International Magazine of The Church of God

August, 1965

ministering to its membersscattered abroad

International magazine ofTHE CHURCH OF GOD

Number 8

August, 1965

,\"eGood News

Volume XIV

The GOOD NEWS

More About Our Cover...Our French office in Geneva, Switzerland, is located

in a gleaming NEW glass and steel building. As Mr.

Armstrong says about Ambassador Colleges, it is equally true

of our fine overseas offices-"They mutually excel each other!"

Be sure to read Mr. Wilkins' article on the Geneva office

beginning on page five.Ambassador Callege Photo

What our READERS SAY ...

Published monthly at Pasadena, California© 1965, by Radio Church of God

EDITOR

HERBERT W. ARMSTRONG

Associate Editors

BUSINESS MANAGER

Albert J. Portune

Foods Consultants

Velma Van der VeerMary E. Hegvold Isabell F. Hoeh

Ro~e McDowell

Editorial and Production Assistants

Paul W. KrollJames W. Robinson

Donald G. McDonald

Ronald Kelly

EXECUTIVE EDITOR

Garner Ted Armstrong

MANAGING EDITOR

David Jon Hill

SENIOR EDITORS

Roderick C. MeredithHerman 1. Hoeh

ADDRESS ALL COMMUNICATIONS to the Editor,Box 111, Pasadena, California 91109.Canadian members should address Post OfficeBox 44, Station A, Vancouver I, B. C.; Canada.Our members in United Kingdom, Europe, andAfrica should address the Editor, B. C. M. Am­bassador. London. w.e 1. Rngland ,

Members in Australia and Southeast Asia shouldaddress the Editor, Box 345, North Sydney,N. S. W., Australia.In the Philippines, Post Office Box 2603, Manila.BE SURE TO NOTIFY US IMMEDIATELY of anychange in your address. Please inclose both oldand new address. IMPORTANT!

Albert J. Portune

Contributing Editors

W. A.Berg Ernest L. MartinRobert C. Boraker Leslie 1. McCulloughBryce G. Clark Raymond F. McNairC.Wayne Cole C. Paul MeredithRaymond C. Cole 1. Leroy NeffWilliam F.Dankenbring JohnE.PortuneCharles V.Dorothy Lynn E.TorranceJack R. Elliott Gerald WaterhouseWilliam H. Ellis Basil WolvertonSelmer Hegvold Clint C. Zimmerman

Member's Full Life"Here is our tithe. We hear the

broadcast on WCKY in the mornings.We just got back from skating-it'ssuch a thrill to be at the Church socials.Everyone had such a wonderful time.Since I've started learning to skate andother things, life is more fun. I alwayswas the backward type in the world butam coming out of that, for it's so much

(Continued on page 15)

"Free" Literature?"I wish to clarify a statement you

made concerning your literature. Itreally is free, but only to those whodon't apply it to their lives. For uswho do, it is very expensive, in factit costs us our entire lives. Now, I'mnot complaining, because I enjoy beinga member of God's Church. In fact, Inever really began to live and reallyenjoy it until I became a member. Therewards we receive if we overcome aresimply fantastic, and I get a thrill justthinking about them."

Aubrey 1. E., Ohio

me just today when my 3-year-old son,after a spanking, instead of crying, said,'Thank you, Daddy.' I find that thenumber of spankings he needs now isonly a fraction of what was necessarywhen I first began to apply the propermethods of child rearing. Also, thereis enough tangible evidence to convinceme that my son really loves me morenow than he did before I started tryingto apply God's laws in rearing him."

Carl R. c., New Jersey

Child Blessed

"This is to express my thanks, some­what late, for the booklet, 'The PlainTruth About Child Rearing: Theprinciples set forth in it really do work.The most heartening thing is that achild can understand the necessity forpunishment. This was brought home to

Mr. and Mrs. Harold M.,Minnesota

Building Program

"An enclosed article asks as follows:'Are Big Cathedrals on Way Out?' Itis interesting to note that AmbassadorCollege would never waste its moneyon such useless overgrown stone barns.Ambassador College as I can plainly seegets the most mileage from its money;i.e., restoring fine old estates and wherenew buildings are needed, erecting themost tasteful and functional structuresof contemporary architecture. (The pro­posed new auditorium at Pasadena isan excellent example.) The motto ofthe Ambassador College building pro­gram could well be, 'Useful, Functional,Beautiful.' "

Edwin G., Massachusetts

Orr Summer Camp"We were privileged to be among the

brethren and children to attend the firstservice on Friday evening at the Im­perial School campus grounds at Orr,Minnesota. What a beautiful place thiswill be when it is completed! Also awonderful blessing to all young teen­agers who have the opportunity to at­tend."

Church of God News-

1'~i-~.RLDWIDE

SIX new churches, SIX ordinations and HUNDREDS baptizedthis summer!

by Roderick C. Meredith

ARICH HARVEST is being reaped bythe Work of God this summer!In a world wracked by degrada­

tion and violence, the deep LOVE andJOY produced by God!s way of lifeis being extended to additional millionsof human beings.

All of you who read Mr. JohnPortune's fine article on "RADIOSHIPS"last month will rejoice even more tohear that The WORLD TOMORROW isnow broadcasting on yet another greatoutlet covering much of Southern Eng­land! This new station is called "RadioCity." It reaches the vast, metropolitanarea of London even better than does"Radio London"-and at a differenttime, therefore reaching mostly a dif­ferent audience.

So, increasingly, the people ofBritain-Gad's people Ephraim-arereally being reached by the Message ofthe Living God!

HUNDREDS Being Baptized

Meanwhile, with our vast network oflocal ministers covering the earth,bundreds are being baptized this sum­mer! And baptismal tours have coveredmost scattered areas of the United States,Canada, Britain, Europe, Australia andthe islands in the Caribbean.

Mr. Frank McCrady, assisted by anAmbassador College graduate, Mr. KenMattson, toured some of the scatteredareas of the Great Plains states. Theymet with 61 scattered listeners who hadrequested baptism, but found only 15who were really repentant and readyfor baptism. In addition, they made 21visits to scattered members during thistour.

From New York, Mr. Clarence Bass­one of our Negro Elders-reports thathe and his wife baptized six people ona combination baptizing and visitingtour. In addition, they visited a numberof scattered members and listeners.

