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Letter: April 5, 2013

Posted on April 5, 2013 by CCOG

Dear Brethren and co-workers in Christ:

We hope and pray that you all had a blessed Spring Holy Day season and are becoming better Christians because of it as we all need to grow in grace and knowledge.  Events went well here for the Spring Holy Days.

On the negative side, however, apparently the beginning of the Passover service video did not end up properly on YouTube, so it has been removed from public display.  We are trying to take steps to reduce communications issues that can negatively affect the videos, but because of how we are set-up (distances and a series of events), problems came up that otherwise would seem not possible.  My apologies.  Yet, instead of giving up, we must move forward.  A new Passover Service video is planned for the future.  Of course, we always had the article available (Keeping Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread), and it still is.  I ended up using that as an outline for conducting Passover services in our area.

Doing the Work in the Spanish Language: Continuación de la Iglesia de Dios

This past week we decided on following name/translation for the Continuing Church of God in the Spanish language: Continuación de la Iglesia de Dios.

In addition to the name, we now have our Statement of Beliefs available in Spanish Declaración de las Doctrinas as well as another article, Visión general: ¿En qué está de acuerdo o en desacuerdo la Continuación de la Iglesia de Dios con otras confesiones que profesan a Cristo?

In the past several days, the first issue of the Bible News Prophecy magazine has been translated into the Spanish language.  We are now working on how to best format it and make it available.

We continue to try to go through whatever doors God chooses to open for us (Revelation 3:7-8).

Doing the Work in Africa

Another group in Kenya has contacted us to become part of the Continuing Church of God.  I spoke with George Otieno (of Ndhiwa, Kenya) over the telephone Wednesday and he told me that earlier that day that sixteen people in a group affiliated with a different COG based in Migori, Kenya declared their intent to change affiliation and support the Continuing Church of God.

We are trying to figure out how to best support Kenya from here and Kenya is in my regular daily prayers.

Bible News Prophecy Magazine

The second edition of the Bible News Prophecy magazine is at the printers.  Those of you on our magazine mailing list should be mailed a copy next week.  We are printing more than twice the quantity that we printed for the first edition.  Also, contribution receipts for the first quarter of 2013 are expected to be included with the magazine mailing, for your records.

An electronic version of the magazine is at the the following link: https://www.ccog.org/magazines/BNP-2013-Apr-June.pdf.

Internet Reach
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The Continuing Church of God has reached many since it began on radio and on the internet.

Here are statistics for the past three months for the www.cogwriter.com website only:

Month Unique visitors Number of visits Pages Hits Bandwidth
Jan 2013 100,403 173,010 353,889 1,532,964 36.71 GB
Feb 2013 124,552 183,588 400,212 1,616,512 38.42 GB
Mar 2013 126,902 201,899 401,693 1,689,421 39.94 GB

These statistics are up significantly from the prior year (and February normally had more visits than March, unlike in 2013).  Note: “Pages” refer to individual web addresses/articles, and some of them are up to 100 printed pages long.

We, on the internet, also have www.ccog.org, Bible News Prophecy channel, and ContinuingCOG channel–all of which are new.  Over 50,000 YouTube views have been reported in our first three months of existence. God seems to have greatly blessed the reach of the Continuing Church of God.

Those critics who suggested that the Continuing Church of God would not have major proclamation impact have been shown to be in error.

In other media, there have been seven radio interviews since mid-January 2013.   According to the hosts of those radio programs, we have reached multiple millions being on them.

On a per attendee basis, the Continuing Church of God appears to reach more people on a regular basis than any Church of God in recorded in history.  On a total basis, the Continuing Church of God has already reached more people than most COG groups in known history.   The Continuing Church of God is currently the group most boldly leading the effort to fulfill Matthew 24:14 and finish the work.  Is that not consistent with the fruits of a group led by one with a prophetic anointing from God and backed by other Philadelphian Christians?

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As mentioned before, a major advantage of utilizing the internet and radio in these end times, is that not only can more countries be reached than tends to happen with media such as television, we in the Continuing Church of God can be bolder in proclaiming Christ’s message to the world without the compromises that certain other groups feel that they must do to remain on television. While there are times to pull back and remain silent (Amos 5:13), there are also times to be bolder in proclamation:
“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)
This, in many lands, is the time to cry aloud.
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We in the Continuing Church of God have been granted the privilege to lead the final phase of the work and we already have reached hundreds of thousand different ones over the internet as well as millions over the radio.
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Matthew 24:14 is being worked on as a high priority.  Matthew 24:14 will be fulfilled as the gospel of the kingdom is going out with more of the truth than ever before.

World News

North Korea, South Korea, and the USA continue to make statements and take steps consistent with plans for an actual war.  While, carnally-speaking, North Korea could not “win” an out-and-out war with the USA, the USA is subject to terrorism (cf. Leviticus 26:14-16)  and North Korea may have a variety of options to attempt to harm the USA should it so choose (nuclear weapons, dirty bombs, electronic magnetic pulse bombs, and possibly chemical or biological weapons).

This does not mean that North Korea would fare well in a major conflict, but it is possible that the North Koreans or others will have some type of nuclear device(s) set off inside the USA before the start of the Great Tribulation.  I have long felt, based upon scriptures in the Book of Revelation, that North and South Korea would likely ultimately reunite, and it is possible that a major conflict would bring this about.  The economic situation in North Korea could also bring this about.

In other news, it was reported that there are no more US tanks in Germany (see There are no longer USA tanks in Germany: Do Americans understand this is a serious risk?). This reduces the influence of the US military on the ground in Central Europe.

This elimination of American tanks, combined with Europe’s advances in physic’s technology (like the Large Hadron Collider and Germany’s FAIR collider project), its upcoming Galileo system), the USA’s intended reliance on Galileo, and the near elimination of the USA’s own super colliders, is setting the USA up for a takeover that few consider possible (cf. Daniel 11:39; Revelation 13:4).

As Jesus said, “37 And what I say to you, I say to all: Watch!” (Mark 13:37).

Suggested Sabbath Service for April 6, 2013

Here is my suggested format for Sabbath services for April 6, 2013:

Remember to pray, study, and seek first the kingdom of God (Matthew 6:33).

Sincerely,

Bob Thiel, Pastor and Overseer
Continuing Church of God

Posted in Letters to the Brethren
About CCOG
The Continuing Church of God, which attempts to represent the most faithful remnant of the Philadelphia (Revelation 3:7) portion of the Church of God, bases its beliefs on the Holy Bible. Read CCOG's statement of beliefs for more information.