eNews from Ministerial and Member ServicesIssue 250

November 3, 2016

Personal From the President...

Dear fellow servants of God,

I hope everyone experienced an outstanding Feast of Tabernacles! We had a wonderful spiritual festival in Hawaii, which we spent with our son and daughter-in-law and their four children.

We are returning to our regular work here at the home office and compiling reports about the Feast that we will be sharing with you. The next United News with most all the Festival reports will be going to press shortly.

Today we are recording two more Beyond Today television programs by Darris McNeely and Steve Myers.

The Pastoral Development Program is to begin Monday and will continue through the following Wednesday. Twelve men and their wives will be here for intensive training. Earlier this week we finalized the agenda and classes and look forward to spending a great deal of time with the new men who will shepherd God's people. In addition to those from the United States, we also have attendees from Canada, South Africa and Zambia.

Now would be a good time to pray for this country

While campaigning in Iowa a few weeks before the November election, Republican Vice Presidential candidate Mike Pence made this remarkable comment: "I would encourage you, if you are inclined to do as the Pence family does from time to time, to bow the head and bend the knee. It'd be a good time to pray for this country."

Should we in the church be doing this? The Bible does have specific statements about our roles and duties with regard to the governments of this world. They are simple

and straightforward and, perhaps to some, a little surprising.

The first comes from the apostle Peter: "For the Lord's sake, respect all human authority--whether the king as head of state, or the officials he appointed...Fear God and respect the King" (1 Peter 3:13, 15, New Living Translation, emphasis added throughout). Paul echoes this in Romans, where he writes originally to people living in the capital of the empire: "Everyone must submit to governing authorities. For all authority comes from God, and those in positions of authority have been placed there by God" (Romans 13:1, NLT).

Of course, there are also specific commands that when the laws of men defy the laws of God, we always obey God rather than men (Acts 5:29).

When both Peter and Paul wrote those statements about authority, the Roman Emperor Nero was in power. A short time after these biblical statements were made, Nero began torturing some Christians. According to the Roman senator and historian Tacitus (Tacitus, Annals 15:44-45), Nero falsely accused these Roman Christians of setting the city of Rome itself ablaze and subsequently (and horribly) setting some Christians on fire as living human candles, using them to "light his nighttime circus games" (Ben Witherington, New Testament History, page 338).

Can you imagine what the early Christians thought when they heard or read those words of civil obedience from Peter and Paul in that era? That was obviously a very hard command. Considering our various presidents and prime ministers, that may also be hard today.

Do we honor our human leaders? Or do we tear them down?

Properly respecting authority upholds the positive rule of law in this human world, helping to prevent the world from sliding into barbarous anarchy. That is why Abraham Lincoln called for "reverence for the laws," even to the point that in the United States he said it would become "the political religion of the nation." In the chaos of anarchy, there is great suffering.

The second principle of a Christian's positive engagement with human government is an unpopular one, but nonetheless true: pay your taxes. If you live in a country where you can civilly remonstrate against oppressive taxation, you are free to appropriately exercise your rights of citizenship as Paul did. However, Jesus Himself commands us: "Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's" (Matthew 22:21). Paul makes it even more clear: "Pay your taxes and government fees to those who collect them, and give respect and honor to those who are in authority" (Romans 13:7, NLT).

A third principle of a Christian's engagement with human government is that we are commanded to be a light to this world (Matthew 5:14). You can't be a light if you are hidden under a basket, out of sight to the world. Jesus Himself said that people are supposed to be able to see our good works, as they glorify God! We often (and appropriately) teach that we are not to be of this world, but do we also appropriately teach what Jesus said in His open prayer to God about us? "I do not pray that You should take them out of the world...As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them INTO the world" (John 17:15, 18). Note what Peter continued when he taught about our role: "For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men" (1 Peter 2:15). We are to live as servants of God, wherever we are, and we should living in such a manner that people ask us about the hope that is within us! (1 Peter 3:15).

Regarding human leaders, the Bible shows how many kings and human leaders conducted themselves badly. Such behavior is not new, and it will certainly happen again. The Bible also records that some rose to prominent positions of public service in human governments, like Joseph and Daniel. They stand today like spiritual beacons!

Consider some key elements of what God commanded the Jews in the famous "70 years" prophecy when they were taken captive to Babylon. They apply to us today. As the prophet Jeremiah recorded in a formal letter: "Thus says the Lord of Hosts...seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive, and pray to the Lord about it; for in its peace you will have peace" (Jeremiah 29:7).

Are we truly yielding ourselves to becoming lights to this world? Are we praying for and appropriately respecting our leaders? Are we seeking peace and pursuing it, especially among our people?

What Governor Pence suggested back in October is not bad advice at all. Now would be a good time to pray for our country. May God's will be done!

