September 2016 Newsletter
Check out our September newsletter here.
August 2016 Newsletter
Check out our August newsletter here.
Facets of Our Ministry!
Hi I’m Demario Carter with The Counsel of Prophecy Ministries. I know that there are many voices calling for your support today, and they all may be doing a wonderful work for God. Therefore, I want to especially thank you for even considering helping us as we do our small part to hasten Christ’s return. Following are the several facets of our church ministry of which you may support.
Facets in Action:
- Campus Ministry: Last year we launched our student campus ministry at Wichita State University. The purpose of our campus ministry is to help prepare young men and women for the joy of service in this world and for the higher joy of wider service in the world to come. Our grand mission is to learn the will of God and our duty towards Him. Beginning this fall semester, we plan to hold Bible study classes, prayer meetings, and Sabbath chapel services for the students and community. We also, as providence allows, plan to in involve the students in mission projects in the Wichita community, mission trips to other states, and, of course, life changing Christian fellowship. Funds donated to this facet will be used to hold campus evangelistic series and assistance for mission projects. Go here for more information.
- Evangelistic Outreach: Presently, we are ministering to men who are lodge in a local homeless shelter. Bi-monthly we are scheduled to conduct a chapel service for an average of one hundred men in which we sing and preach the gospel to them. We have had many men answer the appeal of the message to surrender their hearts to Christ. Also, as opportunity comes, we visit families in the hospital or at home to encourage the weary. We hold in-home Bible studies and answer the call to witness wherever God sends. In short, the outreach of this church ministry is ongoing, with much work yet to be done. Funds donated to this facet will be used to supply literature to our community and assist in the continuance of in-home visits and Bible studies.li>
- Lifestyle Center: Recently, a donor provided us with a motor home (RV). This has allowed us to take the next step in our long-term plans for a small health retreat. With this RV, we are now able to offer the Saving Health lifestyle program to our community. In this program we plan to teach the eight laws of health and how they can prevent and reverse disease. We will take our guests through a 10-day detoxification process and rebuilding of the body. Funds donated to this facet will be used to purchase necessary supplies to start-up the program, repair and maintenance the RV, and assist those guests who are unable to render the full suggested donation for the program. For more information about this program, go here.
- Media Productions: Social media outlets have become a major means of transmitting information. To take advantage of this, we have a media program in which we produce sermons for YouTube and articles for our website. We also send out sermons or lectures on DVDs. Currently, we edit and produce our own programs, which can be time consuming. Funds for this facet will be used to help maintain the production equipment and assist in the creation of more materials. You can view some of our recordings here.
Facets in the Making:
- Small health retreat: It is clear in inspiration that the gospel work must be united with the medical ministry. The right arm of the gospel, medical evangelism, is as important to the work is the hand is to the body. Therefore, our ministry plans to operate a small health retreat in which we minister to the physical and spiritual sicknesses of those in our community. We desire a safe haven for the sick to resort to in order to recover health and learn a lifestyle approach to wellness. Since the details of such a ministry are yet to be determined, I cannot say much more than the fact that such a retreat will also provide an opportunity for the students in our School of the Prophets to learn the ministry of healing. Furthermore, we are currently searching for property to settle the ministry on. We are looking for acreage between 10 and 200. Funding for this facet will go towards the purchase of such property. Although we prefer to settle in the state of Kansas, we are seeking God’s leading. As His providence opens doors, we plan to move accordingly.
- School of the Prophets: As mentioned earlier, we are moving in the direction of starting a modern-day School of the Prophets modeled after the blueprint. In Counsels on Sabbath School Work page 62, the servant of the Lord says, “We must educate the youth, that they may learn how to work for the salvation of souls.” And in Gospel Workers, page 210 she says, “They must be taught how to labor for the Master. They must be trained, disciplined, drilled, in the best methods of winning souls to Christ.” Furthermore, the ancient Schools of the Prophets employed a work-study program that fostered a well-rounded character development for the pupils. Inspirations says, “The pupils of these schools sustained themselves by their own labor in tilling the soil or in some mechanical employment.” Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 593. One final note! We are also told what their main subjects of study were. “The chief subjects of study in these schools were the law of God, with the instructions given to Moses, sacred history, sacred music, and poetry.” Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 593. It is with such inspiration that we embark upon this all important task of raising an army of youth who can take the Present Truth into the four corners of the globe. The educational program of this school will include evangelism, agriculture, some form of industrial training, sacred music, and other, necessary academia. As we progress in our health retreat phase, we plan to give more attention to this school. Funding for this facet will go towards the securing of property and/or the purchase of supplies needed for the program.
