Good News 1968 (Vol XVII No 02) Feb

8/10/2019 Good News 1968 (Vol XVII No 02) Feb

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T h e GOOD NEWS February, 1968

More About Ou r Cover* +Real progress is being made on t he new Admin i s -tration Building Th es e giant steel girders outli ne-

the ofices that will so greatly facilitate the cooperation and

efficiency of those responsible for guiding Gods Wo r k . Heres a n answer to your prayers and min e e ts both thank God

for this answer, do our part to support the entire building pro-gr am -a nd pray harder for more answers like this

Clark mbasrodor C o l l e g e

What our READERSSAY + + +T h a n k Yo u , Mr. Royer

First, I want to thank you for thetremendously wonderful article, Teen-agers, Whats in I t for You?I, myself,am a teen-ager. Thank you for makingme realize more fully what a rottenplace we live in today. Part waythrough the article, I had to stop, notfor a rebellious reason, but to wipeaway my tcara. I 11upe utliei teeii-ageiswill read this article as I am sure i twill help them, too.

Jeanette K.,Texas

A n d F r o m t h e O l d e r S e t

I am not a teen-ager; but ifI were,I would be deeply affected by thisarticle {Teen-agers, Whats in It forYou ?]. Any teen-ager who can readthis straight-from-the-sh oulder, unw hite-washed truth about the consequencesu l suwing wild oats and w alk awayunmoved is indeed a hardened charac-ter already. In all the articles I havercad on this samc subject, I have notseen the punishments and the rewardsso effectively weighed against eachother. Thank you for articles suchasthese.

Carolyn E.,Vi rgin ia

How GodLooks a t Agr icul ture

We ceitainly appreciated the articleon Farming which appeared inTheG O O D NEWS.It seems like such asimplc thing to break down soil intoits three main parts , and then to addmore of the part which it lacks. But

its a rare thing to hcar of anyonetoday adding either organic matteror

bacteria to their soil even when itsneeded wvist of all. Only God canmake simple what seems difficult toman, and when His t ruth is known,its s o clcar and obvious that we areall amazed.

Craig B.,Kansas

Sees Mistakes Clearly

I tried to use natural organic fer-tilizers tu a grwt extent, but on occa-sion I did use ammonia and other

things which modern farmers felthad certain bcncfits over the organics.Although the soil was generally quitegood, my crops didnt turn out verywell. After reading the article,I canmore clearly see some of the mistakes

made. Thank you so much for thearticle, How G od Looks at Agricul-ture. It almost makes me want to be-come active in farming again.

Leonard T.,California

F r o m a Former

Ch icken a nd T urkey Ra i se r Mr. Schurters article inThe GOOD

NEWS s most interesting. You aredoing a fine job on the chickens. Theylook in perfect health.

Alta H.,Colorado

Autobiography est SellerPlease mail to me at your earliest

convenience, Volume I of the Auto-biogruphy of Mr. Herbert W. Arm-

(Continued on page 20 )

weGood N e w s

International magazine ofT H E C H U R CH OF GOD

ministering to its membersscattered abroad

February, 1968

olume XVII Number 2

Published monthly at Pasadena, California968. by Radio Church of God

EDITORHERBERT . ARMSTRONG

Garner Ted Armstrong

David Jon Hil l

Roderick C. MeredithHerman L. Hoeh

Associate Editors

EXECUTIVE EDITOR

M A N A G I N G E D I TO R

SENIOR EDITORS

Plbert J. Portune R o n a l d Kelly

Contributing Editorslavid L. Antion LeslieL. McCullough3ibar K. Apartian Bill L. McDowel3. Wayne Cole Kaymond F. McNairiaymond C. Cole C. Paul MeredithWilliam Dankenbring L. Leroy Neffionald L. Dart Richard F. PlacheCliarles V. Dorothy J o h n E. P o r t u n elack R. Elliott PaulS. Royer3elmer L. Hegvold Norman A.SmithZharles F. Hunting Lynn E. TorrancePaul W . Kroll G e r a l d W a t e r h o u s eDennis G. Luker Dean R. WilsonErnest L. Martin Basil Wolverton

Clint C. Zimmerman

Foods ConsultantsVelma Van der Veer

Rose McDoweIl

Editorial and Production AssistantsSteven J. GrayP a u l W. Kroll

Donald G. McDonald

Mary E. Hegvold Isabel1 F. Hoeh

BUSINESS MANAGER

Albert J. Portune

ADDRESSLL C O M M U N I C AT I O N S to the Edi tor,P. 0 Box 111, Pasadena, California91109.Canadian members should addressP. 0 Bol41, Station A, Vancouver 1, B. C. , Canada.Our members in United King dom , Europe, aAfrica should address the Editor. B.C.M. Ambassador, London, W.C. 1, England.South Africa: P. 0 Box 1060. JohannesburgTransvaal, R. S. A.Members in Australia and Sou theast Asia shouaddress the Editor. P. 0 . Box 345, N o &Sydney, N. S. W., Australia.In the Philippines, P. 0 . Box 2603, ManilaBE S U R E TO NOTIFY us I M M E D I AT E LY of an)change in your address. Please include both olcand new address . IMP ORT AN T


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E

A powerful undercover influence is at work on YOU to ruinyou financially. Most people are falling prey. Only drastic andimmediate action will be effective.Read in this article a seuen-

point program to financial stability.b y Alber t J. Portune

V E RY conceivable gimmick andpsychological artifice is being ap-plied upon yoit. Devious and

subtle means are at work to entice youto spend every dollar you have. Inaddition, seductive, attractive, and ap-parently harmless meansof expandingyour credit eyond yoirr meansare readily available.

Thousands of banks around theworld are sending out wholesalethrough the mail credit cards with aline of credit immediately available toyou of several hundreds of dollars.Even minor children have receivedthem. Many families receive severalkinds uddenly giving them spend -able credit up to as much asone thou-sand dollars.

Store windows are filled with glitter-

ing gadgets, appliances and personalitems. Automobiles are mnre daringand desirable than ever before. Leisureand sports items, boats, planes, stereos,transistor radios. . . and on and on . . .

From the pagesof thousands of mag-azines, from the glittering colorTVscreens, and from myriads of othersources come the seductive, psychologi-cally loaded commercials portrayingthat to be among the in group youmust have the status of having

The pressure is too greatMr. Average, around the world, has

fallen prey. The result is a matterof statistical record. People everywhereare up to their necks in debt nableto extricate themselves from the finan-cial chaos they have fallen into.

The ignominious answer for manyhas been p r r o n n l h n n b r u p t r y. Follow-ing the procedure prescribed by lawmany have filed bankruptcy and escaped the responsibilityof their debts.Then, to their utter amazementeven after a public bankruptcy proce-dure hey find the same avenues ofcredit and overspending even more

available to them than before becausdue to their previous bankruptcy action, they cannot declare bankruptcylegally again for three years.So, theybecome a good risk and the way iopen for them to make a messof theirlives all over again.

Gods People No Different

Unfortunately, brethren, the sampressiires that work on Mr. Average

I Loopholps You Can Use To Esc


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4 The GOOD NEWS February, I968

work on YOU. The results among Godsbrethren are also, sadly, a matter ofstatistical record.

Although there are many in GodsChurch who do manage their financialaffairs well, there arealso many otherswho are tightrope walking the outerfringe s of financial disaster

It is our individual job to make acandid and honeqt appraisal of our per-sonal financial situation and habits inlight of Go ds W ord.

God IS CONCERNEDYou d o have to answer to Himfor

your stewardship over the things Hehas given you.

Gods Word, the Bible, sets downemphatic and explicit rules concerningfinances. You can learn these laws andrules that govern financial success.

More important, youcan put them intopractice and experience thejoy, peaceof mind and security which goodfi-nancial management can bring,

The Firs t S tep-Analyzing the Cause

Before we can truly solveour finan-cial problems we must place the causefor financial troubles in its proper per-spective.

Underlying the glittering gadgetryand impelling advertising methods is afar more profound t ru th . W e arenotliving in a happenstance worldor so-ciety. The elements that are at workgo back to a primary source.

When Satan rebelled against Godand against Gods plan, he became theadversary of God ( I Peter 5 : 8 andall that God is working out here be-low. Satan and his cohorts, the de-mons, utilize their etztire time andenergies striving to thwart Gods pur-pose of creating sons to be in His

Kingdom.Satan is the god of this world(I1

Cor. 4:4 . God allows him to havedominion over the kingdoms andso-cieties of this world (Luke 4:6).Therefore it is no great mystery to usto realize that Satan is behind and in-spiring the customs, habits, fads, stylesand functions of modern society.

Therefore if Satan can entice youthrough the artifices of lust and desireto possess, ow n, and acquire o be

one of the in group o keep upwith the Joneses, he can bring youinto the despair, unhappiness and fail-ure that comes with the resulting fi-nancial troubles nd perh aps de-stroy your inheritance in Gods King-dom as well.

Its just that elementary.Notice the words of the Apostle

Paul: For we wrestle not againstflesh and blood {mens ways} butagainst principalities, against powers,against the R U L E R S OF THE DARKNESSof this world, against SPIRITUAL WICK-EDNESS in high places (Eph. 6 :12) .

W e probably dont equate our failureto manage our financial affairs withsubmitting to the wilesof Satan. But,brethren, this IS the essence of theproblem in many cases.

W e are warned of this principle bythe Apostle John: Love not theworld [kosmos or system), neither thethings that are in the world.If anyman love the world, the loveof theFather is not in him. For ALL that isin the world, theLUST of the flesh, andthe LUST of the eyes, and the pride oflife, is not of the Father, but is of theworld [Satans world) (I John 2:15-1 6 ) .

