Letter to the Brethren: July 8, 2021

Dear Brethren and Co-Workers in Christ:

Greetings from Grover Beach, California.

Censorship Via Shadow Banning

Google, which at times can be very helpful, is also trying to make it much harder for people to find our content on the internet.

Last Friday, a search for Can Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Be Cured? never led to a COGwriter link on the first 1/2 dozen search pages checked. Yet, it was the second item on the first page of DuckDuckGo and the fourth item on the first page of a Bing search.

Also, a search for CCOG on Google, showed our website on the fifth page, whereas we were the first item on the first page of a DuckDuckGo search. In the past Google had the most popular and most relevant items come up first–but no more.

Basically, what this shows is that Google’s algorithms are intentionally blocking these sites from coming up based on popularity and content. Instead, Google is trying to stop people from finding our content.

This process is called shadow banning.

Google does not get rid of sites in shadow bans, but makes it very difficult for people who are looking for information to find it at the shadow banned sites.

This is distressing, but not unexpected.

This is a precursor to the coming famine of the word (Amos 8:11-12).

Partially because of Google’s shadow banning, while we still have a Google ad campaign going, instead of just using Google, we added Microsoft last Summer–which runs Bing and DuckDuckGo.

We expect that most further expansion we will do will probably not  be through Google.

Anyway, after I wrote the above, former US President Donald Trump announced a lawsuit against Big Tech for censorship and shadow banning (see Donald Trump Trump sues social media companies, accusing them of censorship and shadow banning). Irrespective of the merits of Donald Trump’s case, shadow banning and censorship does happen, though many in the mainstream deny it is a problem. Yet, the fact that a few weeks ago YouTube censored and removed our video Disney’s abominable promotions!, basically because I quoted scriptures opposed to the LGBTQ+ agenda, shows that such censorship is blatant. Amos 8:11-12 will be fulfilled and Big Tech is helping set the stage for it.

BNP Magazine

The English version of the July-September 2021 edition of the Bible News Prophecy magazine was mailed out late last this week. Here is a link to it July – September 2021 edition of Bible News Prophecy.

Subscribers in North America should get their printed copy this week, whereas those elsewhere tend to have to wait several weeks.

Malawi Report

CCOG deacon Radson Mulozowa sent the following photograph and report:

Greetings from Malawi

How are you.we are all fine.
Let me report that I had a privilege to visit all  our churches in Mwanza
The trip was good and have seen the progress of the church
I have been in Mwanza for three days and the main challenge is that thirty brethren need baptism.
This year Mwanza brethren have planted cabbage using water pump
Best regards
Radson

The water pump is a reference to an irrigation pump we purchased last year in order to aid the brethren in producing food.

On other Malawi related matters, evangelist Evans Ochieng is planning on going to Malawi later this month.

Furthermore, Terry Nelson and his sons are planning to fly into Malawi before crossing the border into Mozambique for the Feast of Tabernacles this Fall.

Death of Joseph Okundu

CCOG evangelist Evans Ochieng sent the following Friday night:

Pastor Dr Bob,

Greetings from kenya. … a long member from mbani congregation 93 years old   Joseph Okungu died. I received the report this night.  This is one of the members who was with us in Living CHURCH OF GOD and are the first people to join CCOG.
Evans.

Joseph Okungu will be missed. His family is in my prayers.

Feast of Tabernacles 2021 in North America and the Caribbean

For the 2021 Feast of Tabernacles, services are to begin the evening of September 20th and continue until the Last Great Day which is September 28th.

We expect to have four Feast of Tabernacles’ sites in North America in 2021: Pigeon Forge, Tennessee; London, Ontario, Canada; a French language site in Haiti; and a Spanish site in Suarez/Vieques, Puerto Rico.

As mentioned before, for the continental USA we now have a contract to hold the Feast of Tabernacles at the Hilton Garden Inn Pigeon Forge, 2481 Teaster Ln, Pigeon Forge, TN 37863.


Hilton Garden Inn, Pigeon Forge, Tennessee

This is where we are intending to have daily services. This is also where my family intends to spend at least the bulk of the Feast of Tabernacles this year.

