Good News 1978 (Prelim No 22) Nov 6

8/10/2019 Good News 1978 (Prelim No 22) Nov 6

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The GOOD NEWS

BIG SANDY, TEX., PROPERTY -

Negotiations are being completed for

the sale of the Work s Big Sandy,

Tex.,

property. Aerial view

shows

the

formerAmbassadqrCollegecampus.

Inset: The

Roy

Han:>mer Memorial

Library s

a

focal

point on

the

grounds.

T r e ~ u r e r

.details campus sales

By Stanley R. Rader

price "of 2 million pounds (approxi

mately $4 million) for the sale

of

the

campus,. This is more than our in

vestment in the property,

saine time provide interest , which

can be added to our income in the

years ahead.

Monday, Nov .

6,197

HOLY

DAY

OFFERING UPDATE

We are still

in

the p r o c ~ s s of

entf;>ring

all the HOly Dai

o f f e ~ i n g information into ourfHes fo[ttje Feast of Tabernacles

and Last Great Day,

so

we

do

not have final figures at this

time, but wewol ild like togive you

theprefiminary

numbers in

-. thiS report (United States only).

Total offering

Average aHendance

Per person '

9n

$2.099,107.29

66,072.00

$31.43

1978

$2,205,465M

66,555.00

$33.13

Chango

+5.1 percent

0.7

percent

+'5.4 percent

Therewill

be

adpitionalofferingscoming from

U.S.

citizens

who attended Festival sites

n

Canada and

n

the international

areas,

so

ihese figures will go

up

slightly.

Mr. Armstrong is encouraged by the. inancial support of all

the loyal membefs and wants 10 thank each of

you

for your

part

in

this great Work of

God.

Stanley R. Rader

Treasurer

ASADENA

- N ow that

w re'

completing the negotiations for the

sale of the two campuses (Brickel

Wood, England. and Big Sandy.

Tex.) 1 would like to share some

of

the

details with you.

As early as 1973, Mr', Herbert

Armstrong bad determined that both

the

Big Sandy and Brickel Wood

col

leges should

be dosed,

This is a task

that could not

be

accomplished

over

night as there were a number of per

sonnel and financial considerations

to

be'

handled. The rest

of

the story

ha

s alfeady been told.

The Big Sandy campus,. closed

in

..

1977 when all college operations

were consolidated in Pasadena, has

now received one offer of purchase

that is being considered by'the execu-'

tive committee. The offer is

$)00,000 higher than our original

asking price and about

25

percent

higher than the estimated market

,value we had obtained in July. We

have

been carrying the

campus'

value on

our

books at approximately

$8.4

million.

Feast over., but challenge

remains

what

do

we

do

with

what

we

learned?

In

1974 we closed the Brickel

Wood college and approached the

flIm of Cluttons

of

London to assist

us in the sale

of

he campus. We had a

number

of

interested parties, both

from England and foreign countries,

but we were unable 10 come 10 a

equitable agreement until the middle

of his year. We f i ~ i l l l y a g r e e ~ on a

We feel that we have been good' .

stewards

in

these transactions. We

have not lost money on these transac

tions nor have we obtained unreason

ably high returns.

It

is our intention

_ to .utilize the funds rece),ved from

'these sa

le

s as

an

investment that will

provide much-needed underpinning

for our working capital , and at the

A Feast farewell

The F e a ~ t

of

Tabernacle s,

1978, is over. For some it may

have been their first ; for others

their fifth, 12th or

even 25th. For

my family

it

was the 20th. From

all indications as reports come in

to

The Good News

from around

the world others felt as we did -

that it was a moving, encouraging

and uplifting Feast. A Feast thl\t

depicted

peace

and unity.

One

.that will not soon forget.

However, it is easy to slip back

into

our

routine

of

life and forget

the spiritual and physical lessons

learned during this past Festi

val season.

The following poem, written

by Michelle Briden

of

the To

ronto West

churth,

first-place

winner in the 1977 Feast of

Tabernacles Canadian YOU Tal

ent contest. was read on the Last

Great Day

at

the Festival site we

.attended. J felt it was worthy of

sharing w i t ~ all our readers. .

.. .

Feast

Gather

ye

together now,

_Here in the place .of God.

A place where angels guard your

sleep

With ho ly staff

ana

rod.

_E Jjoy this time

of

happiness,

Of

peace,

of joy, of

love.

Grow closer to your fellow man

And 10 the Lord

above,

This issue s column was writ

ten by Dexter Faulkner. manag

ing edItor.

of

The Good News.

Take

in the beauty of 'this time

When summer turns to fall.

The glory

of

he:changing .leaves,

Of

creatures large and smaIL

Drink in the words

Of

all the wise,

Of

heaven's holy men,.

And understand old things anew . .

Stir up your zeal again.

Picture a time wilen life will be

As it

is

'now today . .

Remember, all you chosen ones.

To study and

10

pray. .

Plug 'in your mind.

Recharge your heart .

Grow ~ l i d

in

thi s word.

And when you go back to your

home

Remember what you've h e a r ~ L

For if yo.u do I'm sure

you'll

finel

Your smile will never fade. '

And you will leave a happy heart

In every place

you've

stayed.

YOU'll find your feet have

grown quite light;

.Your hand will work with ease_

Your faith will soon come :natu-

rally.

And love will be aoreeze.

Remember , you must reach' for .

God,

Then He will reach for you.

And when you know Him as your

heart,

Then He will know you too.

So

as you leave this

place of

God.

Re member what you've viewed.

And go with love. with peace,

with

joy

And with your faith renewed.

By

Var J.

Aspenns

With the singing

of

the final hymn

and a closing prayer, another Feast of

Tabernacles becom.es history. ' We

can easily recall the inspiring, mean

i.1gful

messa'ges given from the pul

pit and .can still savor the millenial

like , abundam, joy(ui living experi

enced during the eight days or more .

Probably-we all feel encouraged , up

lifted and spiritually rejuvemited.

And as a result of the Feast, we've

come away with a greater sense of.

commitment, dedicalion and resolve

.

~ 9 w q ~

9 q ~ ~ i ( r in

generaL .. '

But will tliis resolve arid renewed

enthusiasm ast?'

Or

will it be as

short-lived

as the proverbial

New. Y ~ a r s resolution, which lasts

.about as long as the hangover? Will

this year's Feast give us an added

spiritual boost that will raise us to a

higher. spiritual

p.lane

of

existence

whereby we will personally reflect

the image and c h a r a ~ t e r

of

Jesus

Chfist more profoundly than ever be-

fore? . .

K n o w l ~ g e

put

use

The answer lies ~ o t so much in

what

we've

heard

1

or

seenor.e:ltperi

-

e n c ~ d ,

but if). h a t we will personally

do right now and in the days ahead.

,

As

Herbert W. Annstrong has often

said, knowledge

is of rio

real value

- unless

it

is put to use . This is espe

cially

true in respect to spiritual

knowledge. What will we' do wit.h

our

Feast experience? Will we use it?

Will we ponder over it. and build

upon it, or will let it lie dormant

and die a slow death?

It's quite clear that unless we use

the knowledge and apply it to our life

.and circumstances, it will be lost,

perhaps never to be regained. There

is an

old motto,

use it

or

lose

it."

It's

simple, yet so profound. When

viewed

in

this light, it seems that our

options are somewhat limited. It is

hoped we' all will make the. right

choice and with God's help will use

the spiritual momentum

of

the Feast

to successfully project us through

another year, no maller what obsta

cles

or

trials this life may bring, indi

viduallr

or

as a Work.

Paul led the way

In another time, in anol_er set(jng,

a man named Paul trod this same

.

Christian

road before us

He

was nOI

unfamiliar with the trials and tests

of

life. Few can match his record of

labours,

of

beatings ,

of

imprison:

ments, of perils', of fastings ..

(see

II

Corinthians II). His life is a

glowing example of how to be a

Val Aspenns is a senior corres- ,

pondent with the Work

s

Personal

Correspondence l)epartment

'in

Pasadena,

Chri stian no matter the circum

stances, be it in poverty or wealth, in

sickness or in health. If the stress

of

life is seemingly ioo much , take

heart, Paul has been there. He over

came and freely gives us the benefit

of his experience.

Paul, an apostle

of

Jesus Christ,

" P r e d a t i n g t l i e . r e c e n t j o g g i n g

on a

, number

of

o'ccasions used an7n(erest

ing,analogy comparing our calling to

. a race arid exhorted us to . : . run

with patience the race thai is set be

fOle us n ~ e b r e w 12:1).

To

participate in this ra

ce

'you

don't have to ,be a beautifully con

'ditioned athlete." There is rio specific

age qualification , and the race

chairman doesn't even' discriminate _

and chosen to participate in this r

for eternal life. To reject this opp

tunity c o u ~ d mean our salvation.

run we must, day by -day, week

week. Along the route we

mi

stumble at times or have to s

momentarily

at

an aid station

som.e thirst-quenching water,

remember that Paul. who was tr

and tested in much the same mann

is_ heering us on; '

s o

run , that

may obtain (the prize]" (I Cor

t h i a ~ s 9:24).