Therefore, brethren, thefirst step tosolving your financial problems is to

realize that overspending ot livingrealistically and solidly withir i yourmeans s voluntarily submitting tothe wiles of the adversary.

Put i t in the right cutegory. Make itimportant to your eternal life becauseit IS THAT IMPORTANT

The Second S tep -Who Is Se t t ing the S t and a rd?

Our toughest problem in financialmanagement comes from not beingcontent to live at the level dictated byour income. W e look aroundus andsee so many with more possessions,finer living accommodations, more rec-reation, more leisure and the like,Thisupsets us because we make compari-sons on an INCORRECT basis.

Whenever you feel you have to mea-sure up to human standards youre introuble. Whenever you place what peo-ple think or how people judge yo11above what G o d thinks of you or howH e judges you, then you have become

a pawn at the mercy of damaging in-fluences.

Notice Gods instructions from theinspired pen of the Apnstle Paul: Forwe da re not make ourselves of thnumber, or compare ourselves withsome that commend themselves [setastandard); but they measuring themselves BY THEMSELVES,nd comparingthemselves AMONG THEMSELVES, AREN O T WZSE (I1 Cor. 10:12) .

God is not concerned with thoutward appearance. God isnt judging you based upon how fine a homyou live in or how flashy a car youdrive. Your reward in the KingdomofGod has nothing to do with whetheyou have a color T V set or own atransistor radio o r have a high-fidelitystereo.

For the Lord sees not as man seesfor man looks on the orntward appear-ance, but the Lord LOOKS ON THEH E A RT ( I Samuel 16:7).

The really important thingsto Godare attitude, surrender and obediencTo be judged a man of status anpossessions in the world matters noting to God if a man lacks spirituariches.

Better is a LITTLE with the fear ofthe L o d than grcat treasure and trouble therewith. Better is aLITTLE with

righteousness than great revenueswith-out right (Proverbs 15:16 nd 16:s .God certainly doesnt condem

riches. God does grant rich blessingto those who obey IIim. But, themanwho does not accept the station or levelthat God has given him and tries live at a level ABOVE what God hasgranted is certainly in for trouble.

So, brethren, the second step insolving your financial problems is to bcontent to live on the level God hathus far given you he standard H

has set. True, you may at times havto live in very modest accommodationeat a vevy simple and elementary menand live a very simple life. BUT, thereis N O REPROACH that comes from GODin so d o i n g . . . AND, more importantif you are doing anything else RUTliving on the level God has granteyou are disobeying G o d

know this sounds like an eathing to say but a difficult thing to d

(Continued on Page IS)


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Deutschland unter Gott. Its more difficult than you might think for a concentration campvict im to repen t. Concentration camp li fe sears the min d. It burnsout love and tenderness immediately. Even normal human con-cern quickly falls by the wayside. Only love of self is left,swaddled in layers of consuming hatred, bitterness, reven ge.Thos e who fall in to these same Godless hands in the tribulationto come will have t o be cleansed of these feelin gs his wa rpe dmind s they come humbly before their Go d for forgiveness.All hope is not lost, but it is the hard way t o gain the Kin gdom

o f G od . Learn fr om Hans lesson-and repent now

HE WAR was over now. The Ger-man m illennium had come to anend after 1 2 years. My oppres-

sors were more thoroughly beaten thanthey had ever been before.

T h e cities lay in ruins. Ev ery inchof land was taken, andI doubt whetherthere was a single family in Germanythat had not lost some memberor mem-bers or possession due to this war. Itseemed at the t ime that the spiri t ofthe Vu t e r l m d was once and forall t imebroken.

But there was not one that ever saidwe started it and this is what wereap. All one ever heard in postwar

Germany was about the terrible airraids of the Allied forces and the mis-treatment of Germans in the hands ofthe Russians.

T

Free at Last

But I was free now, l iberated, andmy liberators were all thatI had hopedfor. They took good care of us for thefirst few days. I was very much im-pressed by Americans. Tlie Germansnicknamed them Amis (Ami in He-brew means my people). They were

my people now. They saw to il tlialw ewere fed and housed and well takencare of.

W e were de loused wi lhDDT aridtaken to a home for the aged in Munichrun by Catholic nuns. The old peoplehad to get out to make i o u m Tor ourgroup, but the nuns were left to lookafter our needs. They had to cook forus, make our beds, and clem our rwwrm.W e were not concerned wi th what hadbecome of the old people. After all they

by Hans Biegleiser

had shown no concern for our peoplethe previous years.

Being callous was the order of theday. I was all for revenge. Everybodyin our group was talking of going to

our hometowns and seeking out thothat ever said a nasty remark to us. Wall had our mental blacklists.We wereon top of the world; we had no fea

no guidelines. This was our chance

..

A prisoner after the Liberation in 1945.


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6 The GOOD NEWS February, 1968

return some of the deeds they hadhanded us. W e were proud of ourselvesfor having survived, and we had donei t all hy ourselves.

There was no Godor religion for us.My parents had taughtus religion, butwhat good had i t done them?

I R e t u r n HomeAfter several weeks in MunichI got

a pass from the American Militaryauthority to return to my hometown.

I still have thatpass. It exempted mefrom the curfew of the civilian popu-lation and it allowed me to use therailroad or travel on bicycle or on footto my destination. It took about aweek, what would have ordinarily havetaken 10 hours of travel. Everythingwent my way andI felt better every day.

Once I got to my hometown therewas nobody I knew or remembered.The town was in shambles and all ofa sudden a lonesome feeling came overme. Here was British occupation andthey saw to it that I got shelter andration cards the same as any Germanin town. The food was meager, but Ihad no money to buy it with. It lookedlike I had to go to work like anybodyelse. I had thought that once the warwas over there would be one big partyfor me.

But what could I doto earn money?I had only 7 years of elementary schoolbefore the war, instead of8 as requiredthere. The few years of working withhorse equipment in the camp werentoutstanding credentials.

Stations had been set up by UNRRAto take care of displaced persons. Theywere receiving clothing and CAREpackages with food to distribute tous.But that was the most corrupt organi-zation that I ever saw. I was still

wearing at the end of June,1945, myouter camp clothing- the last oneissued to me at Dachau. The adminis-trators of the UNRRA station gaveuscoupons entitling me to clothes, shoesand CARE food packages, but everytime that I went to claim some theyanswcrcd that not cnough camc in forgeneral distribution and thatI wouldhave to wait some more.

Truck upon truck arrived daily,because I kept watching. T he poor werenever clothed. The administrators had

a gold mine here. Clothes and foodwere in such demand by the generalpublic that people who had somethingof value would make for the TJNRRAstation. The staff of these stations wereselling all in the postwar black mar ketThere was not a chance for me to getanything and I started to get disgustedwith people in general.

So I Dec ided to Work

Then I decided to get to farms insearch of work. I travelled on a bicycleand finally found a farmer who wouldhave me. The conditions were: shel-ter and food, no salary and Sundays offf rom 1 to 6 oclock in the afternoon.My job was to take care of the milkcows, which was whyI only got a fewhours off Sunday afternoon. This farm

was about 2 5 miles from Dusseldorf.The farmer had a Luftwaffe (Nazi AirForce) uniform that fit me. Strippedof the trimmings it served the purpose.

My first assignment was the manurepile. It accumulates all winter behindthe cow stable and is spread in thespring, but it had to be loaded on acart first. And hereI stood with a four-pronged fork-m e the one who hadmad e it all by myself n the bigmanure pile. I felt like a deflatedballoon, but not yet knowing why.

Here I did find more than just shel-ter and food. The people were kind,and as soon as I became accustomed tothe work and did my share of it theytreated me like one of the family. Herefor nearly two years I worked and lived.Much feeling of a human being re-turned to me since1 was very callousedwhen I arrived. That people were starv-ing in Germany or dying from diseasesor war injury bothered me very little.I only concerned myself with its their

own fault for having started it all.But here was a German family who

made me feel at home and showed con-cern. They saw to it thatI got shoesand clothes, and it wasnt all workclothes either. They knitted me heavywool socks for winter and we went tosee all their relatives, also farmers, inthe surrounding area. They let me havethe horse and buggy Sunday afternoonand I took rides in the country withfriends.

Soon I found myself doing more

than just the hired hand; I did extrawork winter evenings, repairing thorse harness. But deep inside meIwanted no German friend.I kept reminding myself of the hangings anthe executions and that I wantedrevenge.

U . S . A . or BustThings werent going the way I ha

pictured in my mind now for severyears. I had thought that Germans aGermany had no more right to exiYet, here was a family who wished mno ill. It kept gnawing inside of m

After some time I decided to leaGermany for good because I felt thI did not belong there. It was eithU.S.A. or Palestine. I made America mfirst choice strictly out of selfish reaso

I thought my chances of getting rithere were better than ina new state asIsrael was soon to be. Besides,I wantedto get away from the Jews too. Ttraditions and the rigmarole of tJewish religion was not going to me down anymore. I remembered athe extras I had to do at home like puting on the irontlets with morniprayer and study Hebrew, etc.

Here on the farm I was eating pofor the first time and enjoying it Idont know why I should have since

also had to feed and clean the pigs heand cant understand why anybodwould ever want to eat these walkigarbage cans.

I did manage to get my necessary quirements and permits to come America after two years working the Tarin. Tlie Hebrew Aid Society pamy way and gave me $10.00 to booand I was off to the far-off wondeland that everybody in Europe envi

T h e S h oc k of Reality

I arrivcd in Ncw York in June,1947Everything seemed to be going my wagain until the ship entered New Yoharbor. All of a sudden I was scarewhen I realized that I did not knanybody here, nor did I speak tlanguage.

