The GOOD NEWS
Letter
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BEAUTIFUL SECLUDED MOUNTAIN RESORT TAKEN OVER FOR
F E A S T O F T A B E R N A C L E S
Dates, this year, September 22-29 inclusive.
"BE GLAD and REJOICE! for the Eternal will do great things."
We have reason, indeed, for REJOICING! God has given us
a most desirable place for holding the FEAST OF TABERNACLES this
year! This year we can keep it more like they did back in Bible
times.
This is indeed splendid news. Nearly all the brethren
who have heard of it are enthusiastic over the opportunity that God
has opened. We have taken over, for the full period, beautiful
Belknap Mineral Springs, one of Oregon's leading, nicest mountain
resorts, high up the McKenzie in the lofty Cascades, 60 miles east
of Eugene.
Here we will be utterly secluded from the world. Belknap
is a mile off the MeKenzie highway, out in God's majestic, worship-
inspiring nature. Here we will be away from the noise and hustle
of man-made civilization, out in God's great natural out-doors
where things are beautiful.
The Facilities Available
At Belknap, is a lovely 30-room resort hotel. There is
a large, pleasant lobby or living-room, well furnished with
davenports, lounging chairs, floor and table-lamps, piano, etc.,
with a large fireplace. We will rearrange this room, adding a
sufficient number of folding chairs, turning it into a beautiful
and comfortable meeting-room for holding all services.
There is a nice large dining-room where all will eat, and
a large well-equipped kitchen. We are taking over the hotel and
grounds exclusively. The hotel is closing it regular summer season
two weeks earlier than usual, September 15, this year. There will
not even be the usual cooks, waitresses, or maids around--no one
but just ourselves and the owner. We will appoint one of our women
head cook, and the others will take turns in assisting with the
cooking, waiting tables, etc., and occupants of each room will make
their own beds and take care of their own rooms. This serves the
double purpose of considerably reducing the expense, and giving us
total privacy. We are to furnish our own food. A plan will be
devised whereby each one coming will contribute ration-points
proportionately, and food bought in quantity by one person in
charge. Farmer members will bring vegetables etc. Perishable
items such as bread, milk, butter, etc., can be bought daily at
McKenzie Bridge, about 5 miles away. By eliminating all expense of
hiring help, supplying our own food, we are able to secure the
exclusive use of this splendid resort at a minimum expense within
the reach of all. In fact, the cost is LESS than it would be to
rent a cabin in Eugene if we were holding the Festival there again
this year. Costs in Eugene have gone up, and cabins there, it
appears now, will not be available this year.
There are 15 cabins on the grounds at Belknap. Those
engaging cabins must bring their own bedding. Hotel rooms, of
course, are completely furnished.
There on the grounds some beautiful out-door spots, like
in a lovely park, where on occasion if we prefer and weather
permits we may eat, or hold services outdoors.
The mineral springs are hot springs. The water is
boiling as it pours out of the solid rock from underground in the
side of the mountain. This mineral water is of very high quality
and will be of real benefit to the health of all who will drink
it while there. It can be used, of course, either hot or cold.
For those who do not care for the mineral water, there is running
water in every room and thruout the hotel and grounds from a
natural spring.
Beside the hotel is a large out-door swimming pool.
There is the best fishing in America on the McKenzie. The only
living ex-president, Herbert Hoover, customarily comes yearly to
the McKenzie to fish. There are numerous trails for mountain
climbing and hiking. Just a word of caution, however: we are
going to Belknap for a great SPIRITUAL FEAST, so all hiking,
fishing, etc., should be done at such hours as not to conflict
with any of the services.
Elders Kiesz and Walker Expected
We expect to have with us again this year the same
ministers we had last year at Eugene, when we had such a spiritual
meeting.
Brother Frank Walker has assured me he will try to
arrange to come for the full time. In his present circumstances
it will be some little inconvenience on Brother Walker, but God
willing, he will be with us.