The Feast

of

1)78' is over, but

. us the challenges and1

Ha

Is

'

remain'. ;

We

'

have

been ' given

1 m o w l e d g ~ and we have the tools

_

isi

now

ounesponsibiiity

to medi

on'the blessings we have been giv

to

assimilate

the r i c ~ spirh

nourishment received and renew

. resofve and commitment to back

Mr. Armstrong and this Work in

end-time commission.

The

apostle Paul

met

his ch

lenges, accomplished his work

ran his race. He won his crown.

against wornen. But you (10 have to

aChristial1- willing to work hard .

an.d put out, a lot

of

ef.fort:

-', too have a crown prepared for,

A long.distanee run

The lace Paul alludes to is not a

short

60- or

IOO-yard dash over

a

perfectly level artificial running

turf

e n c o m p a s s ~ d

by stands .filled

.

with

admiring, cheering fans. It is

more

like a long distance cross-country run

winding over unpaved dirt

or

gravel

roads as well as hard concrete, with

stretches

of

level ground and hilly,

gut-wrenching terrain.

Because

of

the long distance, the

field

of

f1,..IOners spreads out quickly

and you may_feel

you're

running all

alone. At other times , you see run

ners pass you and you'-re tempted to

. drop out in discouragement. After

all, who would know (or care)? And

then

there's

the pain

of

blisters

or

ust

plainJatigue.

What

a relief it would

be to quit. There's also the double

threat

of

heat and humidity , which

can sap your strength, but you go on.

The drive and resolve has to come .

from within' as there are no cheering

tJ:lrong s to ' encourage.you along -

but, finally, the long-awaited finish

line.

While only one can come in Tirst.

-

when you've run hard a ~ d done your

best, you' know you've won. Those

who have experienced this know the

joy

of

rUl;ming ,

AI

the end

of

hi s life

Ihe aposlle Paul expressed this Joy.

knowing he had run his spiritual

marathon well and won the crown

of

righteousness (11 Timot.hy 4:8).

We must run

We Christians have been called

Behold.)

come quickly: hold

which thou hast , that no man take

crown (Revelation 3:11). So in

comjng year when the roa.d

of

gets'toygh, remember Paul and k

on running .

CtRCULA'TlON: SUOO

The

Good News is

publshed

blweeldy,

cept during the Church's annual Fall F

val, by the

Wortdwlde Church

of G

Copyright

1978

Wor1dw1de Churct

God

. AII_ ig,ts f.eserved

Editor In chief: Herbert W. Armstrong

Manlglng

editor:

Dexter H.

Faulkner

A II.nt managing editor: Klaus Ro

auode te

edHor:

Sheila

Graham; la

editor: Scott Ashley ; "Local Chu

Newa

_o r

Vivian Rothe; compoei

Km McAnally; drcuiRlon: RoIandAee

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ood News

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3/20

6,1978

The GOOD

NEWS

3

HOWTHEWORL.DWIDE CHU'RCH

OF 'GOD CAME INTO BEING

(Continued from page 1)

was taken into this "qay of the

Lord" called "the Lord' s day"

in Revelation 1:10. This period,

"the

Day

of

the

Lord,"

espe

cially that phase of it PRIOR to

Christ's coming (although it shall

continue

through the millen

nium), is the ,THEME of tile book

of

Revelation. '

Continue in Revelation

I:

10

:

d i ~ c o u r a g e d

- had lost their flIst

love. But, also, that has been true

of

every era

of

the Church -

only not so dominant as in the

fIrst two centuries.

The Church

did

become

scattered

Never

again after the

flIst century was '

it ONE lWELL

ORGANIZED, COMPACTED BODY

This is a fact that most today

have not realized - and Perhaps

most have supposed there existed

a centrally organized closely knit

Church from the first century

by very disturbing dual chal

lenges. My wife, after nine years

of

happy marriage, had hegun

k ~ e p i n g the seventh-day Sab

bath. I was aghast That , to me,

was religious fanaticism She

claimed to have found this

e a c h ~

ing in the Bible.

My first upsetting thought

was, What will my business con

tacts and friends say? It

was a dev

astating thought , humiliating

All h e a r g u m ~ n t s came quickly

to my mind. They were

of

no

in

Genesis.

First I ' delved

'-

thoroughly into the works of

Darwin, Lyell, Haeckel, Huxley,

Spencer, Vog , Chamberlin and

Moore-t and even into the earlier

. works

of

Lamarck and his theory

of "Use

and Disuse, which

preceded Darwin's

"survival

of

the fittest" hypothesis.

Immediately ' those writings

appeared c o n v i n c i n g . They

,

necessarily are, to have wonvir

tual universal acceptance in the

worldofhigher

education. I read-

, Also I ,had the enjoyment of

being able to cause my sister-in

law to

~ a t

those words" brand

ing me as "ignorant. " All f

which was merely vanity on my

part, which I had not yet eradi-

cated. . .

I i1ad proved tbe reality OfTHE

GREAT MAJESTIC

GOD But my

wife's challenge was still tor

menting my mind. Already, in

the evolutionary research, I had

studied Genesis . I knew each

of

the world's religions

h ~ d

tIieir

own sacred writings. Once God 's

. . . and heard behind me ,a

great voice. as

of

a "rumpet,

Saying, I am Alpha and Omega

[A and Z], the flIst and the last:

and, Wnat thou seest, write in a

book, and send

it

unto the seven

churches which are in Asia"

Then Christ named the churches, ,

starting with Ephesus and ending

with Laodicea.

"The Church

did

become scattered Never again after the first

century was it ONE WELL-ORGANIZED, COMPACTED BODY "

reality was

p r o v ~ d

I

ex

_ peeted to contirtue in the pursuit

of

compar.ative religions to see if

any such sacred writings proved

authoritative. Through which

of

these did GOD speak to mankind

- if any?

hen,

in his vision

John

tumen

and saw seven golden candle

sticks and . . . in the midst of he

golden candlesticks one like unto

the Son of man [Christ] . . . . And

he ' had i ~ h i s right hand seven

stars . . . . .

Then He (Christ) said, " The

mystery of the seven stars which

thou sawest in my right hand; and

the seven golden canclesticks .

The seven stars are the angels

of

the seven churches:

and

the seven

candlesticks which thou sawest

are the seven chuiches" (Revela-

,tiqn

);20),. _ '

.. . '. ,_.

Then follow , in chapters

2

and

3, Christ' s messages to the angels

.of

these seven churches.

I studied deeply into these

seven churches and Chrjst's mes

sages to them 51 years ago. And I

concluded, on exhaustive fe

until now. BUT THA T

IS NOT

TRUE

.

Yet. when Christ comes . He is

coming'to a Church that

S

well

organized - .,the " h o u s e ~

hold

of

God . . . in whom all the

building fitly framed .together

groweth unto an holy temple

in

the Lord" (Ephesians

2:19-21).

THAT

IS

THE

TEMPLE

TO

WHICH CHRIST SHALL

COME.

THAT is the one and only Church

that shall.

RESURRECTED, MARRY

CHRIST

But, when I first was con

vened and came on the scene, the

.Church,.( lardis, er.a) was widely

scattered. There

was

a U.S.

headquarters at Stanberry, Mo.

But there were a few very small

.scattered groups, which w.e

have

discovered since, in Central and

South America

"nd.

E\lfope.

These brethren were still keeping

But

God's

Church, though continuous

through all generation's from

D.

31,

LOSTmuch or all oUts originalorganiza

tional patternestabl ished

BY

CHRIST

.

_

,

.

search, that they rePresented the

seven conditions that would be

found in the Church

of

God at all

times,

from A. D . 31 until

,.

Christ's coming -

BUI tJ So

the

~ v e n

ERAS

of God 's Church

during these 'more than' 1,900

years. God showed me that the

Ephesuscondit,ion here described

would he

PREOOMINANT

during

the first era, the Laodicean condi

tion described in the last era just

prior to' Christ's second coming ,

predominant just hefore Christ's

coming.

):Iut

definitely they de

pict

SEVEN SUCCESSIVE

ERAS .

Loss of first

love

The predominate characteris

tic

of

the Ephesus

era- the

first ,

heginning A.D .

31 ,

- : was loss

of its first love. The Church in

A.D: 31 on the day 'of Pentecost

started out with great rejoicing

and. deep spirituality. But by ap

proximately A .D. 59 to 59, they

already were turning to

ANOTHER

GOSPEL - the GOSPEL MESSAGE

OF JESU S

CHRIST

WAS

BEING

SUPPRESSED

A violent 'persecution had set

in by A.D. 33. A.D . 70 the

true Church was vinually forced

to go

underground. They were

Sabbath, the

Holy

Days

(which the Sardis people ' in

America

WERE

]\lOT), and ~ t i l l

kept tbe

NAME,

Church

of

God.