The Aid Society met me on the doand took care of immediate thinT h e y had rented a furnished room inbasement for me for which I pai

(Continued on page 23)


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Meditation-A Vital Key toYour Spiritual Life

Is your prayer really effective? H o w can it be moreso? You areprob ably neglectin g one of the vital keys to real SPlRITUALG R O W TH Heres how to get more out of prayer and Bible

s tudy through ME DITA TIONb y D a v i d L. A n t i o n

ow DO you pray? And why?Has i t done you or others anygood? Is i t helping you grow?

Lack of effective prayer is one ofthe major problems in Gods ChurchMany find it hard to pray.Or hard toconcentrate on praying. WHY W h a ti s lacking?

H

Diffe ren t K inds o f Prayer

What kind of prayer doyou pray?Is yours a sleepy-time prayer? oneas a duty in a cloud of stupor at theend of a hard day?

O r perhaps your most frequentprayer is the five mimite R U S H . Thiskind is sandwiched in amongall theactivities of the day and squashed into

five minutes. It is all comprehensivetaking in the entirety of Gods Work-all the sick, dicted, troubled, etc. infive long minutes

Then there is the repetztiozrs roteprayer This consists of the same wordsday after day. It is done as a choreboring, dutiful. It is lifeless. Andelation comes upon its completion.

Most of Gods people are guiltyfrom time to time of the RAMBLINGWORD, WANDERING THOUGHT prayer.

You k n o w wh at to say ut your

mind is on something else.A heart-less, mindless prayer is anabominationto GOD W e must repent of this spiri-tual R U D E N E S S to the ALMIGHTY IV-I N G CREATOR ur FAT H E R

Is your prayer halfhearted ackingfaith? Many who pray regularly admittheir prayer lacks dynamic faith. Theydont have the fervent wholeheartedprayer they so desire.

Some start out praying for othersbut within minutes end up with a

G I M M E prayer. Ending totally onself, this prayer fails to bringus closerto God or His people.

Then there are times in most ofourlives when w e really do pray th eEFFECTUAL, FERVENT PRAYER Ourhearts are in it ur minds on it.This rich, deep communion withourHeavenly Father through our HighPriest, fills us with His love and fur-thers our spiri tual growth

With the effectual fervent prayerourprayer life is interesting, exciting andstimnlating. We love i t

But why cant every prayer be thatway?

Here is the answer

Med i t a t e F i r s t

God told Joshua the keyto spiritualand physical success. This book ofthe law shall not depart out of thymouth; but thou shaltMEDITATE there-in day and night, that thou mayestobserve to do according to all that iswritten therein: for then thou shaltmake thy way prosperous, and thenthou shalt have good sziccess (Josh.1 : S ) .

David described the man blessed ofGod who always prospers. He said,

But his delight is in the law of theEternal; and in His law doth hemedi-tate day and night (Ps.1:2).

How many of Gods people taket ime to medi ta te? Do you? Do youthink about Gods law ? bout Hisway bout God Him self?

God says, Stand in awe and sinnot: commune with your own heartupon your bed, and be still. Selah.(Ps. 4:4. To commune with yourown heart is to meditate. It is to th ink

about God s Law is way. Th inabout your life our ways nexamine them in the light of GodLaw.

Dav id Med i t a t ed

T he man after Gods own heart amitted that he did better in prayupon meditation. My soul shall bsatisfied as with marrow and fatneand my mouth shall praise thee wjoyful lips: W H E N I REMEMBER THEEUPON MY BED, AND M E D I TAT E O N

63 : 5 - 6 ) .Your prayer would be more joyf

our praise more sincere f youtook time to meditate on Go d Dav

d id Wh y dont you?How many times have you beeunable to go to s leep? Wh at d o ydo? Count sheep?

THEE I N THE NIGHT WATCHES PS.

Why no t MEDITATE?As you lie there feeling the blo

pulse in your temple, think about G R E AT MASTER DESIGNER ho madyour heart. How is it that your hegoes on and o n? You almost nevgive it a thought. Yet this powerpump ticks on day and night. It sponds to the demands of physi

exertion or emotional involvement.W h o m a d e y o u ? How GREAT IS

GODWith this meditation will come

warm feeling feeling that yolike to kneel down and praise EVER-LIVING CREATOR. hen why noYou cant sleep why not get uand pray while youre inspired?

Or in the blackness of night whiin bed you can think of God on Hthrone. Think of HIS GLORY T h


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February, 1968

law It is my MEDITATION all thc day(Ps. 119:97 . David went on to saythat Gods commandments made himwiser than his enemies.He had moreunderstanding than his teachers be-cause thy testimonies are mymedi-tdtion (verse 99).

David had little trouble praying andputting his heart in to it. Thi s wasbecause he me ditated. H e thought first.H e said, M y meditationof Him shallbe sweet: I will be glad in the Eternal(Ps. 104:34 .

The GOOD NEWS

thc brcthrcn in Australia arc in themidst of church services. Its1 : O O p.m.the next day (approximately) thereThe brethren in England would besound asleep as it is 3 : O O a.m. in thewee hours of the morning.

While you sleep theyll be gettingready for church services. And beforeyoure out of church the Sabbath willbe over for them.

Dont forget Gods ministers. Manyare pounding the road every dayvisiting, counselling, anointin g. On th e

B . Bhanraol

ABOVE nd devout Buddhis ts d o not a l ter th is posi t ion in case of emer-gency RIGHT a h r i s h i M a h es h Yo g i , l e a d e r o f m o v e t o w a r d m e d i t at i o nin U. S. s i ts on table dur ing press conference.

How to Use Medi t a t ion

How can you put meditation intoyour l ife? Whe n should you begin?

Begin now oday Before prayingtake a few minutes alone to meditate

and think about God. Think aboutGods character throug h His Law.Think about the marvels of Godscreation.

Take t ime to meditate on GodsW or k Thin k about the overseas offices.Ponder world conditions. Let yourmind concentrate and dwell on Godsministers serving Him around theworld. Let your mind become con-cerned with GodsWork.

When you are praying at 10 p,m.Friday night Eastern Standard Time

Sabbath Go ds ministers are travelingrisscrossing the U. S. A. serving

Gods people.Pray for their protection Pray for

Gods inspiration on their sermons.

And dont forget the colleges Th estudents need and plead for yourprayers. They want to grow obeused of God in His service. No onecan do this of himself. They all needGods help. Your prayers for themare sorely needed.

Remember G ods ministers at H ead-quarters in Pasadena. Many decisions

IG decisions ave to be mad eevery day. Ask God to give wisdomand direction through His spirit toMr. Herbert W. Armstrong, Mr. Garner

9

Tcd Armstrong and Mr. Rodcrick C.Meredith. Pray for the editorial staffsof The PLAIN TRUTH, GOOD NEWSand CORRESPONDENCEOURSE. A n dsome say they cant thinkof anythingto pray ab out )

Ask God to bless His Work

financially and in manpower. Ask Himto open more doors aJ we are veadyfor the preaching of the gospel to theworld.

Stop for a mom ent ConsiderThe

Keystone

WORLD OMORROWroadcast. It goesto the world at large England

Australia, South Africa, PhilippinesAsia, South America, etc. plus thU . S. A.

It is a miracle h o w Gnd inspiresHis servants, Mr. Herbert W . Arm-strong and Mr. Garner Ted Armstrong, to preach in English, beingAmerican, and yet reach people whothink and feel different about manysubjects from Americans. Itsa miracleIts Gods inspiration

Ask God to continue to POUR out


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By asking these questions and ;hink-ing about the Bible your curiosity wilbe aroused to want to study GodWord. And you wont jus t studyyoull study with a purpose

Jesus Christ Meditated

Jesus thought deeply on Gods WordHe knew how it applied to His l ife

Gods Word tells us that Jesus wasled by the Spirit into the wildernesto be tempted of the devil. And whenHe had fasted 40 days and 40 nights,H e was afterwards an hungered (Mat4 : 2 ) .

What d id Jesus do during thoseforty days of fa sting? H e studied G odword, prayed, and meditated Undoubtedly He did much mcditat inwhile fasting during that time.

God led Mr. Armstrong to see thisthree-point program of spiritual re-juvenation. During a fast Mr. Arm-strong divided his time equally witBible study, prayer, and meditation.

Yet, today, perhaps the most neglected part of our spiritual life is thanf meditation. Few do i t And thoscwho do ont do it often enough.

God s W or d is replete with exhortations to meditate. Meditation isvitally linke d with G ods plan foour lives. No other being of Godphysical creation h a s a mind that canthink and meditate. God gave mathis capacity God intende d that wtake t ime from our restless everydayhurry to ponder the most importanques tions: W hat a re we ? Why are weWhere are we goin g? Wh at a re thlaws that will guarantee success ilif e? Wh at is the way that will leato eternal life?

Do you understand these questionthoroughly? Are you meditat ing o

them? And is that meditat ion leadinyou to a deeper, richer understandinof Gods W ord -in to a greater,moreintimate contact with God AlmightyYOUR HEAVENLY FATHER

Paul told Timothy these wordwhich also apply to you: Meditatupon these things: Give thyself wholto them; that thy profiting [progressmay appear to all ( I Tim. 4 : 1 5 ) .

Start today. Make meditationa vitalpart of your spiritual life

that inspiration upon His savan t s asthey speak to the entire world

Brethren, T H I N K ABOUT T H E S E~ m d p a y aborrt them

I have a globe in my study whichhelps me in meditation. Looking atthe various countries and continents,Ienvision how God looks at thistroubled world. In my minds eyeIsee the trouble spots, wars, crimes,slums, famines, etc. This inspires meto pray fervently, Thy KingdomCome

Thin k on your blessings. W e oftenfail to thank God because we donttake time to think on and appreciatethe blessings God gives us. Let yourmind dwell on Gods blessings to youand your family. Meditate on thematchless privilege of knowing the

true and Living God,of being calledout of this world of sin and destruc-tion. Let your heart be inspired tothank the Almighty God for theseblessings. An d if tears come on thold them back

Let meditation inspire you to prayto put your whole heart into ferventprayer.

