Greetings from the Five Cities region of California.
There was political terror in the USA yesterday as Charlie Kirk, a conservative voice and media personality, was assassinated while speaking in Utah.
In the USA, many are commemorating the 9/11 terror attacks today–but few realize that worse terror is prophesied to hit the North American and British peoples (see 9/11-More terrorism will hit the United States).
That said, please understand that the Fall Holy Day season is almost upon us. Because of that, we put out the following as the recommended sermon for this Sabbath: Christians and Fall Holy Days?
The first Fall Holy Day is the Feast of Trumpets which runs from sunset 22 September through sunset 23 September in 2025.
Feast of Tabernacles 2025
Remember to be preparing for the Feast of Tabernacles.
Church services for the Feast of Tabernacles in 2025 are to begin at sunset on October 6th and run through (including the Last Great Day) sunset October 14th in 2025.
The site for North America is to be in Oklahoma City as we have a signed agreement to have the Embassy Suites by Hilton Oklahoma City Downtown Medical Center in Oklahoma. Here is its location and mailing address: 741 North Phillips Avenue Oklahoma City, OK 73104. That is where services are expected to be held in North America–note: you do NOT need to stay at that hotel in order to attend services there.
Our elder in India informed me that they are preparing a location in eastern India.
We are also looking at the possibility of a very small site in Chile this year.
That said, here is a listing of planned festival sites in Africa:
Though the podcast host had some technical issues, I was able to do an interview with her, which is supposed to air in October. According to the host:
The show will be available on approximately 20 audio platforms, 3 national radio networks, Family Talk – SiriusXM – 131, as well as 15+ TV platforms such as Christian Television Network (Nashville, Pensacola), Sacramento Faith TV, FreedomProject Media, Frank Speech, LightSource, God’s Learning Channel, BEK TV, LiftableTV and more.
So, that looks like we will reach many that we otherwise would not. The hostess also said she wants me on again to discuss “the rapture.” We had a non-recorded discussion of the topic and she has moved from an evangelical Protestant view of when Jesus returns to one closer to ours.
On other podcast related news, on the Sabbath, I received the following email:
Hi Dr. Bob,
I emailed regarding your podcast Bible News Prophecy Radio which was selected by MillionPodcasts as one of the Top 100 Prophecy Podcasts on the web.
https://www.millionpodcasts.com/prophecy-podcasts
When I went to the link, it shows that we are number 35 on that list.
We received something like this before related to our magazine from FeedSpot. And while we are not sure what the criteria MillionPodcasts used, we are pleased when others will promote our literature, videos, and other biblical teachings.
That said, we suggest caution before any one give them their email address, etc. as we have no real relationship with this worldly organization nor did we submit anything to be considered for their “award.”
The Apostle Paul was inspired to write:
15 Some indeed preach Christ even from envy and strife, and some also from goodwill: 16 The former preach Christ from selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my chains; 17 but the latter out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel. 18 What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached; and in this I rejoice, yes, and will rejoice. (Philippians 1:15-18)
So, whether MillionPodcasts is promoting us for spreading the truth or for “selfish ambition,” we can rejoice that their promotion of our magazine helps preach the gospel.
Burundi
Burundi is a very small country in Africa.
(From free-images.com)
Most of the people in Burundi speak French.
Most of the people in Burundi speak French.
Last week, I mentioned that 300 people in Burundi have asked to become part of the Continuing Church of God. Evangelist Evans Ochieng along with two other of our leaders in Kenya had visited them after they requested a visit. I also mentioned that there are legal issues there (see Letter to the Brethren: September 4, 2025).
Burundi passed some laws on churches a year or two ago, which the government is starting to try to enforce. The law basically states that a church needs 300 people, but it suggests that one with a foreign connection must have at least 500 persons, land, and a building (and maybe multiple ones), in order to register so it can legally operate. This is something I spoke to Aaron Dean of UCG about this some time ago, and we talked again for over an hour when he telephoned me late last Thursday (we also discussed prophetic matters).
The United Church of God (UCG) has applied for official registration in Burundi, but still has not been approved. If they get approved, then they are looking at how to meet whatever other requirements there may be. Aaron Dean told me that he would inform me when, and if, UCG gets its request for registration approved. He believes that UCG may then be able to cooperate with us in the Continuing Church of God in Burundi. So, at this instant, we are hoping that UCG’s registration will be approved and that, once approved, we may be essentially accepted under their approval or instead, perhaps, with a separate application ourselves.
Because we in Continuing Church of God currently have 300, but less than 500 congregants with national identification cards, in Burundi, we are not sure if we can (or should) apply for registration yet–though that is being considered by our leader there. Not having registration (or not applying for it) could cause legal and other issues for those who declared that they want to be part of Continuing Church of God.
So, at this stage, we either 1) need more people fairly quickly in Burundi, 2) see if we can apply for registration anyway and/or 3) see if our cooperation with UCG will, at least for now, keep our people in Burundi out of legal jeopardy.
Please pray about that.
Togo
Last Friday, I spoke with the Protestant pastor who contacted us from Togo. He mentioned that once he discovered the truth about the seventh-day Sabbath, he began to preach it. This resulted in some accepting it, and others leaving his congregation. Anyway, we discussed languages and doctrine and I sent him more on doctrine to study.
Suggested Sabbath Service
Here 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).
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.
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.
The European Union is still looking into trade matters. The EU is trying to go full speed ahead with the deal with most of the Mercosur nations in South America (see European Union trying to finalize Mercosur deal, despite internal opposition). Although US President Donald Trump is trying to push the EU to impose higher tariffs on India, India is thinking this is the time to finalize the deal that the EU proposed earlier — let me also add that many Europeans feel that the Trump Administration has humiliated them with the proposed trade deal with the USA (see India wants EU deal and Europeans feel humiliated by trade deal with USA and want change), hence many in the EU are not happy with the USA.
The Trump Administration is driving more nations away from the USA and more towards other alliances.
Now, despite having ups and downs, as well as records hit in 2024, gold will set further records in U.S. dollar terms in the relatively near future.
That has happened. I wrote about gold because of biblical prophecies which point to gold having value after the USA (and thus its dollar) has been destroyed (cf. Daniel 11:39-43), as well as because of debt (Habakkuk 2:6-9) and trade matters.
Well, the price of gold has already hit at least 31 daily highs this year since Donald Trump took office again (see Donald Trump’s policies leading to de-dollarization and international movement to gold?). Now that does not mean we will not see any drops in the price of gold (we will), but in the long-term, gold will have value for a couple of years or so after the USA dollar becomes worthless. More and more nations are already looking at how to bypass the USA dollar.
There have been, and will be, more intended consequences of the policies, actions, and statements of the Trump Administration.
Concluding Comments
Moses was inspired to write the following:
“Now this is the commandment, and these are the statutes and judgments which the Lord your God has commanded to teach you, that you may observe them in the land which you are crossing over to possess, 2 that you may fear the Lord your God, to keep all His statutes and His commandments which I command you, you and your son and your grandson, all the days of your life, and that your days may be prolonged. 3 Therefore hear, O Israel, and be careful to observe it, that it may be well with you, and that you may multiply greatly as the Lord God of your fathers has promised you — ‘a land flowing with milk and honey.’
4 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.
6 “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. (Deuteronomy 6:1-9)
If you have children and/or grandchildren, remember to teach them about God’s commandments, statutes, and judgments. And if you want to have a chance that they may agree, at least eventually, that they are good for them, remember to strive to properly observe them yourself.