You do NOT need to stay at this hotel to attend the Feast of Tabernacles.

However, many will find that convenient.

Here is a booking link which should save you money if you wish to stay at the Hilton Garden Inn: https://www.hilton.com/en/book/reservation/deeplink/?&ctyhocn=PGFGIGI&groupCode=CCO&arrival=20210919&departure=20210929&cid=OM,WW,HILTONLINK,en,DirectLink&fromId=HILTONLINKDIRECT

If you prefer not using the internet to book, you are welcome to begin calling to make reservations (865-366-5250). You will need to mention the group code “CCO” to receive the discounted rates.

Those who wish to stay there can make reservations now if you wish.

Please send me an email if you plan to attend the CCOG Feast of Tabernacles in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee–you do NOT need to stay at the Hilton Garden Inn to send that email.  So, please send me an email if you intend to attend. My email address remains COGwriter@aol.com

There is a chance that we may have more people who will want to attend than we will have space for. So, to be sure that we will have room for you and yours, please let me know soon.

Please do not assume I know you are coming if you have not sent me an email to confirm.

My wife Joyce and I expect to spend most of the Feast of Tabernacles in Pigeon Forge.

In the Letter to the Brethren: May 20, 2021, we requested prayers:

Government restrictions blamed on COVID have continued to cause problems around the world. Specifically, related to the CCOG, this has affected us not only in the Philippines, but also in Australia, New Zealand, UK, Ireland, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Puerto Rico, and Canada in fairly significant ways. Please pray that God will open doors that have been at least partially closed/restricted the past year or so.

At this instant, we believe that Terry Nelson and his sons will be able to go to Malawi and Mozambique, but also that Puerto Rico will be available. My wife and I had planned to spend a couple of days at the Spanish site there, despite our lack of Spanish language skills.

The Letter to the Brethren: May 27, 2021 had the following information and prayer request:

We are also in the process of working on a Spanish-language site in Puerto Rico. Carlos Aponte has been looking at place in the Suarez/Vieques area close to a beach. It is basically a 35 minute drive from the Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport of San Juan. This will mainly be a Spanish-language site. For more information, contact Carlos Aponte. His email is carlosaponte2007@hotmail.com

Though I do not speak much Spanish, Joyce, David, and I hope to attend the last couple of days here. However, because there currently is a COVID PCR test requirement for Puerto Rico, and we are unsure if we will be able to get the proper test in time while we are in Pigeon Forge, we are not sure if we will be able to do that–please pray that God will open a way if it is His will.

After looking into it last month,we told Carlos Aponte that unless Puerto Rico’s COVID PCR testing requirements were removed, we did not think we could get the test results in Pigeon Forge in time to board the flights to go there. Well, Carlos emailed me that the government eliminated the restrictions this past Monday, so we do expect to be able to go to Puerto Rico as originally planned. Thank you for your prayers.

If you would like to attend our Spanish-language site in Puerto Rico, please, contact Carlos Aponte. His email is carlosaponte2007@hotmail.com

In terms of Haiti, now that Herb Haddon is better (see Letter to the Brethren: July 1, 2021), he will work with our host, Nicolas Moise, there.

Furthermore, Herb Haddon has been working on a site in Canada, which is near London, Ontario. It looks like services will be held on a member’s property there. Here is information about it, with some information tentative:

Rooster Hill Ranch

Note that this is a working farm, so there will likely be noises from cattle, goats and chickens/roosters.  There is one working dog in the house that is restricted to the mud room and 3 cats (2 more outside) that are friendly.  Daily farming activities (checking/feeding critters) start around sunrise but I can start with chores away from the buildings first.

Lots of room for tents if anybody wants to “camp out”.

Room for a camper/RV if someone wants to use/bring one of those.

