

Plain Truth About Christmas

Many people around the world will be celebrating Christmas on December 25th.

Of course, we in the Continuing Church of God know that Jesus could not have been born on that calendar date, and nearly all serious scholars agree.

Anyway, for the first time, my sermon related to Christmas will be highly related to the 1974 booklet, The Plain Truth About Christmas, as well as a couple of articles in the old Plain Truth magazine.

Here is a link to our latest sermon: The Plain Truth About Christmas.

Shut Door/Open Door?

Is it possible that early Christian leaders knew the books of the New Testament from the beginning and did not need the councils that many Greco-Roman-Protestant scholars claim were necessary to determine the canon of the New Testament?

Yes. But this is a controversial view that many do not want heard.

Back in the 1990s when I was a theological editor for Wikipedia, I posted one paragraph in its article of the New Testament canon stating that certain Baptists, Church of God groups, and others do not believe that it took councils to determine the canon. And, basically, that they believe that the last writer of the New Testament, the Apostle John, passed that knowledge to Christian leaders like Polycarp of Smyrna in Asia Minor. Although Wikipedia claimed to have “no point of view” those factual statements about those beliefs were removed.

In 2008, I had an article published by a Protestant journal that mentioned that Polycarp and others in Asia Minor knew the New Testament canon from around the time the last book of the New Testament had been written. That article was pulled months later.

Last Friday, at the request of Academia.edu, I submitted a letter article to it about the New Testament canon. Yet, it almost immediately rejected it and would not send it out.

Now, from Wikipedia through Academia.edu, none of the rejectors cited errors in the historic references or scriptures those pieces contained—they apparently just did not want the idea to be viewed.

So, did these rejections mean that all doors to get this information out were closed?

No.

Consider what the Book of Ecclesiastes teaches:

1 Cast your bread upon the waters,
For you will find it after many days. …

6 In the morning sow your seed,
And in the evening do not withhold your hand;
For you do not know which will prosper,
Either this or that,
Or whether both alike will be good.  (Ecclesiastes 11:6)

We are to do the work and use many ways to do so.

Remember that Jesus had the following message for the Philadelphians:

7 “And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write,

‘These things says He who is holy, He who is true, “He who has the key of David, He who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens”: 8 “I know your works. See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it; for you have a little strength, have kept My word, and have not denied My name. 9 Indeed I will make those of the synagogue of Satan, who say they are Jews and are not, but lie — indeed I will make them come and worship before your feet, and to know that I have loved you. 10 Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth. (Revelation 3:7-10)

Notice that Jesus mentioned persevering.

So, for this topic, I did.

As it turned out, there was one other time I responded to a request from Academia.edu to submit a letter article to it. That one was about possible Waldensian succession. It took Academia.edu about a month to reject it, so I decided to submit that article to the Sabbath Sentinel, which accepted it and informed me it should be published next month.

When I mentioned the canon topic to the editor of the Sabbath Sentinel this week, he responded that this is something he felt was really needed. He, then, said that I could submit a three or even four-part article on it if that would work out.

So, some version of that is the plan.

This will help us reach a potentially more receptive audience.

We continue to ‘cast our bread’ and strive to go through ‘doors’ that Jesus opens.

Year-End Income Tax Matters

(Public Domain Images)

As mentioned last week, We are getting close to the end of the Roman calendar year. Those who live in the United States, in order to have their contributions eligible for tax deduction for calendar year 2021, need to send electronic or regular mail donations no later than December 31, 2021. For those who physically mail donations, they must be postmarked by December 31, 2021 to be eligible for deductibility for 2021.

All contributions received via US mail for residents of the United States are to be processed for the tax year based upon the postmarked date on the envelopes.

For contributions received via PayPal, we use the date that PayPal gives us.

The PayPal donation link for the USA is at: https://www.ccog.org/donations/

In Canada the rules may be slightly different for mailed and other contributions, so if you want the tax deduction for calendar year 2021, they likely also need to be made before the end of the calendar year to the CCOG office in Canada. Here is a link to the CCOG Canada donations’ page: https://ccogcanada.ca/donations/

In New Zealand, they use a March 31st date to end their tax year. That being said, here is a link to the CCOG New Zealand donations’ page: https://ccog.nz/donations/