I

They are

now .

part of the

Worldwide Church

of

God.

NOW - Herbert

W. Arm

strong

a n d

die Sardis era

I was hom

of

stable and up

right parents with an ancestry in

thi: Quaker faith that had emig

rated from England to Pennsyl- '

vania

with

William Penn . a

hundred years before the United

SHiles

became a nation.

At age

18

I dropped all

butlhe

most passive interest in religion.

I had put myself through an in

tensive self-examination , cou

pled with a survey

of

the various

occupations and

p r o f e s s i o n ~

to

d e t e r m i n e ~ h e r e I helonged,..-- to

avoid

fitting the

proverbia

square peg in the round hole.

This led into tbe advertising pro

fession and a business life. I was

unusually successful. I had con

tinued through the. years diligent

study and .

application

. I had

planned that my business

c o n ~

tacts were largely with the 'great

and the near-great.

Then, at age 34, I was assailed

avail. She said she found this , ily understood how ihe field

of

teaching in the Bible . education had been gripped in the

"But the Bible 'says," I pro- clutch of the evolutionary con'

tested , "thou shalt observe Sun- cept. . '

day ." Evolution, as I finally learned,

" Can you show that to me

in

is the atheists' attempted expla-

the Bible?" she asked. nation

of

the presence of a c r e a ~

"

No,"

]

replied, I don't

tion withoutthe preexistence.of a

know much about the Bible. My Creator.

interest and studies have been in This initial stage of my re-

the area

of

business. But I know search rudely'shook my faith

in

the existence

of

God . It brought

the Bible teaches Sunday obser- me to

realization

that

r

had

vance, because

all these chfTches assUlJ ed

the reality

of

God,

be-

=an'/ be wrong. and they receive 'cause from childhood I had heard

their beliefs from the Bible." _ and therefore assumed _ it.

, " If," she smiled sincerely -

F o r

a while my head was literally

buttome 'ex.asperatinglY .-:::.,.5 .o

u

. i swimming Was aU

I

had ever

can show me where the Bible believed mere myth and error

commands Sunday observance. after all? I was awakened to the

I ' l l go back to it." realization

I

had. never seen

There was no dodging the chaJ - PROVED the reality of God Now I

lenge . My marriage d ~ p e n d e d on , was

determined

to kilOW the

it TRUTH .

My mind

was being

A second ~ h a l I e n g e ,

Coincidentally,

.a

s i s t e r ~ i n

law, newly married and f r e s h

o u t

of college, hurled at me a second

humil\ating challenge. "

"Herbert

Armstrong,"

she

accused contemptuously, "you

are

fust

plain

ignorant

Everybody who has any e duca

tion knows' human life has coroe

by evoluti >n.' ,

I was p(oud. I had not ne

glected study and ' education . I

thought I Knew the facts ahout

evolution, and I didn' t believe

in

it. But now I had to admit. I had

never pursl;Jed a thorough, in

depth research of the question.

The dual challenge drove me

into a de.termined almas, n i g h t ~

cleaned out from ideas and be

liefs

previously

taken for

granted.

.

Of

all the writings on evolution

Moore , alone, had culled out

many discrepancies in the theory.

Yet he, too, went along with the

doctrine overall.

But now I had , first of all , to

prove or dispro;ve the existenc e

of

God. It was no casual or superfi

cial ~ t u d y . I 'continued in this re

search as

if

my life depended

upon

i l

as in actual fact

if

did,

as well as my marriage . I studied

books also on the other side of the

coin .

God's existence

proved

SuffIce it to say here that I did

find irrefutable

PROOf of

the exis-

Bible r e s e a r c h continued'

Since I had to researcb' tbe

Sabbath question anyway, and

already , had delved into

'Genesis, I decided to continue

my study in the Bible - intend

ing to 'exapline in depth the writ- .

ings

of

other religions afterward.

In my biblical study I came .

across early the passage in Ro

mans

6:23:"" . . .

the wages

of

sin is death . ." I stopped,

amazed. W tges" s what one

paid for what one has'done . H,ete

] was staring aba statement

diametrically

opposite to .my

Sunday. school teaching prior to

age 18.

" Why ," I exclaimed,

"bow

can that be? I was taught

in

church that the w}iges

of

sin is

EVERLASTING LIFE in an eternally

burning hell

.

. Another shock came on r e a d ~

, ing tIW last part,

of

he same verse:

" . . . but the gift

of

God is ,eter

nal life through Jesus Christ ,our

Lord."

"But, " I questioned in disillu

sionment, "I thought ,I already .

had 'e te roa ll ife - I am, or I have,

an iinmottal soul. Why should 1

need it as a

gift?"

I researched the word soul .by

means,

of

aBible concordance.

Twice I found the y;ords, "

the soul that sinneth, it shall die"

(Ezekiel 18:4 and Ezekiel 18:20)

Then I' n;memhered I had read

in

G e n e s i s

how God said to the

first human, " But of the ~ e e of

.

n d ~ d a y

research. That intensiv.e

study continued for six months

before

-I found

' the

proved

answer. Yet the study to this day

has riever ceased .

I

began to ask, "WHERE, then, is the real

true Church which

CHRISTfounded?

I was

nol

only humiliated and

angered by these challenges, I

. was

determined

to prove both my

wife and sister-in-law wrong .

Both challenges focused on a

oommon starting point, book

of Genesis in the Bible, although

that was only the beginning,

These challenges came at

a

' period in life when I had ample

time on my hands . I plunged with

intense concentration into the

study. '

Evolutionary writings

researched

But I did not begin the research

t e n c e

of God the 'Creator , and I

found proof positive

of

the fal

lacy

of

the evolutionary theory. I

had the satisfaction of winning

the admission

o

one thorollghly

,steeped in e v o l u t i o n a r y l h o u g h t

- having spent years in graduate

work at the University of

Chicago and at Columbia - that

I had defInitely ~ h o p p e d down

the

trunk of

he evolutionary tree, .

though like Dr. Moore , she had

been so thoroughly brainwashed

in it

she had to continue

in

what

she had seen and aCknowledged

waS-rROOf.

of

itl fallily.

the ~ n o w l e d g e of good and evil ;

thou shalt not eat of it: for in the

day tIiat thou eatest thereof thou

shalt surely die ."

In Genesis 2:7I read how God

" . . . formed man

of

the dust

of

the ground and breathed into his

nostrils the breath

of

life; and

, man [dust - matter] became .a

living soul." This stated plainly

that a soul is physical -' -

fonned

from matter.

-I

found that the En

glish word

soul

is translated from

the Hebrew

nephesh

and that in

Genesis j' fowl, fish and animals ,

HIM, "I' 41

r,

I

(

\

j

;(

..

->

I

i

; ;1

,:'1

I

,;

II

, 'j

.

I

-.

/

H

',I

i

,

:/

::)

,I

1\

I

I,

11

.

ii

'I

:

;\

q

{f

;

jt

d

'l

:

\ .

.-

i

:1

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.

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4/20

4

'The GOOD

NEWS

Monday, Nov, 6, 1978

O W T H E W O R t D W I D E C H U R C H

OF GOD

CAME

INTO BEING

Continued f rom page 3)

all three, were

nephesh

as

Moses

was

inspired to write .

Next, 1

hapPened to

read

where Jesus said, "And no man

hath ascended up to-heaven. but

he that caqle do'wo ' from heaven"

even the Son of man, , ," (John

3:

13), 1 researched the heaven

and hell teaching further,

1

saw

yvhete

the

inspired

Peter.

on

the

day he received the Holy Spirit

said,

"For

David

is

not ascended

'into -

the

heavens

...

(Acts

2:34),

Taught opposite

of

Bible

J was, in utter astonishment,

coming to realize that what 1 had

1;>een taught growirig up in church

was the precise o p ~ s i t e of what

/ the Bibie says in:clear language,

This is

not'the

place for a -

lengthy, lishing house.iri

Stanberry, Mo,

B t this. left me quite con

fused.

Fo 'r this

was

a .

ittle .

church,

e s p e ~ i a l l y

compared 'to

the Roman Catholic, the

'Methodist, tbe Baptist, tbe Pres

byterian, ' the Lutheran

or

other

l.arge churches nuoibering mil

lions of members : The'n I saw

where

jesus

called His_Church

the "little flock,"

But still 1 was not completely

-

satisfied.

1

was

deeply c o n ~

c e r n e d ~ 1

prayed a great deal

over

it.

For here

>was

a church, which,

compared to

t ~ e

large-scale ac

tivities of the Catholic and big

Protestant bodies, was ineffec-

_ This initial stage

of

my research rudely shook my faith

in the

existence

of

God. It brought

me

to realization that I had assumed

the reality

of

God, because from childhood I had heard - and

therefore assumed -

it.

