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Letter to the Brethren: January 4, 2024

Letter to the Brethren: January 4, 2024

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Dear Brethren and Co-Workers in Christ:

Greetings from the Five Cities region of California.

We received another 25 translations of our English booklet titled The Gospel of the Kingdom of God  this week. We now have around 1100-1200 translations. Having this many translations of literature about the good news of the coming Kingdom of God has never, as far as I know, been done by any group (COG or otherwise) throughout the entire church age.

We intend to keep up with acquiring more translations as we intend to make it possible to reach all we can as part of the short work of Romans 9:28 (see  Preparing for the ‘Short Work’ and The Famine of the Word), which will support the calling of the full number of Gentiles per Romans 11:25 (see What About Romans 11:25 and the Full Number of the Gentiles?) and what has been called “the Ezekiel warning” for those of non-Gentile (Israelite) heritage (see What is the Ezekiel Warning?).

Baptismal Trip to South Sudan

Deacon Koang Deng sent the following photos and report about a baptismal trip he and two others took from Ethiopia to South Sudan:

Dear Elders:

Grace and peace of our God the father and Lord Jesus Christ leading his servants of his unshakable plans for the savings of people from the hand of Satan on this earth.

First, We arrived on 15, December, Friday night.

We have keep the Sabbath day on 16, December, and they well come me to preach to them the gospel for the kingdom of God.

Because we have no time to do the baptism on that day, so that, I told them, we will wait for the coming Sabbath to celebrate with them again.

After the second Sabbath, I did the baptism to those who promised themselves for it to be done on them, and some of them who are not baptized still to count the cost, and they told me that, if God’s will, I should visit them again for next coming year.

On 23, December, I baptized two people.

Their names:

1. Nyabang Gatkuoth Reath
2. Nyariek Poewel Mut

This area have more members but all of them were from Church of God 7th day, but after I preached the good news for the kingdom of God and others of our beliefs of continuing Church of God, after that, most of them realized that, Cog7day missed more from the truth of God plans.

When I see that their minds already changed, then I told to them that, if you stay in him, our God will do a plan for you to open each of your eyes to see all the truth which God promised to be given to all who will believe on him.

But what I see that, some leaders on that area still have no Willing to well come the truth, but most leaders, especially the church we prayed in, all of them agreed to search the truth if all I have taught to them were true or not.

We did spend five days with them to discuss everything together and more questions were raised up and we did answered them all  one by one.

After that, they agreed to be teaching to their members, women and children.

Secondly, what I have to see on that area was a problem of hunger.

Because people on that area suffering a lot of hunger, and these people of the two countries, the food they usually eating is from Ethiopia through river.

So, the problem was that, if the transportation is delayed, people will face problem for the shortage of food and the price will be increase at the time they are waiting of traders and right now, the price of 100kg of maize is increased up to 100,000 thousands pounds, equivalent to 100 US dollars, which is very difficult for the parents to feed their families.

Thirdly, the problem I have to see, more children praying {needing} clothes.

I pray deeply in my heart, our God should turn the hearts of the leaders of South Sudan to love their people and to welcome the peace of this country, because without peace, no freedom of traveling to any area where people looking for the lives of their families.

Fourthly, if God’s will, our office should do something like youth clothes which would be mailed on behalf of South Sudan members.

They are more in numbers and they are praying in three churches and their total numbers are 150.

1.Torkiel Church
2. Nyingore Church
3. Ulang Church

But not all leaders of these churches who well come us, but only one area we prayed in.

Best regards,

Deacon Koang Deng

About 50 of the 150 he mentioned are part of the CCOG.

Daughters of the Kingdom and Chicken Projects

Pastor Tiongik Sawek sent the following report:

Receive greetings in Jesus Christ.

We are doing well here at Riftvalley Kenya. The word of God is going on well too. The Women from Chilani together with the entire church pass greetings. They really did a wonderful job throughout this year. They visited the widows more so by providing them with food. They also visited the orphans. They really thank the Daughter of the Kings for their support during the year 2023. They are now down financially because they provided support to various areas. The Chicken project also boosted their work in assisting the vulnerable in the society. They were planning to expand their project in farming but they did not succeed due to heavy rains. They are therefore in need of fencing around the chicken house to prevent wild animals. They keep thanking you for the support you have shown to them. They are requesting for any other support and prayer in order to continue doing the good work to the vulnerable. They pass greetings to the Daughter of the King.

