Letter to the Brethren: September 25, 2025

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Dear Brethren and Co-Workers in Christ:

Greetings from Grover Beach, California.

I did a few inquiries into ChatGPT this month. Specifically, concerning the Continuing Church of God and the Roman Catholic Church. Now, by doing this, I was fully aware of ChatGPT’s programming biases against small churches. That said, many of you should find the results interesting and helpful. Here is a link that has the results: ChatGPT concludes that Bible believers should be part of the Continuing Church of God, but those who prefer ‘authority of tradition’ the Roman Catholic Church.

On other matters, Carlos Aponte confirmed that we are expecting to have a very small Spanish language Feast of Tabernacles’ site in Chile. The region is two hours from the capital, Santiago. The area is called Curicó, Maule, Chile.

For more information, contact Carlos Aponte. His email is carlosaponte2007@hotmail.com

The Feast of Trumpets is past and the other Fall Holy Days will be here soon.

In addition to the Fall Holy Days, matters concerning French-speaking Africa have been on my mind.

Feast of Trumpets

The Feast of Trumpets went well here and I have only received positive reports from other areas, such as Ethiopia, Malawi, Mozambique, and Kenya on it as well.

Furthermore, as I told the hostess on a podcast I did a couple of weeks ago, Jesus was not going to return on the Feast of Trumpets this year, despite a Protestant on YouTube claiming that He would. Jesus does not return until the LAST trumpet (1 Thessalonians 4:14-17; 1 Corinthians 15:51-52) and since NONE of the seven trumpets of Revelation have yet sounded, Jesus could not have returned then, though He will return relatively soon.

The Fasting Day of Atonement

The Day of Atonement is another Holy Day. It runs from sunset October 1st through sunset October 2nd. Those physically able, fast on this day.

Most of the Greco-Roman churches generally do not keep the biblical holy days that often occur in the Fall. Yet, these Holy Days portray many pivotal events in God’s plan.

Above photo of people fasting on the Day of Atonement on front cover of the Asante Twi translation of the English language booklet Should You Keep God’s Holy Days or Demonic Holidays?

Notice the following scriptures related to the Day of Atonement:

26 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 27 “Also the tenth day of this seventh month shall be the Day of Atonement. It shall be a holy convocation for you; you shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire to the Lord. 28 And you shall do no work on that same day, for it is the Day of Atonement, to make atonement for you before the Lord your God. 29 For any person who is not afflicted in soul on that same day shall be cut off from his people. 30 And any person who does any work on that same day, that person I will destroy from among his people. 31 You shall do no manner of work; it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings. 32 It shall be to you a sabbath of solemn rest, and you shall afflict your souls; on the ninth day of the month at evening, from evening to evening, you shall celebrate your sabbath.” (Leviticus 23:26-32).

7 ‘On the tenth day of this seventh month you shall have a holy convocation. You shall afflict your souls; you shall not do any work. (Numbers 29:7)

Fasting is historically mainly how the phrase “afflict your souls” has been interpreted by the Jewish and Church of God communities (this is also verified by such passages as Psalm 35:13; 69:10 and Isaiah 58:5) to mean fasting, unless one is somehow ill, and thus is already afflicted. Evening to evening means from sunset to sunset.

The New Testament itself calls the Day of Atonement, “the Fast” (Acts 27:9), which not only indicates that the Apostle Paul was keeping it (which he would be per statements in Acts 21:18-24; 28:17), but that Greek-named Theophilus (the Christian which the Book of Acts was addressed to in Acts 1:1), also must have been or another term would have been substituted.

Observant individuals affiliated with the Churches of God will fast from sunset this night until sunset the next night (if they are physically able–nursing mothers, small children, pregnant women, and various afflicted others are not expected to fast–this is consistent with Jewish practices in this area as well). In this fast we go without food or drink.