For

a

while my head was literally swim-

ming. Was all I had ever ,believed mere myth and error after all?

tive. I could see 'that it was imper

fect. It wielded no great power

Jesus had said;

,

, ,ALL roWER

'is' given unto me

In

.heaven and

earth" (Matthew

28:18), 1

read

how Jesus Christ was to'beIN Hi

~ h u r c Q He guides. it direct

This ,was the

small

-actually

finitesimal-start

of

what was desti(1ed

to grow in 38 years

to' a major world-

wide

Gospel Work

reaching

m i l l i ~ f 1 s

..

. every week. ,

it

He"EMPOWE,RS

it

He said ,Hi

Chu.rch w.as to R_ CEI\'E'

P O W ~

(Acts 1:8)"

'

' No person is even a member o

the true Church unless he has re

ceived and is filled and led by th

Holy Spirit - and the Holy Spir

is the ~ p i r ; o f roWER This littl

church seemed to be powerles

-

p a r a t i : v e ~ ~ impotent

f a i l ~ d to

s.ee' where

it

:Was be3J;in

much if any fruit Could a frui

1ess church

be

the ,ONE AND ONL

~ t : U e ~ U f f P , >

,

, : , a ~ q e ~ p ) Y J , ; I J ' J e ~ ~ d , l;tei

was

a

little church, with scattere

members probably

>num1lerin

, less than 2,000, mostly in rur

areas, Apparently,

as

nearly ,as

could learn, ..t had: '(jiily': 'a ver

limitd:l '; 'numbe;r

of

, loca

- ch1:lrche$, -none as

Large

.as

10

mdnbers. .

As 1 began to come' in conta

with some

of

its leader-s; .the

seemed to be 'men

of

little educ

tion - no college

degrees:-'

i

miQistry ' could

hardly be de

scribed as an educated ministry

Their

preaching

haQ

. a

c ~ . r t a

fire, yet seemed toially to lack th

POWER

that attracts sizable

. a u d

ences, that

moves

people,

sli

".hearts, and 'changeslives, I

cou

see n9 visable results. .

C o ~ l d this be God ' s one an

only- true Churcfi on earth?

Th

very question seemed preposte

ous

.. u ~ , w h e ~ else?

And'

y e t -

Yes, anc;l

yet, 'small,

p o w e r

less , resultless, impotent thoug

it appeared to be .

h ~ r e

church with the right nam

"keeping the commandments

God and

the

testimony

of

Jes

Christ ," and closer, in its . do

trines and teachings. to what G

had

be

,en opening my eyes to s

plainly in His Word than a

otber church of which

1

knew

Small and impotent though it a

peared,

it

had

'

more Bib

TRUTH tMn any church I ,cou

jind '

, Meanwhile, what was I to d

I

was not at all convinced this w

the one aqd only true Churc

Yet,

ifit

was not,

which

one

wa

This one

came closer

to the Bib

qualifications than any

1

knew

(See CHURCH

;

page

5)


5/20

Monday, Noy . 6, 1978

HUR H

(Continued

from

p ge

41

Therefore, I hegan to fellow

ship with their scattered and few

members in Oregon, while at the

same time refraining from

acknowledging membership.

We were living in Portland,

Ore at the time. I knew of no

members

of

this church in Port

land, but there was a sprinkling

of them through the Willamette

Valley

between Salem

and

Eugene,

in

Oregon

- mostly

farmers

or

truck gardeners. They

welcomed the fellowship

of

my

self

and Mrs. Armstrong.

We

found them to he simple ,

plain and humble people, hard

working and industrious, and

loving

the

Bible

TRUTH -

as

much as they had - wil ling to

suffer persecution for it.

And

so it was,

in this detached

fellowship, that Mrs. Armstrong

and I continued the fust ye';'s

of my ceaseless nightandday

STUDY of the Bible - of history,

",specially as connected with bib

lical history and prophecy -

and of pertinent allied subjects.

These, too, were y ~ r s of

much and earnest prayer . Much

of the Bibh: study done at home

was done

on

my

knees.

combining

study with

prayer

.

M-uch time was spent during

these years, as it had been that

first six months; at the public li

brary. I delved into intensive re

search in the"

commentaries,

Bible encyclopedias, Bible

die

t ~ o n a r i e s . comparing various

translations Gf the Bible, examin

ing Greek and Hebrew texts of

doubtful

or

questionable pas

s a g ~ s .

cheCKing . lexidms

Conference. I learned that they

were organized as a General Con

ference, with elections

of

officers

held biannually. Most

af

the

Oregon meinbers lived in the

Willamette Valley in the vicinity

of Jefferson. Most of them were .

in atte.ndance at this business

meeting.

About balf

of

them were op

posed

to

Elder Dugger. They

wanted to organize a state con

ference. Some

of

the other states

'

had

state conferences. The pur _

pose of his Oregon.State Confer

ence was to hold the tithes and

church funds contributed by

Oregon members

in

Oregon.

But actually, it was born of

opposition to

and

dissatisfaction .

with the Stanherry membership

.. and state conference. The other

half

were

just

as verbai in their

loyalty and

&upport of Elder

Dugger and the Stanberry re

gime.

The

dispute

over

Stanberry

politics and Elder Dugger's per

sonal fitness and integrity waxed

more and more heated. One tall

man who weighed considerably

over

200, and was a leader, spoke'

of dirty

politics

and called

Elder Dugger a wardhealer

An equally vociferous man on the

oUier side of the dispute rose to

defend the honor

of

Mr. Dugger.

Words flamed hotter and h o t ~

Each

side was sincere and In

'roused earnest. lJnder the tense

pressure tempers were flaring.

I

. became afraid it was going to he

settled (or unsettled) by fists.

- At that instant

I

rose, and

in

a

loud but cahn voice asked if I

might say a word. Since

I

was a

guest,"they didn't refuse.

B r e t h r e n I- said,

you

all

, know as recorded

in

the

" . .

we

did

not

yet realize ourselves that

. CHRISThad started; in us/the Philadel

phia

era

of

His.Church, committed with the

GREAT COMMISSION. .

and Robertson s GramrniJr

o f

he

ruk New Testament. I made an

intensive study of ancient history

in connection with biblical his- '

tory and prophecy. .

Meanwhile, on their urging, a

few of these articles had been

mailed in to The Bible Advocate

in Stanberry, Mo. These articles

began appearing on

the front

page.

The near flgbt

at a meeting

Along in Novemher of 1930

the Runcoms, neighborS of my

parents, asked me to go with

them to a business meeting of

brethren

of

the Church of

Ood,

being held in the home of Mrs.

Ira Curtis, near Jefferson, Ore.

Altbougb I was aguest - I had .

never become a member

of

this

church, wbose headquarters were

Stanherry, Mo.

-

\hey asked

me to act as secretary and take

down the minutes of the meeting .

I learned that the meeting was

called for the purpose of

organiz

ing these Oregon

~ e m b e r s

into

an Oregon Conference.

, I

sensed immediately there

was a feeling of division 'among

them. Elder A. N. Dugger was

the real leader of the church at

Stanherry. He was editor of the

church ' s weekly paper sent to

members. He either was,

or

had

heen, president of their General

first chapter of Jl'b,

when

thi:

sons of

Gnd came

together,Saran

came also. You also know how,

in the

1 2 t h ~ h a p t e r o f R e v e l a t i o n ,

we

are

told that the people Satan

is most angry with are those wbo

keep the commandments of God .

and have the testimony 'of Jesus

Christ. That means us. Satan 15

here. He is stirring up rage and

anger in your heaps . am going

to drop to

my

knees right now and

ask God Almighty.to cast Satan

out of this bouse All of you who

wish may kneel with me and pray

silently ,"

Without another

w o ~ d

I

quickly'dropped te) my knees

be

side my chair and began asking

. God to rebuke Satan and this con

troversial spirit that -

was

rousing

tbese men to anger and drive

Satan fro'm our presence and to

giye us pea


6/20

6

The GOOD NEWS

Monday, Nov.

6,

1 ~ 7 8

WORLDWIDE-CHURCH OF GOD

BALANC-E

SHEET

WORLDWIDE CHURCH OF G O D

\I\IORLO HEAOOUARTER'S

F\IIo$A.DI :N...,.CALF'ORNA, 9 n ~

STNoII.HA

.

1\ODf1I

_ _

-

WORLDWIDE CHURCH OF

GOD A HB A SSA DOR

COLLEGE

BALANCE SHEET

ecember

31

1977

Current a sse t s :

Cash

and Cer t i f i c a t e s of

,

Deposit

Short-term investments

Receivables, current

Inventor ies

and prepayments

Tota l c

urren t

asse ts

Plan t

a s s e t s ~ net (Note 1)

Capi ta l

l eas

es

net

Plan t

asse ts held for

sale

(Note 1)

Ambassador

College .

