Dear Brethren and co-workers in Christ:
It has been another full week putting together the videos, articles, and magazines to work towards the mission of striving to preach the Gospel of the Kingdom to the world as a witness and teach all things that Jesus commanded.
Reaching the English Speaking World
Much of the world speaks English as its primary or secondary language. Because of this, our English-language articles, websites, magazines, books, sermons, YouTube videos, electronic COG newsletter, emails, and radio appearances have been able to reach people in over 200 nations around the world.
Over one thousand people have subscribed to our daily Church of God News electronic newsletter. You can subscribe (for free of course) to it by going to: http://www.cogwriter.com/news/ and adding your email address in the box on the right, then confirming your email address.
My last two radio appearances were on April 18th and 24th. They were on a internationally syndicated radio program. We continue to strive to go through those doors that God opens up to us.
We have reached hundreds of thousands through the internet and millions over the radio. But more must be reached. And more will be reached.
We also heard from new English-speaking supporters this week, and even from an Asian who speaks English.
Reaching the Spanish Speaking World
This has been a big week in terms of improving our ability to reach the Spanish speaking world. We now have a Spanish language web page. Here is a link to the: la página en español de Continuación de la Iglesia de Dios. Ultimately, we will likely have an entire Spanish language website, but this is an important step towards that.
Articles added in the Spanish language this week include:
- The article Who is the Man of Sin of 2 Thessalonians 2? has been translated into the Spanish language: ¿Quién es el Hombre de Pecado de 2 Tesalonicenses 2?
- The article What About the Living Church of God? Are there Doctrinal Differences with the Continuing Church of God? has been translated into the Spanish language: ¿Qué hay acerca de la Iglesia de Dios Viviente? ¿Hay diferencias doctrinales con la Continuación de la Iglesia de Dios?
- The article How To Determine If Someone is a True Prophet of God has been translated into the Spanish language:: ¿Cómo determinar si alguien es un verdadero profeta de Dios?
In addition, our Bible News Prophecy magazine (called Noticias de la Profecía de la Biblia in the Spanish language) for BOTH editions, is now available in the Spanish language:
- Noticias de la Profecía de la Biblia: Enero-Marzo 2013
- Noticias de la Profecía de la Biblia: Abril-Junio 2013
As we get closer to entering the final time of the Gentiles (Luke 21:24), we need to be able to reach the Gentiles as well as the Anglo-Israelite descended peoples (Matthew 24:14, Ezekiel 3 and 33). It is absolutely fantastic that we now have so much material in the Spanish language.
Just like we have volunteers assisting the review of the English-language magazine in New Zealand, volunteers personally proclaiming the good news in Kenya, we also have a volunteer in Colombia who has translated this material in the Spanish language for us.
Without the dedication of the volunteer men and women around the world, we would simply not have the reach that we do. I am so grateful for all the help and support.
In terms of another language, about two weeks ago, I was able to reach part of the Portuguese speaking world with some information as well as a book that had previously been translated into Portuguese by another volunteer, as well as with some English literature that two Portuguese speakers planned to translate into English.
But we need to do more and can use more assistance. As Jesus said:
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)
Please pray for more laborers for the harvest.
World News
In the Middle East, Israel claimed that Syria used chemical weapons and that Iran is getting very close to being able to put together a nuclear bomb. Interestingly, former German Defense Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg stated that Germany needs to provide more support to Israel (Iran’s nuclear program crossed red line? Syria’s chemical weapons crossed red line? Karl zu Guttenberg: ‘Germany must have Israel’s back’). I believe that Israel will ultimately overly rely on European/German promises to its peril (cf. Daniel 9:27) and that Baron Guttenberg is one to watch (see also Might German Baron Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg become the King of the North?).
The situation in Syria this week related to using chemical weapons is concerning many as that was a “red line” that the Obama Administration indicated that the Syrian government should not cross. The Bible tells of coming devastation to Syria’s capital Damascus (Isaiah 17:1) and events in that country are setting its capital up for fulfillment of biblical prophecy (see also Damascus and Syria in Prophecy).
In the past two weeks, we have had the Boston Marathon bombing (Boston bombing tied to 9/11?), Canadian officials announced they stopped a train bombing (In Canada, RCMP thwart ‘major terrorist attack’), and today the United Kingdom announced it foiled a suicide plot allegedly linked to al Qaeda (Al Qaeda suicide plot apparently foiled in Britain). In all three incidents, some associated with Islam have been implicated by Anglo-officials. Some have said that various Anglo-governments are using terrorism as a way to restrict freedoms and perceived human rights. And no doubt, freedoms and rights have been restricted, and more restrictions are likely. Because of Psalm 83:3-8 and Leviticus 26:16, I have long felt that there would be much more massive terrorism from those in the Muslim dominated lands. Hence, I expect more actual terrorism in the Anglo-dominated lands of the UK, Canada, and USA. We will likely also see some in Australia and New Zealand.
There was some civil unrest in China earlier this week and ultimately China will find that it cannot become the military and economic leader of the world (see also the suggested sermonette Is China THE Threat to the United States of America?). The USA also expressed concerns about China’s role in cyber warfare and vowed to take steps (US to retaliate in cyber war with China? Are there other ramifications?).
Jesus told of a time of “troubles” (Mark 13:8) and world events are regularly confirming that.
Suggested Sabbath Service for April 27, 2013
Here is my suggested format for Sabbath services for April 27, 2013:
- 2-3 hymns (we are using the 1974 Bible Hymnal from the old WCG, and in most areas, the Choral Accompaniment).
- Opening prayer.
- Sermonette. Here is a link to one: Is China THE Threat to the United States of America? There is also some information related to this in the articles titled Asia in Prophecy and Europa, the Beast, and the Book of Revelation.
- Announcements (if any) and one hymn.
- Sermon which for most will be a recorded one titled Are humans immortal? (there is a related article here Did Early Christians Believe that Humans Possessed Immortality? for those who prefer the written word over the video or who may wish to refer back to this source as the sermon is based on this article).
- Final hymn.
- Closing prayer.
Some had difficulty reaching the Who is the Man of Sin? video last week. And it can now be viewed. We hope that this and other technical issues have been resolved. We also posted various sermon links to the www.ccog.org website as some recent sermons were not linked there when produced.
We continue to try to be faithful, as well as improve, the information that we make available.
Sincerely,
Bob Thiel, Pastor and Overseer
Continuing Church of God