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Letter to the Brethren: January 15, 2026

Letter to the Brethren: January 15, 2026

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Dear Brethren and Co-Workers in Christ:

Greetings from the Five Cities region of California.

This has been quite a trying week.

In addition to our California office attempting to assist brethren with hunger matters in Kenya, Malawi, and Mozambique, our men in Portugal and Maryland helped finalize the transfer of our websites and data to a new internet server. Because of the transferring, I lost about 2 dozen or more posts that I wrote. That has meant additional work to try to recover and/or replace much of that.

It should also be noted that if you go to www.cogwriter.com to look for something I wrote since last Friday, many items are missing (I was able to recover a few, but we still lost 2 dozen or more). There are also photos missing and some font display issues  there as well as some items at www.ccog.org. Sorry about that.

That said, hopefully we will not have to deal with that kind of server change issue again, if ever.

Feast of Tabernacles in North America

In a previous letter, we posted that we would start to contact sites in the USA in 2026.

Well, this week, we contacted visitors’ bureaus in Fayetteville (Arkansas), Lexington (Kentucky), and Santa Fe (New Mexico). They have all received a written proposal and we are awaiting their responses.

It is likely we will finalize the site location by early March 2026.

In Canada, we will probably meet near London, Ontario.

Church services for the Feast in 2026 are to begin the evening of September 25th and run (including the Last Great Day) until sunset October 3rd.

Remember to be saving festival tithe (often called second tithe) so that you will be able to properly obey God and keep the Feast of Tabernacles at one of our sites this year.

Information on the festival sites is expected to be updated in the following article: Feast of Tabernacles’ Sites for 2026.

Donation Receipts and Spending

We mailed donation receipts to our USA supporters on Tuesday. If you do not receive yours, please email me around February 1, 2026 (to give the US Post Office enough time). My email address remains COGwriter@aol.com

In the Continuing Church of God, we accept tithes, offerings, and other financial donations.

Consider that Jesus said, “where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:21) and “I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink … inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me (Matthew 25:35,40) and “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:19-20).

In the Roman calendar year of 2025, USA income we received fluctuated throughout the year, but ended up down 6.0%. We cut certain expenses, because of that.

We ended calendar year 2025 with additional congregations in South America and Africa, compared to the start of 2025–and that is consistent with prophecies such as Romans 11:25 (see also What About Romans 11:25 and the Full Number of the Gentiles?). We also had additional members in the United States. The CCOG remains the fastest growing x-WCG group in the 21st century, hence we do have the fruits of a prophet (cf. Matthew 7:16-20).

So, how were funds spent?

In the CCOG we really do focus on others and reaching the world with the Gospel of the Kingdom of God. In 2025, we traveled to make and teach disciples in many lands specifically into North America, South America, Africa, and Asia as well as worked on certain contacts in Europe (cf. Matthew 28:19-20), produced more literature, continued our radio presence, helped the poor, made future contacts related to the final phase of the work, and took major steps preparing for the short work of Romans 9:28 (see Preparing for the ‘Short Work’ and The Famine of the Word) as we work towards the fulfillment of Matthew 24:14.

Overall, if you sent the CCOG a check for US$100.00 in 2025 here is how it was spent:

  • Internet proclamation 8.70
  • Literature production 14.73
  • Video and animation production 7.07
  • Foreign final phase of the work and proclamation 3.01
  • Broadcast Radio 9.97
  • US Feast of Tabernacles’ costs and US travel 3.72
  • Administration and legal expenses 0.03
  • Salaries, health insurance, and retirement plans for US leaders 0.00
  • Reserves 2.57
  • Youth Programs 2.34
  • Support to or for Africa and Haiti (proclamation and preaching 26.27, charitable 21.59) 47.86

Yes, our income goes to support the physically and spiritually poor as we work to fulfill Matthew 24:14, Romans 11:25, the Ezekiel warning, and Matthew 28:19-20.

