Dear Brethren and Co-Workers in Christ:
Greetings from the Five Cities region of California.
This week’s recommended sermon is the fourth and last of a series given in response to an article titled: 15 questions that religious people struggle to answer.
(ChatGPT illustration for COGwriter)
Can you answer those questions?
All of them?
The Apostle Paul wrote:
15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. (2 Timothy 2:15, KJV)
15 Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. (2 Timothy 2:15, NKJV)
There is a written article, 15 Questions Non-Church of God Faiths Struggle to Answer, which you can study to help you answer those 15 questions that the world’s religions struggle with.
Also, since we did four sermons on them, you should watch them all and rewatch if you wish.
Here are links to each of those four sermons:
- 3 Religious Questions the World Struggles with, But the CCOG does NOT!
- Be Ready with an Answer: 4 more Questions the World Struggles with, But the CCOG does NOT!
- Here a little: 4 Questions the World’s Religions Struggle With.
- Be Diligent: 4 More Questions the World’s Religions Struggle With.
Be diligent to study, be ready with an answer (1 Peter 3:15), prepare to instruct many (Daniel 11:32), here a little and there a little (Isaiah 28:9-10), rightly dividing the word of truth to be approved of God (2 Timothy 2:15).
Anointed Cloth Report
An overseas member sent the following email after receiving an anointed cloth I recently sent him:
Cloth received
Thank you for sending.
Last Thursday I couldn’t walk even one step without a lot of pain. So much that I felt sick and nearly fainted on one bathroom trip during the night.
Yesterday I was able to go to the shops for the first time.
Today I was sore (no pain) when I woke up but that has now gone and my walking is fine at the moment.
Hopefully, all is fixed again. No idea what it was. I will be very happy if another three years goes by before it comes back again!
That is fantastic and great to hear.
Christians can also call for the elders of the church to anoint you (James 5:14-15) or, when that is not feasible, request an anointed cloth (Acts 19:11-12; see also the When Should You Be Anointed? article in the July-September 2018 edition of Bible News Prophecy magazine; watch also Acts 17-19: Travels, Anointed Cloths, & the Gospel of the Kingdom).
The Bible records:
11 Now God worked unusual miracles by the hands of Paul, 12 so that even handkerchiefs or aprons were brought from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out of them. (Acts 19:11-12)
These “unusual miracles” were reported by the Philadelphian portion of the Church of God last century, as well as by its remnant this century.
If you do request an anointed cloth, please make sure you include your full mailing address, even if you are sure we have it. Providing your address helps insure that the cloth will go out quicker as the address files are in a different computer than the one I travel with and am currently typing on.
On other health related matters, our leader in Brazil, Adao de Amorim, was injured in an automobile accident this week, please pray for his recovery.
Zambia and Mozambique
(Map via ChatGPT)
Malawi-based Pastor Radson Mulozowa went to Zambia to re-connect with a group there. He sent the following report:
Let me report that the trip to Zambia went well and I met brother Mike in Lusaka and he welcomed me
I have been with them teaching them about our beliefs and doctrine and they were very happy to hear about the kingdom adding on what I have been sending them. I have given them an assignment for brother Mike to make a follow up on the group we had in the past. He accepted to do the work. I will visit them in July as I have advice them to get a classroom so that they can be meeting in them
When I was at the lodge I meet a certain Indian who is willing to join us after discussing with him about the kingdom of God. He is in Zambia for a short work and he will being going back to India after finishing the work so he has asked me if we have a congregation in India. …
I have arrived yesterday yesterday
And this morning I started my trip to Mozambique to meet church leaders and again meeting our Deacon Nkhuleme who is not feeling well.
Best regards
Radson
We had mainly lost contact after the death of the leader of that group a few years back, so I am pleased that finally we are able to visit them again.
After going to Zambia, Radson Mulozowa went to Mozambique. He sent the following report:
Greetings Dr Bob
Let me report that today I was in Mozambique visiting church committees to discuss the progress and plans for the feast of Tabernacle
So everything went well .
Pastor let me inform you that the church has grown more than before and there is a need for visitation of brethren than before so that we can move in the same doctrine and even brethren needs to know all the teaching you send on internet …
Friday I will visit Chikwawa and Nsanje …
Best regards
Radson
Chikwawa and Nsanje are the two most southern districts of Malawi. Remember that Jesus taught:
19 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, 20 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)
That is what we are striving to do.