Nearby hotels:

Best Western Plus Stoneridge Inn & Conference Centre (13 minutes, $98)

Cardinal Court Motel (15 minutes, $98)

Ramada (20 minutes, $68)

Courtyard (22 minutes, $100)

Four Points (21 minutes, $99)

London Travel Inn (22 minutes, $62)

And lots more…

Nearby Restaurants:

20-30 minutes from all manner of dining in London

Local Attractions (some temporarily closed due to COVID restrictions which may or may not be lifted by FOT):

Grand Theatre (London, 35 minutes)

Stratford (3 theatres – world class + lots of restaurants, 1 hr)

Niagara Falls (2 hr, lots of hotels there if one wanted to stay overnight and return to the farm for services)

Butterfly Conservatory (Niagara Falls, 2 hr but temporarily closed)

Grand Bend (fantastic sunsets over Lake Huron) (1 hr)

Point Pelee National Park (most southern point in Canada) (1.5 hr)

Toronto Zoo (2.5 hrs but temporarily closed)

CN Tower (Toronto, 2 hrs)

Royal Ontario Museum (Toronto, 2 hrs)

Royal Botanical Gardens (Burlington, 1.5 hrs)

Lots of “lesser” tourist attractions (like Parks Blueberries, various smaller theatres, etc.)

Farm-bound Activities:

Feeding critters, collecting eggs, flying kites in the hay field, nature walks in the bush or hay field, fishing in the pond, sunset watching (can be quite spectacular), fire pit/marshmallow roast (will need to get twigs from the bush earlier in the day), deer watching (evenings), feeding from the garden, bicycle riding (2 or 3 bikes, plus a couple of small child bikes), learning how to grow vegetables naturally, learning about basic chicken husbandry, making butter/yogurt, visiting a small local dairy to see where the milk at the store comes from (and maybe see how cheese is made?). BBQ on one day?

Typical Daily “Schedule”:

8:30-9:30             Breakfast (for those staying at the farm and others who let me know the day before)

10:30-12:30         Services (could be in house, in Lodge or in garage, depending on # of attendees)

12:30-2:00           Fellowship/lunch for those who wish to have lunch at the farm; pot luck welcome, but I will likely provide sandwiches/soup/stew

* I could also do lunch first, then services at 2pm

For opening evening, I was considering having an oven roasted lamb (if I can get one) or goat (one of mine) and maybe a chicken (will be +10 lb) supper at 5:00 pm (sunset will be at 7:25 pm).

For more information, contact Herb Haddon, email hwhaddon@gmail.com

Deacon Richard Close plans to be there if he can; Steve and Ruth Dupuie may also attend as well. Please pray that COVID restrictions will be lifted or that they will find favor by the border guards.

Furthermore, as most of you realize, we have other sites planned around the world. The following link is updated regularly as we get more information about these and our other sites: Feast of Tabernacles’ Sites for 2021.

Suggested Sabbath Day Services

Here is a suggested Sabbath day service for our scattered brethren and other interested people:

Note: If you have a slow internet connection, you can watch these by starting the video, then below it (and towards the right) look for an outline of a gear–if you click on that, it will allow the YouTube video to be played with lower video quality, but at least it will not stop often–you can select a quality as low as 144p. If your internet connection is still too slow (as my home one is) and/or you prefer audio messages to audio-visuals ones, go to the YouTube link for the message, click on SHOW MORE related to the description. You will then see something that says, “Download MP3.” Below that is a link to an MP3 file. Most computers (and even some cellular telephones) will allow MP3 files to be downloaded and played. This is an option we have made available (but we are also looking into ways to improve that as well)–and, of course, we have written article options. Some people have found that if their internet connections are not fast enough, that they can simply listen to the messages that are found at the Bible News Prophecy online radio channel.

IN CASE YOU DO NOT RECEIVE A ‘LETTER TO THE BRETHREN’ FOR ANY WEEK, REMEMBER THAT THERE ARE MANY SERMON MESSAGES ON THE ContinuingCOG channel AND MANY SERMONETTE MESSAGES ON THE Bible News Prophecy channel. There are also some messages at the CCOGAfrica channel. There are also messages in the Spanish language at the CDLIDDSermones channel.

World News Items

The President of Haiti was assassinated at home yesterday (see ‘Haiti President Jovenel Moïse assassinated at home’). This basically reminded me of the incident when two men killed Saul’s son Ishbosheth when he was in bed (2 Samuel 4:4-12). Truly in many places “land is filled with crimes of blood” (Ezekiel 7:23).

