Download PDF Dear Members, Co-Workers and Friends, Even those who are not familiar with or interested in biblical prophecy begin to realize that this world, as we know it, won’t be able to survive much longer. Scientists moved their doomsday clock to 2 minutes to midnight, with midnight designating a global catastrophe and potentially the end of mankind.  Among the many threats to human survival, nuclear war and a bioengineered pandemic are listed as leading candidates. The growing threat to wildlife and millions of species is mentioned as well. We also hear about the real possibility of huge earthquakes striking many parts of the world, accompanied by tremendous tsunamis. The eruption of the Supervolcano in the Yellowstone National Park with horrible consequences for large parts of continental America is also considered to be a real possibility. Even a devastating collision of the earth with a huge asteroid must not be dismissed outright, as such events have taken place in the past.  Bible scholars know that God predicts many frightening events as a prelude to the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. But there have always been frightful occurrences in the past. Still, Christ has not returned. And so, we say in […]

Download PDF Dear Brethren, Co-Workers and Friends, The subject of sustainability is being used a lot when talking about saving natural resources or referring to business practices. The word “sustainability” has the following connotations: “The ability to be maintained at a certain rate or level, such as: ‘the sustainability of economic growth’”; or “the avoidance of the depletion of natural resources in order to maintain an ecological balance: ‘the pursuit of global environmental sustainability.’” In essence, when something is sustainable, it means there is no fluctuation, but rather stability. In gardening, there is a concept such as sustainable gardening. This means, the food grown is not harming the earth, so no harmful pesticides are used or methods that will destroy anything in the long run. In a business sense, a business that maintains sustainable growth does more good than harm. Unfortunately in the United States and in many other countries around the world, we see absolute greed and corruption in order to obtain money and wealth. There doesn’t seem to be a care for sustainability in most areas. Some, however, have begun to realize now that things are starting to break down because of the practices that have been employed. […]

Download PDF Dear Brethren and Friends, The past several weeks have been a very busy and productive time. The annual Church Conference (2019) was conducted during the first week of April. Norbert Link, Dave Harris, Rene Messier, Brian Gale, Michael Link, Eric Rank, Robb Harris and Kalon Mitchell were the ministers who were able to attend. Meetings were conducted in Escondido, California. Following a review of the Minutes for the 2018 Conference, summaries for activities in the USA, Canada, the UK, continental Europe, Australia and Africa were presented. Many details were discussed regarding the various Church websites. We especially focused on upcoming promotions for our literature and how to improve our responses to the public. The past year has seen growth in responses to booklets being offered during Norbert Link’s English-language StandingWatch programs. Europe, in the German language, continues to see steady interest for the sermonette, sermon and AufPostenStehen postings and the offered literature. In fact, we have found it necessary to reprint several booklets. We explored needs for further work on our French website—especially French translations of our English material. The need for Spanish translations and even websites was considered. Right now, German members translate our English booklets into […]

Download PDF Dear Members: The time is approaching once again as we move towards an occasion and a decision that is the most important in our personal lives. Those of us who are baptized and became begotten Children of God—those of us who made at that time the lifelong commitment to be obedient to Him—will make the decision to take the Passover in a worthy manner. Yes, it is a choice, just as it was a choice we made to become baptized in the first place—just as God chose US to come out of this world, by revealing to us His perfect knowledge and His plan. That is why we are all here, because we have answered His calling (compare Ephesians 1:4-5; Romans 8:28-30). Has our life been easier since last year or has it been difficult at times? Have we encountered trials? Have we thought about giving up? For some of us, this may be our first Passover and for others, this could be our 10th or 20th or 30th and more. But the number of Passovers we have participated in doesn’t matter. What matters is what we do right now and how we prepare for the Passover evening […]

Download PDF Dear Brethren and Friends, As I write this letter, the UK is consumed with Brexit, with a country, families and politicians split on where their loyalties should lie. There has been, and still is, antagonism at all levels of society where even the politicians of all parties are not united within their own group. This all follows the result of the referendum on 23rd June 2016 where the result to leave the European Union was 52% against 48% who wanted to remain. Since that time, negotiations have been ongoing between the UK and the EU with a withdrawal scheduled to occur on 29th March 2019.  Many who have been following these events may now be tired of the wrangling, disputing, arguments, bickering, squabbling, in-fighting and general all round disagreeable altercations that have, and still are, taking place. It would be a waste of everyone’s time in this brief letter to try and re-hash the main arguments of both sides of the divide but, suffice to say, it is the biggest political development for many decades in the UK. Many are genuinely concerned about staying in the EU—or leaving it, as the people voted. Whatever happens, the UK will […]

Download PDF Dear Members, Co-Workers and Friends, “Expect the unexpected” is a saying commonly used as preparation advice for unpredictable circumstances and situations. Traveling to new places or beginning a new commitment in life that disrupts our current patterns are examples of events for which we might apply such advice. By expecting the unexpected, we can theoretically prepare ourselves to adapt when we need to change direction at short notice. However, in this age, applying the tenet of expecting the unexpected is exercised less and less. When life is going along according to normal routine without any plans for change or impending threat of disruption, are we in a position where we can adapt to the unexpected when we don’t expect it? Today, an increasing amount of action is based upon decisions rooted in predictability. The recent advent of artificial intelligence inherently involves predictability. From automobiles that can predict when a car in front of it is slowing down, to suggestions of what videos we might want to watch next, information about expected results in controlled contexts drive decisions that affect our lives. Surprisingly, a lot of this actually works! To an increasing degree, many of the circumstances in our […]