United

Kingdom

(Note

Z)

Noncurrent

receivables

Depos i ts

Total assets

L iab i l i

ties and Pund

a lance s

Current i i abi 1 t i es :

Accounts

payable

Accrued l i a b i l i t i e s

To ta l

12. -31-77

p e r e n t ~ q e s

2,307,800 2.8

157,300

.2

794,300

1.0

1,614,800

1.9

4,874,200

- ,-- :g

61,713,000

.

74.3

2,475,300

3.0

8

,400,

000

10.1

3,979,100 4.8

1,582,500

1.9

,

l l200

i83 , 025 ,

300

l2 2 : 2

1,652,200

7.5

2.0

481,500

2.2

.6

Current

port ion of

long Oterm debt

Current port ion of obl igat ions

under

2,973,500 13 '

.5

3.6

cap i ta l

le a

ses

Deferred amounts

.

Other

c

urrent l i ab i l i t i e s

'

. Tota l curren t

l i ab i l i

t i e s

Long-ter

.m

debt (Note 3')

ObUga

t ions

under

capi

t a l

l eases

.

Deposits

.owed to ..students and others

; Tota l '

l i a b i l i

t

i es

.

Fund ba lances:

Avai lable for curren t

use

Invested in

AC UK

and

plan

asse ts

o f discont inued opera t ions

held

fo'r sa le

Net investment in

plan t .

Tota l

fund balances

Tota l

l i ab i l i t i e s

and

fu'nd balances

\

NOTES TO FI NANCIAL STATEMENTS

Hotol

PLANT

ASSETS

\

358,000

1.6

.4

280,400

3

.3

205,200

1.0 .3

5,

950,800

27 .T -r.

13,176,700 59.9

15.9

2,819,

ZOO 12.8

3.4

38,100

.2

',26".5

S2I,984

l

8IH'j

ll. ,J ;

3,800,5QO 4.6

12.379,100

14.9 -

44,860,900

54.0

$61

,040 ,

500

73.5

$83,025,300

l2.2.:

"Our

e5tm;rleel market llllue

01

the Big Sandy campus isin excesS

01 $1

0

m ~ 1 i o n

t

Not02

AMBASSADOR COLLEGE, UNITED KI,"?DOM

The Ambassador College real property in the United

t Dec. 31, 1977, the book value of plant assets

other than those held10r sale as a ,result of the discon

tinuance

of

o p e r ~ t i o n s at the campus in Big Sandy,

Tex., are as follows:

Kingdom has been sold for an amount in excess of

$4

miltion.

Land and improvements, net

. . .

$ 9.396,100

. Buildings and improvements, net

39,376,000

Business aircraft, net

(G-II and. Cessna Citation) .

2,915,900' ,

' Equipment aM

u r n i s ~ i n g

net . 6,7

90,000

Libra:ry book s' . .

.

1,237,100

Vehicles, net. . . 1,407,200

Construction in progress .. . 349,500

Leasehold improvements, net. . 241 ,200 .

Total $61,713,000

Plan) assets located at the campus In Big Sanely are

presented below:

Land and

improvements..

. $1,092,100

Buildings and improvements

..

, 6,044,100

"Equipment and furnishings, net . . 910,500

Library books . . 263,100

Vehicles, net .

AlreraH.

nol

'

Total

.66,700

, . . . 23

,500

$8,400;000

.

"OUf GlOmman Gulfstream a craft actuany appreciated In value and

has a marlj:et value

in

excess of

$5 millon.

The

Cess . Citation has

slbse;quent y been sold.

Note 3

LONGTERM DEBT AND CREDIT AGREEMENTS

Long-term debt, excluding the portion due within one

y e a ~ o u t ~ t a n d i n g at Dec

.

31, 1977, is as follows:

Mortgages payable:

Ambassador Auditorium .

. $

5,807,600

Student center, parking .structure 1,178,200

Press and transportation buildings 1,163,800

Hall of

~ d m i n i s t r a t i o n

.. . 630,500

Grove Terrace - student dorm .... .431,300

Other buildings . . 2,189,100.

Total mortgage. payable

Loans payat>'e

..

.. 110400,500

.

. . .

, ,1,776,200

Total

mortgage. and

loan8 payeble

$13,176,700

CREDIT AGREEMENT

The Church's

p ~ 1

bank line of credit agreement

provides for loans of uf; to $4 .3 million as folloW5i

1

million unsecured line of credit to support cash floW,

interest at prime;$2 million unsecured construction line _

of credit, interest rate at prime plus one-hatf percent,

repayable at ~ 7 5 O O O

per month plus interest; 1

.3

million secl.{red motor-vehicle-fleet line of credit, in

terest at prime.plus three-fourths percent. .

In

the Sept. 25 edition of. The

Good News

a Statement o

Income and Expenditures w ~ h accompanying charts was pub-

_ lished. Since is customary that a Balance Sheet accompany the

foregoing statement, the following combined balance sheet of the

Worldwide Church of God and Ambassador College for the yea

ended Dec. 31, 1977, is presented. This statement, however,

includes only our United States operations.

The combined Balance Sheet w'3 derivBd by'combining finan

cial information contained in the certified' individual Balance

Sheets of the Worldwide Church of God and Amoassador Col-

lege. "

On behalf of Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong, WB want to Bxpress ou

deep and sincere appreciation for your continued sllpport o

God's Work. -

'.(111-.

NONCURRENT

/RECEIVABLES

1.9%

OBLIGATIONS U N D E R

CAPtTAL LEASES

. DEPOSITS OWED TO

STUDENTS

AND

OTHERS 0.2%

59.9%

, --::-::'''7

54.0%

.

INVESTED

IN

P c ~ C N ~ ~ S ~ ~ S

OF DISCONTINUED

OPERATIONS

HELD FO

R

SALE

I

,

I

TOTAL LIABILITIES

AND FUND BALANCES

14.9%

IAC/WCG COMBINEDI

I

I

I

I

I

LONGTERM

DEBT

FUND

BALANCE

tNVESTMEN

IN PL ANT


7/20

Monday, Nov. 6, 1978

The

GOOD NEWS

7

Excerpts

of Mr.

Rader s

tqJk on ,Last

Great

Day

I would like to announ"ce some

thing that gives me great pleasure. -I

had the

choice of

announcing

it

at tbe

e':ld of my sennan or

at

the begin

ning, but

it

is the

kind of

hing Ideo

' ,

want to postpone. My daughter

Carol, whom Mr. lierbert W. Arm

strong married last June at our home;

in Beverly Hills, Calif., has told Mr.

Armstrong

and me that

she

wants to

be

baptized. She

is

here today .with

her husband Mr. Larry Little and

my

wife. Immediately upOn our return to

the Pasadena area, she will be baptized

by one

of

the ministers.

This gives me a tremendous

amount of satisfaction, because al

though I really haven't tried to teach

her about these things, which I feel

are so

pe

-rsonal, between man and

God, I have tried' to set the right ex

ample and I have tried to inculcate in

that way those values that have be

come important to you and those val

ues, that, of course, have become SQ '

important to me, All of my family',

my chiJdren

in

particular,

I

would

say, have been very much influenced

by Mr, Armstrong. lust by what

he

does in their presence, what he says

in their presence and what they have

generally observed, and .they are

leading the kind of lives indicative

that much of what

Mr"

Armstrong

stands for, and \Vhat the Church

stands for has indeed rubbed off,

Five years ago at the Feast

of

Tabernacles

I spok.e

about the fact that

the Work

of

God was

I,mique,

and

I'm

sure by now

all of

you under

stand

that. As

Mr,

Armstrong's

closest adviser, then as now, I could

see many, many changes that would

actually lie ahead for ' the

Work,

Changes that would be beneficial for

the Work. Changes that

I

felt would

be

a

s j g ~ tha,t

the

g r ~ a t . commission.

was

-

being fUIfiileCt. Aner some

of

.those ~ h a n g e s ; I believe, were

foreseeable in the aftermath. of the

events

of

1971 and 1972, events I

felt would ultimately compel -the '

brethren

of

this Church to come to

grips with the only reality - the real

ity that this was, and is, and will be the

true Church and a Work of the living ,

God and not a Work ~ e r e men.

Television

inte"iew

Just a few days ago I was inter

viewe.d

by

a television journalist for a

program devoted to the W o ~ k its

past, its present and its future. Once

again I proved, I believe, to that

journalist that the Work

of

the living

God

dOes

not ex.ist to make a pro-tieu- .

Jar radio program, with a particular

frequency of airing, in' particular

places and at particular times. The

same for television. The Work does

not exist to produce a television pro

gram with a particular format for air

ing at particular times and places. It

doesn', even exist for the purpose

of

pro iucing and

distributing

a

magazine or any number of

magazines with a particular format

and frequency of publication. It

doesn't exist to maintain one or two

or three collegiate.grade academic

institutions in one or more places

around the world. It does ex.ist, how

e v e ~ , for one and only one purpose,

and that is,

of

course, ' to propagate

the Gospel of Jesus Christ - the

Gospel of the coming Kingdom of

God - to propagate. that message,

that announcement for

a

witness to

ali nations. If is this immutable' pur

JX>se that we hope is best being '

served by the various activities

of.

the

Work that Mr.

