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Christian Biblical Church of God

Post Office Box 1442

Hollister, California 95024-1442

(831)-637-1875

Fred R. Coulter, Minister

February 13, 2006

Dear Brethren,

We hope you enjoyed the latest MP3-formatted test CD and that it played properly on your CD player. As you can see, the MP3 format allows us to include significantly more material on a single CD.  The WAVE format, however, limits us to a single one-hour, 20-minute sermon. Because of this time constraint, I have learned over the past few months to reduce the usual one-hour, 30-minute sermon—which is the length of an audio cassette—to one hour and 20 minutes. (And I can tell you that after 36 years of giving 90-minute sermons, it has been quite difficult for me to shave off even ten minutes!)  Some brethren have comment that the sermons are now “too short.”  This is the main reason we used MP3 formatting on this latest test CD—we were able to include three messages with room to spare.

The next test CD, also to be MP3 formatted, will have a total of seven sermons of varying lengths—and even then there will be plenty of room for more. Because MP3 formatting allows us to record more messages on a CD—as compared to WAVE formatting—we have made the decision to use MP3 for all future CDs.  I will also begin to actually record sermon messages in MP3.  The resulting sound quality will be very high—far superior to cassettes.

In addition to sermons, the extra space will allow us to record some of our Sabbath discussions. This way, you’ll feel more like you’re there with us on the Sabbath—you won’t miss anything!  And when I preach two sermons on a Sabbath, which I do quite often, there will be plenty of space to include them on the CD—plus, we’ll be able to include any shorter studies that I may give from time to time. And for me personally—I’ll no longer have to rush to finish in an hour and 20 minutes.

While the conversion from audiocassettes to CDs is progressing well, we have had a few setbacks because of difficulties with our digital recorder. Unexpected dropouts and shut-offs, for example, have caused us to lose up to half or more of several sermons.  In some cases, because we were recording a video at the same time, we were able to recapture the lost audio from the video sound track. In a few other cases we were, fortunately, using an audiocassette recorder as a backup. These difficulties have caused significant delays in making the final conversion from cassettes to CDs; as soon as they are resolved, we will fully make the switch.  Meanwhile, you will be receiving a combination of cassettes and CDs.

Websites and MP3 Audio: Thanks to our Webmaster, Ron Cary, all audio messages on our Websites are now in MP3 format. Ron, with the help of his son Aaron, converted the files last year. Using MP3 has made it considerably easier for those visiting the Websites, resulting in a significant increase in the number of sermons downloaded. MP3 files download much faster than other file formats, especially for those who have high-speed Internet connections. 

This mailing includes the year-end CBCG Website Report from Ron. Combined with his report is a year-by-year comparison of Website activity from 2002-2006.  As you can see, activity during those five years has increased tenfold! The January 2007 report is included as well, showing a dramatic increase over January 2006. It is quite apparent that God is leading people to utilize our Website.  We are constantly receiving emails and letters from brethren and newcomers who frequent the CBCG Website. (I hope to include a sampling of those emails, letters and comments in our March or April letter.)

Passover Preparation Material: In 2003 I updated the five Passover Preparation studies. Transcripts of these sermons were recently compiled into a new study booklet of nearly 80 pages.  All five sermons are also available on one MP3 CD that you can use with the booklet.  The sermons cover the “Words of the New Covenant” as found in the Gospel of John, chapters 14-17—and are the heart and core of the Passover ceremony itself. The material is an in-depth, verse-by-verse study of vital passages revealing the faith, hope and love God the Father and Jesus Christ have for us, and the faith, hope and love we need to have toward Them. This booklet/CD combo will be especially helpful in preparing for the Passover and spring festival season.  A coupon has been included at the bottom of the Website Report which you can use to order the new PASSOVER PREPARATION booklet and CD. If you prefer, you may simply email us or call the office to request your copy.

Messages for the Spring Festival Season: For the upcoming spring festival season we will be sending out four new sermons on one MP3 CD—one study each for the Sabbath before Passover, the first holy day, the Sabbath during Unleavened Bread and the last holy day.

God’s Plan for Mankind Revealed: We are nearly finished with the much-anticipated 600-page book, God’s Plan for Mankind Revealed by His Sabbath and Holy Days—which will feature a stunningly beautiful cover designed by Cindy Curley. As a compilation of 33 sermon transcripts, this new book goes beyond Occult Holidays or God’s Holy Days—Which? by covering all the feasts and holy days of God in great detail and showing how they reveal God’s master plan for mankind—and all from one source: the Holy Bible. Included with the book will be four MP3 CDs containing all 33 sermons.  This will greatly help in your Bible study.  In fact, many brethren love to study the sermon transcripts as they listen to the messages because they learn and retain so much more.

Bible Project. We are making steady progress on the Bible project—The Holy Bible In Its Original Order. In fact, we have already beat our first deadline, March 15, set for the completion of initial changes and the first round of editing. We are now in the process of going over every word of the Old Testament three more times to fine tune the entire text for accuracy and readability—making additional revisions as needed to make this new English rendering as accurate as possible to the inspired Hebrew text. We are aiming for June 15 as the final deadline to have the material ready to go to press.

As you can see, we’re not letting any grass grow under our feet!  If all of us, regardless of who we are or where we live, are continually loving God the Father and Jesus Christ, we will faithfully keep His commandments and live by every word of God. In turn, Jesus promised to bless us: “Blessed is that servant, whom his Lord when He comes shall find so doing” (Matt. 24:46). Spiritually, we must work while it is “day,” because the “night” is coming (John 9:4).

Every single one of us has a vital part, a stake, in all of these projects.  Everything that we do, now and in the future, will be used to feed the brethren of God the Father and Jesus Christ—as well as those yet to be called—so that we may all grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord. As the apostle Paul wrote, such efforts are “for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ; until we all come into the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; so that we no longer be children, tossed and carried about with every wind of doctrine by the sleight of men in cunning craftiness, with a view to the systematizing of the error, but holding the truth in love, may in all things grow up into Him Who is the Head, even Christ from Whom all the body, fitly framed and compacted together by that which every joint supplies, according to its inner working in the measure of each individual part, is making the increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love” (Eph. 4:12-16).

Letter of December 6, 2004: Because we have had so many requests for the letter of December 6, 2004—on the economy and the on-going crisis with the US dollar—we are including it with this mailing. As we get more information we will keep you posted on the coming Amero, now tentatively scheduled to replace the US and Canadian dollars and the Mexican peso in 2010.

Brethren, your love and continued daily prayers for all of God’s people are greatly appreciated.  We know that God is with us daily.  Thank you for your continued support through your tithes and offerings.  May God the Father and Jesus Christ bless you in everything.

With love in Christ Jesus,

Fred R. Coulter

Click Here to read the December, 2004 Monthly Letter

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