Update from the President

At the home office, this has been what we call our monthly "BT Week." On Wednesday and Thursday of the week we usually produce three new television programs. Wednesday, we recorded "Shocking Teachings of Jesus--The Sabbath" by Steve Myers, and "What Is the Abomination of Desolation?" by Gary Petty.

In the morning during each recording session, a meeting is held with the video production staff to go over the script, decide on what graphics are needed, and discuss any other needed supporting material. Then, in the afternoon, the programs are recorded. These three programs bring the total number of programs produced to 325. Also, this past Wednesday night, a streamed, live Beyond Today Bible Study was given by Darris McNeely on the book of Nahum. You may be interested in viewing the entire Minor Prophets series online at https://www.ucg.org/beyond-today/beyond-today-bible-study/the-minor-prophets. It is also a complete series on our Beyond Today Roku channel if you wold like to watch it there.

Home Office Work Space

This past week, a design consultant for space planning visited the home office and met with a number of our employees on the second floor, seeking to understand our scope of our work and space needs. Our building was designed over 15 years ago with a different mindset and approach to our work environment. Advancements in technology have also opened and expanded what we can do and how we work together. In the coming weeks, she'll be giving us a full report, offering recommendations on how to best utilize our second floor office space. Our end goal is to create a work environment for our home office family that supports great working relationships, efficiency, productivity and creativity.

Internet

The Internet Web team achieved a significant milestone in our gospel preaching effort as it relates to our local congregations--who have also been intricately involved in this process.

We have just completed the herculean migration of 191 congregational websites from an older model to one which will put them under one functional umbrella. More than 20,000 sermons have come over to the new sites. Many of these needed revamped titles and summaries. Local sermons are integrated with others around the country and can be searched through keywords, titles, presenter and other criteria.

Now website users who are trying to find a church near them will find it easier than ever! We've already had a 500% increase in people searching for a congregation near them compared to the old sites. To find your local congregation, simply go to UCG.org and click on "congregations." The website should detect your location and automatically find your closest congregation.

The new look provides an improved local calendar. The pastor can make posts to the site that can easily be e-mailed to the members of his congregation at week's end.

Kudos to the many local site maintainers who so responsibly helped with this process.

On the home office end, we had many volunteers also donate their time to this task.

We want to thank our employee Melanie Morris who spent much one-on-one time with local web maintainers, as well. Melanie will be moving to Chicago, but she will continue her work for us remotely.

A big thank you to the remainder of our Internet team of Aaron Booth, Tom Disher and Tory Trone for achieving this landmark in our Internet service to the Church.

New Church Building Dedicated in Chiptata, Zambia

Last Sabbath, Lewis and Lena VanAusdle, as well as Brennan and Michala Hilgen, traveled the relatively short distance from Malawi to Chipata to be part of a ceremony to dedicate a new church hall. The financing for this building project was largely provided by LifeNets Australia. Pastor Major Talama sent us a report with photos that can be seen by following this link.

Be a person of influence!

In Acts 11, we read of an inspiring growth spurt in the Church of God. The Church was young, but already traumatized by the death of the first martyr, Stephen, in Jerusalem. This precipitated a dispersion of disciples to cities farther north. Amazingly, they didn't hide--they continued to propagate the gospel to the Jews and now to Gentiles in the very important Syrian city of Antioch. Their presence there bore good fruit: "The power of the Lord was with them, and a large number of these Gentiles believed and turned to the Lord" (Acts 11:21, emphasis mine).

It was here that the term "Christian" was first applied to these converts (Acts 11:26). Because of the work of the scattered disciples, the apostle Barnabas was sent from Jerusalem to further strengthen the fledgling church. The preparatory work, however, was clearly done by the disciples who found themselves in Antioch. They were influential and successful in the commission that God had given them.

Of late, I've been writing on the subject of discipleship in some of these Update from the President columns. Our job is to make disciples; that is, to make a positive impact on those whom God the Father is calling.

Have you ever thought of yourself as a person of influence? The truth is that you influence many people several times a day. Whether young or old, parent or child, employer or employee, you definitely have an impact.

