Escolar Documentos
Profissional Documentos
Cultura Documentos
August, 1969
Good News
International magazine of
olume XVIII
Number 8
Ambossodor College
EDITOR
HERBERTW. ARMSTRONG
EXECUTIVE EDITOR
Mrs. Erma W . ,
Springfield, Colo.
From Last Years Feast of
Tabernacles:
After the Feast of Tabernacles, I
went back to work to find many surprises in store for me. My boss called
.me into his office and began telling me
the changes he was going to make.
He said, John, I am going to put
you in charge of the workshop and you
will take over the responsibilites of
teaching and guiding the other Jewellers, wherever you can. And with this
I am going to increase your salary
because I think you have deserved and
earned it by your hard work and enthusiasm. You can imagine what the
look on my face was like!
The One I can thank for this is God
who showers blessings upon those who
SENIOR EDITORS
Roderick C . Meredith
Herman L. Hoeh
Associate Editors
ilbert J. Portune
Ronald Kelly
Contributing Editovs
>avid L. Antion
Ernest L. Martin
l b a r K. Apartian Leslie L. McCullough
rank Brown
Bill L. McDowell
1. Wayne Cole
Raymond F. McNair
taymond C. Cole
L. Leroy Neff
William Dankenbring Richard F. Plache
tonald L. Dart
John E. Portune
lharles V. Dorothy
Paul S. Royei
lack R. Elliott
Norman A. Smith
jelmer 1 Hp,qvnlrl
T.ynn F Torranre
lharles F. Hunting Gerald Waterhouse
Paul W . Kroll
Dean R. Wilson
iobert Kuhn
Basil Wolverton
3ennis G. Luker
Clint C. Zimmermar
Foods Consultants
Isabel1 F. HoeF
Mary E. Hegvold
Rose McDowell
Editorial and Production Assistanis
Steven J. Gray
Paul W . Kroll
Donald G. McDonald
BUSINESS MANAGER
Albert J. Portune
ADDRESSALL C O M M U N I C A T I O N S to the Editor.
P. 0. Box 111, Pasadena, California 91109.
Canadian members should address P. 0. Box
44, Station A, Vancouver 1 , B. C . , Canada.
Our members in United Kingdom, Europe, and
Afric.1 should address the Editor, P. 0. Box 111,
St, Albans, Herts., England.
South Africa: P. 0. Box 1060, Johannesburg,
Transvnil,
R. S . A
N TEN YEARS
profession, having my business taken away by nationwide conditions beyond my control three times - of
being angered into my first actual STUDY of the Bible.
Mrs. Armstrong had been, iri my view, deceived
into taking up with religious fanaticism. She had begun keeping what I then called the Jewish Sabbath.
Unable to argue her out of it, I started to study the
Bible to find where the Bible commanded Thou shalt
keep SUNDAY
!
Of course I couldnt find it. But the study widened
in scope and lasted about six months, before Truth
began to clear before my mixed-up and befogged
vision. I was simultaneously challenged on the theory
of evolution.
Both challenges - the Sabbath and evolution
- took me to the first chapter of Genesis. The
simultaneous study of the evolutionary theory brought
on an intensive study into the question: Does GOD
exist? For evolution is the atheists attempt to explain
the presence of a CREATION without a Creator.
That six-months study proved these BASIC Truths :
1) God does exist.
2 ) Evolution stands Drsproved - an error - a
false theory.
3 ) The Bible (in its original writings) is the inspired INSTRUCTION BOOK of the Creator GOD to
mankind - infallible.
4 ) The SABBATHis binding today, the SIGN that
identifies GODto us, and identifies us as HIS PEOPT.E.
5 ) At the very last of this study, the fact that
the annzlal Holy Days and Festivals of God are also
binding bccame apparent.
6) Also I had learned that the wages of sin is
DEATH, not eternal life in hell fire - that it is eternal
punishment, not eternal punishing.
7) I had learned also that eternal life is Gods
GIFT by His grace, imparted to us by His Holy Spirit.