Mr. Dibar Apartian, the voice ofThe WORLD TOMORROW in the Frenchlanguage, and Mr. Ron Kelly-facultymember in Big Sandy-joined togetheron a baptizing and visiting tour cover­ing several of the islands in the Carib­beall. They just recently returned andreported that they have baptized 22 outof 96 visited. Many others werehelpcd, however, and Mr. Apartian wasable to conduct three services on theSabbath for the brethren on the islandof Martinique. So it was ccrtainly asuccessful tour although Mr. Apartianmentioned that many of the peoplewere lIery illiterate-some so illiteratethat this was a major factor in pre­venting some from being baptized atthis time.

Mr. Frank Brown-recent StudentBody President at Bricket Wood andnow an ordained minister-conductedtwo legs of an extended baptizing andvisiting tour of French-speaking peoplein Europe. This tour covered parts ofSwitzerland, Belgium and most of theprovinces of France. On the first leg ofthe tour, Mr. Brown was accompaniedby Mr. Bourdin - Assistant OfficeManager of our Geneva office. On thesecond leg, he was accompanied by theManager of our Geneva office and LocalElder, Mr. Colin Wilkins. A total of86 scattered French-speaking brethrenwere contacted on this tour. Fourteenwere baptized, 13 were invited to the

Feast and many others were visited andhelped.

With the wonderful growth of localchurches, the major amount of baptismsnow take place in local church areas.That is the reason, of course, that ourbaptizing tours do not report the largenumber of visits and baptisms that theyused to.

For instance, during the week ofJuly 4-10, there were 12 people bap­tized in the Chicago area alone. In theweek ending July 31, there were 10people baptized in the New York area.And in the previous week, ending July24, there was a grand total of 27

baptized in the New York area alone!

So you can easily see how thesefigures-especially in large church areas-soon mount up and far surpass thenumber baptized on previous tourswhen the men would have to drivehundreds of miles to meet scatteredpeople not attending local churches.Those long, grueling, earlier tourswere necessary. But we can thank Godthat now so many THOUSANDS of breth­ren around the world are able to meetin local churches-and that most bap­tisms take place there!

Important Ministerial Changes

With the increasing size of God'sChurch, growth and changes are takingplace everywhere. Here are some of themajor ones that have taken place re­cently.

Mr. Carn Catherwood-recently pas­tor of God's Churches in Cincinnati,Ohio, and Lexington, Kentucky-hasbeen transferred to Canada to beginBible studies-leading to churches in

"Montreal and Ottawa. A Canadianpostal strike slowed down his opera­tions there at first, but it is now overand we should soon be hearing aboutdefinite plans for a Bible study in eachof these cities. Also, Mr. and Mrs.Glen White-recently pastoring God'sChurches in Omaha and Des Moines­have been sent to Winnipeg, Mani­toba. A new church is starting thereright away, and is forecast to beginwith around 200 in attendance!

Mr. Catherwood was replaced in Cin­cinnati and Lexington by Mr. DickAmes-recent Student Body Presidentin Pasadena and now an ordainedminister. Mr. Ames just had a fewweeks of "breaking in" under Mr.Antion before this sudden transfertook place. So now he has a real jobon his hands!

That leads to the next transfer anda series of SIX ORDINATIONS whichhave taken place recently!

SIX Recent Ordinations

Mr. Ron Reedy-recently assistingMr. McCrady in the South Bend­Grand Rapids area-was ordained by

Mr. Dean Blackwell on July 24. Then,he was immediately sent to Omaha andDes Moines to replace Mr. White. Mr.Reedy graduated over a year ago fromAmbassador College at Bricket Wood.He was one of the student hodyleaders there, and has been a fine helpto Mr. McCrady and has already exem­plified a real spirit of service andleadership plus marked preaching abil­ity. So now he has been ordained as afull Preaching Elder in God's Church.

Mr. Ronald Reedy

The GOOD NEWS

On the same Sabbath, July 24, Mr.Paul Zapf was ordained in the newFayetteville, North Carolina Church as aLocal Elder. Mr. Zapf graduated fromAmbassador College in Pasadena a yearago last June. Just after graduation, heand his wife-the former Pat Patter­son-were sent to the Cincinnati-Lex­ington area to assist Mr. Catherwood.Then, because of the crying need forhelp in the Greensboro area, Mr. andMrs. Zapf were transferred to help Mr.Richard PIache in that Church District.Now, Mr. Zapf has demonstrated in­creasing ability and service and hasbeen ordained.

Then, on July 31, Dr. Herman Hoehordained Mr. Eldon Stewart of the

Mr. Paul Zapf

Fresno Church as a Local Elder. Mr.Stewart and his wife have been long­time, balanced and faithful members ofthe Fresno Church and have set a won­derful example of faithfulness andservice. All who know them will behappy to hear of Mr. Stewart's ordi­nation.

Then, on August 7, in Johannes­burg, South Africa, Mr. Garner TedArmstrong-on a £lying visit to theSouth African office-was joined byMr. Waterhouse and Mr. Hunting inordaining as Local Elders Mr. MichaelBousfield and Mr. Adrian Botha. Mr.Bousfield graduated from AmbassadorCollege at Bricket Wood a year ago lastJune. A native of South Africa, he hasbeen assisting Mr. Waterhouse and Mr.Ernest Williams in the Johannesburgoffice ever since and has been a fineservant in the local church and VisitingProgram as well.

August, 1965

Mr. Eldon Stewart

Mr. Botha has been a member ofGod's Church for nearly five years. Amost zealous member and a tremendousexample of service, he later became afull-time employee of the Johanneshurgoffice. Now, he joins Mr. Bousfield inserving as a Local Elder in God'sWork there.

On this same recent Sabbath, August7, Mr. Apartian and Mr. Ron Kellyordained Mr. Louis Jubert as a LocalElder in God's Church on the islandof Martinique. Mr. Jubert, as you mayremember, is the leader of an entiregroup of people there who have beenconverted from one of this world'sreligions and have shown consistentgrowth and ability in God's Truth. Mr.Jubert has proved himself to be a fineservant and leader among these people,and Mr. Apartian and Mr. Kelly werevery pleased to be able to ordain himas a Local Elder in the Church of God.

SIX New Churches

Besides the six ordinations which havetaken place recently, we have also,coincidentally, raised up exactly sixchurches in the last few weeks!

On July 17, a new church started inKnoxville, Tennessee, with 170 inattendance. The first sermon waspreached by Mr. Ken Swisher, DistrictSuperintendent, and Mr. Gary Arvid­son will be the pastor at Knoxville­hooking this up in his circuit withAsheville, North Carolina.

