February 27, 2026 Brethren Letter
Dear Brethren,
As many of you in the United States are aware, Mr. John Bawiec died this morning, Friday, February 27th, at 8:15 A.M. (Pacific Standard Time). John was a longtime member of the Church of God. He and his wife Donna were among the very first members to meet with us in the Church of God, Scattered Faithful, in 2010. He served as the Church’s first treasurer before Mr. Whiting began his responsibility in that capacity.
John was an ordained deacon. He took classes as a married student at Ambassador College and was an excellent tenor (who also sang a duet with my wife one Sabbath). He directed the choir in the Church of God (including the Feast of Tabernacles) for many years.
I want to share some of our personal experiences with John and Donna. We had several meals together, went to a movie at a theater one night, attended a classical concert, and they even drove us around San Francisco, UP and DOWN those many hills. We’ll always remember those times! We had the opportunity to stay in their home in Modesto, where both John and Donna were so very gracious. Both have been a true brother and sister in Christ over the years, exactly the way it should be! That’s their nature!!!
When we lose a loved one, of course, we’re human, and it always has an impact on our emotions, especially for a family. In I Corinthians 15, death is called a “sting,” and so it is. The GOOD NEWS is that John is now awaiting his resurrection, and it won’t be long that we’ll see him once again! 13 But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. (I Thessalonians 4:13-14 – NKJV). John will always be remembered by us and his brethren in the Church of God!
For the rest of tonight’s letter, I will include a few paragraphs from Mr. Armstrong’s booklet, What is the Reward of the Saved? Please have a good night’s rest, brethren.
Sincerely, Your Brother in Christ,
Gary Liebold
“Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made …. And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” The Christian is not yet a possessor of his reward — he is an heir — and what he shall inherit, if saved, is the PROMISE made to Abraham.
When will Abraham and his children through Christ come into the promised reward? When will be the resurrection? The answer is found in I Corinthians 15:50-53 — that inheriting the promises occurs at the same time the living Christians are to be changed from mortality to immortality. And Paul said it would be at the last trump — remember?
All right, let’s turn now to I Thessalonians 4:16-17: “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ [not out of Christ] shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” And so the resurrection shall occur at the second coming of Christ — when He comes as the King of kings and the Lord of lords to reign and to rule all nations of the earth for the first time. When He comes to set up His Kingdom, then Abraham and his children in Christ who have died shall be resurrected to immortality, to inherit the kingdom, a world ruling government headed and ruled by Christ, occupying the very land promised to Abraham — the land of Israel, and from the Nile to the Euphrates river. And this Kingdom composed of immortals, which flesh and blood cannot, enter, shall rule over all the other nations of the earth the other nations made up of flesh-and-blood mortals!
What a glorious promise! Jesus promised He would COME AGAIN to earth. And He promised further, when He has returned to earth, that He would, as He said, “receive you unto myself.” Where? Why, of course, right here on this earth! The saints, both dead and alive, resurrected and changed to immortality, shall rise to meet Him, as He is returning to this earth. They meet in the clouds. And, Zechariah 14:4 states that Christ’s feet shall rest on the Mount of Olives, in Israel, the Promised Land — and those who meet Him as He comes will ever be with Him, where He is. ”
When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory …. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” Yes, the Kingdom of God is the place prepared. Jesus said He went to prepare a place for us. He also said He went to get for Himself a kingdom, and to return.
And when He returns, as King of kings, and that Kingdom is established (we find it is the place prepared), then it is that the joyful call goes out, “Come! ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you.”