Brethren, do you see, from this, HOW METHODICALLY God began revealing His Truth to me? Those
seven points are BASIC - the FOUNDATION ! Knowledge of the TRUE God; getting rid of the false god
August, 1969
August, 1969
Another BIG Truth is the final COMPLETE knowledge of what man IS! This came through my year-afteryear perplexed search to learn the difference between
human M I N D and animal brain. The fact that there
is a human spirit I N man - a spirit that imparts the
power of intellect to the human brain - converting
it from pure physical BRAIN to human MIND.This
makes clearer than ever the need of Gods HOLY
SPIRIT,which bears witness with our spirit that we
are, indeed, the CHILDREN OF GOD!
Another is the knowledge that human nature is
after all, as I believed and taught for years, a
mixture of good and evil. It is ALL bad. Human nature
wants to CONSIDER ITSELF GOOD, while doing evil. It
is a pull like gravity in the direction of evil - SELF!
NOT,
up a whole
new labyrinth of prophecies concerning Jerusalem and
events to occur in the next three to ten years!
that throne originally w a s located, opens
August, 1969
(Continued on page 1 7 )
It DOES Matter
Which Days We Observe!
Here is an astounding proof, making plain which days the inspired N e w Testament Church o bserued.
by Herman L. Hoeh
Qv
August, 1969
prided themselves on being racially separate from the world. So these traditions
were Gentile traditions which Paul
warns us to beware o f !
Now verses 9 and on: For in Him
{Christ) dwelleth all the fulness of the
Godhead bodily. God dwelt in Christ,
not in the phi~osophers~
<<Andye are
complete in Him, which is the head of
all principality and power (verse lo).
We are made perfect in Christ, not
through asceticism and human traditions.
Christ is the Head over all. He is the
onewe must look to, not to the highly
vaunted philosophers.
In whom [Christ} also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made
without hands, in putting off the body
of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ>?(verse l l ) . paul elsewhere reveals we are to be circumcised
in the heart (Romans 2 :2 9 ) .
Christ conquered sin in the flesh. If
we surrender ourselves to Christ, He
will enter into us through ~i~ ~~l~
spirit and clean us up, conquer our sins
- circumcise our hearts or minds spiritually. He enables us to completely cut
away sin out of our lives - enables us
to bury all our past sins in the waters of
baptism, as you read in col.2:12: [Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye
are risen with him through the faith of
the operation of God - faith in Gods
ability to supply us with the Holy Spirit
and raise us from a dead past to new life
just as He hath raised Him [Christ)
from the dead.
God forgives sin. These Gentile converts had sinned. They had been following the foul, heathenish practices of the
world about them. They had been trying
to pay for thcir own hurt conscicnces by
penance, by asceticism. But they hadnt
found forgiveness.
Now things were different. They had
really been forgiven. They were no
longer bound to their past sins. They
August, 1969
self-righteous -hut
dye
of tin d u e
THE
COMMANDMENTS
AND
DOCTRINES OF M E N ?
There you are ! They were human traditions! Ways of sin! Continuing:
Which things have indeed a shew of
wisdom in ?d/
wor~hip- pagan asceticism - and humility, and neglecting
of the body - appearing outwardly
humble and self-denying, but inwardly
10
August, 1969
T h e Body of Christ
Let no man therefore judge you. . .
in these matters, said Paul, but
[rather) the body of Christ (Col.
2:17, last part).
This verse has troubled many. Yet it
should not. Notice that the word is
in the King James Version is in italics.
It does not appear in the original. The
original Greek says only: the body of
Christ. What is the body of Christ?
How does Paul use this expression in
Colossians ?
Turn to chapter 1. In verse 18 we find
that Christ is the Head of the body,
T H E CHURCH. See also Col. 2:19.
The true Church of God is the body
of Christ. Just as the Spirit of God once
dwelled in thr earthly body o f Jesus
Christ, so now the Holy Spirit dwells in
each member of the Church and together we constitute one body, doing the
very work Christ did. W e are therefore
Christs body today! And Christ is the
Head as the husband is the head of the
wife (Ephesians 5:23).
N o man is to sit in judgment of our
Christian conduct, Paul is declaring in
Colossians 2:16-17. Man does not determine how we should live. But it is the
rezponsihility of the Church - the body
of Christ - to determine these matters!
