OUR Co-Workers' BULLETIN =================================================================== Published every little while, to keep our Co- Workers informed of the progress, the problems and future plans for carrying on God's work in these closing days of this age; --broadcasting "The WORLD TOMORROW;" publishing The PLAIN TRUTH, and other Gospel literature. HERBERT W. ARMSTRONG, Box 111, Eugene, Ore. ------------------------------------------------------------------- VOLUME VIII. Number 4 August 4, 1947 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Dear Co-Workers in Christ: GREETINGS! in Jesus' name: Again it is time I report to you the progress of God's precious work, as time races on in this chaotic "TIME OF THE END" to the very END OF THIS AGE. This has been, perhaps, the most hectic month in the history of this great work. As time grows short, the work comes to the CROSS-ROADS. It is now in its greatest crisis. We face grave decisions that will set the future course of God's great cause during its remaining years--perhaps have potent bearing unrealized now on the future and welfare of this nation and much of the world! But listen! Do you, yourself, really REALIZE the time in which we live? Never was the world like it is today. Something happened in 1914 that has completely CHANGED this world. Today it is in CHAOS, bankrupt, completely upset, even its leaders bewildered and helpless, staring atomic war and worse in the face, --the utter extinction of human life from this earth! This world is not like it was. NOTHING is the same, since going thru two world wars. World revolution is sweeping the earth. We are witnessing the colossal DESTRUCTION of civilization as men have known it. THAT IS THE STARK TRUTH! What is YOUR PART, and mine, in this supreme crisis of the age? It's time we stopped to take stock--to check up--to take inventory, and see where we stand, and what it means to US! 1900 years ago the Creator sent into this world His Son, bearing the most vital Message ever given to mankind. That Messenger, Jesus Christ, foretold these present days. He knew WHAT'S WRONG with the world. This world is simply not living right! It's in the grip of a society based on the spirit of competition, greed, vanity, ORGANIZED by MEN. The Great Teacher foresaw where it would lead--straight to this chaos in the "time of the end,"--a time He prophetically described as "distress of nation, with perplexity; men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things coming on the earth." HIS MESSAGE was the GOOD NEWS (Gospel) of a world-government to be set up by the Eternal Creator, with He Himself as King of Kings, to rule ALL NATIONS, destroy and take over ALL GOVERNMENTS, and bring right ways, peace, prosperity, and happiness at last to all. That GOOD NEWS was His GOSPEL--the only real and true Gospel of Jesus Christ. That Gospel He commissioned HIS ministers to proclaim to the world. But He foresaw, and many other prophecies foretold, that apostasy and deception would replace His truth and deceive the world until this very "time of the end." Then, AT THIS TIME, which fulfillment has revealed to be this mid-twentieth century, A.D., Jesus said His true Gospel of the Kingdom shall go out powerfully to ALL THE WORLD, for a witness unto ALL NATIONS. A third of the Bible, approximately, is prophecy. About 90% of prophecy applies, directly or indirectly, to THIS END-TIME IN WHICH WE LIVE. The central theme and burden of these prophecies is a DESTRUCTION, by invasion, destruction of our CITIES (which only atomic power could accomplish), captivity and enslavement of the peoples of the United States, British commonwealth, and the democracies of north-western Europe. As Daniel's prophecy (12th chapter) discloses, these prophecies were mostly closed up and sealed to human understanding UNTIL this very mid-twentieth century TIME OF THE END--the time of universal and rapid transportation--of the increase and diffusion of knowledge. Today the long-hidden meaning of these vital prophecies is revealed to spiritual "babes" but still and forever hidden from the carnally "wise and prudent." It cannot be grasped nor used by any of the organized denominations who DARE NOT admit the error in their traditional doctrines, or change them or add to them the light of this end-time revelation. For the purpose of carrying this warning to our nations-- and of carrying this true GOSPEL of the KINGDOM to all the world, the Almighty has raised up this present work. It's fruits are ample evidence of that. It is the most important mission and cause in this world today. The governments of the world soon are to be overthrown, destroyed, and REPLACED by the divine government of God under Jesus Christ returned to this earth IN PERSON, and we are the called ADVANCE-AGENTS, if you please, of that world-Kingdom--the WORLD TOMORROW. As such we are AMBASSADORS FOR CHRIST! But more and more experience shows that no man alone could carry on this tremendous responsibility. God has always provided all His called servants with adequate help and assistance from others. It is YOUR personal responsibility, too. It is YOUR personal CALLING, as well as mine. YOU shall be required to stand before the judgment seat of Christ, upon His return to earth as King of kings, as well as I. YOU shall then be called upon to GIVE ACCOUNT of whether you shirked this calling and responsibility, or whether you DID YOUR BEST--the same as I. We are co-workers TOGETHER, and God is no respecter of persons. Yes, the time is here to stop and TAKE INVENTORY--for each of us to search down deeply into his own heart, and ask himself candidly, "Am I really doing all I can--am I putting THE KINGDOM OF GOD and His righteousness FIRST in my life and interest and thoughts, or are material interests crowding it out of my heart?" Are YOU, personally, making your calling and election SURE? Will Christ say to YOU, when He comes--and it will be SOON--"Well done, thou good and faithful servant?" Some of you dear co-workers are so VERY FAITHFUL--GOD BLESS YOU!