Dear Brethren and Co-Workers in Christ:
Greetings from the Five Cities region of California.
We received another 20 translations of our English booklet titled The Gospel of the Kingdom of God as we strive to support Jesus’ commission to reach all the world as a witness (Matthew 24:14).
Disaster and Assistance
In the Letter to the Brethren: May 9, 2024, I mentioned flooding in parts of Kenya. Many in the Rift Valley of Kenya have been affected.
While we have faced many issues in Africa, this may be the first time evangelist Evans Ochieng sent me an email titled ‘Disaster.’ His email included the following:
Pastor Dr Bob,
Greetings from Kenya.
I went to meet Sawek and David Cheruiyot.
We were discussing about the Church development in Rift valley and the flooded that invaded Rift valley. There was a great flood in Molo and Mau congregations. The brethren in Molo were swept by flood that swept everything in house. They were taken to school where they are staying now. But All the blankets mattress and clothes and utensils all went. They remained bare handed. They have nothing and food is also a problem to them. The Red cross and government are trying to assist but cannot give enough because most parts of kenya are facing the same problem. Some places people died and some haven’t been found. It’s a great problem in Kenya that the rain is coursing. But My place is ok except the area near Got Kachola is also affected. And some part of Nyakach.
My place is safe even though it’s raining much.
So pastor if we can get how to assist the brethren in Molo and Mau who are highly affected can help. They are really suffering.
Evans
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)
So, yes, we sent financial assistance to elder David Cheruiyot to distribute to help those he could (we also assisted in some other regions of Kenya).
David Cheruiyot responded with the following letter:
DEAR PASTOR Bob
I am glad to take this opportunity to thank my lord and saviour coming Jesus Christ who is soon coming king to reign this world.
Thanks very much brother Bob for your help, our beloved brothers and sisters were very excited today Monday and they have received {the support} …
I will make sure they will get food and clothing’s though they are now homeless due to floods . You will receive full report after they have get full support {from me}. Please pray for us
Yours in Christ
David Cheruiyot
Yes, those affected are in my prayers and should be in yours also.
New Zealand Feast of Tabernacles’ Site
Richie White sent the following:
Hello Dr Thiel,
Just to let you know that we have decided on Mt Maunganui, about 2 – 3 hours drive south of Auckland, North Island as our FOT site for 2024. We have secured a large home along the beach for our accommodation and it will be used for services. Any enquiries can be made to my email, aerotriker@gmail.com.
About Mt Maunganui:
Set on a peninsula, Mount Maunganui is a laid-back suburb known for the extinct Mount Maunganui volcano, a sacred Maori site with ocean-view hiking trails. Long, sandy Main Beach is popular for its surf breaks, while Pilot Bay Beach has calm waters for paddle boarding. The Mount Hot Pools complex offers saltwater bathing and spa treatments, while brunch spots, global restaurants, and boutiques fill the town centre.
Included is a photo attachment.
The NZ $ is buying about .60c US at the moment and really makes this type of destination very attractive, plus the climate is super good as we are entering into early summer at this time.
Warm regards
Ritchie White
For additional information, contact Ritchie White, email aerotriker@gmail.com
For information on various festival sites around the world, check out the article: Feast of Tabernacles’ Sites for 2024.
Leadership Conference
Pastor Radson Mulozowa sent the following email on Monday:
Greetings from Malawi and Mozambique
We are all fine by the grace of God..
Starting from tomorrow we are having conference for all the leaders.
Four leaders per congregation and we are expecting to have 60 leaders in attendance
The main purpose is to bring love, trust, unity towards one another and equip them for the work of spreading the Gospel of the kingdom of God
Last week after the meeting I travelled to Mozambique to visit to encourage some brethren who could manage to attend the meeting in Malawi and again see the project done there
During the visit I found two children who are suffering and they are falling to go to school due to lack of assistance and they have been abandoned because they started fellowship with us during the feast of Tabernacle
So am planning to take them to Malawi so that I can take them to school as they are still young. I have arranged for the chief to do all the transactions so that it can be well with them. Pray for the process and me
Best regards
Radson
Please keep Malawi and Mozambique, as well as this conference (which already started), in your prayers.
YouTube Shorts as Animations
Consistent with biblical admonitions, we need to reach and teach who we can (Matthew 28:19-20) as well as “turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers” (Malachi 4:6) we utilize many methods
In the 21st century, animations are one way to do that for youth, teens, and young adults.
With shorter and shorter attention spans, we decided to try something we have had not tried before.
We have reworked some of our animations to produce what are called ‘YouTube Shorts.’
In the past week or so, we have put up dozens of short animations for ‘YouTube Shorts.’ You can find them at the CCOG Animations Channel.
We have had over 15,000 total views on these in the past week!
We plan to modify future ones to make it easier for viewers to get more information.
We are also laying the ground work to go on the platform called TikTok.
Malachi 4:6 will be fulfilled before Jesus returns.
Suggested Sabbath Day ServicesHere is a suggested Sabbath day service for our scattered brethren and other interested people:
- 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.
- The suggested sermonette is titled: Christian Monks? 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, which for most who receive this letter via email will be: Asia Minor and Early Apostolic Succession. 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 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 it did not get much press coverage, Iran recently suggested it may go nuclear against Israel if it feels it needs to (see ‘Amid Tensions, Iran’s Big Nuclear Bomb Warning To Israel’). If so, this could be part of the fulfillment of prophecies such as Isaiah 22:6-9.
In what looks to be a move to appear “tough” against China in this election year, the Biden-Harris Administration announced a massive increase of tariffs against Chinese electric vehicles, solar panels, and more (see Joe Biden hits Chinese electric cars with 102% tariff). Not only will this contribute to inflationary pressures, it is another signal to China to move away from the USA and push for the downfall of its dollar (see also ZH: Make China Great Again!). There are almost always “unintended consequences” and costs to tariffs and sanctions.
Over in Europe, there was an assassination attempt against Slovakia’s anti-Islamic immigrant Prime Minister Robert Rico. In the Netherlands today, Geert Wilder announced that his anti-Islamic immigrant party has formed a ruling government (see AP: The Netherlands veers sharply to the right with a new government dominated by party of Geert Wilders). Europe is in the process of changing and becoming less tolerant of Islamic migrants.
Concluding Comments
The Apostle Paul taught:
13. Hold as the standard for doctrine the sound words that you heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.
14. Guard the good thing that was committed to you by the Holy Spirit that is dwelling in us.
15. You know this, that all those who are in Asia have rejected me, of whom are Phygellus and Hermogenes. (2 Timothy 1:13-15)
Brethren, we need to sound doctrine, faith, and love, despite those who have rejected hierarchical governance. Note that the Apostle Paul was rejected, despite teaching many, in Asia Minor.
That said, more on hierarchical governance can be found in the article: The Bible, Peter, Paul, John, Polycarp, Herbert W. Armstrong, Roderick C. Meredith, and Bob Thiel on Church Government
As far as some of the sound doctrine restored in the CCOG, check out the article: Continuing Church of God, Elijah, and Restoring All Things.
Sincerely,
Bob Thiel
Pastor and Overseer