Last January and February I held services four weeks in
Canon City, Colorado, for Brother Kiesz. At that time he and
Sister Katherine and family were planning, God willing, to swing
around thru Oregon again this year to be with us, and looking for-
ward to holding the Festival at Belknap Springs. At present I
believe they are in Canada. The last I heard they were in North
Dakota after having visited some little time in South Dakota. I
am looking daily for definite word from them saying they will be
with us, as I recently wrote for a definite confirmation.
I ask all to PRAY, earnestly, that God will remove every
hinderance, and make it possible for us to have both Brother Kiesz
and Brother Walker with us again this year. We all NEED their
earnest, sincere, spiritual fellowship and messages. It will be
necessary for us, of course, to defray the expense of bringing them
to Belknap with us, but this I know we are able and all more than
willing and glad to do. PRAY, earnestly, God will insure their
presence.
* * * * * * * * *
The ETERNAL GOD C O M M A N D S YOU TO COME!
As World War II comes to a complete end, and the world
plunges on into a so-called "Peace-time" chaos, during which we
shall experience troubles such as never before in a time of so-
called peace--with race-riots soon to break out all over America,
labor strife such as never before experienced, a crime wave the
police and F.B.I. will be unable to cope with, juvenile delinquency
and moral degeneracy multiplying, economic and other troubles in
the offing--it becomes more than ever our solemn calling to
proclaim to the world the GOOD NEWS of the coming KINGDOM OF GOD!
More than ever our thoughts, our interests, our hopes and
active interest, should be focused ahead on the soon-coming
KINGDOM, when we, if we are faithful overcomers enduring patiently
until the end, shall be PRIESTS and KINGS, ruling with Christ in
His glorious world-ruling KINGDOM, teaching the peoples of the
world who are now blinded to the truth but then shall have their
eyes opened, the ways and commands of GOD!
And in that glorious KINGDOM, and thruout all the
kingdoms of earth then to be ruled by Christ and by us as His
under-kings and priests, notice one specific joyous event to
occur annually:
"And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left
of all the nations that came against Jerusalem shall even go up
from year to year to worship the king (Christ Jesus), the Lord of
hosts, and to keep the FEAST OF TABERNACLES. And it shall be, that
whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto
Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, even upon them
shall be no rain. And if the family of Egypt go not up, and come
not, that have no rain; there shall be the plague wherewith the
Eternal will smite the heathen that come not up to keep the Feast
of Tabernacles. This shall be the PUNISHMENT of Egypt, and the
PUNISHMENT OF ALL NATIONS THAT COME NOT UP TO KEEP THE FEAST OF
TABERNACLES." (Zech. 14:16-19).
In that glad day, dear Brethren, Christ as King of kings
will rule all nations THRU US, now being called as His children.
Paul exclaimed, "Do you not know that the SAINTS are to MANAGE THE
WORLD?" (I Cor. 6:3). We are to sit with Christ on His throne in
that day,--IF we overcome, now!
Brethren, listen! If YOU are really converted, you are
to sit with Christ on His throne! You are to MANAGE the world!
You--yes, you, yourself, are to be one to teach, and to be used
in ENFORCING all others still then mortal on earth to LEAVE THEIR
HOMES, THEIR FARMS, THEIR BUSINESSES, and go up once each year, to
the place God selects--it will then again be Jerusalem--to KEEP
THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES! If you are a true child of God now--if
you are truly converted--if you are going to BE in the Kingdom,
--then you will be one who will have to teach others then to leave
their homes, and go to the place God designates, to keep the Feast
of Tabernacles! If they, then, make excuse--if they, then, say
"Well, I just can't afford it this year," or "I would like to come,
but I can't get anyone to take care of my stock," or some other
excuse, WHAT THEN? First, they will be deprived of rain. If that
doesn't change their minds and cause them to come, God will send
terrible PLAGUES upon them. THEY SHALL BE SEVERELY PUNISHED!
