Letter to the Brethren: July 23, 2020

Dear Brethren and Co-Workers in Christ:

Greetings from the Five Cities region of California.

On Sunday, Joyce and I finally got around to ordering airline tickets to attend the Feast of Tabernacles in San Antonio, Texas. We mainly delayed because various airlines were changing schedules.

When we originally looked at flying to San Antonio from our local airport (San Luis Obispo) the fares were about three times as high as they are now. For us, last Sunday was a great time to purchase airline tickets as the prices were down substantially. That being said, there is always the possibility of flights being cancelled. But we intend to attend the Feast of Tabernacles even if that were to happen (and we would plan to drive approximately 1600 miles from here to get there).

If you expect to attend San Antonio site, and have not already done so, please email me at COGwriter@aol.com to confirm. Not only will this help us with planning, it should also mean that if anything were to unexpectedly happen, we would be better able to contact you and provide you with details and/or our backup plans.

This year, Feast of Tabernacles’ services are to begin the evening of October 2nd and continue until the Last Great Day which is October 10th.

Here is a link to information on: Feast of Tabernacles’ Sites for 2020.

Announcing CG7.org!

Last month, we purchased a new website URL, cg7.org

Since then, we have worked on putting pages together to be at that new website. We also consulted with leaders in Ethiopia and Ghana as they came from groups using the term Church of God Seventh Day (and Ghana still does).

The home page for the cg7.org website starts out looking as follows:

World News Items

Iran has been in the news a lot. It claims to have 25 million who have been infected with COVID-19 (the WHO has not accepted that), it put its air-defense systems on high alert as it keeps having explosions some have attributed to Israel, and it has warned its citizens to not revolt (see BIN: Iran Puts Air-Defense Systems on ‘High Alert’ AJ: If you revolt, you die). Iran has also been negotiating with China to supply oil for money and infrastructure (see ‘Iran and China Turbo-Charge the New Silk Roads’). Iran is expecting to one day conquer Jerusalem and Bible prophecy points to it causing “great damage” to Jerusalem (Isaiah 22:6-8).

As far as China goes, it is concerned about actions from the US, whereas the US and others are concerned about what China is doing or may do to Hong Kong, Taiwan, Uighur Muslims, and in the South China see (see ‘US Military Deploys Forces to Asia Surrounding China;’ China infuriated and burning documents over Houston consulate closure).

The European Union has been working on a COVID-19 ‘rescue package’ (see ‘EU Economic Rescue Package’ ‘Europe will not be made all at once, or according to a single plan’). While that will increase debt, it has been revealed that various leaders have wanted Europe to adopt some type of a gold standard since the 1970s (see ‘Europe Has Been Planning A Gold Standard Since The 1970s’ Collapse of US$ and Pound Sterling?). The Bible tells of a time when a European King of the North will end up with gold in Daniel 11:38-43.

We continue to unrest and division in the USA–the mayor of Portland, Oregon was part of a protest crowd that was tear-gassed last night (see AP: Trump deploys more federal agents under ‘law and order’ push; AE: Nobody Will Accept the 2020 Election Result). As mentioned last week, over 50 Americans million have filed for unemployment insurance benefits since the COVID-19 situation (see ‘More than 50 million have filed for unemployment’ ‘Dollar Destroyed by Year End’). The economic solution that the USA mainly seems to be looking at is increasingly debt (see COVID economic hope: Printing money; COVID risk: Inflation). That will not end well for the USA (cf. Habakkuk 2:6-8), and looks to be a factor for the Europeans to adopt some type of gold backing of a currency in the future.

Related to COVID-19, many stores will not allow people to buy anything without wearing a mask (see Cannot shop (buy and sell) without a mask? ‘COVID-19 Has Been Weaponized To Demoralize And Destroy The Global Population As The Elites Are Now Bringing In The New World Order’).

Since the government or the retailers also mandate employees to wear masks, there is to be no selling without a mask.

Certainly, this is a restriction of buying and selling. And since grocery stores have been added, this makes getting food more difficult unless one will wear a mask.

Notice the following prophecy:

16 He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, 17 and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.

18 Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number is 666. (Revelation 13:16-18)

While we are not there yet, and masks are not 666, this type of restriction certainly looks like a prelude.

Currently, the French are looking at digitizing the Euro (see ‘French Central Bank Picks Accenture, HSBC and Others for Digital Euro Pilot ‘ 666 Move?). Presuming the Europeans go to a fully, or near fully, digitized currency, that will be able to fulfill the 666 prophecy.

Suggested Sabbath Service

Here is a suggested Sabbath service for this week:

• 2-3 hymns (our songbook, The Bible Hymnal, contains the materials from the 1974 Bible Hymnal from the old WCG with new covers, plus ten additional hymns; there is also some Choral Accompaniment online).
• Opening prayer.
• Sermonette, which for most who receive this letter via email will be a recorded one. The one suggested for this week is by Louis Rubin: Forgiveness for your physical and spiritual health. Other sermonettes are available at the Bible News Prophecy channel.
• Announcements (if any; though for many it will be this letter) and one hymn.
• Sermon, which for most who receive this letter via email will be a recorded one. The one suggested for this week is: Happiness: 15 Biblical Keys. Other sermons are also available at the ContinuingCOG channel.
• Final hymn.
• Closing prayer.

Note: If you have a slow internet connection, you can watch these by starting the video, then below it (and towards the right) look for an outline of a gear–if you click on that, it will allow the YouTube video to be played with lower video quality, but at least it will not stop often–you can select a quality as low as 144p. If your internet connection is still too slow (as my home one is) and/or you 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. This is an option we have made available (but we are also looking into ways to improve that as well)–and, of course, we have written article options. Some people have found that if their internet connections are not fast enough, that they can simply listen to the messages that are found at the Bible News Prophecy online radio channel.

IN CASE YOU DO NOT RECEIVE A ‘LETTER TO THE BRETHREN’ FOR ANY WEEK, REMEMBER THAT THERE ARE MANY SERMON MESSAGES ON THE ContinuingCOG channel AND MANY SERMONETTE MESSAGES ON THE Bible News Prophecy channel. There are also some messages at the CCOGAfrica channel.

Concluding Comments

The Book of Proverbs teaches:

18 Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he. (Proverbs 29:18, KJV)

Brethren, keep your vision on the Kingdom of God and keep His law.

Despite what is happening in the world, you can have joy and happiness.

Sincerely,

Bob Thiel
Pastor and Overseer