On this same Sabbath, another newchurch began at Columbus, Ohio. Atotal of 185 were in attendance for the

(Continued on page 22)

We Are In GENEVATo Stay!

"Behold, I set before you an open door and no man can shutit," promised Jesus Christ to His Church! Read here HOW thedoor to establish an office for God's Work to the French­speaking people was OPENED-and nearly shut-in Geneva,

Switzerland!

by Colin Wilkins

-

GENEVA is a truly international

city. It has a complement ofover fifty world organizations,

such as the European offices of theU.N. organization, the InternationalRed Cross, the offices of the WorldEcumenical Movement, etc.-all ofwhich are an attempt to fulfill man'svain ideals for peace. It is also a cul­tural city of distinction, has a superborchestra and notable university. But,most important of all, Geneva isalso the European center from whereGod's Message to the French-speakingpeoples is carried.

Few cities in the world present abetter setting for the establishment ofa new foreign office for the WORK ofGod. A spacious suite of offices, to­gether with an adjoining apartment,were rented without undue difficulty,and all seemed "set fair" for the be­ginning of activities in the autumn of1963.

However, few operations get startedin God's Work without "growingpains" and the Geneva office was noexception.

Persona non grata

Just before the Feast of Tabernaclesin 1963, Mr. Etienne Bourdin and hisfamily prepared to leave their home inParis and move to Geneva, where Mr.Bourdin was to work in the new Frenchoffices, primarily as a translator.

But imagine Mr. Bourdin's dismaywhen, upon arriving at the Swiss fron­tier, he learned that he had no author­ity to move to Geneva on a permanentbasis-he needed a "Work Permit."

Now, a "Wark Permit" cannot beissued unless the person concerned isemployed by a firm already legallyestablished in Switzerland-but LeMonde A Venir was not yet givensuch legal standing! The specter of aforced march between two gendarmesback across the Swiss frontier loomedbefore Mr. Bourdin.

How could this difficulty have arisenwhen Swiss officials a year ago hadclearly given Mr. Apartian the "greenlight" to the establishment of the Frenchbranch of God's Work in Geneva?The full reason for this anomaly didnot become clear at this stage, but itwas soon evident that something, orsomeone, was beginning to consistentlywork against us!

Despite the circumstances, however,Headquarters in Pasadena decided thatplans should proceed as originallyscheduled.

Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong, withMr. Stanley Rader, Headquarters audi­tor and legal advisor, flew to Geneva,and engaged an attorney to get thework legally established in Geneva.And while there, Mr. Armstrong beganthe selection of office furniture andequipment, as well as the furnitureand furnishings for the living apart­ment.

Accordingly, in October 1963, rightafter the Feast of Tabernacles, myfamily and I moved to Switzerland.Upon our arrival, we met similar prob­lems to those of Mr. Bourdin. In ourcase, lack of a "Work Permit" meantthat we were not even permitted tohave our personal belongings cleared

by customs. Our personal clothing situa­tion was becoming desperate, until men­tion of our sick baby and his need ofa cot caused official hearts to soften.

Far more important, however, wasthe fact that we had no permission towork!

Something clearly had to be donequickly ...

God Provides an Ally

It so happened that a senior officialof the local authority which controlsthe issue of "Work Permits" hadformerly been employed in the PoliceDepartment of a Central Americanrepublic. Now, this official had heardthe VOICE of Mr. Garner Ted Arm­strong on The WORLD TOMORROW,since it appeared that the programinterfered with the police wave length!Yet he was favorably impressed-sofavorably it seemed that he gave Mr.Bourdin and me VERBAL permission towork!

God had provided us an ally.

This verbal permlsslOn, however,was by no means a sign that we hadreached "the end of the road" so faras establishing the offices was con­cerned, for nothing is official in thislittle country, until it is signed,stamped and sealed in the form of alegal document. In order for us not tobe 'persona non grata' in Switzerland,the FEDERAL POLICE DEPARTMENT atBerne had to be satisfied that we werenot Communists, posing under thecloak of religion, or ex-Nazis wantedby the "Statute of Limitations"! Thewhole organization had to be investi-

Ambassador Collese Photo

Mr. Garner red Armstrong is seen here in Q recent visit to Geneva with Mr. Wilkins (slanding)and Mr. Baurdin.

6

gated on a high level, for Switzerlandis quite rightly very careful whom sheharbors.

Brake on Economy

Since 1960 the Swiss have been en­joying a boom which has been ex­ceeded by only three other countries inEurope-Germany, France and Italy.During the last two years, the cost ofliving in Switzerland has risen by eightpercent and wages by fifteen percent.

In an effort to put a brake on theeconomy, which was rapidly spiralingtowards inflation, certain legislationwas introduced. So as to discourageforeign investment in Switzerland, au­thorities decided that banks would nolonger pay interest on foreign fundsdeposited with them. In conformitywith this policy, the local officialspassed a measure which seemed to closethe door which God had so recentlyopened in Geneva.

On the 13th of April, 1962, legisla­tion became effective, requiring everyfirm to reduce its foreign personnel byno less than five percent per annum!

As a result of our Swiss lawyer'spersonal representations to the Berneauthorities, we learned that the FederalPolice had fully approved the establish­ment of Le Monde AVeniI' in Switzer­land as a "bona fide" religious organi­zation.

The GOOD NEWS

We greeted this news with jubila­tion, but just around the corner lay thebiggest barrier that we had so far en­countered.

A Precarious Position

Early in February 1964, we wereadvised by the local authorities thatLe Monde A Venir would have tocome under the terms of the legislationrelating to the reduction of foreignlabor. To the Geneva authorities, eagerto restrict foreign investment, our po­sition was spelled out in these words:

"Since your organization was onlycreated in November 1963, you are notentitled to maintain in Switzerlandyour two foreign employees, namelyMM. Bourdin and Wilkins. This de­cision is based upon the Federal lawpassed in April 1962, which states thatno firm may exceed the number offoreign employees over and above thetotal labor force as at that date."

The conclusion was inescapable: asfar as the authorities were concerned,Le Monde A Venir did not even existin April 1962, yet there we were, inFebruary 1964, with two foreign em­ployees!

Surely, our Living Head, Jesus Christ,was not going to allow us to be ex­pelled ignominiously from Switzerland.Could the choice of Geneva have been

August, 1965

a terrible mistake? If we needed anydemonstration of God's hand in HisWork, we didn't have to wait long!The very same month a third weeklybroadcast was added in the Frenchlanguage. Those who thirsted for God'sTruth could now hear Mr. Apartianevery Sabbath morning. Another radiodoor had opened and God's Workdidn't hesitate, but stepped right in!