Armstrong, as

Christ's apostle, feels will best fulfill

thai great commission.

We know that our doctrines, as

well as the basic purpose of the .

Church, are immutable also : We

know , or should know, that we can

reach an understanding of what those

doctrines are, as well as the resolu

tion of all of our problems, by.took

ing to _one place primarily for a

s o u ~ c e of great strength and knowl

edge- the

Yrinen Word

of

he living

God, the Bible. We don't have to go

to mana'gement tex:tbooks to learn

how to govern God's Work. We

don't have to go 10 graduate schools

of business and. finance to learn how

to govern God's Work. We

don't ..

have to go to academic and scholarly

treatises of a theological nature to

understand message in the written

Word of the living God", and '?Ie

know that we can rely on the faith

that has been given to us and with

hope and with Iove for God

al}d

our

neigh boiwe will be able to over.come

any and all problems, as they arise.

Changes have indeed takeQ place

over the past.five years, and many

changes have -taken place during the

last five months.

I

am certain that you

all realize, however, how necessary

these changes have been. I am c.ertain

th.at you are as grateful as

I

that we

areback'on t ~ e right track, that God

is on' His throne, that Christ is head

ing thiS 'Work and Mr. Armstrong, as

C.hrist's apostle in this end time, is

being led as always by God the

Fatl)er and Christ the Son.

God u:uly does work, however, in

m y s ~ e r i o u s ways. He gives us faith,

and

we

pray and we hope for the

miracle that will save

us

from our

most dreaded fears, 'from our worst

afflictions He has answered our

prayers this time; a miraCle has oc

curred. He has Intervened to restore

life and vigor to Christ's apostle.

I

would .like

to

share a little bit of

my

own experience of witnessing the

miracle

t h a ~

unfolded before my

eyes. I would like to share a bit

of

the

drama, a bit

of

the story that now can

and should be told. Little did Mr.

Armstrong or I suspect"that conges

tive heart failure 'would st.rike him

down So suddenly .1-4 months ago.

when we returned after a worldwide

journey from the middle of ,he Afri

can continent. -Little did we know

thacmore than one time in a three

week- period

he

would be on the

threshold of death, that during this '

three-week period he wo uld

in

fact

die as he has written to you, and that

he would have to be revived by

mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and by

manual heart massage. Little did we

know that in high places,

within the Work, would write him off

as dead, would write him off as

buried, would write him off as never

to return. And little did'we-know that

many

in

high places, seeming.ly free

' to abandon God's Way and God's

laws, would be SO

willing to do so.

Yes, the first few weeks

of

Mr.

Armstrong's illness were very criti

cal indeed. Yes, Mr.

~ r m s t r o n g

did

die - yet he was revived. But the

Jiving

GOd

in His mysterious ways

saw fit to

let some remain blinded to

Mr. Armstrong's recovery, even

while he caused Mr. Armstrong to

give evidence of his recovery and to

give everyone the opportunity to

realize that

the

miracle had indeed

occurred. But just as the Jews in

Christ's time refused to recognize the

Messiah so long awaited,

SO

too those

in high places refused to believe Mr.

Annstrong was alive and well.

the right thing in God's eyes.

Mr. Annstrong consented and said

nothing about the rebellion and said

nothing about the decisions. Mr.

Armstrong was assured that he need

not remain for the conference be

cause he was further assured that doc

trines of this Church would not

be

discussed and would not in any way

be involved at the ministerial confer

ence. Mr. Armstrong and I returned

to Tucson, Ariz., after we each ad

dressed the ministers. Mr. Arm

strong ~ e l a t e d much

of

what

I

have

Board of Directors meeting ,

now told you about his miraculous

Mr. Armstrong finally returned to recovery, and I spoke on the need for

Pasaden.

a,

immediately following unity, love, harmony and coopera-

New Yiar's

Day,

and

lan.

'

3

he tion in

God's

Work.

chaired a meeting of the Board of Since January, Mr. Armstrpng has

Directors,."pf the Church. He an- point by point reJX>rted all subse

nounced to the members of the board quent events to you in personal let-

that he had indeed recovered, that he ters, in articles in The

Good

News

had been restored to ' life by the and in sermons in Pasadena, Tucson,

gift of the living God. Ti;Jen he Phoenix and Big Sandy, Tex. lie has

outlined what must be

d o n ~

to save literally poured his heart ou.t to yo u,

the Work of the liVing God. What He has revealed much of what: he

must be done to get the Work moving h o p e d w o u l d never have to be made

again. What must be done to get God known to many. He has been literally

the Father and Christ the Son back heartbroken, over the loss of a physi-

into God's Work. Some of ' these cal son

in

whom

he

had placed so

board members were astounded, not much hope, and from whom he has

only by Mr. Armstrong's recovery suffered so much pain and anguish.

but by the insight that

he

had as to ,Don

I

think for one moment that it

what was needed

in

God's Work, But was easy for him; don't think for one

, though astounded, they were happily moment that he has not suffered;

astounded. Some might have ,been a don't think for one qtoment that

he

bit incredulous, unbelieving but also has not

b ~ e n

sorely grieved and d i s ~

happily so. One person was r e s e n ~ - appointed. I know better; I've lived

fut That one person shocked the :with him every day, for all practical

others

by

his open and naked hostility purposes, as he just said a few mo-

and his unveiled and all too revealing ments ago, for the past 10 years. And

disrespect. But Christ' s apostle was

' 1

myself have never worked so hard

equal to the occasion. He calmly and SO futile'ly, so unsuccessfully to

reemphasized his points, gave

o v e r ~

bring about a contrary result.

all directions to the others to carry out Wharhas not been told

in

my opin

the Policies that

he

had enunciated -ion is that there were two miracles as

and. to keep in touch with him over I view the events of the past 14

ttte ensuing . , 9 ~ t h S . ~ r . . : : -

t1

+;.,;::; 4 rnonlhs. The first miracle was,

aS

"r

The ne

x. '

morning

Mr.

Arm'-

-

already stated, Mr. Armstrong was

strong's son sent his wife _nd

an

restored to life and vigor, restored

assistant to Mr. A r m s t r o n g s home, with his faculties so necessary to

they pleaded that Mr. Armstrong carry on the Work of

the

living God, _

make no mention of the open rebel faculties that were bestowed upon

lion thathad occurred the day before him by the living

God, undi-

and to make no mention of the minished, undiminished, and

Mr.

momentous decisions thai Mr. Arm- Armstrong has been given

the

oppor-

strong had made, when he, Mr. Arm- tunity to continue as Christ's apostle

strong, was scheduled to

sp

eak in this

end

lime. But the second mira-

within the hour at the opening

onhe de

was one that wedidnot prayior;

it

ministerial conference

in

Pasadena. ~ a s one that we did not hope for;

it

A few moments later ,Mr. was one that we did not foresee, and

Armstrong. s son pleaded with his we did ' nol envision. God struck

father on his own behalf to .make no down Mr. Armstrong in such a way

announcements about the decisions as

10

p e ~ m i l

him after being restored

that hl)d been made and to make

no

to life to see-firsthand what

Ihe .

Work

mention before the ministers of

the would be like if he were

no

longer

rebellion. ' Mr. Armstrong decided here, if, in

fact, he were dead, if. in

once again at thai point to give his - fact, he were not to move to correct

son one more chance. One more op- the mistakes that he had made in the

port unity was thus given his son

10

do past

in

orde r to protec " his son. In

FAMILY PHOTOGRAPH - The Stanley R. Rader family poses with Herbert W. Armstrong lor an informal family

portratt. From left are son Stephen, 23, daughter Janis, 26, Mr. and Mrs: Rader, daughterCarollile, 25, and Mr.

. Armstrong. Mrs. l i tt le was baptized Oct. 27 after counseling with Mr. Armstrong. (See Update, page 20.)

other words', God gave Mr. Arm

strong another chance to render to

Him that accounting th.at Mr. Ann

strong always knew he would have .to

render, because he has always said he

is accountable to God. He gave him

another chance to render that ac

counting after making all of the cor

rections that were necessary before

the accounting would have 'to be ul

timately submi ted and'

he

gave Mr.

Arm.strong an opportunity to. take aU

the steps neCessary to ensure that

God's WOIk

would be done, that

God's

ways would be preserved,

even

if

God should decide in his wis

dom and 'mercy that Me. Arm&trong

will not be able to complete it in his

lifetime

. Mr. Annstrong has told people

that he could very well outlive all of

us and I believe that very, very

strongly, and we

all

hope that Mr.

Armstrong will be able to complete

the Work, if that is what God's over

all plan has provided for Me. Arm

strong. But, if not, Mr. Armstrong's

timely action, as a result of the two

miracles as I have seen them, his

timely measures, his timely actions

'will ensure that the Work will bedone.