Oddly, one Protestant report claims that one reason Christians do not need to keep the Day of Atonement is because there is no Jewish temple today (Cocherell BL. SHOULD THE FOLLOWERS OF CHRIST FAST ON THE DAY OF ATONEMENT?). Yet, the biblical reality is that the children of Israel kept the Day of Atonement for centuries before there was a temple and the other reality is that the New Testament shows that Christians are now the temple of God (1 Corinthians 3:16-17).

In the Old Testament, the Day of Atonement included a ceremony where the Azazel goat was sent to the wilderness (Leviticus 16:1-10). Christians see this sending of the Azazel goat away as picturing the time during the millennium when Satan will be bound and sent away for a thousand years in the bottomless pit (Revelation 20:1-4). This means that Satan will not be able to tempt and deceive during that time. The Azazal goat was not slain, nor is Satan pictured being slain.

Because of the sacrifice of Jesus, a goat is not sacrificed by Christians to observe this day (cf. Hebrews 10:1-10).

Yet, although Jesus was our Passover lamb sacrificed for us (1 Corinthians 5:7-8) and He was slain only once (Hebrews 9:28), we also see a time other than Passover where Jesus is ceremonially slain.

Why?

Many have speculated, but there could be clues along with the fact that this sacrifice happens before the release of the second goat.

The original Passover only resulted in the children of Israel being passed over for their sins. In this age, those who are true Christians claim the sacrifice of Jesus on His final earthly Passover for paying the penalty for our sins. But real Christians are a small minority of the population of the world (Luke 12:32; Romans 11:5).

Since the Bible calls Satan “the god of this age” who has “blinded” the world (2 Corinthians 4:4), most have been blinded and have not yet been covered by the sacrifice of Jesus. Yet this will happen for nearly all who will be called–either in this age or the age to come (Matthew 12:32). Showing the sacrifice, ceremonially after the church age ends, helps demonstrate that the sacrifice of Jesus was not just for those called in the church age, as God’s plan includes offering salvation to all, and not just today’s elect.

By showing the sacrifice prior to the other goat being released, this shows that Jesus was not taking away the sins of Satan.

Jesus took the penalty of all human beings. But it doesn’t apply to humans until after God calls us and grants us repentance (John 6:44) and we come to be willing to repent and we come to believe. Not only in Jesus, but we believe the Son and we believe the Father, that is, we believe what They say.  Also, we prove it by repenting, being baptized, being granted the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38) and actually trying to live as They would have us live (cf. 1 John 2:6).

The Day of Atonement was kept in the 4th century according to John Chrysostom who preached against it (John Chrysostom. Homily I Against the Jews I:5;VI:5;VII:2).

This can also be seen in Canon 69/70 of the Syrian Apostolic Canons near this time which tried to ban it (Seaver JE.  Persecution of the Jews in the Roman Empire (300-438), Issue 30 of University of Kansas publications: Humanistic studies. University of Kansas Publications, 1952, pp. 34-35).

A Muslim document, dated from the fifth through the tenth century, states that Jesus and His disciples kept the fast on the same days as the Jews. It indicates that Judeo-Christians were still keeping the Day of Atonement while the Greco-Romans came up with a 50 day Lenten-fasting period that Jesus did not keep (Tomson P. Lambers-Petry L. The Image of the Judaeo-Christians in Ancient Jewish and Christian Literature, Volume 158, 2003, pp. 70-72; Stern SM. Quotations from Apocryphal Gospels in ‘Abd Al-Jabbar. Journal of Theological Studies, NS. Vol. XVIII, (1) April 1967: 34-57).  Reports from other historians support this view (e.g. Pines, pp. 32-34). Furthermore, we see historical reports that it was still being kept in Transylvania in the 16th century (Liechty, pp. 61-62).

The old Radio Church of God observed the Day of Atonement (and the other Holy Days) throughout the 20th century. We in the Continuing Church of God continue to observe it today.