God bless you.

Regards,

Pastor Sawek

We have provided some minimal assistance to the ‘Daughters of the Kingdom,’ which is basically composed on CCOG women in part of the Rift Valley of Kenya.

As far as chicken projects go, while they did not succeed as we had hoped for in Malawi and Mozambique, the one in the Rift Valley has continued and we also reportedly are having success with one in Tanzania.

Rift Valley Youth Camp

Elder David Cheruiyot sent the following from the Rift Valley in Kenya:

DEAR PASTOR Bob

Christian greetings from Njoro Molo Nakuru Kenya.

Am glad to take this opportunity to thank my love and savior Jesus Christ who is soon coming to {reign over} this world.

On 22nd December 2023 the youth meeting was very fruitful since they attended in large numbers teachers divided them in three classes :

  1. Childrens
  2. Junior youths
  3. Senior youths

Teachers who represent each class were as follows:

  1.  ANDREW KIPROTICH
  2.  MERCY CHELANGAT
  3.  JULIUS BETT

God bless the youth comp they were 350 from Njoro and Molo. Again will not forget to congratulate brother Evans Ochieng for his assistance financially and spiritually, again we have started to build a Hall in Molo which I hope Evans will visit soon if possible. We will arrange with pastor SoweK for the next visit to Kitale for we have many goals from many places in Kenya,we pray God to open the way .

Photo for youth …

Yours in Christ

ELDER DAVID CHERUIYOT

Malawi and Mozambique Hunger

As reported earlier (see Letter to the Brethren: December 28, 2023), there are serious hunger issues in Malawi and Mozambique.

This week, we sent some funds to Malawi to assist those there and in Mozambique for hunger there.

And while there are also issues elsewhere, Deacon Koang Deng told me he wants to look into the situation in South Sudan more before we provide assistance there in order to insure it will get where he feels it is most needed.

Rwanda

Moise Nshimiyimana sent the following from Rwanda:

Dear Pastor Dr Bob ,

Greetings from Rwanda. I am happy to inform you that we had a good meeting this last Sabbath with brothers and sisters who come from different regions . We have talked about tithing and offerings to help us preach the gospel of the kingdom of God and prepare the Feats of the Lord it will start on Passover soon …The other thing I can say is that this coming Sabbath I will go to visit Congo CCOG and comfort them in the bad times they are in during the war.

It is good to see that we seem to be having growth in Rwanda. As far as the Congo goes, our brethren there have been in my prayers because of the military conflicts there.

KT Being Involved with Religion?

Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg (photo by Michael Lucan)

A supporter from Canada sent me a link to a German language article titled: KARL-THEODOR ZU GUTTENBERG: „ICH GLAUBE, DER MENSCH BRAUCHT IMMER RELIGION“ 12/28/23 (URL: https://www.augsburger-allgemeine.de/politik/interview-karl-theodor-zu-guttenberg-ich-habe-mit-meinem-damaligen-scheitern-frieden-geschlossen-id68462711.html), which I machine-translated the German into English as follows:

Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg: “I believe that people always need religion”

The former Defense Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg analyzed the situation of the churches in Germany in a 90-minute RTL documentary {12/26/23} … For him personally, faith is “a basic support in life”.

In the ntv interview, Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg expressed the conviction that people would not be able to get along without religion given “so many unanswered questions in life”. He emphasized:

“I believe that people always need religion. No yoga mat can replace that. …

“The core message that the church spreads is still an extremely comforting one. One that can give people support. This is important.”

Personally, his faith helps him “almost every day.” Even though he doesn’t go to church every Sunday and he “occasionally” struggles with his faith as well as with the institution of the church, …

Zu Guttenberg even believes that troughs in faith combined with a critical debate are important because they keep the debate “active”. He emphasized that when it comes to wanting to change the church, “one should be part of ‘the club’ and not just try to influence it from outside.” That’s why leaving the church is “not an option” for him, said the 52-year-old. …

He sees it as an important task of the church to offer “a clever translation” of the Bible into our time. …

Overall, he is “worried about the church, but I’m not completely worried,” Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg summed up to n-tv.