We had to go on, regardless ofadverse circumstances. Late in June1964, Mr. Apartian flew over to Eu­rope to conduct two baptismal tours forthe French-speaking people. During hisbrief stay in Geneva, he consulted withour lawyer on the latest position re­garding the offices. He was told thataccording to the "law," no firm, eitherSwiss or foreign, was allowed to in­crease the size of its staff in Geneva.As far as we were concerned, in viewof the fact that we had no existencehere prior to the passing of the afore­said law, we had no right to have anystaff whatsoever.

Accordingly, the appointment ofnew personnel-even Swiss--eould notbe contemplated.

As you can see, our position-Mr.Bourdin's and mine-was still exceed­ingly precarious, and it was becomingevident that extra office staff wouldshortly have to be engaged ...

The summer months came and went,yet our position in Geneva still hungin the balance. An appeal against theunfavorable local decision of February1964 had been lodged with a higherconsultative body, and no decision wasso far forthcoming. We recalled the re­mark that our lawyer made during ameeting with Mr. Garner Ted Arm­strong earlier that year: "Gentlemen, itis a miracle that your Geneva officesare here at all!"

Mr. Garner Ted Armstrong told himthat we knew it was!

Mustard-seed Growth!

It may well prove possible to success­fully restrict the expansion of theGeneva economy, but the Work of Godis just not impeded by man-madecodes. By a miracle of God, the FED­

ERAL AUTHORITIES reversed the deci­sion of the local body and gave formal

(Continued on page 20)

TRAIN Your ChildrenFor Sabbath Services

Here are helpful laws of child rearing explained. A minister ofPastor rank, a father of three fine children - Mr. Kelly haswritten many practical points YOU can apply in training yourchildren to get the most from each Sabbath service. Youwill be thankful for this article - especially if you studiously

APPLY it!

by Ronald Kelly

I N GOD'S CHURCH every little childfrom the age of just a few weekson up to big strapping teen-agers

attend the Sabbath services with theirparents. There are no special Sabbathschools. No nurseries! And certainlyparents are NOT EXPECTED to leavetheir children at home.

The chances are, at the time youfirst attended you were startled that somany children were so QUIET. Youmight have said, "Why, in the churchI used to attend parents wouldn'tthink of bringing their children toservices, Children were only allowed inthe Sunday School classrooms or theywere kept in the nursery room."

But now that you are over the orig­inal jolt of children in church, maybeyou have begun to notice that quite anumber of babies cry out during ser­vices! Perhaps you've seen certain littlechildren make funny noises while theminister is speaking. You might havebeen disturbed by a child next to you­and perhaps more than one time. Andit could be you've noticed some littleboyar girl marking on a new songbook with a color crayon.

And it could even be that your ownchild does not act nearly as well as youknow he or she should.

Individual Responsibility

Each and every parent in God'sChurch really needs to go to work onhaving the kind of children that willallow you TO GET THE MOST OUT OF

CHURCH SERVICES. Children who canalso begin to profit themselves fromtheir being in church!

If you were accustomed to attendingone of the large church denominationsa few years ago, you probably left yourchildren at home every week--or sentthem off to a separate Sunday Schoolclass or placed them in the nursery incare of another person.

It was the accepted thing to do.Everyone did it.

But is that the thing God wants done?The answer is a very resounding NO!The modern philosophy of wacky

child psychology has led the averageAmerican to think it is right and goodto LET SOMEONE ELSE TAKE CARE OFTHE CHILDREN! We have come to be­lieve it is not the job of the motherand father! Many believe someone elseshould do the job.

So many young mothers today areworking to help support the family.They only stop long enough to givebirth to two or three children-thenthey dash back to work again.

At first they may have a babysittertake care of the infants. After infancy,the children more likely than not aresent off to day nursery to be cared forduring the next few years. After that itis off to school every day. And eventhen on the weekends children are sentto a Saturday afternoon matinee at themovie theater. And then on SundaySOMEONE ELSE teaches them in theSunday School classroom.

It is about time all that is wrongcomes to a screeching halt-about timethat parents get themselves back intothe proper position of teaching theirown children!

In the book of Titus the ApostlePaul was inspired to write admonish­ing Titus to teach the young women tobe "sober, to love their husbands, toLOVE THEIR CHILDREN, to be discreet,chaste, [and a very important point}KEEPERS AT HOME, good, obedientto their own husbands" (Tit. 2:4-5).Two of the most important principlesa young mother has to learn are: (1 )to learn to keep the home as a trueHOUSEWIFE should and (2) to learn asGod intended to love and care for theirchildren.

The modern philosophy of havingsomeone else take care of your childrenfrom birth-even including their reli­gious training and the attendance ofchurch services-is of Satan the Deviland he's done a pretty good job TWIST­ING and WARPING the minds of count­less millions of parents and children!

Don't Leave Them Home!

It ought to be plain, then, God doesnot intend young children to be"farmed out" like so many little ani­mals to be fed whatever the world hasavailable. On the other hand, everyparent has the all-important responsi­bility to FORM AND FASHION THEMINDS of young children-and to fash-

8

ion them with real and genuine UNDER­

STANDING and LOVE.

Solomon wrote in Proverbs 29:15,"The rod and reproof give wisdom:but A CHILD LEFT TO HIMSELF BRING­

ETH HIS MOTHER TO SHAME." Godnever intended a child to be left alone-to be "farmed out," or to be taughttotally apart from his parents. Whenyour child reaches school age, he willbe going off to school for a few hoursa day-but he will still be under yoursupervision and care in learning. Byall means take full advantage of all thespare time you can spend with yourchildren!

Search as you may throughout theBible you will not find one singlescripture-not even so much as a hint-showing that it is the job of thechurch to take care of your children!

Perhaps an example from Christ'sown life will best illustrate this. WhenChrist fed the five thousand, He fedfive thousand men PLUS WOMEN AND

CHILDREN that were there. If you willread the context in the fourteenthchapter of Matthew-from ahont Verses

15 to 21-you will find that they allsat together. All were very orderly. Andall were fed. Then you will notice thedisciples carefully picked up the left­over food and everything was leftspotlessly clean. There was no trash!There were no fighting, bickering,squirming children.'

Everything WAS QUIET and ORDERLY

during His preaching or "sermon."Everything was neat and systematicwhile they were fed. No SPECIAL AR­

RANGEMENTS were made to have elder­ly ladies take the children to a specialplace to teach them. Everyone listenedto Christ teach. Everyone sat together!Families were together!