The Church is to teach how to observe
the festivals - to explain the meaning
of self-control, etc.
W h a t Causes Contagious
Disease ?
AVE
This type of reasoning is rzutiiral and makes sense. Nevertheless, something is lacking in it; something is misleading. If we only catch contagious diseases because they are contagious, then
where is our share in the sin which produces them? If children are bowzd to
catch a childhood disease - because
of contagion - then just where does
SIN fit into the picture?
In accordance with the Bible, sickness
is a result of sin. Contagious diseases are
NOT exempt from this law. Nor are the
childhood diseases. But then, doesnt
it sound rather strange when you s3y, I
hope my children will catch measles or
mumps before they grow older? Its
the fact that it r a n he phyricnl or ~ p i r i tiial. But it is useless and nonsense to try
to pinpoint any particular sin - especially in thc casc of a contagious disease
- and label it as the cause of mumps or
measles or whooping cough. It just
doesnt work that way. Even though sinful actions produce obvious results (for
instance, if you have a bad fall, you may
break a bone) - nevertheless, sin is sin;
whatever its extent, it still represents the
traiispessioiz of Gods laws.
In my particular case, I could think of
a number of reasons why I should be
down with the mumps
and each one,
individnally, would be valid, because
,
a
each one, i ~ ~ d i v i d m l l yrepresented
transgression uf Guds laws. Granted,
our human bodies are pitifully degenerate - but dont I have my ouvz .rhare of
responsibility in the matter? Dont I
contribute to the general degeneration
by the very life I lead in this present
12
corrupt world? And dont our bodies if they are properly taken care of have the right amount of antibodies to
fight against any contagious disease?
Did I-and
do I-take
care of my
body just the way God intended me t o ?
In all this, havent I fallen short?
Havent I sinned? Wouldnt you consider it sin if you have allowed your
body to be in a rmdown condition,
susceptible to catching any kind of
disease ?
And how about the fact of being careless - yes, just plain CARELESSNESS in
following faithfully all of Gods laws?
Think seriously! Dont you really
consider such things as sin?
Any human being, anywhere and anytime, is liable to catch any sickness (including, of course, the contagious
ones), if he has been careless of his diet
- careless of his sleeping habits careless of his physical exercise - careless of the wles of hygieiie - careless
of . . . (You know, this type of enumeration reminds me of the amusing record I once heard at Mr. Herbert
Armstrongs home-on that record, former President Johnson was naming ad
infinitrm all the medical doctors who
were consulted when he suffered a
simple cold ! However, if Mr. Johnsons
list, by the laws of mathematics, is
bound to come to an end, the list of ozir
hnmaii care1eJsnes.r never can and never
will. . . . ) .
Carelessness Is Sin
It is high time we begin to associate
carelessness with sin, because to be careless in keeping Gods laws means plainly
not keeping them. N o justification or
compromise is possible; its like being
half alive!
Of course, it is so easy - so very easy
- to be careless: all it takes is not to use
your head or to neglect doing what you
ought to do.
If you took time to think about these
things, to meditate seriously on what sin
and its ramifiratinns actually are, you
wouldnt first of all ask yourself, as I
did, Where did I get the bug? W h o
gave it to me? Wasnt I bound to catch
the disease because of its contagious nature? Rather than seek the answers to
August, 1969
My Plans TJpset
The same was true, to be sure, in the
case of my mumps. (For once, I hate
h i t adjcctive my; in this particular
case, it is most appalling to me!) Nevertheless, in my vanity, I in turn seemed
more preoccupied to know just why
God allowed the sudden changes in my
plans and schedule than the part my sins
played in the matter. For one thing, this
sickness would set me back in my work;
it would prevent me from making new
broadcasts to the French-speaking people
for a certain length of time - and would
upset, of course, my regular schedule as
well as all of my immediate plans. Why
-oh,
why did God allow this to
happen? I asked myself, as though H e
were responsible for it, quite oblivious to
the reasons for my catching the mumps.
