Download PDF Dear Co-workers and Brethren, Coming to the end of the calendar year, many people are contemplative of the events of the past 12 months. There’s not much argument about it being an especially eventful year. Covid 19 dominates headlines daily; lockdowns and fear cause psychological damage by isolating people in their time of need; political maneuverings abound following administration changes in the US and European nations; racial tensions are magnified. Sadly, the things that stand out the most are grim. What emerges as a theme for the year is that ideologies have become bastions that polarize the populous. Picking a side to affiliate with is an expectation in our society, while holding a balanced point of view is considered weak. Or at least, this is what our media outlets would have us believe. It is the extreme points of view, with the loudest voices that get the most attention because of their titillating, sensationalist presentations of the so-called “truth”. Of course, we observe the opposing sides present a different “truth” with equally strong rhetoric vigor. While the so-called “truth” is everywhere, the actual Truth gets no attention by the media, whatsoever. The problem is that we live in […]

Download PDF Dear Brethren and Friends, I have thought, for a long time, that it must take more faith to believe in the theory of evolution than in the great Creator God. The theory of evolution challenges the idea that God is the designer of the universe and that the beauty, order and complexity of the universe is evidence of a superior supernatural being. And yet, there are those who deny the evidence before their very eyes of a creation that demands a Creator and cling on to an unprovable notion that evolution is responsible for all that we see on earth and in a hugely impressive solar system that boggles the imagination in its size and complexity. I want to quote a short piece entitled “Swallow that one! Showing how ridiculous the theory of evolution is”: “This false religious movement is called ‘Evolution’. It has no scientific basis, despite its claims to the contrary. It is a belief system teaching that everything came into being by chance, that billions of years ago, out of nothing, an atom, no larger than a ‘dot’ on this page, made itself. Then after millions of years it started spinning and spun so fast […]

Download PDF Dear Members and Friends, We have just returned from celebrating what Church of God members have been looking forward to the whole year—when we could put our everyday lives on hold and when we could worship together in peace and harmony; exactly, what the Feast of Tabernacles and the Last Great Day picture. But being able to observe these days didn’t come without its challenges, for we couldn’t celebrate them in a way we used to in times past, without restrictions and other complications we hadn’t faced before. This already started to become evident last Feast. The world as we once knew it has changed and it doesn’t appear that it will get any better or return back “to normal.” In my message on the Last Great Day, titled “Right Now,” I mentioned that we have all witnessed a miracle this Feast. By being able to observe God’s Holy Days like we did, under various circumstances and challenges that we had to go through to even make it to the Feast, and still having had the privilege to meet together is considered a miracle. And yet there were brethren among us who weren’t able to attend the Feast […]

Download PDF Dear Members and Friends, When you receive this letter, the first of the Holy Days in the Fall—the Feast of Trumpets—has already passed. To stay within the symbolic relevance, Jesus Christ has returned and the final battle between the forces of good and evil has been fought. Shortly, Satan and his demons will be imprisoned in the bottomless pit and banned from influencing mankind, and Christ’s rule on and over this earth will begin. These events are pictured by the Day of Atonement (when it becomes possible that all of mankind will be reconciled with God) and the Feast of Tabernacles (when God’s Kingdom will be established on earth). We, under Christ, will then have the opportunity to teach man God’s Way of Life. Man, having been deceived by Satan the Devil, will learn what it means to love God and neighbor and to live in peace. Man will be able to acquire a new mindset, realizing that “it must be indeed of the spirit if we are to save the flesh.” That re-education process will take some time, but ultimately, man will “beat their swords into plowshares,” and they will not learn war anymore (Isaiah 2:4). They […]

Download PDF Dear Members and Friends, It is only a few weeks now until the Feast of Trumpets occurs, which will be followed by the Day of Atonement, the Feast of Tabernacles and the Last Great Day. We can certainly look forward especially to this Feast of Trumpets because of what we read in Revelation 11:15. This pictures the culmination of the blowing of the seven trumpets after the Great Tribulation and the Day of the LORD: “Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, ‘The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our LORD and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!’” To us, this is a wonderful day to look forward to. It pictures what is described in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17: “For the LORD Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the LORD in the air. And thus we shall always be with the LORD.” This is the […]