This is of interest for several reasons.

One reason is his idea of  “a clever translation” of the Bible is concerning as the WEF, certain ecumenical promoters, and others want to re-word parts of the Bible as they want the biblical truth changed for political (see SN: WEF Calls for AI to Rewrite Bible, Create ‘Religions That Are Actually Correct’) and other inappropriate reasons (see PETA uses ChatGPT to make blasphemous Bible)–to do so is a blasphemous heresy.

Baron Guttenberg is presumably a supporting member of the World Economic Forum (WEF) as he once spoke at one of its conferences (Stott M. German minister fears “infectious momentum” in Mideast. Reuters, January 28, 2011), hence his comments may align with what some in the WEF are advocating.

Another reason the documentary Herr Guttenberg was in was of interest is that I posted the following at COGwriter.com a month before it was broadcast:

Another thing I have speculated about him was that Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg would be involved with religion. (Thiel B. Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg is to become a ‘media brand’? Another COGwriter speculative prediction confirmed? COGwriter, November 25, 2023)

Well, that documentary suggests that Baron Guttenberg is involved in religion and his comments suggest that he wants to change it.

That is something that the coming King of the North will do. The Bible teaches:

38 … he shall honor a god of fortresses; and a god which his fathers did not know … (Daniel 11:38)

Related to Karl Guttenberg and Daniel 11:38, back in 2010, I posted:

I consider that Germany’s Defence Minister Baron Karl-Theodor von und zu Guttenberg is someone to watch as both a potential future King of the North and final political leader known … as the Beast …

From the passages in Daniel we see that this king is not truly devoted to any existing religion, but that he somehow promotes another. One way this could be done would be to come up with a new order within Catholicism (which is not that hard to do as my great-aunt Mary did that last century). A new order allows one to have certain unique characteristics while still claiming to be part of the Roman Catholic faith. And in the King of the North’s view, if he promotes an order that (at first at least) seems fairly Catholic, this ruse will work for some time. …

He has the right to select the priest for his parish.  Hence, the idea that political leaders should be involved with religion is something he was raised up believing. A leader combining church and state is prophesied in Daniel 11:37-38 and Revelation 13.

Also, if certain Catholic prophecy about the “Great Monarch” is correct, this leader will change the Catholic faith and offend many of the Catholic clergy:

Francis also speaks in a series of letters to Simeon de Limena, Count of Montalto in great detail of a future Great Monarch who will be a Roman Emperor. Limena was a great patron of St. Francis’ order and also a great military protector of the Church…Several potentially confusing things are now told about this future Monarch. He is described as founding a new religious order. To the reader this may sound like he also become a priest. That is not the case. What happens is that he founds a religious order, part of which contains military men who take religious vows. He will be the head of the military arm of this order. In this sense it will be like the Knights Templar of the Middle Ages.

St. Francis of Paula (15th Century)…“He shall be the founder of a new religious order different from all others. (Birch, DA. Trial, Tribulation & Triumph: Before During and After Antichrist. Queenship Publishing Company, Goleta (CA), 1996, pp. 276-270)

Franciscan Friar (18th century). “All the religious orders will be suppressed, except one, the rule of which will be as rigid and severe as that of the monks of the past. During these calamities the Pope will die. As a result, the most powerful anarchy will prevail within the Church.”  (Dupont, Yves. Catholic Prophecy: The Coming Chastisement. TAN Books, Rockford (IL), 1973, p. 79)

Sister Marianne Gaultier (18th century): “…the Prince shall reign, whom people did not esteem before, but whom they shall then seek.  (Dupont, p. 75).

D. Birch (commenting after the above in his book), “Many of the prophecies speak of the fact that the Great King at first will not be well-liked, especially by the French clergy” (Birch, p. 276).

