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Letter to the Brethren: June 6, 2024

Letter to the Brethren: June 6, 2024

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Dear Brethren and Co-Workers in Christ:

Greetings from the Five Cities of California.

Once again, we received another 20 translations of our English booklet titled The Gospel of the Kingdom of God. We want as many languages/dialects as possible to support the short work of Romans 9:28 (see also Preparing for the ‘Short Work’ and The Famine of the Word) as well as to fulfill commissions that Jesus gave in Matthew 24:14 and Matthew 28:19-20.

Muslims and a Book Not Yet Finished

There are reportedly over two billion Muslims in the world.

Jesus said:

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)

14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come. (Matthew 24:14)

Being nearly a quarter of the world, it seemed appropriate to put together materials, other than, for example, mainly just having our The Gospel of the Kingdom of God booklet in multiple languages that Muslims and others can read. This is part of our preparation for the short work mentioned in Romans 9:28 (see also Preparing for the ‘Short Work’ and The Famine of the Word).

That is also consistent with something that the Apostle Paul wrote:

19 For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win the more; 20 and to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win Jews; to those who are under the law, as under the law, that I might win those who are under the law; 21 to those who are without law, as without law (not being without law toward God, but under law toward Christ), that I might win those who are without law; 22 to the weak I became as weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some. 23 Now this I do for the gospel’s sake, that I may be partaker of it with you. (1 Corinthians 9:19-23)

Yes, for the gospel’s sake, we want materials that are directed to different peoples.

So with that in mind, to the Muslims, we wish to show some connections, as well as important differences.

In the recommended sermon for this week, I showed a new book that we are still working on. Originally, I hoped that this book, which I began working on in the early Fall of 2023, would have been ready this past January, but research on it took longer than than originally anticipated.

That said, I ordered two preliminary draft copies of it which arrived last week. One was to use as a visual prop during sermons, and the other was given to the caretaker at a local mosque for him to see if he or others there will give additional feedback before the book is finalized for printed distribution.

The caretaker and I originally met several weeks back and some items we discussed were added to the book as the result of that meeting. We, along with my wife Joyce, also met late last Thursday, when I gave him a draft copy of the book.

While the draft of the book is available online (click on Islamic and Biblical Prophecies for the 21st Century), it is not expected to be finalized, printed, and sent to supporters for several months from now.

That said, the recommended sermon for this Sabbath is based on parts of the book as well as with items that are not in the book, but that were published by the old Worldwide Church of God over forty years ago. I expect to do several sermons related to the book, and then plan on it being re-edited before it becomes available from us in print.

Molo and the Rift Valley Leaders Meeting

In the Letter to the Brethren: May 9, 2024, I mentioned flooding in parts of Kenya. In the Letter to the Brethren: May 16, 2024, elder thanked us for assisting and said he would send a longer report. So, he did along with the following photo:

Dear pastor Bob,

I am glad to take this granted opportunity in the name of our lord savior Jesus Christ who is the soon coming king to rule this world, to inform you that we are well and we thank God for his protection. Thank you for your prayers and support to brethren here in Kenya especially those who were affected by floods in the rift valley. I managed to give them food and clothings under the leadership of Evangelist Ochieng’ and his reasonable guidance, may God bless him. …

The photo of those who received food and clothings in Molo are attached below. Thank you and be blessed.

Yours in vineyard,

Elder David Cheruiyot.

As the Apostle Paul wrote:

9 And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. 10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith. (Galatians 6:9-10)

We are glad we were able to assist with the disastrous flooding our brethren were impacted by.

Evangelist Evans Ochieng also went to the Rift Valley and held a leaders meeting there. Here is a photo and a report:

Pastor Dr Bob,Greetings from Kenya.We had a wonderful meeting yesterday with all church elders and pastors in Rift valley. The meeting was very successful. The brethren were very happy because we introduced good plans for the church development and how to preach the gospel all over Rift valley. We gave every member to give advice how we can operate the work in Rift valley. Before going to Rift valley I had a meeting with the leaders in Nyanza and we discussed a lot how the church manage all its duties because the church has grown in kenya to an extent that needs more skills to operate the work. We always seek guidance from the Almighty God to lead the church in kenya and more wisdom to teach and lead the work of the gospel of the kingdom of God to reach all parts of kenya as it’s flowing now.We are asking for more prayers that can give more strength of doing this work.We left very late when all members are happy with the ongoing plans in Rift valley.Evans

Radson Molozowa recently held a leaders meeting in Malawi that went well:Let me report that the meeting has started well and everything is going perfectAm having leaders both Malawi and MozambiqueBest regardsRadson

The Continuing Church of God has had a lot of growth in Africa and leaders’ meetings help insure we can “speak the same thing” (1 Corinthians 1:10).