And Christ will use YOU to teach them, to warn them of
the punishment if they make excuse and fail to go, and perhaps to
PUNISH them for this disobedience! Now the question for each one
of you to face squarely, without dodging it, is this: If YOU make
excuse, and treat this command of God lightly NOW, and fail to
come, HOW CAN GOD USE YOU, THEN, TO TEACH, WARN, AND PUNISH OTHERS
FOR FAILURE TO DO THE VERY THING YOU ARE LAX ENOUGH TO FAIL TO DO
NOW? HOW?
Can we not see that one of the things we have now to
overcome, as a CONDITION to even GETTING INTO THE KINGDOM, is this
very thing? Some of you will say, "I can't afford it." Some will
say "I just can't get anyone to take care of my stock." Or, "I
just can't leave my job, or my business." Brethren, WHERE THERE'S
A WILL, THERE'S A WAY! An OVERCOMER is one who OVERCOMES those
obstacles--who has the WILL and the DETERMINATION, with much
earnest prayer and FAITH in God's help, to FIND A WAY, to overcome
the obstacle. God tells you to COME! God permits obstacles,
trials, tests. But we must ride over those--master those
circumstances--if we are truly CHRISTIANS. We must take it
earnestly, diligently, to God in PRAYER, and then BELIEVE and TRUST
HIM to bring about circumstances, with our diligent and determined
efforts, to make it possible for us to GO this year to the FEAST OF
TABERNACLES. This is ONE OF THE TESTS. We must not fail!
HOW We Can Afford It
Would God command us to do something (and this is
commanded as a statute FOREVER, Lev. 23:14) and then not provide a
way to make it possible for us to AFFORD to do it?
I can't take space here to go into the matter thoroughly,
as will be done later, but very briefly, STUDY those texts in your
Bible. OPEN your mind to God's truth, when it is NEW LIGHT to us.
Lev. 27:30, 32, 34. The tithe is HOLY unto the Eternal.
If it is HOLY, then it is for a HOLY, or SPIRITUAL use,--or, in
other words, for GOD'S WORK--the work of the ministry--the
carrying out of the Great Commission: "Go ye into all the world
and PREACH THE GOSPEL!"
Numbers 18:6,8,20-21,23-26: God gave His ministers the
charge over the tithe and hallowed things, FOREVER. The ministers
(under the Old Covenant the Levites) had no inheritance in the
land. They were not engaged in farming, business, or any means of
earning a living. But the Eternal gave them "ALL the tenth in
Israel for an inheritance, for the service which they serve." And
this, too, is a statute FOREVER throughout your generations.
After the captivity, when some of the Jews, (tribes of
Judah, Benjamin and Levi) went from Babylon back to Jerusalem to
rebuild the temple, these people, realizing how their people had
been punished by captivity for disobeying God's commands and
ordinances, became very strict in getting back to them. Notice
Neh. 10:37-38. They brought not only a tenth, but it was the
first tenth, "UNTO THE PRIESTS." And the "TITHES of our ground,
unto the Levites, that the same Levites might have the tithes in
all the cities of our tillage."
It was the ministers, the Levites, specially chosen of
God and not self appointed or voted in by men, who took the tithes
from the people. The people did not appoint a "board" of their own
choosing, or by the will of a few who desire to rule, with a lay-
member treasurer to take the tithes--God's HOLY money--as so many
organize to do today, thus usurping authority by the power of this
money to dictate to God's called ministers. Tithes were paid
direct to the ministers of GOD'S CHOOSING--ministers whose entire
time was devoted to the work of the ministry. These tithes (the
first tenth of every person's income) are GOD'S, and the Eternal
tells our people today they are ROBBING GOD by not paying HIS
tithes and offerings as He commanded!
But many have become confused about the meaning of the
word "tithe," without realizing it. Remember, "tithe" is not a
special word meaning just GOD'S TENTH and nothing more. So many
have come to assume, from the common usage of the term, that the
word "tithe" refers only to that tenth set aside for God's work,
and paid to the minister--and that the REMAINDER of your income
is NOT TITHE. But the word "tithe" is merely an ancient English
word, no longer in common usage except in referring to God's tenth.