--and without you this mighty work of God could not have continued to now. But also, on the other hand, MANY OF YOU who will read this Bulletin have been letting down--NEGLECTING this so great salvation which we must carry to the millions of others, as well as work out in ourselves. Too many of you let the faithful FEW take these messages to heart and carry the whole burden at too great sacrifice, while you let down and do little or nothing. And to those of you guilty of this neglect, for your own sake, I plead in the name of Jesus Christ, DON'T let this negligence drop you by the wayside, to be cast aside by the soon-coming Master as an unprofitable servant! HAPPY is he who heeds this message, and does HIS FULL PART in this unselfish work of carrying GOOD TO OTHERS! The ONLY true happiness comes from DOING GOOD to OTHERS, and that is the purpose for which God raised up this work. Those few who try to excuse their neglect by fault-finding and criticism will never find true peace and happiness in so doing. And so, let every one of you in this solemn crisis hour EXAMINE HIMSELF, and CONSECRATE and DEDICATE HIMSELF ANEW to the glorious work and cause of Christ! It's not yet too late, but time is fast running out on us! Jesus did not commission His true called ministers to stay in some one small neighborhood--but "Go ye," He said, "into ALL THE WORLD, and preach the Gospel to every creature." To ALL NATIONS is the divine commission! In the Spring of 1946 God revealed to me the need of a college as the only means of providing the trained and qualified assistance soon to be needed in carrying this great Message of Jesus Christ into ALL NATIONS. Yet no man can choose for himself the active ministry as a life vocation, and probably none who do really serve the true Christ. Christ Himself always did, and does now, select HIMSELF, those HE has chosen for His work, and CALL them by special spiritual call to His work. Consequently this college cannot be a ministerial college--it MUST be a general LIBERAL ARTS college, educating and preparing young men and women for ALL walks of life and proper occupations and professions. But God, I know, is able to cause those few HE has chosen for His work to BE AMONG THESE STUDENTS. Jesus told us how we shall recognize them--"BY THEIR FRUITS." But that takes time, and a testing by EXPERIENCE. Consequently AMBASSADOR COLLEGE has been planned to fit young men and women for whatever occupation in life they them- selves may choose, giving practical and technical instruction to all--and AT THE SAME TIME the course is so designed that if and when we see, BY THEIR FRUITS, and by having known them over a period of some four years, some one out of twenty, or out of forty or a hundred, has been truly CALLED of God to the true ministry of Jesus Christ, and then that ONE shall have been adequately and properly TRAINED for this very mission! And in the meantime we shall have established on earth a college patterned after GOD'S TRUTH, and rendered to all other students a most wonderful blessing! Ambassador College is VITAL to the future of God's work! When it seemed necessary, last Fall, to postpone the establishment of the college at least two more years, God performed a miracle and suddenly opened the way for the fine and splendid property in Pasadena to come into our hands. Consequently, we proceeded from there with the program to open the college Sept. 22, this Fall. May 1st, its president, Walter E. Dillon, joined our staff, to devote full time to organizing and preparing for this fall opening. July 1st, we took full possession of the buildings and grounds for the college. Prior to that, we had opened a temporary office in one of the buildings and added the secretary-registrar to the staff. July 1st, our librarian started active duty, preparing for the purchase of the college library. But beginning July 1st we entered, as I stated, the most hectic month since this work began. We ran into certain difficulties and barriers in even gaining possession of the property. With four of the college executive staff (including the buildings-and-grounds superintendent) in full-time service, things began to "click." The entire staff was quickly completed--an amazing experience, for God literally SENT us a hand-picked faculty of highly trained, experienced, competent professors--a faculty that would add prestige to the highest-standing universities in the land--yet every member is a Christian, committed to and having at heart the ideals upon which Ambassador is founded! Certainly THAT is a miracle! But then, some ten days ago, we came abruptly to our "Red Sea." The fire marshall and building inspector inspected our buildings, and showed us some "small print" regulations in the building code respecting educational institutions which necessitated some $30,000 or $40,000 in structural changes before the building would be passed and approved for use as a school! None of the experts we had called in for counsel, before making our original deal for the property, had caught any of these technicalities. Neither our attorneys nor the bank appraisers had caught them. This came as a stunning blow! Many centuries ago God performed miracles and started the children of Israel on a definite course--out of Egypt, the holy land their goal. They came to the Red Sea, and they were stopped dead. They began to grumble. They reasoned that this proved God had never started them out of Egypt--those were not real miracles but only imagined--they should have stayed there, and many wanted now to turn back and GIVE UP going on to Canaan. Well, for two or three days I felt almost like this. WHAT A RELIEF, my wife and I both felt, it would be if we could just give up the college altogether, with all its trials and problems and griefs. But, after a few days filled with almost constant prayer and even fasting, God spoke as plainly as He does speak to