. Faith enhailced

. So, brethren, there were tw'o mira- .

cles that the living God performed fQr

the direct benefit this time

of

His

Work. Miracles 'perfor,med before

our eyes, if we were simply

of

the

mind to see them. Is there any won

der that my faith has been enhanced a

thousand-fold Should there be. any

dOllbt that t ~ e r e is a living God in the '

minds of any of you. Is there any

douht in your mind now that this is

the true Church, the only Church and.

a Work.of the living God and not a

work of mere men.

I-hav,e"a lofm ore tflat I could. share

"i

,.:

.

with you, but I

don't

Y'ant to take the :

time now. I know that yo u're waiting

as

I

have for so long to hear Mr.

Armstrong sPeak here again 'in Tuc-

son.

1

snail write more to you in the

future in the pages of The

Good

News

and from time to time maybe some of'

my comments given in forums or else

reach you by cassette or videotape. I

cannot thank you en


8/20

,.

-

,

8

(Continued from page

1)

the finest in years in a Jetter of

gratitude to the worldwide ministry.

It was a spiritual revival," he

I said. Afle} our living Head of

God's

Church moved to set His

Church back on the track , .then His

college, now He has set His Festivals

back on the track.

It seemed all members were up

for this Festival,'" Mr. Annstrong

said as he praised

the

leadership

of

God's ~ i n i s l e r s for making 11 so.

A t t e ~ d a n c e

up

. U.S. Festival director Sberwin

McMichael said attendance was. up

significantly at several sites from

what the Big Sandy-based Festival

Office had expected.

According to Mr. McMichael Big

Sandy was expecting 6,700 breth.ren

bot ended uP .with 8,800. The same

seemed to

be

true at

the

Lake of

the

Ozarks site "

amon S

others,

he said.,

As of press time Mr. McMichael's

office did not have final attendance

figures'.' An uf offidal tally by

The .

Good News

based

on

r e ~ > r t s

, .gathered froin sites around the world

.

shows

90,200

brethren

kept the

Feast. (Our figures are derived_from

registration, high attendance and es-

timated figures.) .

In addition to the

::7

sites around

the world,

The Good News

'is also

relorting on the 1,383-slrong

Pasadena and ' Jerusalem

(l77)

Feasts, which were nOI official sites

as designaled by Mr. McMichael's

office. '

.Better atmosphere

Mr. McMichael, who this year

spoke

at

four new U.S. Feast sites

(Fresno,

Calif.;

Seattle, W a ~ h . ;

Saratoga Springs, N.Y.; and Nor-

folk, Va .),

said

the reaction he got

from the Festival coordinators and

the audiences

he

spoke to was that,

uthis year the atmosphere was better,

more enthusiastic, more responsiv.e .

. than 1'd 'seen in years and years . '

.. It

was noticeable everywhere

I

went, and 'It's what the other coor

dinators said as well ," he said.

Acco'rding to MJ , McMichael,

Mr

,

Armslrong expanded the number

of church pastors

who

spoke, making

fo r

a

greater variety

of

speakers.

" More people

at

various sites saw

their church pastor speak than they

had

in

recent years, " he said.

InOuence felt

Mr McMichael pointed

to

the .

purpose of' the Feast as the dominant

the me this t

year

and said,

Mr.

Armstrong's influence was felt more

so worldwide this year than ever be

(ore with his keynote address and full

address on the first Holy Day, Every

Festival site around the world had the

opportunity 10 hear ,Mr, Armstrong,

which has never been the case. .. .

Mr. McMichael summed up his

feelings

of

Ihe

Feast

by saying,

"Considering the many difficulties

the Church has faced over the past

year, to be able to experience such a

wonderful Festival with enthusiasm,

sincerity

and

purpose

is

deeply

gratifying."

Following are individual reports as

of

press time from 73

of

the 75

Feast sites around the world,

These reports were written from

information supplied

The Good News

by Festival coordinators whose

names appear at the end of each re

port (except

in

a small number of

cases when a non-English speaking '

coordinator had someone else file an

aCcount):

UNITED STATES

ANCHORAGE. Alaska - Are

laxed and warm atmosphere in which

the

world tomorrow was the theme

was- enjoyed by 365 brethren here.

Most of the blethren .stayed in the

same hotel in which services were

conducted. Speakers spoke on the

contrast between today' s world and

the wo-

1d

tomorrow (lohn ' R o b i n ~

son),

God's

government

on

eanh

The

GOOD

NEWS

FE ST

.OF T BERN CLES

REPORTS WORL WI E

(Earl Roemer)

and--

what the world

tomorrow will be like

(Phil

Shields).

11Je

Feast

and those attending it

received

a

full-page article in ,the

maio AnchoIage' newspaper. Earl

Roemer.

I

BIG SANDY, Tex. - A visil by

Herben W. Armstrong in midweek

was high point for the 6,630 brethren

registered for the Feast here-In .his

sermon

Me.

Armstrong

~ m p h a s i z e d

theJorward thrust of

the

Church and

the headship of Christ, also later ad.-

dressing the ministers anending the

Festival in Big Sandy. C. Wayne

Cole delivered a much-aJ:W;eciated

sermon on the imPOI1ance

of

emain

ing in the B : ~ d y of Christ,

w h e ~ e

C h r ~ s t is working. '

The Feast was uplifting and en

couraging to the Jll:ople, who were

excited about

the

emphasis on good,

b ~ s i c

doctrine and pleased to have

excellent weather throughout the

eight days. David Robinson.

FRESNO, Calif. - Six lhousand .

' registered Feastgoers tried out the

new Feast f a c i l i t i e s 1he Sel-

land Arena. ,

Vast social

and recreational

facilities along with fJJm p r e s e n t a ~

tions highlighted the Festival,

Sherwin McMichael spoke on the

Ambassador International Cultural

Foundation, Hal Baird on

~ h e

world

tomorrow, Ellis La Ravia on' Chris

tian maturity, Dan

Orban

on Christi,n

refining, Graemme

M a r s h a

on

Monday, Nov. 6,

1978

realism in today's world, Greg

AJ

brecht on peace in the world and Ron

Kelly on the meaning

of

the Last

Great Day. Ellis La Ravia.

LAHAINA, Hawaii - One

thousand six hundred brethren regis

tered for the Feast held at the Lahaina

, Civic Center on

the

island of Maui.

Sermons were delivered by Gary

Antion on personal aspects of how to

make a better Feast, Dennis Pyle on

an overView of the world tomorrow

and looking to Christ, apd Richard

Rice on God's Spirit in us.

Almost aU

of

the brethren attended

the scheduled luau, and most took

advantage of the fabulous weather to

make short side trips in the islands.

The relaxing and rejuvenating Feast

was the best in years.

John Ouvrier.

LAKE

OF

THE OZARKS. Mo.

- A total of

9,041.

brethren regis

teredo or the Feast at the Church of

God Convention

Center

in the

OZarks, where the Feast ran very

smoothly and the members enjoyed

clear skies and bright sunshine every

day.

Key speakers were Roben Fahey;

discussing the meaning of the Festi

val , Guy Englebart , speaking on

Jesus Christ as the central figure in

our lives, Dean Blackwell, em

p h a s ~ z i n g the world tomorrow

Raymond McNair, discussing loy

ally, and David Antion, winding

up

on the Last Great Day.

A

high point

for all the brethren was being able

10

see Herbert W.

Armstrong

on

16-mm. film .

Excellent auendance

prevailed

throughout the Feast, and

God's

people were well received by the

local residents and businessmen.

Jerold

W

Aust

NORFOLK. ' Va. - A lolal

of

8,415 Feastgoers registered

at

lhe

' Norfolk Scope, one of several new

or ~

~ : f t a t e s this

year .

The

a ~ i l i t y

to see and hear Herbert

W. Armstrong on film , the traveling

speak.ers. the numerous ~ e c r e a t i o n a l

activities, 'thl;: dances and a talent

show .contributed

to

a full Feast.

Main speakers addressed reded j

cating your life to God and the Work

(Steve Martin) , walking with God

(Dr. Roderick Meredith), and the

Ambassador International Cultural

Foundation and the meaning of the

Last Greal

Day

(Sherwin

McMichael).

The enthusiastic

, and

inspiring

Feast had a sense of seriousness

about it. The imponance of being

active in God's Work, rededication

and the preparation we have.t0 make

to ~ o m part of Qod's Kingdom

was emphasized. ick

Thompson.

PASADENA. Calif. - The

un

of

f idal

Pasadena

Festival ran

smoothly, with attendance on the

Holy Days reaching 1,294 and 1,383

respectively. The weather was de

lightful and helped to create an en

thusiastic and congenial atmosphere.

In addition to sermons by Dr.

