Dear Brethren and Co-Workers in Christ:
Greetings again from the Five Cities region of California.
We have been working on many projects, and particularly literature.
Bible News Prophecy Magazine
We were able to mail out the July-September 2018 edition of Bible News Prophecy magazine this week (we finished today actually).
We mailed out to international areas, including Spanish ones, last week as delivery to those areas takes longer. Here is a link to the Spanish edition online: Noticias de Profecía de la Biblia Julio-Septiembre 2018.
Almont, Michigan
As mentioned before, I plan to visit the small group we have in Almont, Michigan for services at 2:30 pm, July 21, 2018.
Terry LaFrance said the plan is to meet at the following location:
844 Van Dyke
Almont, Michigan
If you have any questions, please feel free to email Terry LaFrance at: terrylafrance22@gmail.com
I look forward to seeing people who normally attend there as well as any visitors who may come.
Biblical Astronomy
As most of you are aware, we have been working on several booklets which we have not yet printed.
Because of seeing some work done by one of our younger supporters in Minnesota (who I spoke to a couple of times), I decided to add the following in our soon to be printed (sometime later this Summer) booklet, Is God’s Existence Logical?:
God understands the entire universe and the Bible is His word.
Despite views of certain critics, the Bible as originally written has no contradictions (cf. John 10:35) and is profitable for teaching (2 Timothy 3:16-17). These teachings include creative (Isaiah 45:1-7), astronomical (Isaiah 40:22), and prophetic ones (Isaiah 46:9-11).
The Bible has long held correct views that differ from those held by the general populace.
Consider that when most in the world thought that the world was flat, the Bible itself had a statement that showed it was round:
22 It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, (Isaiah 40:22)
The Commentary: CRITICAL, PRACTICAL AND EXPLANATORY, on The Old and New Testaments on this verse states “circle — applicable to the globular form of the earth.” The original Hebrew word translated as circle is ח֣וּג means a compass, circle, or sphere.
Now further consider that the fact that the earth revolves around the sun once a year was not generally understood until the days of Copernicus in the 16th century. But the Bible had that information in it over 2000 years earlier as the following suggests:
22 And a feast of weeks thou dost observe for thyself; first-fruits of wheat-harvest; and the feast of in-gathering, at the revolution of the year. (Exodus 34:22, Young’s Literal Translation)
The original Hebrew word translated as revolution is תְּקוּפַ֖ת and essentially means to go round or revolution of time. The Hebrew word לִתְקוּפַ֣ת in 2 Chronicles 24:23 is also considered to mean revolution, and in context, supports the view of an annual revolution of the Earth around the sun.
Consider further the following related to the Earth itself:
12 Hast thou commanded morning since thy days? Causest thou the dawn to know its place? 13 To take hold on the skirts of the earth, And the wicked are shaken out of it, 14 It turneth itself as clay of a seal And they station themselves as clothed. (Job 38:12-14, Young’s Literal Translation)
The above is showing that the Earth turns (from the Hebrew word תִּ֭תְהַפֵּךְ). That was not the common view for some time. Furthermore, Galileo got in trouble with the Church of Rome in the 17th century for teaching that.
The fact that biased religious leaders did not properly understand the Bible does not mean it was not accurate. It was and still is.
Now, there is something else from the Bible to consider (two different translations):
7 … Hanging the earth upon nothing, (Job 26:7, Young’s Literal Translation)
7 … He hangs the earth on nothing. (Job 26:7, NKJV)
This is of interest, because while the Bible clearly teaches that the Earth is not on top of anything, that was not the ancient view. The ancients believed that the mythological titan Atlas (who the Atlantic Ocean is named after) or a great turtle (tortoise) held up the Earth.
Since the writers of the Bible were inspired by God, they reported information that many of the ‘educated’ of their time did not understand. Thus, it is of no surprise that many of the more educated today still do not understand the truth about what it teaches.
While the above will not persuade those whose minds remain blinded, hopefully this will help show those who God is calling that the Bible is reliable–perhaps more than they realized.
World News Items
There have been protests in Iran, mainly because of economic reasons. The Iranian government blames the USA (see Iran blames USA ‘economic war’ for protests–and vows to fight). The Bible tells of the protection of Jerusalem being taken away and God allowing peoples that seem to be from Iran and Syria to successfully attack the nation now called Israel (Isaiah 22:6-14). Sometimes nations go to war to change the focus of domestic opposition. This may well happen with Iran.
Queen Elizabeth II gave her assent for the departure of the United Kingdom from the European Union (see Brexit is officially the law of the UK). The UK is scheduled to exit the EU on March 29, 2019. Negotiations between the UK and EU have not gone well and the Europeans will not forgive the UK for departing from their union. This will not end well for the UK (cf. Daniel 8:23-25).
Because of USA policies, EU Council President told Europeans to prepare for the worst with relations with the USA (see EU leaders to ‘prepare for the worst’ in EU-US relations: New World Order?).
Those who think that NATO will insure that the USA and UK will not be attacked as prophesied (e.g. Daniel 11:39) should realize that even the head of NATO recently said that there is no guarantee that NATO will survive (see Why the head of NATO says there’s ‘no guarantee’ that the trans-Atlantic alliance will survive). Biblically prophecies will come to pass, and ultimately NATO will not exist as it has.
Trade issues continue to be in the news (e.g. Beginnings of a Trade War: Church of God writers have long warned this would come to pass). Europe sees US actions leading as a ‘trade apocalypse’ (see ‘Trade apocalypse’ will lead to the fulfilling of prophecies in the Book of the Apocalypse).
What is happening now is that Europe is working to even further dominate the World Trade Organization, which will allow it to set even more standards for the world to follow. The Bible clearly shows that end time ‘Babylonian’ Europe will dominate trade:
2 … Babylon … 3 For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich through the abundance of her luxury. (Revelation 18:2,3)
We are seeing more and more steps that will lead to the fulfillment of these trade and other prophecies.
Our recommended sermonette for this week has to do with trade: Trade Disputes: CCOG Warnings Are Coming to Pass.
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: Trade Disputes: CCOG Warnings Are Coming to Pass. 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: Canada in Prophecy. 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
Wonder what you should do, spiritually, this week?
Consider the following from the Apostle Paul:
4 Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!5 Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand.6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.8 Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy–meditate on these things.9 The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you. (Philippians 4:4-9)
Brethren, rejoice in God and strive to live as a faithful Christian.
Sincerely,
Bob Thiel
Pastor and Overseer