Weekly Bible Study every Wednesday night 7: 30 via Zoom; Currently covering History of Church of God 100-1600 AD                                                                               Weekly Radio program WKDW-FM 97.5 FM , 10-11 AM, Sundays                                                                                                                                                                           Weekly cybercast of Sabbath Service from Vero Beach, 2 PM                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

    Pastor’s Letter  December 25, 2020

 

                            The Ultimate Fake News:  Why Do We Have It?                                                                              

 

 

 

 

 

        Perhaps Jerry Seinfeld was right when he stated that people who read tabloid newspapers deserve to be lied to. The sad reality is that people who heavily read tabloids or other fake news virtually have no idea of what is really going on. They settle for TV and radio “news” which often is little more than “chewing gum for the mind”. Here they get fed a steady diet of pablum news, passive entertainment and local reports of endless police apprehensions of immoral people in trouble.

      People in this country do not realize that China, Iran and Russia are at war with the United States or that many countries increasingly hate the U.S. for multiple reasons. Portions of businesses, land and key infrastructure are owned by these adversaries. More countries than ever want to push America into subservience while others dream of an outright world without the United States. At home, communist insurrectionists want to defund and overwhelm city police to create political anarchy. Sleeper cells of extremists are also with us. Along with these dilemmas, too many do not realize that our Constitutional rights may quickly vanish. 

       Meanwhile at home, Americans further think that the government has endless revenue streams that can be tapped into in order to bail out anyone who claims to need money. But the harsh reality is that the government is broke and must print inflated dollar bills that it hopes the world in general will continue to accept.  Thomas Jefferson and others warned long ago that if Americans discovered that they could confiscate the treasury for their own purposes, they would unknowingly collapse their government. Today we are getting dangerously close to that precipice. 

      As watchman that must eventually give an account to God for how hard we have tried to warn the mass populous, we must also genuinely care about the plight of our fellow countrymen. While the Bible stresses that no one, including us, can set dates for the return of Christ, surely we can still point people to the ultimate answers to life’s most perplexing questions. We are called to live lives of happiness and to engender optimism for what God promises to do.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                      Coming Tsunami

        The Economic wave of mass destruction – What does God expect us to do about it                .                        ..  Since Most People Have No Idea What Is Coming

      God did not intend for the world to have to plow through gloom and doom under mounting pessimism because God is an optimist and wants to share His optimism. But when man repeatedly thumbs his nose at God and openly rejects and ridicules God’s laws for all people, including the unborn, God steps back and lets mankind devour himself with endless curses. Man reaps what man sows. Spiritually speaking, this tsunami is not what God made but what man has done which ultimately brings a tsunami on himself. If man would obey God, He could replace his curses with more blessings. But as it is, God’s observation of man through the prophet Jeremiah is that “the way of man is not in himself to direct his steps” (Jeremiah 10:23).

      Further illustration of this can be seen with ancient Israel in denial of spiritual wrongdoing. When King Ahab consulted with God’s prophet Micaiah, Ahab bristled with anger when Micaiah told him what he did not want to hear. With similar defiance Ancient Israel told prophet Amos to go back to his own country. Ancient Israel rejected virtually all of God’s prophets. Even Lot’s family scoffed and ridiculed him for urging them to flee the city of Sodom. Too often man wants to ignore the obvious – but he does so at his own risk. Man typically echoes the mindset of the Israelites who stated to Isaiah to just … “speak unto us smooth sayings; prophesy deceits”… Why fake news would be just right for these people…except that it would be dishonest.   

      Too many people think they know better than God does. Will things ever change? Will man begin to reap blessings instead of curses as shown in Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28? …especially spiritual and economical blessings? For the nation as a whole, change will not likely happen until our peoples will have suffered enough. The good news is that, according to the Bible, a number of people will indeed make the necessary course adjustments to turn back to God and ultimately everyone else, in time, will be persuaded to live by the word of God. By then tsunamis and fake news will fade into distant memory and the world under Christ’s rule will make a major course correction for the better.

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     We were sad to learn of the death of a long time faithful pastor of almost 55 years, Earl Roemer, who had served in numerous US congregations and was still actively involved overseas with the Filipino brethren. He lived with his wife in Alaska. I met him in 1976 and always considered him as a rock solid pastor and servant of the people. Our last conversation was last year. I am certain he has a very secure spot in Christ’s soon-coming government

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LOCAL ACTIVITY

Ocala      Much enthusiasm was manifested last Sabbath by brethren who shared a pot luck meal and then fellowshipped for a long time afterwards. We welcome Charlene who has moved to Leesburg and is happy to be part of the congregation. Stan Braumueler will be giving the sermon tomorrow.

Ft. Myers     Our snowbirds are back which is always welcomed. It would be good in prayer to remember Andy Hoffman who is looking to relocate to the Ft. Myers area. He has worked as a surgeon in numerous hospitals up north and hopes to find something similar here. Also remember Bob Branno who probably needs a hip replacement. Also his mom, Ann Branno is facing ongoing health issues as well. Tomorrow Chuck Smith will give the sermon.

Vero Beach   Brethren are looking forward to Karaoke this Saturday night after a pot luck meal, once the sun sets. I will give the sermon there. We continue to be encouraged with the weekly web cast. 

Tallahassee  It was encouraging to have a record-breaking attendance in Tallahassee last Sabbath with 33 people. This Sabbath, Larry Taylor will come over from Defuniak Springs to give the sermon, which will be held in Havana, FL at 1:30 to allow brethren to be able to return home in the daylight. Next week, I will be there as we gather at the Marriott. Unless we hear otherwise, services that day (Jan 2) will be at 2:30 PM  

"tsunami" by arkhangellohim is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0  "Funny tabloid headline in Edinburgh: HORROR IN GARDEN HOT TUB" by gruntzooki is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 "finally...some good news!" by debaird™ is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0"Tabloid" by Editor B is licensed under CC BY 2.0  "Tabloids" by Kevin H. is license under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0