Over in Canada, a bill is under consideration that some believe will allow the authorities to arrest people basically for having views some do not like (see NewsPunch: Canada Unveils Orwellian “Pre-Crime” Hate Speech Bill – “If You Think It, We’ll Arrest You”). More and more governments are taking steps to prevent free speech, ultimately, we will see the coming ‘famine of the word’ that the prophet Amos wrote about (Amos 8:11-12).

Over in China, some there hope to be able to stop an asteroid that could cause ‘Armageddon’ (see Reuters: Chinese researchers propose deflecting ‘Armageddon’ asteroids with rockets). Well, the star the Bible calls Wormwood will hit the earth at the prophesied time (Revelation 8:10-11). And, Armageddon, which is a place that troops will gather, will still happen. Chinese rockets will not prevent either.

Concluding Comments

How will we know when the end will come and it is time to flee?

Jesus taught:

14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.

15 “Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place” (whoever reads, let him understand), 16 “then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17 Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house. 18 And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes. 19 But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! 20 And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath. (Matthew 24:14-20, NKJV)

So, the end comes right AFTER the gospel of the kingdom has been sufficiently preached to the world as a witness.

Now, looks look at the passage in Daniel that Jesus seems to be referring to:

31 And forces shall be mustered by him, and they shall defile the sanctuary fortress; then they shall take away the daily sacrifices, and place there the abomination of desolation. (Daniel 11:31, NKJV)

How will we know the timing of this and have some assurance that our understanding of its fulfillment is right?

By understanding the verses that precede it–which many Christians do not.

Notice what Daniel wrote, with the Contemporary English Version translation, regarding preceding verses 28-30:

28 Then the king of the north will return to his country with great treasures. But on the way, he will attack the religion of God’s people and do whatever else he pleases.

29 At the time God has decided, the king of the north will invade the southern kingdom again, but this time, things will be different. 30 Ships from the west will come to attack him, and he will be discouraged. Then he will start back to his own country and take out his anger on the religion of God’s faithful people, while showing kindness to those who are unfaithful. (Daniel 11:28-30, CEV)

Verse 28 shows that Philadelphians will begin to have the King of the North angry with them. Then, that King will send out a naval force that will be repelled by ships “from the west.” The west in this case seems to seem to the Anglo-American nations.

When we in the CCOG identify this, which is what I expect we will do, that will further anger the King of the North and he will intensify his persecution (and pressure for censorship) as well as to look towards others to betray us. It looks to be at this time that a lot of attention will be placed on the most faithful church–this looks to be the time of the short-work of Roman 9:28, which also looks to be the time when Matthew 24:14 will be completed to God’s satisfaction.

Around this time, a decree to flee will be issued, but we are not to wait until then before we prepare. We are to gather together to support the work before it is issued:

1 Gather yourselves together, yes, gather together,
O undesirable nation,
2 Before the decree is issued,
Or the day passes like chaff,
Before the Lord’s fierce anger comes upon you,
Before the day of the Lord’s anger comes upon you!
3 Seek the Lord, all you meek of the earth,
Who have upheld His justice.
Seek righteousness, seek humility.
It may be that you will be hidden
In the day of the Lord’s anger. (Zephaniah 2:1-3)

We need to continue to work to give the Matthew 24:14 witness now as well to prepare for what is ahead (see Preparing for the ‘Short Work’ and The Famine of the Word).

When the time is right, the events that the Bible prophesied will come to pass, and that is how we will know that it is time to flee, as well as to follow the decree to flee when it is issued.

Brethren:

19 We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: (2 Peter 1:19, KJV)

Take comfort in that during this age where the world that is headed towards destruction.

Sincerely,

Bob Thiel
Pastor and Overseer

Posted in Letters to the Brethren
About CCOG
The Continuing Church of God, which attempts to represent the most faithful remnant of the Philadelphia (Revelation 3:7) portion of the Church of God, bases its beliefs on the Holy Bible. Read CCOG's statement of beliefs for more information.