It is right and good that childrenshould be with their parents in church-and as far as that goes as often ascircumstances permit it. There is noth­ing like being together as a family tobind father, mother and children intoone happy unit.

How Should They NOT Act?

When your children come to churchthey are EXPECTED to act like obedientboys and girls should act-not like

The GOOD NEWS

aboriginal Javagn [rom the out-backcountry.

They should NOT tear songbooks.Should NOT fight with other children.Should NOT make noises, pop bubblegum, bring water pistols (or any otherkind of pistols) to church. Theyshould NOT pull hair, run loose beforeand after church, grab other children'stoys, or throw their own toys. Theyshould not throw tantrums, kick chairs,or mark on someones else's Bible.

Unfortunately, T suppose I could goon and on with what they should NOT

DO. Most of what I have just mentionedhere I have seen happen at one timeor another in the past several years Ihave been serving in God's ministry.And brethren, THAT'S A PITY AND A

SHAME! Things like this should NEVER

HAPPEN and they don't need to.' Ifonly each one of us realizes properlyhow our children should act.

It Takes More Than SabbathTraining

Brethren, so many in God's Churchwait until they are in Sabbath servicesto train their children for the Sabbathservices. This is undoubtedly the firstand BIGGEST MISTAKE OF ALL! Somereason, "Well, church is only twohours a week, so how can I train mychild to do well when he doesn't go tochurch the other six days?" The FIRST

PRINCIPLE of child rearing is to alwaysbe CONSISTENT! Be consistent in yourtraining! Consistent in your teaching!Consistent in the punishing of yourchildren!

If your child runs like a wild Indianall during the week, he will not slowdown just because he goes away tochurch on the Sabbath.

If he makes excessively loud noises,tears books, or turns over chairs athome, he will do exactly the same thingin church. Child rearing is not, let merepeat, is NOT, a one-day-a-weekSabbath duty. It is a constant day inand day out responsibility-probablythe one most important responsibilityyou have outside of your daily prayerand Bible study.

So if you want your child to be quietin church, to sit still, not to tear thesongbook, you will have to haveperiods of time at home when he sits

August, 1965

quietly in a chair, when he comes infrom play and is taught to sit still.He should never under any circum­stances, at any time be allowed to teara book or magazine.

This doesn't mean you have to "playchurch" every day. It doesn't meanyou have to call the child in in themiddle of his play period every brightand sunny day. And it doesn't meanhe has to sit perfectly still with hishands folded in his lap for two solidhours in a row every single day.

But it does mean that you shouldset aside time to WORK WITH YOUR

CHILDREN with the overall goal inmind of having quiet and obedientand respectjel children. Don't do thisjust to make a show at church, This isfor their own good-and your goodtoo-in learning how to prepare theirlives for future years. Later on, whenthey enter school, they will learn somuch more readily IF they have beenproperly trained to be still, quiet, re­spectful, and obedient at home and atchurch. So this is not just for a showat church-it is to make a permanentand lasting impression on the child toequip him for his entire future andadult life.

The pattern then, is a quiet, obe­dient, yet warm and friendly child whosits with his parents in church, andwho matures into a fine young man orwoman who is one well-eqttipped forlife- A child who respects your lawswill learn to respect God's laws whichare to govern his entire life.

Start With Your Babies

The time to begin training yourchildren for all facets of life is rightfrom birth. If you were converted be­fore you had children, you are indeedpril1ileged.' If you already have chil­dren or are just now beginning toattend church services, there is still alot you can do.'

The chances are, the very first outingfor your newborn child will be takinghim to church. Don't be overly zealousabout this first trip. Too many youngcouples are over-anxious simply becausea young mother might feel reasonablywell after childbirth. They might tryto get the mother and child out the

August, 1965

very first week. T bis, brethren, is notwise!

Of course, childbirth is not a sick­ness. Nevertheless, it has been work forthe mother. And the child needs timeto develop strength. You certainlyshould not bring a child to church ortake him out on trips during the firstweek or two of his life. It is muchbetter to wait until mother and childhave both gained the proper strength­and this is probably not until the thirdor fourth week. As anxious as youmight be, it is still much wiser to usecaution and to maintain good health.

When you do come to church, youwill probably have some sort of car­bed, for the baby-or perhaps a babybuggy or a stroller made into a bed.This is fine, but the minute you walkin the door everyone in the churchis going to want to see the baby. Everyteen-age girl will be longing to HOLDHIM for a while. And if the baby getspassed around 1.5 or 20 times beforechurch, he is probably going to bePRETTY UPSET and is likely to cry allduring bis [irst trip to church. Then,your very first week back you will spendthree-fourths of your time outsidebouncing your child in your arms andnursing him-and you'll get nothingout of the service.

So when you go to church, even

though you'll probably be "busting atthe seams" to show off your new baby,politely and warmly explain to theyoung girls that it is not good to

handle the little baby so much. And ifhe is sleeping soundly don't keep un­covering him from head to toe soeveryone can see him.

There will be plenty of time for thatin future weeks. Of course, there isnothing wrong with people looking atyour baby, and if he is awake perhapseven two or three can hold him. Butremember, during the first two or threeweeks of his life he has become veryaccustomed to his mother's caress,warmth, and voice. He has to graduallybecome adjusted to being around somany people. If we will all understandthis and try to help new mothers bynot scurrying to look at the child orhold him so much, it will help thechild and parents immensely.

The GOOD NEWS

As They Grow

With a new child in the house theweeks and months will go by veryrapidly. One Sabbath to the next willseem like a very short time. And as thechild grows to be two months, threemonths, six months, and nine monthsold, you'll learn many more thingsabout how to attend church with achild and to still get the full benefitfrom the messages of God's ministers.

But remember as we already learned-if you expect your child to do wellIN CHURCH, you will have to expecthim to do well AT HOME the other six

dayJ of the week.

During these early months-and intothe early childhood of your boy or girl,the average child will probably SLEEPat least a portion of the church service.Especially during the early months, hewill probably sleep most of the service.

At home, you probably put yourchild down to bed at night and in theafternoon for a nap in his crib. Hebecomes accustomed to this crib veryrapidly. But you can't takc the wholecrib to church. Most parents have acar-bed, and then in later months just apallet of plastic and a couple ofblankets for the child to sleep on inchurch. Many parents expect their childto automatically go to sleep on thepallet. When they don't, mother orfather has to walk out of church asmany as three or four times to spankthe child before he finally goes tosleep.