Here are some longer explanations of each of the categories:

  1. Internet proclamation includes paying for servers, URL fees for websites, video platforms, and our Google and Microsoft campaigns to reach people around the world. The Google campaign made 24 million impressions on personal computers, laptops, tablets, and ‘smart’ cellular telephones with parts of the Philadelphian message in 2025. The Microsoft campaign, which targets 7th day Sabbath keepers, has had 589,710 computer impressions in 2025. Expenses in this category were up mainly because of dealing with malware attacks.
  2. Literature include the production costs, printing, certain translation costs (CCOG member translators are volunteers), and distribution of the BibleNewsProphecy magazine in various languages as well as various books and booklets. The costs here also include formatting non-English literature in forms that it can be available on the internet as well as forms to allow it to be printed in the USA and Africa. The good news is supposed to be “published” (Mark 13:10, KJV/AFV) and we are doing that in both the Western and Eastern Hemispheres. Expenses here dropped as we switched to almost exclusively volunteers translating literature.
  3. Video and animation production covers the costs to produce the BibleNewsProphecy videos, CCOG animations, the Behind the Works video, YouTube Shorts, and the creation of DVDs that are sent to some international locations for the Feast of Tabernacles. It also, sometimes, includes cost for sermon production–but those costs are normally negligible. These videos are one of the major ways we reach people in different nations around the world (as we also do via radio and printed literature). Because we mainly use free platforms, we do not have to spend massive amounts here.
  4. Foreign Final phase of the work and proclamation expenses (professional fees, project support, government fees, and travel) are generally for non-USA matters (essentially long-term proclamation matters related to Romans 9:23-28 and 11:23-28; see also The Final Phase of the Work). We are still involved in making contacts and working with various government, NGOs, and private organizations in Europe, Asia, and Latin America. We were able to make (as well as better solidify) certain key contacts as well as attain information and opportunities which we believe supports the final phase of the work. US expenses related to the final phase of the work are in other categories (like Literature and Internet expenses).
  5. Radio expenses are basically fees we pay to broadcast the good news of the Kingdom of God on commercial radio stations. We are on several stations, including two shortwave stations. We are on AM and shortwave radio in Europe which also covers parts of North Africa and the Middle East,  one radio station in Kenya, one station in Ghana (which is mainly paid for by the brethren in Ghana), plus we are on a shortwave station in the USA that also covers parts of Asia. Our online internet radio station expenses are mainly covered by New Zealand or related to volunteer efforts (so not shown here). For radio station details, check out our Continuing Church of God Multimedia page. These expenses were up because we added more stations in the USA, and we had to pay for the European stations (another group paid them for us in 2024).
  6. US Feast of Tabernacles’ costs include what the hotel charges for the meeting room and some travel and other expenses. This category also includes other US travel, which tends to be low.
  7. Administrative expenses. This tends to include a few office supplies, mandatory government fees, and some telephone costs. My business office does NOT charge the CCOG for use of space, electricity, postal machine use, etc.
  8. Salaries are not paid to leaders in the USA. People such as myself, Steve Dupuie, Louis Rubin, Bill Wedekind, James Martenet, and our Spanish language translators like Carlos Aponte and Oscar Leal are also not paid—we all have freely donated our time. Nor have we paid wages for their spouses. Nor have we funded any retirement nor health insurance plans.
  9. Youth Programs. This mainly covers costs for paying for youth camps in Africa, but also sometimes other expenses for programs targeted towards the youth. This is needed for many reasons, including hunger support as well as some associated with the end times (cf. Malachi 4:6). Because of budgetary concerns (and the expenses mainly hit in December which is Summer for Africa), this account got less funding than the previous year.
  10. Support for Africa and Haiti includes paying for ministerial expenses to reach and teach, travel to preach the gospel of the Kingdom of God, printing some literature, certain translation expenses, distributing literature, meeting space assistance, supporting the poor (Galatians 2:10; Romans 12:13; cf. James 2:14-16; Hebrews 13:16; Isaiah 58:7; Proverbs 28:27, 29:7a), including widows and orphans (James 1:27). Roughly 55% of the funds here go for ministerial proclamation, ministerial travel, and building churches. The remaining 45% is mainly to support the poor, hungry, etc. The vast majority of our members reside in Africa and many fruits are being produced. The Bible is clear that the fulness/full number of the Gentiles must come in before Jesus returns (Romans 11:25; see also What About Romans 11:25 and the Full Number of the Gentiles?) and our spending reflects our seriousness in working to help this get accomplished. The results of these efforts continue to bear fruits (cf. Matthew 7:16-20).

The vast bulk of funds are spent to preach, witness (Matthew 24:14), reach, broadcast, produce literature, prepare for the short work (Romans 9:28), and teach, with nearly all the rest (23+%) to support the poor, widows, and orphans. It appears that never before in Church of God history have so few helped so many with so little for so long in order to have the impact that the Continuing Church of God is having.