THINGS

Meditation Helps Bible StudySome say they cannot remember the

Bible like they want to. Many readthe Bible and soon forget what theyread.

Is your Bible study halfhearted?Is itskimpy and meaningless?Do you readthe Bible like you would a novelmissing many of the deep passages?Is Bible study boring to you?Or is itreally profitable?

Heres how you can get more out ofBible study

David said, I will meditate in thyprecepts, and have respect unto thyways. will delig ht myself inthy statutes: I WILL NOT FORGET THYWORD (Ps. 119:15-16).

Meditation helps you rememberGods Wo rd

Think abont yonr Bible sttidy.Dont just read the Bible outof a dutyto God, and rush off forgett ing GodsWord. You should read the Bibletoremember it.

Take a few minutes to ponder,

think a L u u ~ , aiid meditate on GodsWord . Apply it to your life.

Ask questions. How does it apply toyour l i fe? Are there lessons that youneed to learn from what you read?W ha t are the principles of GodsWo r d ? Do you thoroughly underslaiidwhat you read?

Try to recount what youve learned.If you cannot remember itcompletely,then with a questioning mind rereadthat portion of the Bible. You will besurprised how much you will remcm-ber.

There are many opportunities dur-ing the course of the day when ourminds can meditate on Gods Law andHis Word. There arelulls in our dailywork or activities when our mindstend to daydream or drif t .

Don t let them Direct your mindtoward God and His Law. Meditate onyour Bible study. Meditate on worldconditions. Meditate on the miraclesofGod. I remember the days of old; Zmeditdte o n d l l thy works: I muse onthe work of thy hands (Ps. 1 4 3 : 5 ) .

Mcditation helps coiiiiect the knowl-edge you take in with the knowledgeyou have. Meditation helps youseethe relationship of Bible principles toyour life and world conditions.

If you dont meditate you simplymiss out on a real deep understandingand savvy of Gods Word. Dont missthe really balanced life because you failto think about and p onder Gods ways.

Meditate Before Studying

Unless already started some havedifficulty decidingwhat to study. Theyflip through the Bible from book tobook not knowing what they want tostudy. Finally out of fear and dutythey read a portion of the Bible.

Meditate before Bible study. See howit help s Ask yourself questions aboutthe Bible. D o you know whats in thebook of Joshua? Do you understandthe old covenant? Have you read thebook of Nehemiah?Do you understandthe book of Esther? Have you reallytaken time to digest the book of Prov-erbs wi th its practical pri nc ipl es? -reyou familiar with the exciting proph-ecies of the book of Amos?


11/24

Be Careful How You HearDo y o u have prohlems nhsorbing nll t h n t is t r enched ezlery Sab-bath day? Do yo u really LISTEN? Heres how you can improv e

your listening ability

by Frank Brown

i P R P C an nld joke that goeslike this: If all the people whosleep in Church were laid end

to end hey would be miich morecomfortable That, unfortunately, is ajoke with an ironic point to i t . Manyof Gods people DO sleep during ser-mons ven sermonettes s nearlyevery one of Gods ministers can testi-fy. It is said that in good speakingpractice, if the audience should begin

to doze, someone should take a longpole with a pin on i t nd prodthe spenker

This may be true and there maybe some excuse for becoming drowsyi f the speaker is a dull, dry collegeprofessor teaching, in a stuffy, pedan-tic manner, a dull. dry college courseBut if the speiker is a inan filledwith Gods Spiri t , expounding thewords of eternal l ife and bringing outpoints that may save Y O U from theGreat Tribulation or the Lake of Fire,then THERE IS NO EXCUSE

How often, brethren, have you sati n a Church service and had to fightdrooping eyelids, a wandering sleep-drugged mind and benumbed muscles?How often have you heard it said inChurch, that i f you intend to sleep allday on the Sabbath you would bemuch more comfortable home in bed?Yes, its true W and erin g attention,restlessness, bored, fidgeting, andsleeping during services, are allchroizicproblems in Gods Church.

Wake Up

God wrote into the Law of Israelcertain statutes that required the Law(th e Torah, th e first five books of theOld Testament) be read to the wholecongregation of Israel at regular inter-vals. This was a device institutedsothat men might izettv plead ignoranceto Gods Law. (See Deuteronomy31 :9-13.)

Today, the Bible is available toeveryone, so it is no longer necessaryto read and repeat in public liturgythose sections. But the samepriiicipleis followed evely Sabbath Day EachSabbath, sermons are preached in thecongregations of Jpiri tzml Israel, baseddirectly on t h e Law of Go d as ex-pressed throughout the whole BibleYou are held strictly accountable forevery word that is preuched iii yoiir

preseizceNotice what Christ said in Mark

4:23-25: If any man have ears tohear, let him hear.. And he said untothem, T A K E HEED W H A T Y EH E A R : with what measure ye mete,it shall be measured to you: andttiztoyou that henv shall more L-c given.For he that hath, to him shall begiven: and he that hath not, fromhim shall be taken even that which liehath.

Christ placed great importance inpayiizg heed to what we are taught,and then ac t ing on i t W e wil l beheld uccouiztuble for our dullness inhearing

Read also Romans1 3 :11 And that ,knowing the time, that now it is hightime to awake out of sleep: for nowis our salvation nearer than when webelieved.

Paul is telling us to wake n p out ofour SPIRITUAL slumber and lethargy,which is brought on directly byPHYSI-C A L dztllizess and luziuess during thoseteaching periods on the Sabbath.

Some will say: But I dont have abad attitivde. Im praying and study-ing. Its just that the hall is stuffy,and Im flat worn out after a weekswork that I find my eyelids becomingheavy and droopy. Is this Y O U ?Do ON make excuses for your drowsi-ness? Or do you seek out a way to stayme/ztally alert during the sermon?

Some Solutions

In many cases the reason for sleepiness is poor. diet. Heavy starchy mealsthat are slow to digest may tie ublood circulation around your stomacand rather t ian stimula ting your braiwill result in lethargy. If you have stomach full of heavy, starchy breadpotatoes, pastry, gravy or processedcereal, it naturally follows that youalertness will be grossly impairedYo ull feel torpid and listless Youl~ ~ , u i z t o take a nap But during services is not the time todo so

You have t w o alternatives: eithetake a nap before services, or dont eatso much To o much carbohydrate foois not good for you anyway. Ocourse, if you have a continuallstarchy diet (like most Britispeople ) , uuthiizg you do on the Sab-bath will help You will simply bsleepy most of the tim e Brethr en, i

you are drowsy in Church, as a cotinual thing, you may need torudicu1Iyoverhait1 your diet Jesus Christ holdsyou r,e.rpoiiJible for what goes on inyour presence, in Church, on the Sabath

Sleep and Exercise

Another factor that causes sleepinecan be the lack of proper exercisesuitable to your age group. Takvigorous w d k s regularly. Do calis-thenics at home. Do some jogging

around a nearby park, or on a covenient playing field. If you have regular exercise program (remembMr. Luker s article in the Augus1966 GOODNEWS?) ombined with careful balanced diet, your phy.cicnlproblem of drow siness will begin diminish

Of course, if you do nt get enougsleep at night, naturally you will haproblems, but the answer to that


12/24


word stand s justified NeverthelessJesus Christ tells us to L I S T E N , toH E A R and to U N D E R S TA N D W e needto know h o w

simply. GET M U R E S L E E P A personwho doesnt sleep at the right times issimply committing slow spiritual sui-cide You will u m e r be able to opcrateat maximum efficiency, unless yourbody is rested and rejuvenated atregular intervals. I well remember oneCollege student who sat L P al l nightto study for a test and the next morn-ing slept right through it nd someothers besides His method was self-defeating, yet many of us are doingthe same thing

It is a wonderful blessing to fellow-ship and visit and talk about the Bibleand Gods Plan, and certainly no onewould ever discourage that; biit ifyou sit up until early morning to doso and then sleep through the Sabbathservice, have you really gained any-

th in g? Of course not Sleep at theproper times et about eight hoursa night nd be shavp and alertduring the day

Are You Really Listening?

However, in spite of applying theabove remedies and many othersbesides, some of Gods People stillhave difficulty in getting the most outof Sabbath Services and Bible Studies.They seem alert and attentive, yet muchof what is preached is missed. They

forget things. Try this little test onyuurxlf . Without looking up any noteswrite down the subjects of the lasts i x ~ e r m o ~ z sou heard. Can you do it?Vcry fcw could do it successfully wilh-out faltering, groaning, racking theirbrain; and emitting sounds of an-guish

This points up a weakness in thehuman faculties The re is aprob lemwith H E A R I N G and L I S T E N I N G

Extensive tests have shown conclu-sively that immediately after the aver-age person has listened to someonetalk he i ,emembers only about half ofwha t he has heard o matter howr a r r f r i l l y he thought he was listening

Various research projects substan-tiated the shocking fact that twomonths after listening to a talk, theaverage listener will remember onlyabout 25 percent of what was said Infart, after we have barely learned some-thin g we tend to forge t one-halftoone-third of it within eight hours

This is made even more startling whenwe realize we forgetmore in the eighthours immediately fol lowing than inthe next six months

Brethren, these facts become impor-tant when we understand what isrryi&d of us W hy is it that a ser-mon we were particularly moved byon the Sabbath day is half forgotten bythe following Sunday?Tr y as we will,we always seem to forget the explana-tions of sim ple basic questions tha t weheard the minister preach ina sermonW H Y ? Well read on and find out.