Laptops to Africa
Bill Wedekind informed us that he delivered items to be shipped to Africa on Sunday. Here is what he sent:
Evans – …
As previously, it will take a few months to get to you. Here are the details.
1) Ten(10) laptops with power cords. Most of these laptops have been upgraded to the latest Windows 11 operating system. The others are Windows 10. All of them are serviceable. Unlike previous shipments, the batteries for each laptop are not separated; they are installed in each laptop. This is for safety reasons (fire hazard when they are separated). All of them are fully charged prior to being shipped. However, I expect that due to the long journey, many of them will be significantly or completely discharged. Please connect each laptop to electric power for at least 2 hours prior to attempting to use them. The power cords are packaged separately but everything is labeled.
2) I also managed to acquire six(6) smart phones (all Apple iPhones). All of them have been completely reset to factory settings and are unlocked. They should be usable in Africa. They are each packaged individually with their associated charger and cable. These will also need to be charged before use. I understand that it is just a matter of putting a local SIM in each phone to make them usable over there.
3) There are also a number of miscellaneous items:
Pens
Notebooks
Juicing machine you previously asked for
Three(3) Feast of Tabernacles posters that Dr. Thiel gave me some time ago
Some Bibles, Hymnals, some padlocks, etc.
This box is heavy. You will need two people to handle it on your end.
Regards,
Bill W.
The laptops help our people in Kenya (and sometimes other countries) communicate with each other, download literature, and can assist in translations of literature.
Suggested Sabbath Services
Here is a suggested Sabbath day service for our scattered brethren and other interested people for this Sabbath service:
- 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: The Glory of the Latter Temple. Other sermonettes are available at our Prophecy channel on BitChute https://www.bitchute.com/channel/prophecy/
- Announcements (if any; though for many it will be this letter) and one hymn.
- The suggested sermon is: Be Diligent: 4 More Questions the World’s Religions Struggle With. Other sermons are also available at the COGTube channel on BitChute https://www.bitchute.com/channel/cogtube/
- 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. There are also messages in the Spanish language at the CDLIDDSermones channel.
World News Items
The Iran war is causing concerns about the food supply (see WAPO: Iran war is threatening global food supply; COGwriter: Ride of third horseman of the Apocalypse will intensify) as well as inflation (see Deflation or Inflation: When Money Fails). Speaking of inflation, the rate has risen in the USA because of the Iran war (see No surprise, inflation rises as do affordability concerns). One day, much more massive inflation will hit the economy of the USA.
Over in Europe, more are concerned about Islamic migrants, which seems to have affected the election in Denmark (see Denmark moving right: Removal of migrants an important factor). In the future, major conflict will happen between the Europeans and Muslims (cf. Daniel 11:40-43).
Speaking of Europe, many there are more and more voicing the notion that Europe needs its own army and must be able to function as militarily independent of the United States (see Spain calls for European Army, USA concerned about PESCO, and Germany’s military rise). The Bible shows that Europe will end up with a “great army” (Daniel 11:25), with “many ships” (Daniel 11:40), and takeover the power with the strongest military (Daniel 11:39) which is the United States. As the USA continues to upset the Europeans it is turning friend and allies into enemies which is prophesied in Lamentations 1:1-2. Europe continues to develop technologies with military potential (see Large Hadron Collider B Meson research may change physics–CERN transports antimatter in a truck!). As most of you are aware, since at least 2009 I have warned that Europe would one day use military technology as part of its future ability to conquer the USA.
Concluding Comments
The prophet Micah was inspired to record the following:
3 For behold, the Lord is coming out of His place;
He will come down
And tread on the high places of the earth.
4 The mountains will melt under Him,
And the valleys will split
Like wax before the fire,
Like waters poured down a steep place. (Micah 1:3-4)3 He shall judge between many peoples,
And rebuke strong nations afar off;
They shall beat their swords into plowshares,
And their spears into pruning hooks;
Nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
Neither shall they learn war anymore.4 But everyone shall sit under his vine and under his fig tree,
And no one shall make them afraid;
For the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken.
5 For all people walk each in the name of his god,
But we will walk in the name of the Lord our God
Forever and ever. (Micah 4:3-5)
Brethren, yes, Jesus will return.
Yes, the kingdom of God will be established.
Have faith in God and His promises.
Sincerely,
Bob Thiel
Pastor and Overseer