More on our presence in various media can be found at the Continuing Church of God Multimedia page.

We strongly believe that whatever you send is well spent to support the Philadelphian remnant as we work on Matthew 24:14 and Matthew 28:19-20 while we strive to be ready for the short work (Romans 9:28) and our part in the final phase of the work (e.g. Daniel 11:32; Luke 21:12-17). More information about the Philadelphian remnant can be found at: Why is there a Philadelphian remnant of the true Christian Church of God?

The Continuing Church of God accepts tithes, offerings, and other financial donations.

Those who wish to voluntarily aid and support this worldwide Work of God are gladly welcomed as co-workers in this major effort to preach and publish the gospel to all nations per Matthew 24:14 and Matthew 28:19-20.

Our mailing address is Continuing Church of God, P.O. Box 109, Grover Beach, CA 93483. Telephone is 1-805-574-1818.

Some have sent checks, others cash, and others money orders. We also accept bank transfers.

Pay Pal is a popular way to send donations, especially for those located outside the USA. For more information visit to Continuing Church of God Donations page.

Suggested Sabbath Day Services

Here is a suggested Sabbath service for our scattered brethren and other interested people:

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. There are also messages in the Spanish language at the CDLIDDSermones channel.

World News Items

There have been a lot of protests in the US related to the killing of a woman in Minnesota by a federal ICE agent.

The suggested sermonette for this week is related to that. Here is a link Protests and Divide in the USA. Although the article I wrote about this was among those lost due to our internet server change, the following has been in the article 26 items to prophetically watch in 2026:

16. Unrest, Terror, and the Dividing of the USA

There have been many protests in the USA.

Some protested racial, economic, and policing matters. Some have called for a “civil war.”

The Bible prophesies, “There shall be terror within” (Deuteronomy 32:25).

Will that happen to the USA?

Yes.

More terror is prophesied to hit the USA. Terror is prophesied to hit Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom.

Jesus taught:

25 Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand. (Matthew 12:25)

We are seeing more divide in the USA and parts of it certainly appear to be intentional. Much of it is ideological. The USA is becoming less and less united and more polarized.

Deporting people may cause unrest in the USA.

There was also another shooting incident last night (see After another ICE agent is attacked and shoots, Donald Trump threatens to invoke ‘the Insurrection Act’).

Sadly, we expect to see more unrest in the US–particularly as that nation becomes more and more divided.

The approval of the European Union-Mercosur deal by EU member nations last Friday is a big deal. My posts related to this were lost, but I plan to report more about this next week. However, I will add that this is a step that shows that the European Babylonian power is working to be able to dominate world trade as the Bible prophecies (see also WTO and the Babylonian Beast).

US President Donald Trump’s statements on Greenland have upset many in Europe. Some believe that if he takes action for the US to acquire Greenland without European concurrence, that this will spell the end of the NATO alliance (see Donald Trump posts that Greenland must be ‘in the hands of the UNITED STATES’). Meetings were held between high level US and European officials about Greenland yesterday and the Europeans stated that their position is to “agree to disagree.” The Europeans sent troops to Greenland today, partially to prevent the “takeover” of Greenland by the USA. The Bible warns of one who was great among the nations (the US, cf. Genesis 48:19-20) will have friends become enemies (Lamentations 1:1-2). Actions and statements by the Trump Administration are pushing European allies away from being friends of the US. And yes, one day they will become successfully conquering enemies per Daniel 11:39.

Concluding Comments

The Apostle Matthew wrote:

1 Then the scribes and Pharisees who were from Jerusalem came to Jesus, saying, 2 “Why do Your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread.”

3 He answered and said to them, “Why do you also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition? 4 For God commanded, saying, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death.’ 5 But you say, ‘Whoever says to his father or mother, “Whatever profit you might have received from me is a gift to God” — 6 then he need not honor his father or mother.’ Thus you have made the commandment of God of no effect by your tradition. 7 Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying:

8 “These people draw near to Me with their mouth,
And honor Me with their lips,
But their heart is far from Me.
9 And in vain they worship Me,
Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’” (Matthew 15:1-9)

Brethren, always remember to heed to the word of God. Do not rely on society’s or perhaps your own “traditions” to reason around the teachings in the Bible.

Sincerely,

Bob Thiel