Tracks and Sidetracks

One factor that presents a greatbarrier to developing good listeningtechniques is the fact thatwe thinkinestimably quicker than we speak,

The average rate of speech for mostpeople is around 1 2 5 words a minute(this may vary depending on nation-ality). This rate is slow going for thehuman brain which makes even themost sophisticated computer look likean illiterate clod Tho ugh ts racethrough our brains considerably fasterthan the spoken word. This means wecan listen and still have time toth ink .Its the use and abuse of this sparethznkzmg time that causes the prob-lem

How many times have you been lis-tening intently to the sermon when astatement or word will trigger off areaction or memory in your mind?Instead of jightzng the temptation toreminisce or wander, we float off themain stream for a few seconds to putin a few thoughts of our own andthen float idly back. This is a processwhich repeats itself many times, eachlittle sidelrack getting longer andlonger, until you are missing greatchunks of what is being said Then ,because you cant capture the themeagain, you simply tune out Sure, youare alert and bright Certainly youarent drowsy or lethargic But youstill miss abotlt 5 0 percent of everythingthat is said. Shoc king ? Yes, but clini-r a l l y proved

No wonder announcements have tobe continually repeated time after timeduring the Feast of Tabernacles Nowthe well-worn expression, Th eres al-ways someone who doesnt get the

Steps to Improve Listening

Like everytliiiig else that ought tbe well-done, good listening habitstake time and effort to develop. Sinhowever, more of our time is spent inlistenin g rather than speaking (a bou80 percent) we have ample opportuity to practice.

Your listening and retention can bimproved one-hundred-f old simply byfollowing seven straightforward stepThey require very little effort ansince most of the tim e will be spent listening anyway, you might as webegin to learn to use it profitably

It has been proved unequivocalthat it is possible to improve yourlisten ing tatistics are available prove it You do not need to bespecially gifted, or have a collegeeducation to begin improving Stanow and find the thrill in getting50percent more from every sermon

Step One: Make a JOB ofListening

The first step in our improvemecampaign is toL O OK AT THE S P E A K E R

Make a JO B of listening intentlydont relax work hard at it A she looks at you in the audience,lookright back at him Dont put on aglassy-eyed einpty stare hats wha lot of sleepers do nd donpull faces S h o w by the expression oyour face that you are listening. Reaoutwardly, to what is presented Bintent on what is being said. Be in-terested; get absorbed in what is beingsaid In one example shown in Aca man was healed because heexpressed

the zuay he felt on his face Read thaccount in Acts 14:8-10. PaulKNEWthat that cripple really believedwhat was being said He was INTENT

nd excitedThe second step ties right in w

number one. f i s : DONT ALLOWY OU RS EL F TO B E DISTRACTED. Thitakes work and no little effort, but practiced will be well rewarded wgreater comprehension and retention

(Continued on Page 21)


13/24

LITTLE THINGS COUNTW h i c h of the commandments could be considered the leastof the comm andments? I f you have an answer you need t o findout h ow very m uch the lit tle things count. Th is article showshow the small item s of your life are far more important than you

realize

HE YOUNG major taxied onto thefield, and positioned the jet fortakeoff. Ahead, the8,000 ft . run-

way narrowed into an invisible ribbonof infinity. Flight plan calculationscalled for a 6,700 ft. takeoff, leavinga runway excess of 1,3 00 ft. Th e majorchecked the instrument panel for thefinal time, revved the engine up to100% RPM and released the toe brake.T h e jet moved forward one inch andfor all practical purposes the pilot wasdoomed I t2 e f f e c t h e was already dead.

Th e weatherwas clear, surface windscalm, engine in perfect condition withno m echanical defects. T h e pilot washighly experienced with a spotlcssrecord. No one person involved in theoperation was guilty of a fatal blunder,yct a serieJ of minor blitizder.s, not anyone fatal in itself all told the stark fact

-the pilot needed even more than8,000 ft. to get aloft . In fact he needed8,100 ft . , 100 ft . more than the runwaylength.

Jus t a Li t t le Shor t

Normally 6,700 ft . would have beensufficient. The 8,000 ft. would haveindeed provide d a 1,30 0 ft. excess. Butfour minor thefts robbed the pilot ofthat surplus and actually put him in thered

T

Heres what happened

A four-knot-an-hour tail wind wassosmall the tower d idn t noticeor considerit important. This tai l wind cost thepilot 310 ft. His surplus was down to990 f t .

At takeoff time the temperature was9 7 O . Atit a failure in the warning l ightsystem required repair. Not a long delay

nly / hour ertainly not longenough or important enough to changethe flight plan. But by takeoff time thetemperature had risento l o l o . This cost

by Bryce G . Clark

the pilot 190 ft . His surplus was nowdown to 800 f t .

Th e next theft resulted from an op ti-cal illusion. This was the first takeofffor the major on this field. Theei7d ofthe runway was actually 260 ft. higherthan the takeoff point. Again, undernormal conditions this would have beenno problem, but with the tail wind andtemperature rise the jet now required anadditional 5 5 0 ft . His surpluswas nowdown to 250 fee t

T he last theft was the result of care-lessness. Th e major had becn out onthe town with no intention of depart-ing soon. Unexpectedly orders came,sowith 31/2 hours of slccp he reported tothe base. T he previous evening while thetemperature was cool the plane had beenrcfuclcd and the followingmorning theAssistant Operations Officer figured the

fuel tank compensation. Instead of add-ing the figure he sitbtrzlrted and thegroggy pilot failed to spot the error.This cost the pilot350 f t . H e zua~ o w100 fee t in the red

Our Las t ChanceOnly one chance remained.He could

still abort the mission at the4,000 f t .runway marker, but unknown to thepilot a runway crew had failed to changethe runway signs. The runway lengthhad been 7,600 ft., but recently expand-

ed to 8,000 ft. Thus the takeoff pointwhere the runway had been lengthenedwas actually 400 feet longer than thesigns indicated. Hence at the1 000 t .marker the jet had already traveled1,400 f t .

Assuming the speedto be sufficientatthe 4,000 ft. marker the pilot continued.H e was now 8 knots below what wasrequired. Only the last moment told himthe shocking truth but it was now toolate. As the runway suddenly vanished

the jet shuddered violently trying l if t, then plummeted to the earth withatremendous explosion. It was all ovnow for the pilot who learned too lait is the l i t t le things thnt coiirzt

This fictional incident writtenup inHarper s Magazine by Beirne Lay, Jr.veteran flyer and author of TzuelveOclock High illustrates from militarrecords the many tiny mishaps whiccan lead a pilot to disaster. Whether thexact incident took place is irrelevanT he principal lesson is that humbeings often fail to realize it i thelittle things that count.

Too many peoplein the world todayand too many brcthrcn in Go ds Churpay little attention to those matters thconsider the least important. Yet inrcality can save their livcs heireternal lives Just as these minor thef

robbed this pilotof his life these littlthings can rob you of your life-forever Lets examine a few.

Bible StudyThe biggest cause for members lea

ing Gods Church is lethargy. Thesepeople just givr up a n d quit. And d oyou know h ow they s tar t? They start neglecting B ible study God s ministewill agree far too many hrethren tait easy and let down in their personBible study first of u l l Somehow the

delude themselves into believingas longas they are accepted as church membeas long as they attend Sabbath Serviregularly and are there, as longasthey pay tithes, attend holy day meings and listen to the broadcast they adoing enough. They failto realize thneed for personal, continual, individuBible study. To them it is a littthing. But is i t l i tt le to G od ?

Notice the Bible emphasison thispoint. My son, if you will receive m


14/24

14 The GOOD NEWS February 1968

words and treasure up my command-ments with you, making yourear atten-t ive to skil lful and godly Wisdom, andinclining and directing your heart andmind to understanding pplying allyour powers to the quest for it; yes, ifyou cry out for insight and raise yourvoice for understanding, i f you seekWisdom as silver, and search for skill-ful and godly Wisdom as for hidtreasures; then you will understand thereverent and worshipful fearof the Lordand find the knowledg e of [our omni-scient) God. (Prov. 2 : l - 5 , Ampli-f i e d . ) You wonder why these membersbecome lethargic and let down?Theanswer is obvious. They do not under-stand the reverent and worshipful fearof the Lord. Their fai lure to study didnot allow them to retain what theyonce knew

Listef t In the years ahead we aregoing to need cve ry bit of wisdom andknowledge we can acquire. The goingis going to get tough and in some areasof lifc it has alrcady started.Take forexample recent changes in the draft law.It is now impossible for some youngmen in the church to appeal a localboard decision. For them there will beno further opportunity to appeal to ahearing officer.

In short the local draft board (andall too often the least qualified to jud ge)now determines the classification.Should you be classified 1-Aor 1 - A 0you will be inducted. Manyof our youngdraft age men are not able to convincetheir draft board of their sincerity suffi-ciently to get a proper classification.Doyou know why? Theyare not sure ofthemselves. They fail to show strengthof character in their convictions. Andthe reason they fail to show strength ofcharacter is because they havent reallystudied

Heres what God saysStudy and be eager and do your

utmost to present yourself toGod ap-proved [tested by trial), a workmanwho has no cause to be ashamed, cor-rectly analyzing and accurately dividing

ightly handling and skillfully teach-ing he W ord of Truth . (I1 Tim.2 : 15, A m p l i f i e d . ) What about you?

Are you doing your utmost to presentyourself to God approved? Probably not.Are you correctly analyzing, accurately

dividing, rightlyhandling and skillfullyteaching the Wo rd of Tr ut h? I doubt i t.Do you know why? Because many ofyou, like the jet pilot failto pay heedto what you consider a little thing.But God says, My people aredeJti.oyedfor lack of knowledg e. Are you destroy-ing yourself fo r lack of k now ledge? Are

you like the average Americanor Britainof whom God says, they have despisedand shown contempt and provoked theHoly One of Israel to anger, they havebecome utterly estranged. (Isa. 1 :4,A m p l i f i e d . ) What about you?Are youbecoming estranged fromGod becauseyou havent been studying lately? If yousay you lack time, youre too busy,oryou just cant get it in, youare admit-ting you consider everything else in lifemore important than Bible study. Inshort, to you Bible study is the veryleast of the commandments.