Incidentally, we were expecting a visitor from Europe, the teen-age daughter
of close friends from Belgium; both she
and we - especially our children - had
been looking forward to her visit. In
view of the fact that she speaks only
French, my children would be forced to
converse with her in that language.
What an excellent opportunity for
them !
But we had to postpone her trip; just
a few hours before her departure, we
contacted her parents to call it off, at
least temporarily.
Now - was this necessarily Gods
will? It could have been, of course. But
was it really? I presume you can be
philosophical about it and reason your
way around, looking out for all kinds of
plausible arguments to prove that such
was indeed the case. But would that necessarily be true ?
You might say perhaps that God
stopped her from flying that day because
her plane might have crashed. Actually
it didnt. The plane landed very safely
- and there were no airplane crashes
reported anywhere in the world that
day! You might think of numerous
other reasons. But please try to see the
point: whatever the circiimstances, even
though all things work together for
good to them that love God, to them
who are the called according to His purpose, nevertheless, when our thinking
(Continued on page 1 6 )
BLASPHEMY?
Dont be too sure youre not. Read this article to check up
on yourself.
by David L. Antion
is a most dangerous
sin. Yet many who would not
think of blaspheming may be at
this precise moment committing this
great sin !
Blasphemy is NOT just swearing or
taking Gods name in vain. There are
many forms of blasphemy, and some of
these ways of blasphemy hring dire consequences. Dont be ignorant. Study this
article and be sure you stop every form
of blasphemy now !
-ASPHEMY
Definition
Notice this Bible proof that blasphemy and swearing or cursing are ?rot
the same thing. In Lev. 2 4 : l O - 1 6 , we
find the account of the Israclitish
womans son who strode through the
camp and got into a fight with one of
the men of Israel. And i n the fight,
the son of the Israelitish woman, whose
father was an Egyptian, blasphemed
the name of the Eternal, and cursed.
Notice that he did two things. He
blasphemed A N D cursed. For this terrible sin he was put to death. And this
is the word that came from God:
Whosoever cursetb his God shall bear
his sin. And he that blasphemeth the
name of the LORD, he shall surely be
put to death, and all the congregation
shall certainly stone him: as well the
stranger, as he that is born in the land,
when he blasphemeth the name of the
LORD, shall be put to death (verses
15-16).
14
tliat such wurds as Gee, Gush,
Golly, darn, and various combinations of these words are actually swearword dcrivativcs of thc names of God,
Jesus Christ and of the word damn.
They are the more polite forms of
S W E A R I N G ! And
evcn members of
Gods Church use these words in their
speech. W e need desperately to eradicate thcsc words from our conversation
and stop this form of blasphemy!
It is easy for us to swear or blaspheme. W h y ? Why is it not as easy
to praise God and bless His holy
name? The reason is h i m a i i ~iatiire.
God has put in human nature the
downward pulls of sin. And one of
these pulls is blasphemy. Jesus said,
For from tifithitij out of the heart of
men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries,
fornications, murders. . . [and] blasp h c t n J , , , (Mark 7321-22). It is part
of human nature, then, to blaspheme.
But, it is a part that must be ovcrcome.
Paul says, But now ye also put off
all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphenzi,, filthy communication out of
your mouth (Col. 3 : 8 ) .
August, 1969
calls i t GlaJpPJrmp. IF
GOD, YOU
YOU BLASPHEME
Blasphemy by Hypocrisy
Another form of blasphemy brought
out is in Revelation 2:9. I know thy
works, and tribulation, and poverty,
(but thou art rich) and I know the
blasphemy of them which say they are
Jews, arid are rzot, but are the synagogue of Satan. Notice that God considers it blasphemy for people to say
they are Jews - spiritual Jews. What
is a spiritual Jew? According to Romans 2:29 it is one who has been
circumcised in the heart - that is,
has received the Holy Spirit and is,
therefore, a Christian. There were
people then saying they were Christians - true spiritual Jews - but
who were not. God calls this blasphemy. Therefore to profess to do
what is right and not to do it is
blasphemy according to this principle.
How many are doing this very thing?