Even if the above is in total error, the biblical fact is that the future King of the North and final political leader known biblical as the Beast will not truly be a devoted Catholic.  He will likely simply claim that religion, change it, and ultimately attempt to destroy it. (Thiel B. PCG Claims Karl Guttenberg is a “Devoted Roman Catholic”, COGwriter has a different view. COGwriter, March 16, 2010)

Could Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg possibly establish, officially or unofficially, a new order of some type of ‘Catholicism’?

Yes, but that would NOT be the faith of the original catholic church (see the free online book: Beliefs of the Original Catholic Church: Could a remnant group have continuing apostolic succession?) unless he repents.

I also reported about him last month, when another speculative prediction related to him was confirmed (see Letter to the Brethren: December 7, 2023).

If Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg does establish, officially or unofficially, a new order of some type of ‘Catholicism’ that will be even more reason to “watch” (cf. Mark 13:37) him as a possible Beast candidate or at least a supporter of the coming European Beast leader.

Suggested Sabbath Day Services

Here is a suggested Sabbath day 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

Japan was hit by a 7.6 earthquake which resulted in some tsunami waves (see Japan has massive earthquake and then it and Korea hit by tsunami waves ). While we did not have tsunami waves in our area, we did have what are called “king tides” here in Grover Beach. Plus in the surrounding areas, the large waves reportedly killed at least one person as well as damaged a few vehicles.

Jesus warned:

11 And there will be great earthquakes in various places, and famines and pestilences; and there will be fearful sights and great signs from heaven… 25 And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring; 26 men’s hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of heaven will be shaken. (Luke 21:11, 25-26).

And while the above has not yet been fulfilled, the seas on both sides of the Pacific Ocean have been roaring over the past week and damage was done.

Over in Europe, the President of Finland has called for greater production of  military weapons in Europe (see Finnish President Sauli Niinistö warns Europe that it needs to produce more weapons and former Pentagon official Michael Maloof says USA has ‘no stomach’ to keep funding Ukraine). The Bible tells of the rise of a militarily successful power in Europe (Revelation 13:4; Daniel 11:39-43) that will have a “great army” (Daniel 11:25) as well as “many ships” (Daniel 11:40). Calls for increased production of weapons in Europe are consistent with those prophecies.

There are concerns about escalation of the conflict in the Middle East after the USA sunk three Houthi vessels that were attacking a merchant ship (see Helicopters from the USS Dwight Eisenhower and Gravely sink three Houthi attack boat). Additionally, Iran has complained that it was a “terrorist attack” that killed over 100 people yesterday, and some are concerned this could promote escalation into a full regional war (see Hours after Lieberman urges USA to strike Iran, an explosion kills scores on the 4th anniversary of Soleimani’s killing). It seems like a regional war in the Middle East will have to happen before the deal of Daniel 9:27 can be made and confirmed. Should that war and confirmation happen in 2024, we could expect to see the start of the Great Tribulation, which would be about 3 1/2 years later, in 2028.

The  US dollar is facing resistance as many nations want to get around using it (see Germany undeterred by global turmoil as it faces 2024; US dollar supremacy facing resistance).

Furthermore, this week the United States Treasury announced that the USA has now exceeded $34 trillion in debt (see USA debt officially passed $34 trillion–ZeroHedge says plan for the inevitable hyperinflation, while COGwriter says something worse will happen). This debt will never truly be paid back, though hyperinflated dollars or something else could be used to pretend otherwise. Debt, according to the Bible, will be one of the reasons for the coming destruction of the USA per Habakkuk 2:6-8. Perhaps as early as 2028!

Concluding Comments

The recommended sermon for this week is on a prophetic topic (watch: 24 Items to Prophetically Watch in 2024).

Related to prophetic matters, the Apostle Peter wrote:

8 But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. … 13 Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.

14 Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless; 15 and consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation — as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you, 16 as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures.

17 You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked; 18 but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. (2 Peter 3:8, 13-18)

Brethren, yes, we look forward to the coming Kingdom of God, and yes, we all need to be patient. Yet, we can count on God as we strive to grow in grace and knowledge of Jesus our Savior every day.

Sincerely,

Bob Thiel
Pastor and Overseer