When Moses was in the mount with God, he received the charge to gather freewill offerings from the children of Israel for the purpose of building a sanctuary for God. Moses, after receiving the plans of the sanctuary and its services, made an appeal to the people to bring their offerings on their own freewill. The response to that appeal was amazing. You can read it in Exodus 36:3-6. The children of Israel were so excited to act there part in supporting God’s work, that they willingly gave much more than what was initially needed. Consequently, they were told to cease their offerings. This is a lesson for you and me today. The Bible says, “He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.” 2 Corinthians 9:6, 7. In light of the above plans we have for the ministry, we follow Moses’ example in making an appeal to you for your support of the work. You may donate here.
Thank you again for doing your part to hasten Christ’s return!
A Note from the Director:
It is with great aspiration that we send you this appeal. Our purpose is to prepare men and women to stand through the last events of earth’s history and to rejoice at the second coming of Jesus Christ. Please join us in prayer as we embark upon this journey to the Holy City together!
With Kind Regards,
Demario Carter
Director, the Counsel of Prophecy
June/July 2016 Newsletter
Check out our latest Newsletter here.
The Next US President!
By: Demario Carter
As children of God, we recognize that our kingdom is not of this world. However, while we are not of this world, we are still in the world. As a result, we are to live as lights in the midst of darkness. This is especially true at this time when Americans and all the world is driven by politics. First of all, how are Christians to relate to politics? As noted by the 19th century Christian prophetess, “We cannot with safety vote for political parties; for we do not know whom we are voting for.” (1). Now while this is the case, it is completely appropriate for us to study Bible prophecy and notice the signs fulfilling its predictions. This brings me to my next question: How are Christians to relate to the current presidential campaign? And more interestingly, with Bible prophecy in mind, who is the presidential candidate that is most likely to win the 2016 election? Well, I am aware of the thin ice upon which I tread with this question, but in September of 2015 I answered this question in a lecture I gave in Colton, CA. You can view the seven minute excerpt here. Since then, more has developed, and I still hold to my position in light of unfolding events. So let’s take a look, from a historical and prophetic perspective, at the candidate who may become the next president of the United States and the dangers posed by this candidate.
First of all, we must recognize that it is God who chooses rulers. When God revealed Nebuchadnezzar’s dream to Daniel, Daniel praised God and said “… he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings …” (Daniel 2:21). Several years later in speaking to Nebuchadnezzar Daniel said “… the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men.” (Daniel 4:17). In addition to the fact that God chooses rulers, we have to remember that He appoints rulers that will judge a people in proportion to the works of the people to be governed. For example, when the nation of Israel provoked God to anger, God would often sell Israel into the hands of evil kings. “And the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the LORD, when Ehud was dead. And the LORD sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan … and twenty years he mightily oppressed the children of Israel.” (Judges 4:1-3). And again, “… the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD: and the LORD delivered them into the hand of Midian seven years.” (Judges 6:1). There are many other examples of this happening. It goes to show that if the nation is given to wickedness, a wicked king will be its judge, even if that king is of another nation.
Furthermore, when a nation turns away from the commandments of the God of heaven and commits sin, that nation will have a myriad of rulers, which only leads to further confusion and corruption. The Bible says, “For the transgression of a land many are the princes thereof …” (Proverbs 28:2). This verse shows that political disorder comes as a punishment for national sin. As noted by the 17th century biblical scholar Matthew Henry, “National sins bring national disorders and the disturbance of the public repose: For the transgression of a land, and a general defection from God and religion to idolatry, profaneness, or immorality, many are the princes thereof, many at the same time pretending to the sovereignty and contending for it, by which the people are crumbled into parties and factions, biting and devouring one another …” (2). The authors of The Pulpit Commentary agree: “…when iniquity, injustice, apostasy, and other evils abound, a country becomes the prey of pretenders and partisans striving for the supremacy.” This is precisely the current condition of America. Because of her transgressions, America has political parties that are contending for your vote. This brings me to another fact. Although it is God who chooses rulers, there were times when the choice of the ruler(s) was solely the will of the people. This is especially the case when a nation forsakes God. When addressing the northern kingdom of Israel concerning their long-continued departure from God, God spoke the following through the prophet Hosea: “Israel hath cast off the thing that is good: the enemy shall pursue him. They have set up kings, but not by me: they have made princes, and I knew it not …” (Hosea 8:3, 4). This initially occurred when the ten tribes of Israel first rebelled against the house of David, the rightful heir of the throne. Consequently, there were many rulers in northern Israel that did evil in God’s sight; they were neither chosen nor approved by God. And as it was said of ancient Israel, so can it be said of modern America: “For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind.” (Hosea 8:7).