Actually the word means, simply, "TENTH." If you earn $100,
whether in wages, or income from farming, or what, the fact is
there are TEN tithes in that $100. "Tithe" means "tenth,"and there
are ten tenths in every dollar you earn or receive as income. It
is merely the FIRST tenth we have been accustomed to call by the
name "tithe," but as there are TEN tenths in every dollar, so there
will be actually TEN tithes in your $100 you have earned or
received. It is the FIRST of these tenths, (or tithes), that
belongs to GOD'S WORK--that is HOLY to God--to be paid to His
minister. The other NINE TITHES, or $90 remaining, God leaves for
you.
The only change in the tithing system under the NEW
TESTAMENT is explained in Hebrews 7 and I Cor. 9, where Paul
explains clearly and at length God has ordained ministers of Jesus
Christ are to live by the same system as the Levites of old--by
the TITHES of the people. And, the priesthood being changed,
tithes are no longer paid to flesh-born Levites, but to Spirit-
CALLED ministers of the GOSPEL of JESUS CHRIST.
Now study carefully Deut. 14:22-29. Here we find a
SECOND and THIRD tithe out of every income mentioned. Remember,
the FIRST tenth is HOLY, belongs to GOD, is given to a true
minister of Christ for the ministry of the GOSPEL. But here we
find a TENTH of your wages, salary, or income, to be set aside
FOR YOUR OWN USE. Now you cannot pay the SAME $10 tithe out of a
$100 income to the minister to use in GOSPEL WORK, and spend THAT
SAME $10 on yourself. Consequently, when we read in God's Word
you are to lay aside ONE TENTH of all you earn or receive, FOR
YOU YOURSELF TO SPEND AT FEAST OF TABERNACLES AND PASSOVER TIME
ON YOURSELF, that of necessity is a SECOND tithe, and not the
same tithe you put in God's work!
Notice verse 22: "Thou shalt truly tithe (set aside a
TENTH--not the FIRST tenth, but A tenth)--all the increase of
thy seed that the field bringeth forth YEAR BY YEAR." Study this
carefully! You are to spend this ON YOURSELF. This tithe is not
holy. It is not for Gospel work. It is a DIFFERENT--a second
tithe. You are to lay this second tithe aside EVERY YEAR, and
take it with you to Feast of Tabernacles, Passover, and Pentecost,
and spend ON YOURSELF. It is your EXPENSE MONEY so that you CAN
afford to go! How wonderful are God's ways!
"And if the way be too long for thee, so that thou art
not able to carry it (the tenth of your grain, fruit, live-stock),
or if the place be too far from thee, . . then thou shalt turn it
into money . . . and SHALT GO UNTO THE PLACE which the Lord thy God
shalt choose (it appears He has chosen Belknap this year): AND THOU
SHALT BESTOW THAT MONEY FOR WHATSOEVER THY SOUL LUSTETH AFTER
(bodily needs) . . . and thou shalt eat there before the Eternal
thy God, and thou shalt REJOICE (you will REJOICE if you obey
this), thou, and thine household, and the Levite (now, in N.T.
days, minister of Christ) that is within thy gates; and thou shalt
not forsake him, for he hath no part nor inheritance with thee."
This latter is God's provision for the SPECIAL OFFERING that will
be necessary to defray expenses of Bro. Keisz and Bro. Walker.
Now THIS tenth of all you earn or receive CANNOT be the
SAME tenth that is put to SPIRITUAL use in the Gospel, nor come
out of that tenth. This is a SECOND tithe you are to lay aside
out of every dollar you receive, for your expense money so you
can come to God's festivals.
Next read verses 28-29, same chapter. Here is a THIRD
TITHE, set aside only EVERY THREE YEARS, however, for the PHYSICAL
need of the poor.