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 mobile 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.

In case one or more of our video channels are unavailable, down, restricted, or ?, understand that we are on multiple platforms.

For sermons in English:

ContinuingCOG YouTube channel. Dr. Thiel has produced video sermons for this channel.

Also available at BitChute COGTube https://www.bitchute.com/channel/cogtube/

For sermonettes in English:

Bible News Prophecy YouTube channel BibleNewsProphecy https://www.youtube.com/user/BibleNewsProphecy.

Bitchute Prophecy https://www.bitchute.com/channel/prophecy/,

Vimeo at Bible News Prophecy https://vimeo.com/channels/biblenewsprophecy

Brighteon Bible News Prophecy https://www.brighteon.com/channel/ccogbnp.

Rumble https://rumble.com/c/biblenewsprophecy.

DailyMotion https://www.dailymotion.com/dm_e24c8ac0050c5e7445cd5573711869c6/videos

For animations in English:

CCOG Animations YouTube channel.

Also available at BitChute COGAnimations https://www.bitchute.com/channel/coganimations/

Sermons and sermonettes in Spanish:

CDLIDDSermones channel.

African videos:

CCOGAfricaYouTube channel.

Also available at BitChute COGAfrica https://www.bitchute.com/channel/cogafrica/

Audio messages:

Bible News Prophecy radio. This is an audio version of the Bible News Prophecy videos on one of our internet stations as well as our radio broadcasts in English. The BibleNewsProphecy.net website also has information about our international radio presence for Europe, Asia, and North America. That page is also available as a mobile app.

Bible News Prophecy International radio. This has links to our non-English language online radio station as well as materials in multiple languages.

There is also additional information at the Continuing Church of God Multimedia page.

World News Items

While many in the West have promoted June as LGBTQ+ ‘Pride Month,’ a small group observes the first Sunday in June as ‘X-Gay Visibility Day’ and claims that there are more former homosexuals than current ones (see X-Gay Visibility Day. Plus, rainbows are symbols of God’s love and mercy, but Satan continues to use them for part of his agenda). Irrespective of whether that is a fact, the West continues to often push sexual immorality that will not end well (cf. Romans 1:18-32).

We are seeing more signs that the world is moving more towards gold and less towards the US dollar for a ‘reserve currency’ (see Forbes: The Fed Quietly ‘Admits’ Gold Is Replacing The Dollar As Collapse …). The Bible shows that gold will be valuable after the US dollar is gone (e.g. Daniel 11:40-43; Revelation 18), hence that, along with passages such as Daniel 11:38, have long gotten me to consider that directly, or indirectly, the coming European Beast power will use gold to at least partially back the value of its currency. Though, eventually, gold will be less than worthless per Ezekiel 7: 19.

Speaking of gold and Europe, Turkey, which has a high amount of gold reserves for a nation of is size, is looking at moving closer to the BRICS nations and further away from the European Union (see Joining BRICS+ ‘good alternative’ to EU: Turkiye?). The BRICS nations have a lot of gold and are looking at ways to completely bypass the US dollar in trade–the more that happens, the worse the US economy will tend to do. That said, despite how it may temporarily align with BRICS as well as the coming King of the South, the Bible points to Turkey ultimately aligning again with Europe (see also Turkey in Prophecy).

As far as Europe, itself goes, the Dutch began voting in the European Union parliamentary elections today. Other nations are to vote within the next week. Some observers believe that anti-immigrant political leaders will gain in these elections. This is something to watch (cf. Mark 13:37).

Concluding Comments

Jesus said:

43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, 45 that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so? 48 Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect. (Matthew 5:43-48)

Brethren, perfection is the goal and love is the way we get closer to it.

As the Hebrew scriptures teach:

13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter:

Fear God and keep His commandments,
For this is man’s all. (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14)

Keeping God’s commandments help us to become perfect as they help show us how to love God and our neighbor.

Sincerely,

Bob Thiel
Pastor and Overseer