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Dear Members and Friends:

In the early 1960’s, Bob Dylan penned a song that became a reflection of a generation growing up in that decade. “The Times They Are a-Changin’” became a ballad of the civil rights movement. Dylan himself became an icon for that era and embodied changes that many sought after, either peacefully or through radical means.

History.com sums up this decade stating, “At the beginning of the 1960s, many Americans believed they were standing at the dawn of a golden age. On January 20, 1961, the handsome and charismatic John F. Kennedy became president of the United States. His confidence that, as one historian put it, ‘the government possessed big answers to big problems’ seemed to set the tone for the rest of the decade. However, that golden age never materialized. On the contrary, by the end of the 1960s it seemed that the nation was falling apart.”

Continue reading "Letter to the Brethren – August 22, 2016"

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Dear Members and Friends,

We said in the beginning of the year that 2016 is going to be interesting; that things will not get better; and that we should be prepared for significant events to take place, in light of biblical prophecy. We are now in the middle of the year and what we have said has been confirmed: more ISIS terrorist attacks; more political drama; Great Britain leaving the EU; more racial tension and violent controversy; and there is more to come.

With more than 7 billion people in the world, we have seen that some of the “minorities” are letting their voices be heard, but not in a good way. For example, the LGBT community has gained a lot more momentum lately—even more so now since last month’s terrorist attack at a gay night club in Orlando, Florida, where gays were specifically targeted. The world sympathized with them and brought increasing attention to the gay community. This is not to say that the murder of innocent civilians was justified, as that terrible action was clearly wrong.

Continue reading "Letter to the Brethren – July 18, 2016"

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Dear Brethren and Friends,

As we draw to the close of this age, what stands out for each of us? We live in a world that, as we watch each day, gets further and further away from God. This was pointed out in the first chapter of Romans where Paul tells us, in verses 19–32, that when people no longer want to retain God in their thoughts, then their debauchery and subsequent downfall is imminent. Truly, in a relative sense of the amount of years since the Bible was written, our time is short. If we truly think about it, 6,000 years is not that long a time, but the amount of progress that has been accomplished in just the last 50 years is staggering. We see that because God gave us creative minds, humans can do almost anything they put their minds to. We know that at the tower of Babel, God had to stop those people from continuing what they were doing. God rightly said in Genesis 11:6: “Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them.” But when Satan is in the mix, this element of human creativity takes on a dark twist.

Continue reading "Letter to the Brethren – June 7, 2016"

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Dear Members, Co-Workers and Friends,

We trust that all of you had a rewarding and meaningful Passover season. While this present evil age is nearing its completion in an unparalleled crescendo of unspeakable destruction, God’s people are looking beyond this time in anticipation of worldwide peace, prosperity and happiness.

On April 21, 2016, baptized Church members gathered together to observe the annual Passover. Brian Gale and Kalon Mitchell conducted local Passover services in California; Dave Harris, Eric Rank and Robb Harris in Colorado; Rene Messier in Oregon; and Norbert Link and Michael Link in Germany. In addition, scattered brethren in the US and Canada were able to participate live over the Internet at the services conducted in Colorado. We are also happy to report that nine people were baptized in Germany by Norbert and Michael Link on the Sabbath following the Last Day of Unleavened Bread. By now, 42 baptized members of the Church of the Eternal God live in Germany and Switzerland. Further baptism counseling was conducted, and we anticipate that additional people will be baptized during the Feast of Tabernacles 2016 in Templin, Germany.

Continue reading "Letter to the Brethren – May 16, 2016"

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Dear Members, Co-workers and Friends:

With the emergence of springtime, our thoughts begin to focus on the Holy Days of God that will shortly be upon us. It is a time when we reflect upon the great Sacrifice of Jesus Christ that we have the opportunity to embrace, by having our sins forgiven. But it is also a time when we consider whether we are holding up our end of the deal! Jesus Christ has willingly taken the responsibility to offer His life as a sacrifice for our sins so that we do not have to bear the burden of the penalty of death. This is a gift that is given to us freely by the immense mercy of God. Our responsibility, if we are willing to accept this gift, is to discipline our behavior according to the model of righteousness provided by Jesus Christ Himself. We are reminded to continually examine our behavior and make changes in our life to turn from sin and bear fruits of righteousness. The time is now that we need to reflect on our actions to make sure that we are indeed, bearing fruit.

Continue reading "Letter to the Brethren – March 21, 2016"

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Dear Members and Friends,

2016 will be a most remarkable year. It won’t be a peaceful or pleasant year—just the opposite. But it will be a year when we will experience and witness the continuing fulfillment of prophesied events, signaling the soon-coming return of Jesus Christ. At the same time, it will be a sobering year as we know that just prior to Christ’s Second Coming, terrible events of unparalleled severity will occur first (Matthew 24:21).

It is the duty, responsibility and commission of God’s end-time Church to WARN the nations of impending terrible disaster and, at the same time, to witness to the world the awesome truth of the gospel (Matthew 24:14), which includes the good news or glad tidings of the message that Christ will soon rule on this earth—as the King of kings and the Lord of lords.

Continue reading "Letter to the Brethren – February 16, 2016"

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Dear Brethren and Friends,

It has been understood for a long time that the best-selling book in the world is the Holy Bible. Wikipedia states that “The Bible is the best-selling book of all-time, with Guinness World Records estimating that over 5 billion copies have been sold.” It is an enormous number of sales but most people don’t seem to understand much about it at all.

Since the New Testament was written, much apostolic understanding and teaching have been lost. Syncretism crept into the early Church as it incorporated and accommodated pagan beliefs in order to increase Church membership. Over the last several decades, the Church of God has quoted the nineteenth-century Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard who wrote that “millions of people through the centuries have little by little cheated God out of Christianity. The Christianity of the New Testament simply does not exist.”

Continue reading "Letter to the Brethren – January 15, 2016"

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Dear Brethren and Friends!

As we come close to the end of another year, according to man’s calendar, it’s time to reflect on where we are insofar as the world is concerned, as well as our own personal lives and our responsibilities in completing the Work which God has given us to do.

We are approaching a season of “joy to the world,” yet there is little joy in the world. We must never forget that this is Satan’s world, and he is the ruler of this world.

Christ said in John 16:7-11:

“Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they do not believe in Me; of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.”

Continue reading "Letter to the Brethren – December 16, 2015"

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Dear Brethren and Friends,

“The WORK!”

Over the years, saying those two words has conveyed great meaning—an immediate understanding of what the Church of God was committed to accomplishing. In particular, this focused on preaching the gospel of the Kingdom of God, the same powerful message with which Jesus Christ began His ministry:

“Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel’” (Mark 1:14-15).

What followed was a period of some three and one-half years in which Jesus undertook an endeavor to ultimately change the world! That kind of impact was what He sought to accomplish! However, consider the struggles even He confronted.

Continue reading "Letter to the Brethren – November 17, 2015"