Dear Brethren and Co-Workers with Christ,
Dr. Meredith has been very busy leading this worldwide Work, even at his age of 84, so he asked me to write this month’s co-worker letter. Tomorrow he will be taping his next Tomorrow’s World telecast, titled “Do You Worship the True Christ?”—currently scheduled to air March 19–25. Jesus warned us that there will be false christs (Matthew 24:24) and the Apostle Paul warned against those preaching “another Jesus” (2 Corinthians 11:4). Our stated primary mission is to “Preach the Gospel of the Kingdom and the true name of Jesus Christ.” Thank you very much, brethren and co-workers, for your support throughout 2014 and for your continuing help in meeting the challenges of 2015!
God blessed His Work here on earth in 2014! We thank God for the open doors to preach the gospel. Tomorrow’s World television in Goa, India reached its first anniversary just two weeks ago. Our Canadian office continues to produce a Chinese-subtitled edition, which airs weekly in Hong Kong. We are now in our second year of preaching the gospel in the Russian and Ukrainian languages. Those speaking French or Spanish watch the telecast on our Web sites Le Monde De Demain and El Mundo De Mañana. Again, thank you brethren and co-workers around the world for your prayers and support of the mission Christ has given His faithful servants! And yet we have so much more to accomplish! Just before His ascension to heaven, recorded in the book of Acts, Jesus told His disciples: “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (1:8). God has called the weak of the world, “not many noble” to accomplish His Work (1 Corinthians 1:26). But He has given us great spiritual power to fulfill the Great Commission, if we remain humble, dedicated, and close to Him: “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7).
Brethren and co-workers, continue to pray for more open doors for the gospel. Continue to pray that God will pour out even more of His power and Spirit on each of us to complete His Work. Jesus described His passion for serving our Father in heaven: “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work” (John 4:34). May we all follow our Lord’s example and dedicate ourselves to zealously finish the Work we’ve been given to accomplish!
I encourage all of you to “dig into” the messages Christ is inspiring through the Tomorrow’s World telecast and magazine. Research the times and channels to help your family and friends see and hear the telecast. Along with cable and over-the-air television, the telecast is now on iTunes, Google TV and Amazon Fire TV as well as Roku! Although satellite and cable remain by far the most popular way that most people “consume television,” many of you know that “Internet TV” is a rapidly growing market that experts predict will be the biggest growth area for television programming consumption in the coming years. As such, it is vital that we reach the many millions of people who are looking for programs on these new Internet “channels.” Google TV, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV and Roku users can find the Tomorrow’s World telecast in their respective device app stores. You can find a complete TV channel listing at the TomorrowsWorld.org Web site. And don’t forget that Tomorrow’s World mobile phone apps for Android and for Apple’s iOS are available as well—in their respective app stores or by visiting www.tomorrowsworld.org/mobile-apps. These mobile phone apps give viewers access to our magazine articles, commentaries, telecasts and other important material, anywhere they can go with their phones.
In 2014, Tomorrow’s World personal appearance campaigns featured the theme “After Armageddon.” Living Church of God ministers gave 55 Tomorrow’s World Presentations around the world, attended by 2,468 visitors—many of whom have since become regular attendees at our local Sabbath services. On January 11, in Petion-Ville, Haiti—speaking in French—Dr. Wilner Pierre gave our first 2015 presentation. He is scheduled to speak in French Guiana today, and in St. Maarten on January 24. We have five presentations scheduled for February: in Charleston, SC; Pensacola, FL; Gulfport, MS; Miami, OK; and Ft. Lauderdale, FL. I am scheduled to give a presentation in the Baltimore, MD area on March 21. My wife and I are also hoping to visit Anaheim and San Diego, CA for campaigns in April or May. Dr. Meredith is scheduled to give a live worldwide on-line Tomorrow’s World Presentation on March 29 at 3:30 p.m. EDT. Be sure to check the Tomorrow’s World Web site for these inspiring and exciting presentations in an area close to you.
On the world scene, terrorists viciously attacked innocent French citizens, killing 17. The New York Times, Sunday, January 11, 2015 featured this headline: “In New Era of Terrorism, Voice From Yemen Echoes As France Declares ‘War.’” Later that day, the on-line Wall Street Journal followed with the headline: “Paris Displays Defiance With Huge Rally, World Leaders Gather With Crowds to Show Solidarity After Terror Attacks.” It is highly unusual for world leaders to gather together like this. The article reported: “Families and friends of the 17 people killed in the spree of violence moved solemnly at the head of the march. French President François Hollande and a row of leaders, who at times made for strange bedfellows, followed. German Chancellor Angela Merkel walked arm-in-arm with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shook hands with President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita of Mali, which doesn’t have diplomatic relations with Israel.”
What are the implications of these attacks? As we reported in our News and Prophecy feature: “Many feared for the long-term implications for a French society already witness to a steady rise in xenophobic and anti-Islam sentiment, and a political landscape increasingly polarized with the far-right Front National having steadily made large electoral gains” (The Guardian, January 7, 2015). In Germany, “18,000 people demonstrated in Dresden… against the supposed Islamization of Europe” (Deutsche Welle, January 8, 2015). Many worry the situation in France could feed anti-Islamic feelings across Europe (ibid.). These events appear to be playing into Bible prophecies about an end-time Islamic “king of the south” that will “push” against or attack a European “king of the north,” bringing retaliation from the European power (Daniel 11:40-43). The growing anti-Islamic sentiment across Europe could add to the political and economic pressures threatening to reorient the current European Union. For more on this topic, be sure to read our very informative booklet, The Middle East in Prophecy. You can also keep up with prophetic events by subscribing to our weekly News & Prophecy e-zine online.
Brethren and co-workers, God has called us to be watchmen (see Ezekiel 33:1-11) who will warn our nations of the impending Great Tribulation that Jesus prophesied will affect the whole world (Matthew 24:21-22)! God will protect us and guide us if we wholeheartedly dedicate ourselves to fulfilling the mission He has given us. We need more resources to go forward at an even greater pace. We are thankful that our regular income for 2014 increased 5 percent over what was received in 2013. We thank God for the many blessings He has abundantly poured out upon us to accomplish His Work! A particular blessing was the estate donations received in 2013-14. Those special donations enabled us—among other things—to put the Tomorrow’s World program temporarily on additional television stations that we would not normally have been able to undertake. However, we do not necessarily expect that such extra donations will be received in 2015, and as a result, we may have to go off those extra stations sometime this year. Please pray that God will provide a way for us to keep preaching the gospel of the Kingdom of God on all of our current stations—and even more as He wills! The need is great! Please pray and consider how you can help the Work at this time.
We rejoice in Christ’s promise, “‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’ Amen” (Matthew 28:18-20).
Brethren and co-workers, let’s look forward to the preaching of the gospel to millions more in 2015. How will that be done? “‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the Lord of hosts” (Zechariah 4:6). Thank you for your zeal, your prayers, and your faithful commitment to the truth!
In Christian love,
Richard F. Ames
P.S. Enclosed with this letter is a small gift—a calendar listing the dates of God’s annual festivals and Holy Days in 2015. Be sure to keep it handy.