In its Statement of Beliefs, the Continuing Church of God states:

The Day of Atonement called “the Fast” in the New Testament (Acts 27:9), helps show our own weaknesses and need to be closer to God (Isaiah 58:5,11). This day shows that Jesus was the atoning sacrifice for our sins now (1 John 4:9-10; cf. Leviticus 16:15-16) and those that will be called in the “age to come” (Matthew 12:32; Mark 10:30; Luke 18:30; cf. Acts 3:21). It also helps picture that Satan has a role in the sins of humankind and that he will be punished by being bound for one thousand years (Revelation 20:1-3; cf. Leviticus 16:20-26; Isaiah 14:12-16).

Yes, the Day of Atonement should be highly relevant for Christians.

The Day of Atonement is one of God’s Feasts per Leviticus 23 and is referred to in the New Testament (cf. Acts 27:9).

YouTube Shorts

While we have had over 300 views of our recommended sermonette for the week (watch Charlie Kirk and the Pagan Threat), we also reworked it to produce two of what are called ‘YouTube Shorts.’

Here they are:

We have already had a couple of thousand views of the YouTube Shorts, so that is one reason that we sometimes produce those as well.

Rwanda Issues


Above from PublicDomainPictures.net

We continue to see trials of various types.

Last Sunday, Moise Nshimiyimana sent the following in an email from Rwanda:

Dear Pastor Dr Bob , continue to pray us . …

So , now evangelism continues to be locked every time here in our country. They also stop us to doing God’s work online… .
“But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition , but of them that believe to the saving of the soul” (Hebrew 10:39).
Moïse.

He also sent a link to the following:

RGB boss warns non-compliant faith organisations hiding online

September 21, 2025

Officials at Rwanda Governance Board (RGB) have cautioned non-compliant faith-based organisations that have resorted to online preaching after losing their legal status or being temporarily closed for failing to fulfil certain requirements.

Recent regulations introduced by RGB necessitate that faith-based organisations meet several requirements, including proving that their places of worship comply with local construction laws. In addition, each organisation is required to collect 1,000 signatures from residents in their intended district of operation.

As part of other regulations that were already in place, faith-based organisations’ legal representatives and their deputies must hold a recognised theology degree or equivalent certification, especially if obtained from a foreign institution. …

Speaking at a meeting with faith leaders in Kigali on September 17, Doris Uwicyeza Picard, Chief Executive Officer of RGB, said …

“The reason why they are moving online is they believe that online is a lawless place, and that is not true. That is a message that we are putting across; we will be assessing this online preaching. All those that are found to be in contravention of the law will be held accountable,” Uwicyeza said.

Bishop Samuel Kayinamura, head of the Free Methodist Church in Rwanda and first vice-president of the Rwanda Interfaith Council, said shifting to online platforms without meeting regulatory requirements was problematic.

“Those who move online without the necessary qualifications, especially competence based, may risk misleading people. It is different when one meets the requirements.” …

The faith leaders speaking with The New Times indicated possible increase of online preachers due to the regulations.

Sheikh Mussa Sindayigaya, the Mufti of Rwanda, pointed out that some may turn to unregulated online spaces to avoid compliance.

“A person may flee to the uncontrolled field of online. We have called for online churches to be regulated,” he said.

“Requirements like a bachelor’s degree in theology and registration certificates should still apply.” https://www.newtimes.co.rw/article/29785/news/religion/rgb-boss-warns-non-compliant-faith-organisations-hiding-online?fbclid=IwY2xjawM84uNleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBicmlkETFUaWtVZGRiVXJPYTNsT0dYAR4H61Txiu5v_9HPV_vYzI3o1pHQXNW9xStgMke6U1Tpqt3WrNe-Vrzr-Hginw_aem_rLVzEYNLa–MtQdVS0DBSw

Notice that a church is required in Rwanda to have 1,000 people in each district and have government approved education.

The government does not seem to realize that this is banning smaller churches, yet we see groups like the Methodists supporting this.

We in the CCOG are not in opposition to the government of Rwanda. We just want to obey God and be able to function in peace.