There is certainly nothing wrongwith spanking a child to make him goto sleep-IF HE NEEDS TO BE SPANKED.But to spank and spank when youshould have trained him at home firstis not the right way-that is, if it isonly one-day-a-week training.

So work with your children at home.Do it often.

Once in a while, why don't you putyour children down for a nap on ablanket just like you would at church?And why not do it at about the same

time of day as you ordinarily go tochurch on the Sabbath? Then, whenthe Sabbath comes the child or thechildren will be able to get by withthe least amount of time spent with

9

you out in the hall getting practicallynothing out of services.

The Older Children

The principles already mentionedapply to children through the first fouror five years of life. But about thistime of life children stop taking regularafternoon naps-they are getting alongtowards school age and into schoolwhen they are able to sit quietly, tolisten carefully and to learn.

Now don't think that a little childisn't beginning to learn in church atthe age of three, four or five. Therehave been many parents who mention tome that their little children have madeinadvertent comments numerous timesabout something a minister said In asermon.

By the time your child is five, thensix years old he needs to be preparedfor school. What you teach your childat home-and even how he pays at­tention in church-can be very helpfulin training your child to be successfulin his first years of school.

After He Starts to School

Soon after your child has begun thefirst grade, he begins to read and write(or print). In his own crude way hebegins to make letters and learns to putthose letters into words. And withina few months he can take his ownBible and special notebook to church.He won't get too much down on paperfor a while, but certainly he can get oneor two words down every now andthen and before two or three years goby, he'll be getting several thoughtsdown and quite a few reference scrip­tures.

To me it has always been very satis­fying to know that these LITTLE CHIL­DREN-made in God's own image­can know from the early days of child­hood how to LIVE and to act. That's aBLESSING none of us who are olderhave had. We weren't taught as chil­dren-and many of you were not ableto teach your children because youdidn't know God's way of life. Butthese children can now be taught! Itwon't come naturally! And how youteach these small children which Godhas given you will greatly determine

10

your effectiveness and conversion! It

will show how effective you are goingto be in God's Government in theWorld Tomorrow.

When and How to Punish

No matter how diligently you striveat home, there naturally will be timeswhen your child will need to be pun­ished during church services. However,the more diligent you are in yourDAILY TRAINING, the more consistentyou are, the LESS TIME you will haveto spend ant of services taking care ofyour child. Ideally, your child shouldnot be taken oul of church except onrare occasions.

When you do find it necessary topunish your child, obviously the placeto do it is NOT right in the middle ofthe church auditorium! Sometimes,people believe they can swat the childthree or four times in church to makehim be still or quiet, or perhaps go tosleep, only to have the child begin tocry loudly! Which naturally causeseveryone to look right at you-it'sembarrassing to you, to the minister,and to every church member.

NEVER spank your child in themiddle of church services. When yourchild needs to be spanked, one parentor the other should calmly take up thechild and walk into the hallway COM­PLETELY AWAY FROM THE HEARING ofthe congregation and minister. Often­times one of the restroom areas is asuitable place for punishing children.In every case, the particular arrange­ment and design of the auditorium inwhich the church meets is a very im­portant factor in determining where topunish the children.

In some instances, where the churchmeets in a rented hall, outsiders havereported to police that children werebeing spanked. Always be careful notto punish your child in a place whereoutsiders see or hear. And NEVERpunish your child in a public place infront of others-such as a restaurant,public bus, or any public place. Justtell the child-very quietly, yet sternly-he will have to be punished whenyou return home.

Remember you are always a living ex­ample of God's ways! How your chil-

The GOOD NEWS

dren act in church will be seen by thehall managers, janitors, perhaps othergroups who are meeting in the sameauditorium in different rooms. You arealways an example to the world!

Brethren, this means be even morediligent in your training at homeduring the week! And remember whenyou need to punish your child duringa church service, USE WISDOM! If yourchild is likely to need correction-thatis, if he is of the age where he is notyet old enough to be fully trained andyou think you possibly would have toleave services-be seated near an exitand on the outside aisle so that youwill not disturb anyone during servicesas you must leave. Mothers with newbabies, children who are of the age whoare just beginning to understand yourinstructions, and others who mighthave particular reasons for being takenout of church, all should be seated in aplace where you can get out withoutdisturbing others.

When you do take your child out,remember you are not to "beat" himnntil he is black and blue. A feweffective swats with a paddle with in­struction should sufficiently do the job-once again provided you have trainedhim properly at HOME!

Don't Bring Sick Children!

Somewhere along the line, manychurch members have come to feel thatthey must come to church under anyand all circumstances. Many, many timesparents have brought a child to churchwho should never have been there thatparticular Sabbath. Children have beenexposed to measles, mumps, chicken­pox, and many other common rrchild­hood diseases." All because an over­zealous church member brought a childto church who had a fever or who hadbeen exposed to a childhood diseaseat school or by another child in hishome neighborhood.

I realize many might use this as anexcuse not to come to church servicesregularly. Every local minister hasenough of a problem striving to keephis church members zealous and ableto get the most out of every sermon.Naturally, everyone should STRIVE tobe, at church every single Sabbath he

August, 1965

possibly can. But we also must be"WISE as serpents and HARMLESS asdoves."

If you get up Sabbath morning andstart preparing for church and thenfind that one of your children is run­ning a slight fever, one parent or theother should stay home that week. Ifyour child is breaking out with a slightrash, or complains with swollen glandsin his neck, don't bring him to ser­vices. Even if your child has recentlybeen exposed to one of these commonchildhood diseases, you should keephim home until the danger period ispast. Educate yourself in the details ofhow to care for children during thetime they are exposed to and mightcontract these childhood diseases.

Never use this as an excuse not tocome to church, but use WISDOM andDISCRETION-and if there are questionsyou can always CALL YOUR MINISTERprior to leaving for church services.

After Services Conclude

Perhaps one of the most trying timesis when services are over and all thebrethren are talking and really enjoy­ing fellowship after a week or more ofnot being together. But far too often,this is when the "kids" go into action.They've been quiet for two wholehours. And after church, they reallycan "let off the steam." And so manyparents just haphazardly let them runlike cours in the pa-rture or hulls in thechina shop. Many parents have noknowledge of WHERE their children areuntil it is time to "round them up" tomake the trip home.

Your policy must ALWAYS BE toknow exactly WHERE YOUR CHII.nRF.NARE AND WHAT THEY ARE DOING!