Prayer

Some t ime ago a young man came tome abuut a Ielluw church member whohad writ ten him a rather disrespectfulletter. I took the letter to the writer inorder to dctcrminc the problem.Du youknow what the real problem was?T h ewriter of thdt letter had n o t prayed inthree months Yes, he attended cvcrySabbath service faithfu lly. H e was evena member of the Spokesman Club. Buthe lmkad on prayer as a little matter.

To him prayer didn t amountto much.But how does God view it ? My son, ifyou will receive my words and treasurcup my commandments with you, makingyour ear attentive to skillful and godlyWisdom, and inclining and directingyour heart and mind to understanding

pplying all your powers to the questfor it; yes, if youcry oiit for insight andmire yo w vo ice for understanding, ifyou seek Wisdom as silver, and search

for skil lful and godly Wisdomas forhid treasures; then you will understandthe reverent and worshipful fearof theLord and find the knowledg e of [ouromniscient} God. (Prov. 2:1-5,Am-plified.)

Yes, . . . you will understand righ-teousness, justice and fair dealing {inevery area and relation}; yes, you willunderstand every good path.For skill-ful and godly Wisdom shall enter intoyour heart, and knowledge shall be

pleasant to you; discretion sliall watchover you, understanding shall keep youso may you walk in the way ofgoodmen, and keep to the paths of the[consistently] righteous he uprig htin r ight standing with God. (Prov2:9-11, 20 Ampi i f ied . )

Jesus attached great importance to

prayer. An d Jesus w asnt talking abouthose type prayers some church membermake while on the job, driving to anfrom work or even while walking,as asubstitute for being ina private placeon their knees. True, one should alwayendeavor to be in an attitudeof prayerand it is not wrong to be praying inyour mind while engaging in activity ithis will not distract you and place yoin a dangerous situation.

But Jesus did not mean this was tbe the sum total of your prayer lifeJesus meant you were to spend muctime praying on your knees in privateHe said, keep on asking and i t willbegiven you; keep on seeking and you wifind; keep on knocking [reverently} anthe door will be opened to you.Foreveryone who keeps on asking receiveand he who keeps on seeking finds, anto him who keeps on knocking it wibe opened. (Mat. 7:7-8 A m p l i f i e d . )Failure to engage regularly, persistentlyand privately in prayer results in ever

kind of heartache, anxiety, mental tuiiwil, trouble and problem you caimagine. In fact the list is endless. Anall because too many feel prayer isnworth the effort. These are the peoplewho as God says, lie there sleepleswith anxiety, but wont ask for Mhelp. (Hosea 7 : 14, ParapbraJed. )

No mortal on this earth possesses thwillpower to perfect himself and entthe Kingdom of God. But the earnesheartfelt continued prayer of a righ-teous man makes tremendous pow

available, which is dynamic in its woring. With prayer you can make i

Family Bible Study

Possibly you do study the Bible dailand pray a great deal, but in additiod o you conduct a regular Family RihlP.rtiidy? Or is this the least importan

Family Bible study isa time for discussing and teaching(remember I1 Tim2 : 1 5 ) both your wife and children apply Bible principles.For the childre


15/24

February, 1968

it is a timc to fort ify them in advanceagainst problems sure to arise fromsocial and school contacts. It is an oppor-tunity to teach them management,dating, what thc world is like, and whyit is the way it is. The teaching oppor-tunity and subjects are unlimited. Yetmany brethren are failing miserably to

teach their children even the simplestof Gods truth.

The Old Testament is full of accountsof those kings and leaders who weresuccessful and unsuccessful in child rear-ing. And the whole story is simply amatter of education d i / r i r t i n ~ ~hil-dverz r z t h e Wo r d of God. Parents

The GOOD NEWS 5

sliuulcl l e d i r i particular Prov. 1-9 f romthe Pnraphrased Lioiiig Psalms aizdProverbs to get a really clear pictureofthe benefits gained in teaching theirchildren Gods Wor d.

Its time we quit deceiving ourselvesinto thinking Bible study, prayer and

family Bible study are not important.Its time we realize they aren o t littlethings which do not count. They are infact big things which make the differ-ence between salvation or a horriblefiery death much worse than the jet pilotwho learned the hard way that littlethings do count

Finances In Your Life(Coiztiiiued from pnge 4 )

But the only way things arc everdone is with i w z ~csoZi/tioiz. The im-petus to r r a l l ~ ~ ake changes comesfrom rtnlization that the power andcommands o f Almighty God underliethe resolution. Thcrefore you M U S Tmake the decision. You h l U S T placethe fulfilling of this second step on aspiritual basis which is backed up byan Almighty God whoIS judging you.NOTHING E S S W I L L G E T THE .JOBD O N E

T h e T h i r d Step-Live on a Realistic Budget

In order to accomplish anything youhave to be practical. High soundingprinciples and theories SOUND good,but how do you go about putt ingthem iuto practice?

Iri the current financial mess inwhich the United States finds herself,one very simple solution emerges; asolution shared by many financial ex-pelts around the world -UITS P E h l D I N G SO M U C H

This is a most reasonable premise.The only difficulty with it is the cur-rent administrat ion doesntWANT toand as 3 matter of fact vill u o t stopspending so much.

Nevertheless, this is the place to be-gin.

The first thing to do is to si t downand list all your obligations eachmon th. Be realist ic Put down whatyou actually do spend each mo nth forrent, food, utilities, car, payments,

clothing, insurance, recreation etc., etc.,( including t i thcs and offerings). Thentotal your monthly income; your netincome after witholding tax.

Now, subtract your obligations fromyour income. Do you come out with asurplus

Yo u shouldWhen the U. S. Government does

the same thing each monthor year itdoesnt come LIP with a surplus, hut adejc i t . At home the national debt in-creases, while abroad our balance ofpayments increases. Thats why the na-tion is in financial trouble. Thats whyindividuals are in financial trouble.They both spend too much.

A Budge t W i t h a Rese rvethe Sa fe ty Va lve

Now, lets get more specific.We n o w KNOW we are going to

make whatever adjustments we need tomake in older tu live within our finan-cial means. Th e governor of w hatchanges or adjustments we will haveto make will depend upon the structureof a new biidget we will now set upfor ourselves.

Point i z ~ n s b e r hree in our programis to set up the right &id of a budget.A budget that tel1.r yoii what you canafford to do and a budget that h a s abuilt in safety valve RESERVE.

This system is Gods system e-vealed in His Word, and the systemthat has given Gods Work a t r ip leAAA financial reputation and which

provides safety in case of unexpectedemergencies. This systemWORKS.

Each year, in Gods Work, we uti-lize our combined best efforts andetailed financial records from the pascoupled with present trends and worlcuriditions to ascertain as accurately apossible what our income will beforthe year. Then, with careful consideration each dcpartment or area in theWork prepares a departmental budgeof their estimated needs in varioucategories of expense, salaries, equipment, supplies, etc. W e then add thprojects needed to continue the growtof Gods colleges and the worldwideWork p lus the amount of added re-serve that MUST be added for the yearThese combined elements represent ouraw gross budget.

O u r next step is to compare thoverall gross budget with the anticipated income. If our estimated incomeis adequate for the overall needsgrowth factors A N D increased reservesthen we can ratify the budget. Howevif the combined gross budget exceedsthe anticipated income, which it dithis year, then we have toCUT BACKon certain projects and departmentgrowth which sometimesA R B c r i t j cd j lneeded .

The essential, vitully important fac

is, however, that we D O C U T BACKAND BALANCE THE B U D G E T. Anotheressential point is WE DO N O TC U T B A C K O N T H E A M O U N T T O B E

SET ASIDE FOR A RESERVE.

Then, operationally, we check ouselves monthly through our IBM computer, budget control to see that oincome factors are keeping pace wianticipated levels and thatour expensefactors are staying within budgetarlimits.

With this type of diligence and su-pervision Gods Wo rk has continuto grow w ith stability an d safety. Wpay our bills on time; we obtain certatrade discounts by paying promptlwe have a reputation which is abovreproach and are able to obtain morgage loans from nationally knowni n -surance firms where other institutioof a similar type are unsuccessful.

The vital lesson to r e a l i ~ e i sGods Work does not d o everythingbuy everything, m d e r t n k e everything


16/24

16

W E WOU1.D TO . WC ARE R ( ? L , -

e rxed b y o i u i t icome nd we livewithin it even though it takessacrifice and dniug ?i ithoi/t at times.

I find i f individuals, companies andcorporations, and yes, even N AT I O N Swould follow this elementary pro-gram they would be successful, too.

The GOOD NEWS

h e i5 jubtificd iu u5ing his tithe moneyto take up the slack temporarily.

I think it is obvious, brethren, howthis overall situation and fairlyuniver-sal problem is a TOOL in the hands ofthe adversary to rob individuals andfamilies of their relat ionship to Godand to the Kingdom of God.

I. JOHNS MONTHLY OBLIGATIONSPayments Balance Due

First tithe (on gross income) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58.34Second tithe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58.34House rent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 15.00Home expenses (includin g groceries, milk,

incidentals, recreation and meals out) . . . . . . 165.00Utilities (including telephone) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35.00Car payment (including insurance) . . . . . . . . . . . . 75.00 1600.00Gasoline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28.00

326.00urniture payment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28.00Revolving charge account . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25.00 225.00

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105.00entist bil l 15.00

Life Insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.00

61 0.68 2256.00

B u t , they d o nut have ii Creator Godto whom they look, to whom theyrealize they have a responsibility.

c m nd m m t eginto apply these rules and laws.