Consider the following from the Book of Acts:

13 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus. 14 And seeing the man who had been healed standing with them, they could say nothing against it. 15 But when they had commanded them to go aside out of the council, they conferred among themselves, 16 saying, “What shall we do to these men? For, indeed, that a notable miracle has been done through them is evident to all who dwell in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it. 17 But so that it spreads no further among the people, let us severely threaten them, that from now on they speak to no man in this name.”

18 So they called them and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus. 19 But Peter and John answered and said to them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge. 20 For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard. (Acts 4:13-20)

So, the Apostles Peter and John would be totally unqualified to teach according to the rules in Rwanda.

It probably is not safe for any of our people in Rwanda to continue to teach over WhatsApp for much longer–and they also have been teaching those in Burundi and the Congo. Most people in those lands understand French better than English.

After praying about it, I wondered if we could produce materials in the USA, France, and/or Haiti and put them online, if that would be a way to not violate Rwandan law as everyone could then watch them in their own homes in Rwanda. Those in the Congo, and maybe Burundi, could still meet in groups and watch the sermons.

So, I contacted someone in France who has worked with us for years as well as Jeremy Nicolas in Haiti to see if they could possibly assist by producing sermons in French and uploading them. I also asked someone in the USA to look at ways we could dub or translate my sermons into French (as I do not speak it).  However, in Haiti, they speak Creole and we do not think that this would be understood in Africa, but I have asked Jeremy Nicolas to see if he could eventually upload a sermon he does in Creole to see if any in Africa will understand it. Another option is to have them watch messages that we have in English, perhaps with subtitles.

Anyway, we continue to strive to fulfill Matthew 24:14, Matthew 28:19-20, and work towards the fulfillment of Romans 11:25, despite whatever legal or other difficulties that we may face.

Please pray about this.

Reaching and Assisting the Displaced

Pastor Tiongik Sawek sent the following photos and report from the Rift Valley region of Kenya:

THE GOSPEL MISSION REPORT FOR MAU REGION

SHALOM…. SHALOM…

Receive greetings from Pastor Sawek and brethren from Rift Valley –Kenya.

We are happy to report that we are going on well with gospel mission, visiting brethren in different places and preaching gospel to new converts.

Our great mission and concern was majorly to visit Mau Forest evictees who were displaced by Kenyan Government from their ancestral land in 2019.

Our two churches which were affected are;

  1. KATARET CHURCH
  2. KOSIAH CHURCH

Kataret Church had 18 families while Kosiah   Church had 12 families and after displacement, they spread to different arrears to seek refuge.

We met them with their families with a lot of sufferings, their children have dropped from school and these families are facing starvation because they have no land to till so as to get food to sustain their lives.

We managed to reach them by tracing their contact and where they are camping temporarily even though we are still looking for whereabouts of other families. Our field mission trip was not easy since the terrain of the land was not favourable to us.

Our team leader was pastor Stanley Tiongik from Mau Church who is  preparing  to receive more brethren’s  during  feast of tabernacles because of the brethren who agreed to join them on the material day.

We began our trip on  Wednesday  17th Sept 2025 and on 18th and 19th brethren contact tracing was complete and on Sabbath day  and 20th September 2025 we hold a join Sabath day and on Sunday 21st September we hold elders meeting in Mau region.

Field mission elders present were three elders from Bomet Region ,Bomet Town Church, Merigi Church  and Kiromwok church.

Three elders from Transmara region Acts 20:17.

We choose two elders from Mau evictees join us in our meeting;

RESOLUTION OF THE MEETING

  1. We agreed to have a meeting after the feast of tabernacles.
  2. We agreed to continue tracing the contacts of the brethren
  3. We resolved to look for funds to buy them land and build churches for them
  4. We also resolved that the new church from Sogororbei will hold a joint feast of tabernacles with Bomet town church at Merigi Taach Arwet church.
  5. So we are requesting for funds to facilitate them because they are travelling far
  • Chilani and other churches, we held the feast at Chilani.
  • Nkaroni church and their groups
  • Takitech and their groups

In all our field mission, we notify Pastor Ochieng to pray for  us.