Herman Hoeh, B ~ n Chapman ~ n d

Fred Coulter, Leon Walker flew

in

frum Tucson, Ariz., to add spice to

the Festival and Bob Fahey presenled

the Ambassador lntc;rnational Cul

tural Foundation sliae show and a

sermon on the Last Great Day.

Joseph Tkach, associate pastor of

the Pasadena Auditorium

P.M

congregation, was designated as the

Festival coordinator. Activities were

designed

with all

age-groups

in

mind. Bill Brazil and his country

and-western band played for a dance

in the Student Center, .children and

adults enjoyed an evening of roller

skating, and a banquet was held fo

the

senior cilizens The

eldesl presen

was Lizzie Henderson,

lOr.

The success

of

the Feast was the

result

pf

a total learn effort by those

serving and

those

being served

J o s ~ p h Tkach.

C o n t i n u t d o n ~

.

_ .


9/20

Monday, Nov. 6,

1978

The GOOD NEWS

9

REPORTS

WORLDWIDE

(Continued from

page

81

ST. PETERS,BURG, Fla, - The

opening sermon

by

Herbert

w

Arm

strong set the stage for a fine Feast

here. Feastgoers registering to attend

services at

the

Bayfront Cenler Arena

numbered 10,500.

Principal speakers.were Mr. Arm-

strong, whose sennon'on

the

hope

we

have in the future was videotaped for,

later uSe, and Rod Meredith : David

Antian and Wayne Cole:

who

dis

cussed the reality

of

what

the

Feast

a y ~ picture and how to weather the

t r i ~ ~ e ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ h e r

was

t i f u l

and

warm enough for

members

to

go

to

. the

beach. The only discomfort was

the somewhat crowded conditions.

,At

services

the

people were

genuinely happy. . . A much needed

. Feast,'J an ,

'up'

Feast,

and a

shot

in

the arm were some com

ments heard. Jim Chapman

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N,Y.-,- ,

Brethren here made the best of record

cold temperatures at

the

beginning of

the Feast as they huddled

in

the

Saratoga Performing Arts Center . a

semienclosed auditorium.

Despite the cold

the 4,800

breth

ren had

feeling ofbeing

at

one as

t ~ y

heard Roderick Meredith speak on

the need for the coming Kingdom,

Steve Martin on marriage and the

family. -Sherwin McMichael on- re

'ports from other Feast sites and'Les

lie McCullough on

the

need to be

prepared fo

the

difficult days ahead.

The weather warmed

up

mid-Feast

making for a very successful F e ~ s t

overall. The brethren here also

made

a real ,: i ~ p a ~ t on

t h l . c o r i i r n u n . i t y

David Bierer ' -

SAVANNAH,

Ga,

~ h i s sOuth'

ern

city

proved

to

be

3'

historical as

well as ,entertaining city for _some.

5,290 -brethren observing the Feast ,

here for the first time .

The

example

of Jesus Christ was

preached (David Antion) as was

walking

with

God

(Roderick

Meredith) and the Last Great

Oay(C.

Wayne Cole).

.

God

has poured

QUI

his Holy Spiri.

on his people this year as the attitudes

. of the brethren were exemplary of

- real Christianity.

Ray Wooten

SEATfLE

, Wash . - A larger

number

of

Feslivalgoers than ex

pected gathered in the Seattle Center

Arena for the F ~ a s t this year. The

highest attendance recorded was

5,413, which topped the official reg

istration figures.

Everyone

s

eemed

to be 'on a

s

piritual hign from

day one

10 day

eight. Attendance was larger than

expected - offerings very good -

very few problems. ,Our Church

members are really hanging in there.

Main speakers were'Leslie McCul

lough, speaking on the . meaning

of

the

Feast

in genera' ;

Sherwin

McMichael on the world'in which we

live and the importance

of

the Work;

Art Mokarow on human ]X>tential;

Bob Bertuzzi

on

rewards

of

he saved;

Ronald Kelly. what it will be l i k ~ to

be spirit; Dale Schurter. ':Ne are per

fectable in the Kingdom; and Joel

Lillengreeri on what we are promised

in the Kingdom.

The 74

acres of the Seattle Center

offered recreati

ona

l and educational

opportunities for yo ung and old

alike.

Dale Schurter

TUCSON, Ariz. - A positive

proach on the part of the ministry

and

brethren here marked a fine Feast for

6 391 brethren.

HeJbert W. Annstrong made ,Tuc

son his . last

F e s t i v a ~

stop and ad

(Continued on page 101'

- ~ ~ - - -

. ~ ~ - - . - ~ = ~ ~

.. -_

.

_-_._. ---

I

i

I

t

J

\


10/20

.

.

, \

.1

I

10

REPORTS WORLDWIDE

(Continued

from

P&gI

9

r e ~ the breihren the Last Great Da

y

as he spoke on

the

great of udg- .

ment.

Other

su bjects

covered

were

God s presence in the Work (C.

Wayne Cole), why do we suffer

'(Leon Walker) and

God s

wrath

(Clint Zimmer:man).

Sc vices along with active panici

pation in activities such as a"widows

and widower luncheon and YOU day

added up to make the Feast a

strengthening experience.

Wglter

Dfckinson - .

,

WISCONSIN DELLS, Wis . -

Registered Feasigoers

numbered

6, 875 at this Church-owned site.

Weather varied from cold to warm.

from wet rb dry, always with a back

g r o u h d of autumn co lors, and breth

ren were

mc)re

excited. united and

happy about the Feast ihan ever be

fore. .

Visiting minister m o n ~

McNair spoke about

the

purpose

of

the

Feast and.loyalty , Robert Fahey

discussed . he Ambassador Interna

tional Cultural Foundation and our

international. ~ m m i s ~ i o n and Dean

Blackwell covered the meaning

of

the Last Great Day .

The ' choir provtded outstanding

music throughout the eight ' days .

Leroy Neff

CANADA

CALGARY, Aha.

- Main

speakers were Leslie McCullough,

R o ~

Kelly, John Halford , Charles

Bryce and Oeorge Patrickson

at

this

Canadian site

in

the Calgary Conven-

; Iioo Center, wJth 1,585'

f e a s t g ~ r s

-

regist.ered .. . r _ .

Brethren were up for the Feast,

concluding with a record offering for

the site

of $30

per person.

An

8-foot

Church seal

set

the tone for the stage

decor.

Neil

Eark

CHARLOlTETOWN, P.E .I. -

A

highly family-oriented Feast

witl:l

. maximum participation was enjoyed

here by 526 brethren whQ -rep

resented

JO

Canadian provinces.

Sermon topits included

the

mis

sion

of the

Church

is

the same today

as for the original apostles , feeding

the.spiritually hungry with food that

satisfies (Colio Wilkins), marriage

should reflect the relationship

be

tween Christ and the Church (Ken

Kneebone) and compassion for

others (Bill Rabey). Ken Kneebone

PENTICfON, B.C. - R ecor d at

tendance (1,825 registered) and rec

ord offerings set a positive note to the

Feast held in 'the Peachbowl Conven

tion

eeruer.

Special speakers Leslie McCul

lough and John Halford gave exten

sive interviews to the local press,

which treated

the

Church's Festival

in an evenhanded manner.

Sermons ranged from God s plan

for our personal lives as seen

in

the

Holy Days (Leslie McCullough) to

the misery

of

the third world and how

we can qualify to change it (John

Halford) to learning to be a savior,

delivered by evangelist Norman

Smith:

The sermons were positive and uP:- '

lifting and extremely appl,icabJe to a '

person's life. The attitude

of

the peo

ple encouraged the speakers and the

two worked together to build a spirit

of

enthusiasm

and

appreciation that

lasted throughout

the '

Feast.

Bob

Millman

REGINA, Saslc - Tremendous

weather, record offerings and strong

sermons made for a great Feast here.

Record high temperatures spelled

I C O 1 j n u . ~ on pap 1H

The GOOD NEWS

Monday, Nov. 6, 1978


11/20


12/20

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12

The

GOOD NEWS

Monday. Nov, 6;

1978

First time

F eastgoers find Feast time-fine

'Continued from

page

11)

the elegant Grand Hotel Moskva

P a r k here , the East German b ~ t h r e n

enjoyed

the

Feast with a small family

atmosphere, eating two

of

their three

daily

meals together in the hotel din

ing room. Aftern900 trips were made

to

the

Marienbad and Carlsbad health

spas and to Prague, Czechoslo.vakia:

Sermons were ,given

by

Victor

Root 011

,how

God

is developing His

c h a r a c t ~ r in us, Alfred Hellemann on,

true Christianity, Frank Schnee on

Christian love and John Karlson on

how marriage and family are prepar

ing

us

for God's family. ary Hop

kins.

. HJO,

Sweden-Though

this new

Festival site was among the smallest,

100 brethren from

the

Scandinavian

countries, the United States, the

United Kingdom, the Netherlands,

Canada and South Africa

attended.

All services were held

in English ex-

Documents

Good News 1978 (Prelim No 22) Nov 6