So here are THREE different tithes to be laid aside--30›
out of every dollar you earn or receive--except that the third
tithe is set aside only every third year. The FIRST tenth belongs
to God and is HOLY. It is to be given to His minister for Gospel
work--a SPIRITUAL use. The second 10› out of every dollar you
receive as income, you are to lay aside, and save up, for your OWN
expense money to go to the Festival of Tabernacles, Passover,
Pentecost. This second tithe is for your own personal spiritual
AND temporal use. The third tithe is for PHYSICAL use
only.
THIS SYSTEM, PLAINLY SET FORTH IN GOD'S WORD, WAS FULLY
UNDERSTOOD BY ISRAELITES OF OLD!
In many Bibles you will find the Books called the
"Apocrypha" in between Malachi and Matthew. Many suppose these
Books to be a PART of the Bible. Most Protestants do not so regard
them, nor do I. But they are universally accepted as the authentic
writings, though uninspired, of ancient Israelites from the days of
the prophets down to the 2nd Century, B.C.
Tobit was of the tribe of Naphtali, and in the captivity
of Israel, carried to Assyria in 721 B. C. In the Book of Tobit
he wrote: "I went many a time to Jerusalem for the festivals
(Tabernacles, Passover, Pentecost), as THE SCRIPTURE COMMANDS all
Israel in AN EVERLASTING DECREE, taking with me the first fruits
and the tenth parts (more than one tenth-part) of my crops and of
my first shearings, and I would give them to the priests, the sons
of Aaron, at the altar. A tenth part of all my produce I would
give to the sons of Levi, who officiated at Jerusalem, and ANOTHER
TENTH I would sell, and go and spend the proceeds in Jerusalem each
year, and A THIRD TENTH I would give to those to whom it was
fitting to give it (the poor)." (Tobit 1:6-8).
This historic writing by a man of Israel who lived in the
8th century B.C. PROVES beyond any dispute whatever that these
three different tithes were well understood then. And we ought
to be able to understand it now, even tho it is NEW LIGHT to most
of us. Brethren are we GLAD--do we REJOICE, when NEW LIGHT is
opened to us from God's word? God help us not to be sorrowful or
reject it! But REJOICE!
The question is whether we are willing to accept and
PRACTICE it! Not the hearers, but the DOERS, shall get into the
Kingdom! We could make excuse and say: "Well what would I have
left, after the withholding tax is taken out, and other expenses?"
Yes, we could grumble: "GOD ISN'T FAIR!" But we won't, will we?
For if we did, we just would not get into the Kingdom! But if we
take God at His Word, set ourselves to obey, PRAY, and TRUST HIM,
we shall be surprised to find we get along better than when we
tried to spend it all OUR WAY. We may have to spend less on
worldly pleasures, or sacrifice some thing we thought we wanted,
and spend THAT money thru this second tithe in going to God's
Festivals--BUT WE SHALL BE GLAD AND REJOICE, if we do--and
punished if we don't. Yes, God has provided a way so we can all
afford it. LET ALL COME!
FINAL DETAILS
Please write me, BY RETURN MAIL IF POSSIBLE, for your
reservation. Just "take the bull by the horns," as the saying
is, make up your mind you are coming, as God commands, then SET
YOURSELF TO DO IT!
Prices of cabins and hotel rooms INCLUDE a portion
charged on each one to pay for use of grounds, dining-room and
kitchen, and the large room for holding services. In this way
each is charged his share in the general overhead.
15 cabins--bring bedding: $2.50 per day for cabin with
one double bed: $3 per day for cabin with two double beds.
30 hotel rooms, everything furnished; one in room, $2.50
per day; two in room (one double bed), $3 per day.
Plan to arrive Friday Sept. 21, and leave Sunday Sept 30
--total 9 days at Belknap. Buses leave Eugene daily 2:PM, and
take you direct to hotel at Belknap Springs. We may charter a
special bus Friday. For further information, and reservations,
WRITE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. We hope to have every hotel room and
cabin filled. Do not delay.
FEAST OF TRUMPETS IS Sabbath Sept. 8th.
DAY OF ATONEMENT is Monday Sept. 17th.
HERBERT W. ARMSTRONG
Box 111, Eugene, Ore.