Every day, people watch you, listen to you, react to you. Without realizing it, we try to influence other people--from getting our children to clean up and make their beds in the morning to trying to motivate our colleagues to improve how they do something or try a new approach. Many people who become recognized experts are peer-designated; people think they are experts, so without any formal recognition, these people directly influence what people buy or do.

You've experienced this yourself: people ask you for your opinion about something specific and then they act on that opinion because they respect what you have to say. Marketing agencies spend millions of dollars trying to reach these key influencers and convert them to their brand or cause. It's so powerful in our society that there's a whole category of advertising called "influencer marketing." Others call it "third-person endorsement."

There's an old saying that rings true: "People may not remember what you say, but they will remember how you made them feel."

With that in mind, have you considered the biblical fact that God expects you and me to be positive influencers? That's actually a main reason why God reached out and called us to be a part of His Church now. Jesus Himself told His disciples: "You are the light of the world" (Matthew 5:14). That has deep meaning for us today, because Jesus said our light was not to be hidden, that we are to be a living example that "gives light to all" (Matthew 5:15, emphasis added throughout). To make it plain, Jesus added: "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven" (Matthew 5:16).

This is partly why the apostle Paul directed us: "Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus...for you serve the Lord Christ" (Colossians 3:17; Colossians 3:24). If we found ourselves in the dazzling presence of our Elder Brother, the soon-coming King of Kings, we would strive to conduct ourselves to the highest standard possible.

Part of the reason that we are directed to do this is to fulfill our biblical role as an influencer. It is a well-known fact of psychology that when people see our conduct, they form an opinion of it. They are influenced by it--either positively or negatively.

Our personal behavior, mood and expression is contagious! When you hear the phrase, "she always lights up the room when she walks in," or "he always has a good word," that's influencer reputation in action.

Added to our influencer role is our contribution toward persuasion. A little over midway through the first century, Herod Agrippa II had come to rule in the Judean region, fresh from an influential political role in the court of the Roman Emperor Claudius. He was well connected among both Romans and Jews, even holding a close relationship with the Jewish historian Josephus.

During that time period, in the 50s of the first century, Paul was aggressively arrested at the Jerusalem Temple and brought to trial before the Roman authorities. More than two years later, by chance, Herod Agrippa II visited Caesarea Maritima (on the Mediterranean) to visit with Porcius Festus, the Roman procurator who succeeded Antonius Felix, who first heard Paul's defense. While there, Festus brought up the unusual case of Paul (who was a Roman citizen) and Paul's appeal to the Roman Emperor, knowing that Festus was a friend of the Jews. Intrigued, particularly since Festus connected Paul directly to the resurrection of Jesus Christ (Acts 25:19), the Roman Client King says: "I also would like to hear from the man himself" (Acts 25:22). The Roman official's reply? "Tomorrow you shall hear him."

The next day, Paul unexpectedly found himself in the midst of "great pomp," surrounded by senior military officials and "the prominent men of the city" (Acts 25:23). He was on trial before a direct connection to the highest levels of Rome. His comments would influence many people of importance.

Inspired through the Holy Spirit, Paul presented a brilliant defense, which is chronicled in the 26th chapter of Acts. At the conclusion, Paul hits home, striking squarely on Agrippa's Jewish background: "King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you do believe" (Acts 26:27).

What was the outcome of this stunningly powerful defense? "Then Agrippa said to Paul, 'You almost persuade me to become a Christian'" (Acts 26:28). It's an amazing story.

Today, we can be influencers and even persuaders. As Paul emphasized, he was "not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God" (Romans 1:16).

How about you and me? Does our conduct reflect the standard that Jesus established in the Sermon on the Mount? Perhaps a thorough review of Matthew 5:1 through 7:28 would be a good way to begin our annual self-examination before the Passover (1 Corinthians 11:28). If we are to influence and persuade, let us first be fully persuaded ourselves!

Once persuaded, ourselves, then we can fulfill the directive of Peter: "if someone asks you about your Christian hope [which they see that you openly live], always be ready to explain it" (1 Peter 3:15, New Living Translation). Let us be positive people of influence!