Download PDF Dear Brethren and Friends, With summer upon us and the restrictions of Covid-19 being laxed by some governments of this world (while others begin again to impose more restrictions), there is an increase in travel and entertainment. People have been cooped up and are anxious to get back into the groove of things. There could be a downside to all of this, and that is the neglect of spiritual matters, because now we may become really busy and God may at times take a back seat to our activities. This could take us away from our task at hand, given to us by God, which is to preach and publish the gospel to the world as a witness, watch and pray, and grow in grace and knowledge, and we could instead become distracted by our busy lives and lose focus. It is almost as though we need blinders on to keep us focused. They use blinders for horses for that purpose, as described on the internet: “Blinkers, sometimes known as blinders, are a piece of horse tack that prevent the horse seeing to the rear and, in some cases, to the side.” They help the horse to focus […]

Download PDF Dear Brethren and Friends, How do we measure up when it comes to living a faithful life before God? Can it be said of us that we have “walked with God”—as did Enoch (Genesis 5:22), or that we are “the friend of God”—as was Abraham (James 2:23)? Can we, like the Apostle Paul, say, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7)? Also, consider David, who has been chosen to be ruler over Israel “forever” (Ezekiel 37:25), and he is memorialized with these words from God: “‘“I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will do all My will”’” (Acts 13:22). Of these people—and others—it is revealed that they, “having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise” (Hebrews 11:39). [That promise is God’s immutable assurance of eternal life in His Kingdom (Titus 1:2).] Consider, also, what applies to Christians, to us, in verse 40 of Hebrews 11: “God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us.” One Person has attained perfection after completely overcoming sin, Jesus Christ. And […]

Download PDF Dear Members and Friends,  While the world has changed in trying to cope with the pandemic, with new measures put into place as to what one is allowed to do and what not do, and how churches all around the world have been affected in the way services are to be conducted, we are led to ask the question as to what God wants us to do. The world is changing and that is self-evident. However, that which is consistent, or ought to be, is the way we are to obey God. That should not change. Observing God’s commanded annual Holy Days, as we have just done in the celebration of the Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread, is something that we must do on a consistent basis, no matter what is happening all around us, just as we must consistently observe His Sabbath Day every week. The world does not understand or believe in the observance of God’s weekly and annual Holy Days and Festivals. Instead, it does ignorantly believe in celebrating holidays derived from paganism which has just been the case with the observance of Easter. The Bible warns those who engage in such pagan […]

Download PDF Dear Brethren and Coworkers, Those of us living in the northern hemisphere are beginning to see the days get longer and feel the weather become more comfortable as Winter turns to Spring. Perhaps the phenomenon of the turning season bringing an expectant hope along with the improving climate is personal to me, but I believe that there are others who feel the same optimism. After what seems like a year-long winter of shutdowns and orders to stay home, with the world virtually imprisoned, people everywhere share the opinion that it’s about time for things to improve. Of course, whether the worldly circumstances in the coming months will improve or not remains to be seen. The question to consider is about what the object of our hope is. What do you hope for? Are you hoping for the ability to go out into public without fear of catching a disease? Are you hoping for the ability to see the smiles on strangers’ faces again? Are you hoping that you can carry out your activities in life without concern about being the target of judgment from people who have different opinions as to what constitutes “proper social conduct”?  All of […]

Download PDF Dear Members and Friends! This is a very personal letter which I wanted to write in order to clear up some misunderstanding and address some outstanding issues. As many of you know, I stated quite strongly and repeatedly that I was convinced, based on my understanding of biblical prophecy, that Donald Trump would be re-elected in 2020 and that he would stay in office. I have since then apologized for my statements in a recent StandingWatch program, titled, “The Second Impeachment Circus.”  Nothing in this letter is meant to take away from my apology. That Donald Trump isn’t presently occupying the White House is obvious. Still, I also promised in the StandingWatch program that more would have to be explained in order to get the entire picture. This letter is meant to do just that. When Donald Trump announced that he would run for the Presidency in 2016, I stated with conviction that I believed he would become President. I stated with the same conviction that I believed he would be reelected in 2020. What went wrong?  Several ministers and numerous members wrote me to tell me or remind me of the fact that they, likewise, were convinced […]