In Christ's service,

Victor Kubik

Raising Church Awareness on Times Square in New York City

As many have already seen on Facebook, earlier in October the electronic headline "United Church of God (ucg.org) to celebrate coming Kingdom of God Oct. 17-24" appeared on Times Square in New York City together with the UCG logo. The church headline and logo rotated on the large PRNewswire Times Square digital screen four times during the morning rush hour (8-9 a.m.) on Tuesday, October 5. The appearance was part of our media distribution of the 2016 Feast of Tabernacles press release with all-new content, for which we included paid media distribution through PRNewswire (total cost less than $800). Called the "Center of the Universe" by some tourism groups, Times Square hosts between 330,000-460,000 pedestrians daily.

I included the link to the complete online Feast press release in an earlier column, but here it is again for those who might like to review it: http://bit.ly/2dKUv3z This is a permanent and searchable URL address, so it will be around for quite some time.

The online release performed very well in online media placements, attracting more than 2,000 unique visits with more than 150 media pickups. These pickups ranged from Yahoo.com (http://finance.yahoo.com/news/united-church-god-members-observe-123000977.html) to the Web pages of numerous major newspapers, TV news programs and other sites across the United States, including a few religious

content sites. Six different Twitter accounts pushed the media release URL out, and it also appeared on LinkedIn, Google+ and, of course, Facebook.

In addition to direct content reviews in the United States, the festival press release was reviewed (to date) by people in 17 other countries, including Australia, Canada, Chile, Germany, India, Jordan, New Zealand, Nigeria, the Philippines, South Africa, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom.

As independently measured by PRNewswire, the engagement level for the Church's release was very high, scoring 92 on a 100 scale. That engagement level was definitely helped by church members sharing the online release link on Facebook and elsewhere, so our thanks to those who helped spread the word. PRNewswire estimated the people linked on the total networks accessed to exceed 86 million. We would of course only reach a small fraction of that number, but it does underscore the point that we reached new people who otherwise might not have seen the news about the United Church of God observing the annual Holy Days of God.

Many small pieces working together can help collectively advance our media efforts, so we will continue to explore new and innovative ways to reach people wherever possible. Thanks again to those who helped spread the Good News of the coming Kingdom!

-- Victor Kubik

From Ministerial and Member Services...

Recent Ordinations

Arthur and Gail Fisher

On October 17, 2016, Arthur Fisher was ordained into the ministry. He and his wife, Gail, serve in the Johannesburg, South Africa, congregation.

Roy and Shiela Gilos

On October 12, 2016, Roy Gilos was ordained into the ministry. He and his wife, Shiela, serve congregations on the islands of Leyte, Cebu and Negros in the Philippines.

Gem and Sarah Nagtalon

On October 18, 2016, Gem Nagtalon was ordained into the ministry. He and his wife, Sarah, serve the Davao City and Sto. Tomas congregations on the island of Mindanao

in the Philippines.

James and Mesaila Presbitero

On October 18, 2016, James Presbitero Sr. was ordained into the ministry. He and his wife, Mesaila, serve the Butuan City, Cagayan de Oro City and Tago congregations on the island of Mindanao in the Philippines.

Death of Joe Sheperd

Joe Sheperd

Joseph Sheperd, a long time elder, died on October 5th, at the age of 83.

Mr. Sheperd, along with his wife, Bobbi, served the United Church of God congregations on Vancouver Island. He was being treated for cancer and it was a blessing that God took him quickly, sparing him from suffering.

The Sheperds were called into God's Church while Joe was in the Royal Canadian Air Force. He was due to be promoted into the diplomatic corps with a possible posting to Russia, since Joe spoke Polish and understood the Russian language. Instead, they made the decision that he would leave the RCAF. They were baptized in 1964. Mr. Sheperd then spent many years as a manager in the British Columbia medical system in Victoria.

Joe reached a 40-year milestone of serving in the ministry on Pentecost 2016, having been ordained an elder on Pentecost 1976. In addition to his service to the congregations on Vancouver Island, Joe also served a three-year term on the UCG-Canada National Council.

Mr. Sheperd is survived by his wife Bobbi, his son David, and his daughter Shirley. A memorial service in his honour was held in Victoria on October 29, 2016.

Winter Family Weekend 2016

Call for WFW Presenters

This year's Winter Family Weekend will take place December 23 through 26 in Cincinnati. As in previous years, we plan to offer educational seminars on the Sabbath of Dec. 24. Our theme this year is "Prepared for Every Good Work," based on 2 Timothy 2:21. If you are interested in giving a presentation, please contact Frank Dunkle at frank_dunkle@ucg.org with your idea. Presentations should last approximately 50 minutes, and may be directed toward general audiences or teens.

Great Wolf Lodge Open for Reservations

The Winter Family Weekend in Cincinnati this year will take place December 23 through 26, at the Great Wolf Lodge is now taking reservations for rooms reserved for our members at a rate of $94 per night. While this is a significant discount, please note that the lodge also charges a resort fee of $9.99 per day, and also will add an additional charge if more than four people stay in a room. UCG does not discourage members from finding more economical lodging at other hotels in the area. To

contact Great Wolf Lodge, call (513) 459-8885, or visit www.greatwolf.com