Are you one who by your attendance
in a local church profess to be keeping
Gods commandments and Sabbaths
and yet are not doing it at all? Are
you claiming to be a member of Gods
true Church - claiming to be a true
Christian and follower of Jesus Christ;
yet constantly putting u p with sins that
you know you have, never bothering to
overcome sins and weaknesses? Are you
just content with the same faults day
after day - yet all the time claiming to
be a spiritual Jew. THISIS BLASPHEMY!
Another way to blaspheme God is
shown in Acts 13144-45.And the next
Sabbath day came almost the whole city
together to hear the word of God.
Let us note right here that they were
coming to hear Gods Word. Jesus said
the word of God was truth in John
17:17. But notice verse 45, But when
the Jews saw the multitudes, they were
filled with envy, and spake against those
things which were spokeii by Paul,
contradicting and blasphemirzg. When
they spoke against the things spoken
by the apostle Paul, they did two
August, 1969
15
Gods Church. Here are Gods instructions and the reason for them. God says
to be discreet, chaste, keepers at home,
good, obedieizt t o their own hziSbmdJ,
THAT THE WORD OF GOD BE NOT
BLASPHEMED
(Titus 2 : 5 ) . If you
dirohey your husbands, if you are not
discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good
mothers and wives, you are causing
Gods Word to be blasphemed - indeed
you are blaspheming it yourself!
Through this whole article so far we
have also been showing the punishment
that one will reap when he blasphemes.
16
blarphemed ( I Tim. 6 : l ) . In
modern day terminology this applies to
those men who work for an employer.
They are to give that employer the
honor due him. And part of the way
to do this is to perform your work
well.
Your employer will know that you
belong to Gods Church. You tell him
you must have the Sabbath day off,
Holy Days, etc. Then, if you do sloppy,
half-hearted work, you will give occasion for him to blaspheme. Plus, you
yourself are actually blaspheming. You
are professing to do Gods will and
are not. God says that His name and
His doctrine will be blasphemed if you
do not honor your employer properly.
Part of His doctrine is whatsoever
your hand findeth to do, do it with
thy might.
uot
August, 1969
August, 1969
Y e s - It Was Embarrassing!
17
overlooked
against Him,
In a way, I have learned quite a bit
from this experience with the mumps.
In its ugliness, and with all the inconveniences it caused - it taught me
important things. Next time, when the
opportunity presents itself, I will think
twice - and ponder the meaning of my
words
before asking someone, Have
you had the mumps yet?. . .
~
OFFICE OF
CHARLES
F. HUNTING,
Miizister
An Open Letter
Dear Brethren,
ow THAT the nightmare is over, Mrs. Hunting,
Chris and I want to express our heartfelt thanks
for the great concern and sympathy you expressed to us as a result of Chriss near-fatal accident.
Also to thank you for the tremendous encouragement
your many cards and letters were to Chris.
Because so many of you did fast and pray for
him, as well as send cards and letters of encouragement, 1 wanted to write a personal thanks from us
to all of you via The GOODNEWS,and let you rejoice
with us and help your faith be strengthened by the
miraculous outcome.
W e thought you might like to hear just a little
more of the details of the accident and its miraculous
conclusion.
Mr. Paul Suckling, a Local Elder, and Chris were
visiting in the Birmingham, England area. About
11:30 in the morning, a car coming around a curve
was attempting to pass a number of large trucks.
It was only a two-lane road. Mr. Suckling, seeing
the oncoming vehicle, tried to jump the curb and get
on to a wide grass verge on his side of the road to
avoid a sure head-on collision-he
didnt make it.
The car bounced off the curb, skidded sideways directly
into the path of a large semi-truck (articulated lorry) !
T h e full force of the crash took place right where
Chris was sitting. So hard was the impact that the
dividing post between the two doors on his side was
pushed within nine inches of the center of the car.
Both Mr. Suckling and Chris had their safety-belts on.
This no doubt saved both their lives. Someone called
an ambulance from a hospital six miles away. Both
men were pulled unconscious from the car. The
woman who had caused the accident took one look at
Chris and went into a state of shock. Mr. Suckling
August, 1969
19
20
August, 1969