Of course your children can playwith the other children when servicesare over. They should look forward toand enjoy the Sabbath when they see alltheir friends again. But this is NOTLICENSE to sail airplanes out of rest­room windows, wrestle on the floor, orbang chairs around and get in the wayof the janitor who is trying to clean thehall for an evening meeting.

Children should talk, perhaps playoutside on the lawn (under the super­

(Continued on page 16)

The POWER of BelievingPRAYER!

Why does God seemingly ignore so many prayers? What is thekey to powerful, effective prayer? When YOU pray, does God

really HEAR?

by William F. Dankenbring

T HIS PRESENT world does NOTbelieve in prayer. But, thatshould not be surprising-this

world does not believe in a real,living GOD! Prayer, to most people,so~nds "religious," superstitious, andso sanctimonious!

Of those few people who do pray,most of them look upon prayer as apsychological release, an emotional out­let, a "balm for the souL" Prayer, theyreason, helps you to "get things offyour chest."

But a God who literally hears?Never!

Monks in Tibet have a very "ad­vanced" system of prayer. While theyidly sit beside a spinning "prayerwheel," each revolution of the wheelsends a prayer wafting up to thegods!

Tragically, this world has LOST theknowledge of PRAYER!

But what about YOU? Do you knowhow to pray? Are YOUR prayers heardwhen you pray?

Do you pray because you know Godcommands it? Does prayer seem like adull routine? Is it boring-tiresome?

Many of God's people LACK rea!spiritual vigor and strength-many areWEAK and lack the POWER to overcometheir personal problems and weak­nesses!

Why?A great part of the answer is NE­

GLECTED PRAYER!

The Example of Moses ...

Notice an amazing example of prayerset by one of the most humble men whoever lived-Moses.

After God led His people Israel outof slavery under the yoke of theEgyptians, the children of Israel RE­BELLED in the wilderness. When Mosesclimbed up into the fastness of MountSinai, to meet with the Creator God,the Israelites plunged into idolatry andsexual lewdness. "Make us a goldenimage to worship," they clamored toAaron. "As for this Moses ... we wotnot what is become of him!" (Ex.32:1.)

God's wrath was stirred! God de­clared to Moses, "Go, get thee down;for thy people, which thou broughtestout of the land of Egypt, have COR­RUPTED THEMSELVES" (Verse 7). "Ihave seen this people," God declared,"and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people:now therefore let me alone, that MYWRATH may wax hot against them, andthat I may consume them: and I willmake of thee a great nation" (Verses 9­

10).God was ready to ANNIHILATE Israel

because of their wickedness and sensualdebauchery!

But, without hesitation Moses fellon his knees and earnestly prayed. AWHOLE NATION was about to be de­stroyed, but Moses intervened andinterceded.

Moses, in utter humility and deepconcern, fervently BESOUGHT God tospare His people, whom He had re­deemed from Egyptian bondage. Mosesreminded God of His glorious prom­ises to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, andpleaded with Him to turn from HisWRATH.

God heard this fervent prayer! "Andthe LORD repented of the evil which

he thought to do unto his people"(Verse 14).

Moses' prayer CHANGED the entirecourse of HISTORY! It changed thefuture of an ENTIRE NATION!

... and Elijah

Notice another example from theOld Testament. Elijah the prophet wasa man "subject to like passions as WI;:

are" (Jas. 5: 17) . He had humannature. He was HUMAN. And yet, "...he prayed EARNESTLY that it might notrain: and it RAINED NOT on the earthby the space of three years and sixmonths. And he PRAYED AGAIN, ANDTHE HEAVEN GAVE RAIN, and the earthbrought forth her fruit" (Verses 17·18) .

Elijah served God with his wholebeing. Yet, when his life was threat­ened by the harlot jezebel, he fled intothe wilderness. He was so discouragedthat he asked God if he might die."It is enough; now, 0 Lord, take awaymy life; for I am not better than myfathers" (I Kings 19:4).

Elijah could also be despondent,discouraged! But he walked with God,talked with God, OBEYED GOD, hadpower with God. God mightily an­swered his prayers!

Does God similarly answer YOURS?These two examples show clearly

that, just as James wrote, "The effectualFERVENT prayer of a righteous manavaileth MUCH"! (Jas. 5:16.) Prayercan change the course of HISTORY! Itcan effect MIRACLES!

But so often it doesn't!Why? What about YOUR prayers?The prayers of most people lack real

12

power and effectiveness for a verysimple reason - they really DON'TKNOW HOW to pray!

How NOT to Pray

There are many reasons why manyprayers are not answered. Let us noticea few!

One problem-perhaps the mostcommon problem of all-was revealedby the Apostle James. He wrote, "Fromwhence come wars and fightings amongyou? come they not hence, even ofyour lusts that war in your members?Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, anddesire to have, and cannot obtain: yefight and war, yet ye HAVE NOT"­why? "BECAUSE YE ASK NOT"! (Jas.4:1-2.)

How many really have the faith toASK GOD for the things they need?Many actually IGNORE God when theyhave a need-they have not learned toreally trust in Him to provide!

But, James continued: "Ye ask"­yes, sometimes people will ask-"andreceive not"-still they don't receivethe answer. WHY? Notice! "... be­cause ye ask AMISS, that ye may con­sume it upon your LUSTS" (Jas. 4:3).

There is the answer! God will nothear SELFISH prayer! If we ask forsomething selfishly, to consume it onour own desires, we are asking amiss.This is the wrong attitude to have inprayer!

Have you ever prayed-from selfishmotives? Do you have the well-knownprayer "disease" - called the "GIM­MEES"? When you pray, do you onlywant to GET?

Notice another example of UNAN­SWERED prayer.

"Two men went up into the templeto pray," Jesus related, "the one aPharisee, and the other a publican. ThePharisee stood and prayed thus withhimself, God, I thank thee, that I amnot as other men are, extortioners,unjust, adulterers, or even as thispublican. I fast twice in the week, Igive tithes of all that I possess" (Luke18:10-12) .

His prayer did not ascend to God.He was merely praying "with him­self." God will not hear haughty, proud,SELF-RIGHTEOUS prayer! God does not

The GOOD NEWS

answer if you pray in a conceited,proud, "holier-than-thou" attitude!

Rather, when we approach God'sthrone, we must be conscious of ourown utter UNworthiness-we must en­ter God's presence with an attitude ofHUMILITY! God heard the prayer of apublican who would not even lift hiseyes to heaven; but the prayer of astrutting Pharisee went unheeded(Luke 18:13-14).

