August 2024 Member Letter

August 8, 2024

Dear Brethren,

To say it is hot here in North Texas would be a huge understatement! We are in the midst of another hot summer. Normally, hot summers mean a slowdown in activities. But when it comes to the Church and each of us as individual Christians, our work doesn’t slow down because of the summer heat. There is never a time to let down when it comes to our spiritual development.

Over the past few weeks, I have received letters and emails from a number of members describing the trials they are enduring—health and sickness, family concerns, and discouragement—and asking for prayers. Satan is indeed very active, and more than anything, he’d love to see us simply give up. The apostle Paul wrote in Ephesians 6:12, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.”

Today we face the reality of a society and a world gone absolutely mad—up is declared down; down is declared up; and evil is declared good. It is staggering to see what has happened in the world just since the beginning of the 21st century, less than 25 years ago! It is indeed a spiritual battle that we are fighting, and according to Bible prophecy, it will only get worse. We must be confident in our knowledge that the solutions to this world’s problems are primarily spiritual even though there are often physical problems that need resolution as well.

To put our faith in a physical government to change things for the better leads to more discouragement. A good example is the South American country of Venezuela. I have been watching the election that just took place in that country. The background to the story is very sad. Less than 30 years ago, Venezuela was one of the wealthiest nations in South America, but with a recent cast of bad actors in leadership, it has become an impoverished nation filled with government corruption. With a national election scheduled, this year was considered the best opportunity for Venezuela to break out of this mold of corruption by electing a new government. The polls prior to the election showed Edmundo González Urrutia ahead of the current president, Nicolás Maduro, by a comfortable margin—65 percent to 35 percent. The election monitors from the opposition and the exit polls all supported these numbers. So, on Sunday night, July 28, it appeared that the opposition was about to win a resounding victory.

Then on Monday morning when I turned on the news, I was shocked to see President Maduro declared the winner with 51 percent of the vote. This seemed impossible, yet it was the official statement from the National Electoral Council (CNE) of Venezuela. The U.S. Department of State issued the following statement about the election:

“The United States applauds the Venezuelan people for their participation in the July 28 presidential election despite significant challenges . . . Unfortunately, the processing of those votes and the announcement of results by the Maduro-controlled National Electoral Council (CNE) were deeply flawed, yielding an announced outcome that does not represent the will of the Venezuelan people . . . Given the overwhelming evidence, it is clear to the United States and, most importantly, to the Venezuelan people that Edmundo González Urrutia won the most votes in Venezuela’s July 28 presidential election.”

This year (2024) was declared by major news magazines as the year of “the vote,” with more than 40 percent of the world’s population scheduled to vote in a national election. This will be more than any previous year on record. So, what will be accomplished? Corrupt governments continue in power, and evil continues to grow. In our modern world, there are over 200 independent governments in existence. The most common government types are communist, socialist, democracy, monarchy, constitutional monarchy, theocracy, military dictatorship, dictatorship, parliamentary republic and various combinations of these systems. Mankind is proving over and over again the wisdom of the proverb written by Solomon: “When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; but when a wicked man rules, the people groan” (Proverbs 29:2).

So, what is the answer? I believe we all know the answer. None of man’s governments have resolved some of the most basic human problems, and the world is becoming darker with more division, suffering and tragedy, leading to wars, violent uprisings and starvation. The United States, which has been a beacon of dependable government and peaceful transitions of power for almost 250 years, today stands in the midst of major division and confusion, having lost its moral compass. When corruption rears its ugly head, when leaders are selfish and power hungry, the end result is more suffering for the people. We see it virtually everywhere we look in the world today.

With the exception of his Gettysburg Address, probably the most famous speech given by former U.S. President Abraham Lincoln was his “House Divided” speech, given at the Illinois Republican State Convention in June of 1858. Lincoln was selected as the Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate to run against Stephen Douglas, the Democratic Party candidate. Lincoln lost that election, but he became famous for his “House Divided” campaign speech. That speech was not long—it was just under 3,200 words. The most famous portion of his speech and the actual theme by which the speech is remembered is a quote from the Bible.

The phrase house divided is attributed to Jesus Christ and is found in Mark 3, Matthew 12 and Luke 11. The context of Christ’s words is an accusation by the Pharisees that He was casting out demons by the power of Satan the devil. Matthew quotes Jesus as saying, “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand” (Matthew 12:25). The Bible refers to Satan as the “god of this age” (2 Corinthians 4:4) and the “prince of the power of the air” (Ephesians 2:2). He is the real force that has brought the world to the brink of destruction. But there is hope!

The fall holy days (spring in the Southern Hemisphere) describe for us each year the real hope for the world—the Feast of Trumpets, picturing the return of Jesus Christ; the Day of Atonement, picturing the removal of Satan; the Feast of Tabernacles, picturing the new government and 1,000 years of peace and happiness; and then the Eighth Day, the Last Great Day, the final judgment, which is followed by the new heavens and new earth. These days outline the real solution, a solution no human government will ever achieve. No election will resolve the suffering of mankind. It is a spiritual problem, one of character and moral fiber, which are severely missing in our world today.

Sincerely, your brother in Christ,

Jim Franks