But,

How t o Do I t

Lets analyze a typical situation from

which J O U can draw the principles tose t up your system.John Doe earns $135.00 per week

gross, giving him a net income afterdeductions of $513.34 per month. Hiswife and two children makea familyof four. H e is in financial difficulty,unable to meet his obligations.Heisnt saving a nickel . How can hesolve his problem?

T.ets take a look.Upon analyzing Johns monthly ex-

penses here is what we discover:Johns total monthly obligationsex-

ceed his income by $97.34. Heob-viously needs to take drastic actionorhe will soon find himself facing legalaction by a collection agencyor sus-tain a garnishment of his wages.

N o t only is this situation makingJohns l ife and the l ife o f his wifemiserable causing argum ents andscenes, but John also may, under thetemptation of the situation, do some-th ing paz te ly serions e may t h i n k

How the Si tua t ion Developed

John uar doing all r ight . He wasliving modestly, within his income.But, he wasnt keeping a budget. Hehad no overall program to guide him.So, seeing he had a few dollars monthlyabove his expenses, he felt justifiedin moving to a better rented home.

After all many of the other brethrenhad nicer homes, and it would makehim feel good to have people overto see the nicer surroundings he couldenjoy. So he took the plunge.

Soon after the family car began toact up complete engine overhauland other major repairs were necessary.The used-car salesman encouraged Johnand family to take out the two-year-old (hard ly used ) metallic blue two-door. I t approximated in styling and

feel some of the ones John had seenon TV.Somehow or other in the environ-

ment of the sunny Sunday, the smootheasy handling of the new car andthe encouraging words and environ-ment of the used-car lot it seemedi a t i u l d dud workable. Afrer all theywould have to spend money on theold bus and the new one would betrouble-free during thepayoff period-and wouldn t everyone oh and ahat Johns new c ar? Besides some thing

February, 1968

would snvely come along soon to easeup the financial situation.

John had never allowed the chargaccount at the local family departmenstore to have a carryover balance. Buwith these new payments, John hato make only the minimum paymenthe couldnt pay off all the chargeseach month. Soon the clothing needfor school etc., etc.,ran the bill up andup. Then there was Janes dental wor. . . lus those furniture items they jusHAD TO I I AV E to make thc new houselook right.

The story is a typical one. Lust, desire, pride or the worldly possessionand L A C K O F D I L I G E N T APPLICATION

John could take another giant stepin the wrong direction. He could dwhat many enticing voices onTV hadsaid to d o in this situation. H e couget one of those Bill Payer Loanswhere you consolidateall your monthlyGill5 iutu uiie loan; and one .easypayment.

Sometimes a consolidating loan wilhelp F willpower and character arexerted to make no further purchaseuntil that obligation is completely paoff. But, the way John is going hwould soon be back up to his neck

and the latter case would be worsthan the former.

TO SOUND PRACTICE.

The So lu t i on

John is going to have to berealistic.John will have to faceHIS problemssquarely. Hell have to realize he hafallen prey to his own lusts. Hell havto admit he gave in to carnal desirto HAVE. Hell have to seriously realizthat a powerful tempting influencinspired by Satan has been at work ohim and has snared him. Hell have repent and be will ing to CHANCX.Hell have to be willingto make drastic changes in his life which may ivolve humility, admitting mistakes annot looking as good to the ones hwanted to impress.

John went to w o i kJohn, after admitting his problem

took step number three. He organizea budget designed to get himself bacinto balance. It looked like the secochart on page 17.


17/24

February, 1968

Juliii liad tu swallow his prideand move back to a smaller house. H ethought at first he could never getalong without a car f o r a while, but hefound it wasnt so impossible after all.His home budget was pretty frugal, butwith wisdom and efforts they still ateabasically healthy and nutritious diet.True they didnt as a family speizd

The GOOD NEWS

This success story can happen I ttakes courage, determination and will-ingness to obey Gods commands. But,its worth it.