FROM PASTOR SAWEK

I told him that we were sending funds to Evans Ochieng, but that we could not promise funds to purchase land or a building.

That said, we have many poor people in that region (and other regions) who have come with us. In this case, you can see that these are people that the government moved and who have since been made poorer. They would seem to be among the hungry, poor, and strangers that Jesus referred to in the following:

31 “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. 32 All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. 33 And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 35 for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; 36 I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’

37 “Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? 38 When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? 39 Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ 40 And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’ (Matthew 25:31-40)

Other scriptures  also say that God’s people will assist the poor by supporting the poor (Galatians 2:10; Romans 12:13; James 1:27; cf. James 2:14-16; Hebrews 13:16; Isaiah 58:7; Proverbs 28:27, 29:7a).

Jesus also said:

2 The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest. (Luke 10:2)

Please pray for our income to better assist poor brethren and more laborers for the harvest as the harvest is truly great, and will get greater (cf. Romans 11:25; see also What About Romans 11:25 and the Full Number of the Gentiles?).

Suggested Sabbath Day Services

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

Here is a suggested Day of Atonement service for our scattered brethren and other interested people:

  • 2-3 hymns (our songbook, The Bible Hymnal, contains the materials from the 1974 Bible Hymnal from the old WCG with new covers, plus ten additional hymns; there is also some Choral Accompaniment online).
  • Opening prayer.
  • Offertory: The Day of Atonement Offering.
  • Announcements (if any) and one hymn.
  • The suggested sermon, which for most who receive this letter via email, will be a recorded one. The suggested one is by Steve Dupuie and titled: The Day of Atonement.
  • Final hymn.
  • Closing prayer.

Here is a suggested Day of Atonement service for our scattered brethren and other interested people who prefer to have two services:

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

Super-typhoon Ragala has hit Taiwan, Hong Kong, China, and even the Philippines. Also, there have been over 477,000 earthquakes recorded this year (see Super Typhoon Ragasa hits Asia; world hit by over 477,024 earthquakes through September 2025). Jesus foretold “troubles” during the beginning of sorrows (Mark 13:8), and we are seeing more and more of them.

The anti-migrant AfD was just risen to be the most popular political party in Germany. Some see the rise of the AfD as well as the rise of antisemitism in Germany to be reminiscent of pre-World War II Germany (see AfD is the most popular party, now, in Germany. What will happen? Wolfram Weimer sees antisemitism at 1930s level in Germany).

The Germans also, along with other Europeans, been doing military exercises in Greenland (see EU conducted military exercises in Greenland, plus is also looking more at trading with nations other than the USA). This, to a great degree, is an unintended consequence of policies of the Trump-Vance Administration.

Concluding Comments

The New Testament shows that the the Gentile Gospel writer Luke knew about the Day of Atonement, when he wrote:

9 … sailing was now dangerous because the Fast was already over (Acts 27:9).

What was Luke referring to according to Protestant commentators who do not keep God’s Holy Days?

Why the day of Atonement.

Notice two such commentaries (note italics/bolding are from the sources cited):

Acts 27:9-11 … Sailing was now dangerous, because the fast was already past, that is, the famous yearly fast of the Jews, the day of atonement, which was on the tenth day of the seventh month, a day to afflict the soul with fasting (from Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible: New Modern Edition, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1991 by Hendrickson Publishers, Inc.).

Acts 27:8-9 … The fast to which Luke refers is the Day of Atonement (from The Wycliffe Bible Commentary, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1962 by Moody Press).

The fact that Luke (who wrote in Greek, writing to a Greek) used that term for a Christian audience (Acts 1:1) demonstrates that the Day of Atonement was known, recognized, and observed by early Christians. He presumed that Christians would realize when “the Fast” was as they would have been keeping it. If they had not been keeping it, then Luke probably would have used a different expression. But he did not use a different word as he knew his Greek-reading Christian audience would understand what he was referring to.

Brethren, we all should also be keeping it as well.

My wife Joyce and I have been doing so for over four decades.

Sincerely,

Bob Thiel
Pastor and Overseer