His children today, and said, as He said to His children at the Red Sea, "Stand ye STILL, and SEE THE SALVATION OF THE ETERNAL." EASY going is no proof that God has started a thing. The surest proof in the world that God is in it is ROUGH GOING, obstacles and difficulties from which ONLY GOD can extract us, and which compel us constantly to cry out to HIM for help and to rely continuously upon HIS GUIDANCE AND DELIVERANCE. Then we realized that two-thirds of the total estimated expense was called for by the smaller of the two buildings. The college could open and get started without the use of this building, using only the larger main building. We called in architects and contractors for estimates, and at the present writing have found ways to apparently whittle down the estimated $10,000 cost of alterations for this building to perhaps $8,000. One of our dear and faithful co-workers sent us $1,000 for the purpose--another $500. Another deeded to us four small ocean- view lots, which, if sold, will provide another $2,000. Others rallying to this supreme emergency have, as this is written, brought the amount needed to about HALF of what is required. We can now begin to see our way thru, still BY FAITH! Co-Workers, THIS WORK MUST NOT BE STOPPED! We are obligated, now, for the services of a fine and capable faculty. We have applications from hundreds who wish to enter Ambassador as students. The faith of scores of fine young men and women would be shattered if we had to give up here, or even postpone the opening of the college a year. TIME is too short to permit the delay of a single year. There is a dire NEED for such a quality, high-standard, soundly-based college where our listeners and co-workers may send their children knowing they will receive the finest education along with character and cultural development, and WITHOUT SHATTERING THEIR FAITH. Surveys have shown that 90% of freshmen entering the average college today believes there is a personal God, but 90% of graduating seniors have had their faith utterly shattered by their college career, and not are confirmed atheists or agnostics! God's work simply cannot carry out Christ's GREAT COMMISSION, and in time, unless this college opens, and OPENS THIS FALL ON SCHEDULE! The books for the library are all selected and listed, ready for purchase. One co-worker has contributed a special gift of $500, toward their purchase. We need more such gifts to complete the splendid library planned. We have an adjoining 26-room property now offered to us as a splendid dormitory for at least 55 young men students--but we need an additional two or three thousand dollars to acquire it, after which student rentals will carry most of the payments! Meanwhile, the broadcasting and publishing work has not yet emerged from the crisis we found it plunged into last March. The past 30 days we have reduced the indebtedness a little more--but THERE MUST BE NO INDEBTEDNESS AGAINST GOD'S WORK--and I pledge you there will be none, for long, God helping us! We have made a change in policy and set definite plans in motion to prevent such reproach again coming upon this work, in the future. God's business must be CLEAN, and above reproach before the world! Now briefly regarding The PLAIN TRUTH--even the last letter I sent out simply did not result in sufficient funds being sent in to make possible the long over-due issue. I have had to solve this vital problem in some way. I have prayed for wisdom, and believe God has shown the way. To get The PLAIN TRUTH re-established and back on its feet, so it can come out REGULARLY, I have decided to go back to the smaller 8 page size for one or two issues. All who are not co-workers, with the exception of those who have gone on the mailing list during he past eight months, will be sent expiration notices, and must voluntarily RENEW their names on the mailing list or they will be taken off. This undoubtedly will reduce the circulation of The PLAIN TRUTH a great deal--probably by half, for the time being, but all who wish it enough to buy a postage stamp to say so will remain on the list. But this plan will reduce the expenses enough, I believe, so that we may hope to get it re-established on at least a regular bi-monthly basis, and then, after a few issues at most, I am sure we can again go up to the full 16-page magazine. God is permitting many problems, trials and tests, in the conduct of His work. But He is delivering us out of them all-- His is going before, guiding, blessing, and giving us many precious souls for our efforts as we go along! Several are being baptized, as time progresses, hundreds awaiting the opportunity, many lives being straightened out and CHANGED, many sick being healed, and the GOSPEL is preached to the poor. Co-Workers, the work of God stands AT THE CROSS-ROADS! It is in it's greatest crisis. The fate of Ambassador College hangs in the balance. We have not more than TEN DAYS to get STARTED on the structural changes, or it will be TOO LATE to start the college this year. The crisis is NOW! We are all going to answer in the judgment for what WE do, each of us, as OUR part in this crisis, NOW! God surely blesses those who serve Him well! NEVER has this work so direly needed large and generous offerings of $1,000 and up to MANY thousand dollars. Several of you are ABLE, if you permit God to make your hearts willing. Lay up treasure in heaven, while you may, and see how God blesses you for it! And, again, NEVER has the need been so great so that the widows' mites will help so much as now. Let each give as God has prospered and made possible, generously, even at sacrifice, as you are able--and PLEASE RUSH IT AIR-MAIL, in the enclosed envelope! And let me close by saying that I know well it is THE EARNEST AND BELIEVING PRAYERS of many hundreds of you who are earnestly praying for this work constantly that is keeping it going. I NEED YOUR PRAYERS NOW AS NEVER BEFORE. GOD BLESS YOU! In Jesus' name, Herbert W. Armstrong