T h e F o u r t h S t e p -Th e Rese rve

One of the basic principles many ofus have overlooked in our lives is the

~~~ ~~ ~

II. JOHNS REVISIED MONTHLY OBLIGATIONSFirst tithe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 8 . 3 4Second tithe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 8 . 3 4Savings to reserve . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 0 . 0 0House rent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90.00Home expenses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140 .00Utilities (without telephone) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25.00Car payment (sold c a r ) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00.00Bus fa re . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17.00Furniture p a y m e n t . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 .00Revolving charge account . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25.00Dentist bill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.00

Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 481 .68Monthly income . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 13.34Monthly expenses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 481.68

Operat ional savings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 1 .66

much f u i i-ruratiuii fur a while, but itwas wonderful to discover how muchfun one can have with simple familygames, walks, talks and an occasionalbus ride to the park fora picnic and a

visit to the zoo. Life became pleasantagain. There was a real feeling of ac-complishment in paying those pay-ments on time each month and to seethe reserve slowly building up. T h eoperational savings carefully handledwent for the cash purchases of thebasic necessities during the crisis per-iod so that no other additions weremade to the balances left to be paid.There was the additional blessingofmaking several small free will offeringsto Gods Work omething John had

been omitting.In a year John found he had paid

off his obligations. H e now had$360in his emergency reserve fund. Bywaiting a few months after gettingthe bills all paid he accumulated somesurplus dollars in his operational sav-ings. H e was now ready to make areappraisal of his budget and to allowhimself to perhaps once again have anautomobile of the right category andperhaps increase his living standard.

principle of SAVINGS. God, howevermakes clear in His Word that this isaspiritual principle we should a ll follow.

W e a re all familiar with the admo-nition in Proverbs 6 : 6 - 9 : Go to the

ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways,and B E WISE; Which having no guide,overseer, or ruler, provideth her meatin the summer, and gathereth her foodin the harvest. How long wiltTHOUsleep, 0 sluggard? When wilt thouarise out of thy sleep?

This is an clcmcntary principle. Butlets go further.

God shows that a GOOD man willleave an inheritance evcn to his grand-children (Proverbs 1 3 2 2 ) .

Certainly the whole testimony ofGods Word and the teachings ofChrist illustrate a principle of accumu-lating a logical and reasonable reserveso we do n o t hecome a liability toothers and so we can let our lightshine as GOOD examples of those whoproperly handle their stewardship.

Certainly we should not covet norhoard large amounts specially inthese end times. Our true securitycomes from God and His divine guid-ance and protection.

17

Jesus said Lay not u p for your-selves treasiires upon the earth, wheremoth and rust doth corrupt, and wherthieves break through and steal: Bulay up for yourselves treasures in heave n . . ... (Matthew 6:19-20). Jesusdid riot want us to set oiir heartr onthings on the earth, but to keep ouminds and hearts on theKingdom ofGod.

But, to ignore proper financial management would be ignoring Godcleai teachirigb.A man up to his neckin debt, who cannot meet his obligtions, who cannot meet any emergencreverses which may occur is ceitainlynot an example of a Spirit-guidedChristian with Christ living in him

A man who can bring forth of hispossessions to help the poor,or help

his son get started in marriageor meeta period of privation which mayassailhis family r Gods Work rother such contingencies, is a goosteward.

Gods principle of tithing teachesusemphatically each yearas we use ournrrimaiilcttod second tithe to attcnd thcFeast of Tabernacles that fruits anblessings come from diligence in oserving the principle of J ~ Z J ~ P ? ~

Therefore, the basic principle osetting aside a reserve is one of Godprimary tcachings.

In setting up your budget yoshould include an amount with eacheck for a RESERVE. I personally fee(and practice) that approximately5 %of your gross pay each pay period an appiopriate amount.

If each family would do this anfaithfully continue until they had acumulated an amount equal to fiftepercent of their gross annual salar

they would have security and safetWhen emergencies occuror unusual

circumstances come to pass you whave something to offset the neeThen build back the reserve with tsame diligence as before.

Your approach must be NOT TO

GENCY. If you continually spend threserve for some coveted item or ac-tivity, you will never achieve yogoal. Th ere should be an operation

TOUCH THIS RESERVE EXCEPT IN EMER


18/24

18

savings set aside for that purpose.Your true reserve should be that bufferagainst emergency or unusual circum-stance.

So, the f o z u t h s tep in financial plan-ning is build and maintaina sufficientemergency reserve so you are preparedto meet unusual and emergency circum-stances which will occur in all ourl ives .

Whoever you are or whatever yoursituation might be, you can begin 0apply these principles. Diligcncc to

H Armstrong Raherfr

The cash habit i s a major keyin proper hand l ing of f inances .

them will bring you out of financialtroubles into security and peace ofmind.

T h e F i f t h S t e p -Cash Basis Buying

The next basic principle is buyingfo r CASH.

This seems to be a forgotten i temin todays credit world. But, itisone of the safest and surest governorstn protect y o n f rnm financial mis-management.

The principle is very simple. Insteadof buying something before you havethe money and paying for i t in mon th-ly payments (with heavy interest) afteryou get it, simply buildup an operu-tional sauiugs with the money youz ( o d d have paid in installments andbuy i t fo r cash.

I know this is contrary to every ex-tant sales idea and promotional schemeto expand the purchasing powerof t hepublic. But, the record speaks for it-self . Those who fall into the web of

credit buying are writ ing some mightysignificant statistics in financial failuresand personal bankruptcies. On th eother hand those who adhere to cashpurchasing procedures, while not per-haps boosting commercial sales in anever increasing spiral, are nonethelessliving stable, balanced, worry free l inancial lives.

Considering the interest paid onitems purchased on t ime, which caneasily amount to 2 5 7 ~ r even more,plus the lost saving of a reduced price

or discount for cash, the average creditbuyer can be paying up totwice asmuch for the same merchandise.

Following these principles, if you doput yourself on a crash program torevise your financial program, thenresolve not to purchase anything moreon credit until your credit accounts areall paid in full. At least limit the creditpurchases during your transit ion period

to an absolute minimum so that youcan get your credit accounts paidoffat the earliest possible date.

Then, instead of immediately obli-gating yourself to another payment bypurchasing some article, let an opera-tional savings accumulate until suchtime as you can begin to buy thingsfor cash.

What a blessing it will be to finallybe able to have things which are to-tally paid for and r e d l y b e h g t o yo11f rom the start.

What It Takes

Brethren, to do these things takessomething most people do not have-C H A R A C T E R . There is no one who can-not do these things if he r e d l y zvnntst o .

Certainly in this world and inoursociety it is difficult to swim up stream.But its also difficult to bea Christianin a world filled with ungodliness andevil. But we d o n t balk at being Chris-tians. W e fight the battles of the Sabbath day, the Holy Days, military ser-vice, clean foods, proper nutrition andthe like because we KNOW they areGods laws.

Well , brethren, properly handlingyour financial affairs is just as much apart of being a Christian.

I beseech you therefore, brethren,by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice


19/24

February, 1968

holy, acceptable unto God, which isyour reasonable service. Aizd be notr o n f o m e d t o this world: but be yout rnmfornzed by the renewing of yourmind, that you may prove what is thatgood, and acceptable, and perfect, willof God (Romans 1 2 : 1 - 2 ) .

The S ix th S t ep

Proper fiiiaricial manag ement is afamily affair.

There will naturally be restrictions,need for sacrifice and trials in makingthe transition to, and in the main-tenance of, right financial living. There-fore the whole family must cooperate.

The family head should take thetime to go over all the principles in-volved in what the family is goingtoundertake. H e should go into detail

about the reasons, the benefits, theGodly approach he blessing$ fi-nancial stability will brin g he peaceof mind that will result. In short thewhole family must be sold in everyway that this is the right and whole-some thing to do.

The changes that will result will

A r m c o S t e e l

ABOVE inancial solidarity de-mands full family cooperationincluding the children.

BELOW arents also must con-trol the desire to get the goodsdisplayed in store windows.

H A r m s t r o n g Raberir

then become a cooperativeeffort. Learn-ing to economizeT O G E T H E R can be fun.Giving praise to each other for makingprogress will pull a family together asnever before.

Gett ing to know each other a lotbetter through more fdmi ly activitiesinvolving the r ight kind of g m c s ,hiking together, picnicking, readingbooks out loud and thelike can be-come a rich blessing which few peopletoday practice, but which are the trulyGodly activities.

Some of my fondest memories as achild were the family activities. Play-ing ball, flying kites, working for longhappy hours on an inexpensive airplaneItit and flying it with Dad and Mom.Even shopping for groceries togetherwas a family affair. Today it has to bea movie at high prices, a t r ip to aDisneyland area or high-priced gadg-ets. Th e simp le wholesome thin gs seemto be long since forgotten.

Many a wife today would ratherhave her husband just talk to her fo r

an hour o r so than go on svme ex-pensive evening out sh them

W he n a family ogether etsa collective goal and accomplishes itthere emerges a strength and unitywhich makes them a T E A M .

I t takec m i r a g e HARACTERbut it pays tremendous dividends.

T h e Last Step -Take in a Par tner

Although you will think of manyother innovations to apply, there isonly one other major point to illustratehere.

MAKE GOD Y O U R PA RT N E R .True, you are going to embark on

this program to make yozu l i fe morepleasant and enjoyable. But, your over-all motivation should be to bring moreglory and honor to the familyof Godof which you are a member.

The more stable, solid, exemplimaticsons of God there are behind the lastgeneration effort of fulfilling Godscommission, the more powerfully willGod begin to act to bring this age toa close and usher in the wonderfulWorld Tomorrow.

Gods family is aT E A M also And ithas a fantastic job to do. If everyChristian were a financial flop, havingto live from hand to mouth and de-pendent upon others of the Church,Gods body would certainly be un-equipped for the herculean task it hasto accomplish. As a member of Gods


20/24

20 The GOOD NEWS February 968

team you are being asked to be aprofitable servant ne who is reallyadding to the strength of the team.

If God called upon you nowTODAY o stand behind His Workmaterially, could you really be of help?

So, brethren, God is your partner.He is the Captain of your tarn

asking YOU to carry the ball.But over and beyond these truths is

another realization. God is the greatestgiver and blesser of all. You cant out-do nor outbless God. Remember God isthe owner of all things. H e doesntreally need the pitiful things we areable to supply. But, God knows thatyou with this Attitude aird diligemewill build the strength which willcause you to add S P I R I T U A L CHARAC-T E R and strength to theGod family orTEAM and that IS A MAJOR CONTRI-RUTION.

When God sees you accomplishingthese thing s acrificing and strivin gto be a sharp, dependable tool in Hishands, He will bless you not only withthe spiritual blessings of happiness, se-curity and peace of mind, but with thematerial blessings as well.

THERE S NO EXCEPTION.

I know of no man who has faith-fully served God with right attitudeseeking first the Kingdom of Godwhom God has not r i ch ly b les~ed .

Make God your partner. Go to Himin sincere heartfelt prayer, individual-ly, and as a family. Ask His help.Ask Him to guide you. Ask Him forthe strength, favor, willingness andcourage to make the changes you needto make to bring this area o l yourlives into the right Godly configura-

tion. Do i t now

Man Lea rn ing to PrayJust a few lines to thank you for

all these Bible Correspondence Courslessons nd especially for lesson45, 46 47 and 48 that explain aboutprayer and fasting so clearly. I nevergot much schooling and it was sometime ago that I started to ask God to

teach me to pray and how to pray anwhat to pray for. God must have answered my prayers for it was not lonafter that I began to receive these les-sons on prayer. This has never beeexplained in any of the churches today. May God bless you in your worof serving God. I have learned somuch since I started taking this BibleCourse for it has beena great help tome in understanding what the Biblleaches.

Edward E.,

Saskatchewan, Canada

What our READERS SAY(Coiitiiiiied f rom page 2 )

strong. Of the few installments thatIhave read of the Antobiography inT h e PLAIN TRUTH agazine, I havethe impression that this book wouldmake a bestseller i f it were to be placedon the market. I also feel that if one is

going to read biographies and autobi-ograpliics of great men, then Llir Anlo-biography would be good book tostart with.

Will iam M.,British Columbia, Canada

Autobiography ChangesHusbands Li fe

Several months ago my husbandwas depressed over his job. He wasupsett ing me also by griping about hiswork. Then he started checking outback issues of T h e P L A I N TRUTHmagazine from the Houston ChurchLibrary in order to read the entireAntobiography. Mr. Armstrongs exper-iences inspired him to work harder,and to find ways of overcoming theobstacles and pressures that arise intrying to teach in this worlds educa-tional system. Now, I am happy to saythat my husband doesnt let his workget him down anymore. He comeshome happy every day. I believe God

used the Aiitobiography to change hisatti tude. W e are thankful that we cannow have the Autobiography as a partof our own library.

Mrs. Carl D.,Texas

Teen-ager Waking Up

I have been attending this Churchfor about eight years, and being in theChurch for so long has made me lax inthe things that I should be doing. NowI am waking up, I wish to start lifeanew. I have a lot of faults to over-come and with Gods help I know Iwill. I am an eighteen-year-old girl,and I wish to thank you very much.

Venture P.,Indiana

Nine-Year-Old RequestsCorrespondence Course

I am nine years old. I hope I amnot too young to take the Bible Corre-spondence Course. My parents arestudying, too. I would very much ap-preciate it if you would put me onyour mailing list for the AmbassadorCollege Bible Correspondence Course.

Roger K.,Washington

Pas to r WarnsNOT to ListenI would like very much tobe added

LU yuui iiiailirig list for your maga-zine, T h e PLAINTRUTH. had neverheard of you until my pastor warnehis church not to listen to you be-cause you were a false prophet. Outofcuriosity, I found your broadcast on mradio and have enjoyed listening toyou ever since. am especially inteested in Great Britaiii and the UiiitedStatpr iiz PvnphPry Please send meeverything you have becauseI am in-terested in everything concerning tBible.

Mrs. Juanita K.,South Carolina

Resemble phi l ipp id i~r 1.12-18?

Alcohol ic Breaking the Habi tI have been an alcoholicfor severaI

years and have been trying to rehabitate. After my last bout with the botle, I heard voices talking to me fabout three weeks.I asked God to casthe demons out of my brain, and Goanswered my prayers. Thiswas overfour months ago and I havent wanteto drink since. I ask God to be mstrength and deliver me from the dsire for alcohol each day, andI thankGod each night for carrying mthrough the day. I was reading ansearching the Bible and praying fGod to send me guidance when Ire-


21/24

February, 1968

ceived The P L A I N TRUTH. dontknow who gave you my name, butIam convinced it was an act of God inanswer to my prayers. I have 1101 beenable to find regular work yet, butIfind that God provides for me in allways as long as I have faith.

Man in Florida

The GOOD NEWS 21

Hea led o f F ou r Hea r t A t tacks I have been completely healed of

four heart attacks this summer. Thedoctor said that I would probably bea complete invalid within two years if

didnt go in the hospital and havesurgery on my valve. But, God waswonderful and merciful to me;and Iam back doing my housework and evena little square dancing. I am so verythankful for the blessings that Al-mighty God has bestowed upon me.

Mrs. Diane F.,Arizona

Sugar Diabetes Comple te ly HealedThe best thing that has happcncd

to me is I am healed of sugar diabetesand also the trouble I had with myhi

Documents

Good News 1968 (Vol XVII No 02) Feb