Another reason for unansweredprayer is the "sleepy-time prayer."Tiresomely repeated prayers will not beheard (Mat. 6:7-8). Dull, repetitiousprayer shows a lack of respect for God.It is insipid!

Speaking of so many people whopray, God says, "They never put theirheart into their prayers ..." (Has.7:14, Moffatt). Sleepy-time, lethargicprayers lazily waft toward the ceiling­and that is all.

Is this the way YOU pray?

Faith and Obedience

How, then, should you pray in orderto RECEIVE GOD'S ANSWER? How canyou pray, and KNOW that you will beheard?

First, your attitude must be sur­rendered to God. You must, to the bestof your knowledge, be living accordingto God's will. Otherwise, SIN can cutyou off from God!

Isaiah wrote, "Behold, the LORD'Shand is not shortened, that it cannotsave; neither his ear heavy, that itcannot hear: but your INIQUITIES haveseparated between you and your God,and your SINS have hid his face fromyou, that he will NOT hear" (lsa.59:1-2).

Here is one of the major reasons somany prayers are NOT answered. Godwill not listen to a person who rebelsand DISOBEYS His Word. God will notlisten to the prayers of someone LIV­ING IN SIN!

First, there must be REPENTANCE!Sin must be put away. Idols-anythingwhich separates from God, anything wetend to put before God-must becrushed, shattered.

When a person searches his ownlife, and puts away SIN, and turns toGod 10 heartfelt repentance, God

August, 1965

promises to hear! (John 9:31; Dan.10:12.)

Are you truly SEEKING God's way?Are you daily repenting of SIN, andputting it out of your life? Have youreally surrendered your life and wholebeing to God?

One thing, however, is still lacking.There is yet one thing which-if youdon't have it-will cause prayer to beworthless. The Apostle James tells uswhat it is:

"If any of you lack wisdom, let himask of God, that giveth to all menliberally, and upbraideth not; and itshall be given him. But let him ask inFAITH, nothing wavering. For he thatwavereth is like a wave of the seadriven with the wind and TOSSED. Forlet not that man think that he shallreceive any thing of the Lord. Adouble minded man is unstable in allhis ways" (Jas. 1:5-8).

Lack of real FAITH is one of thegreatest hindrances to powerful, effec­tive PRAYER!

As He looked into the future-andnoticed the almost complete, total lackof faith in our age, today, Jesus said,"Nevertheless when the Son of mancometh, shall he find faith on theearth?" (Luke 18:8.)

We live in a materialistic world-aworld which has lost the knowledge ofthe TRUE Goo--a world totally igno­rant of His way, His Truth, Hisglorious promises! Consequently, welive in a FAITHLESS generation!

Yet, the Apostle Paul wrote: "ButWITHOUT FAITH it is IMPOSSIBLE toplease him: for he that cometh toGod must believe that he is, and thathe is a REWARDER of them thatdiligently seek him" (Heb. 11 :6).

What is faith?

Living Faith

"Now FAITH IS the substance ofthings hoped for, the EVIDENCE ofthings NOT SEEN" (Heb. 11:1). Faithis believing, trusting to receive some­thing which you do NOT SEE! It is notpredicated on sight-or any of thefive senses! It is SPIRITUAL!

If you desire to have your prayersanswered, you must have FAITH. Youmust BELIEVE that God exists, that He

August, 1965

is the LIVING God, and that lIe willhear and ANSWER your petition!

Notice the example of Abraham.Here was a man filled with faith. Infact, he is called the "Father of thefaithful."

For years Abraham waited patientlyfor GOD to intervene in his life, andprovide him with a son. YEARS flewpast. But, year after year-. still no son!

Wouldn't YOU have grown dis­couraged ?-disheartened? But not so,Abraham!

"And being not weak in faith, heconsidered not his own body now dead,when he was about an hundred yearsold, neither yet the deadness of Sarah'swomb" (Rom. 4:19). Abraham didnot even consider outward circum­stances. He knew that God HAD PROM­ISED to provide a son-and he BE­LIEVED GOD!

He did not look to the physical.Physically speaking, the birth of Isaacwould have been IMPOSSIBLE! Never­theless, Abraham believed. "He stag­gered not at the promise of Godthrough unbelief; but was STRONG INFAITH, giving glory to God; and beingFULLY PERSUADED that, what he hadpromised, he was able also to per­form" (Rom. 4:20-21).

What an example of FAITH! Therewas NO DOUBT in Abraham's mind­no fear or anxiety about the outcome.He was not worried in the slightest. HeBELIEVED GOD! In his heart, he knewthat God had PROMISED, and that Hecould not break a promise!

Do YOU have that kind of faith? Or,when your faith is tried, do you foldup like a tent blown in a hurricane?Is your faith STRONG, founded on thebedrock of God's SURE WORD? Or is ita flimsy, empty thing?

FACE THE TRUTH, brethren! Do youreally BELIEVE God? Do you reallyCLAIM His promises, like Abraham?

"According to your FAITH be it untoyou," Jesus Christ said (Mat. 9:29)."... as thou hast BELIEVED, so be itdone unto thee," He told a centurion(Mat. 8:13). "THY FAITH hath madethee whole," He told a woman whowas healed of a serious blood disorder(Mat. 9:22).

The GOOD NEWS

Lack of faith can render God's powernull and void in your life!

The Secret of FAITH

How can you have REAL faith?

"So then faith cometh by hearing,and hearing by the WORD OF GOD"(Rom. 10:17). Here is why many lackfirm faith! They don't study God'sWord as diligently as they should­they are not familiar with the manyexamples of faith contained in theBible. They are ignorant of God's PROM­ISES-and they are ignorant of Hisgreat POWER to intervene in theirlives!

Is this your weakness?Then again, many lack faith because

they think they must work it up them­selves. They struggle, groan, and striveto work up faith in God-but they fallmiserably short. This kind of faith­HUMAN faith-will never bring an­swers to prayer! It cringes in the faceof a real TEST of faith.

How can you have REAL faith? ITIS A GIFT!

"For by grace are ye saved throughfaith; and that not of yourselves: it isthe GIFT OF GOD: not of works, lestany man should boast" (Eph. 2 :8-9).Notice-this kind of faith is NOTsomething you must "work up"-it issomething God gives as a Kift. This isthe faith you NEED!

How do you get it? Go to God inearnest prayer-AND ASK! God is will­ing to GIVE you real faith, as a GIFT,if you will go to Him for it! Thiskind of faith is one of the attributesof the Holy Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23).Ask God to FILL you with His HolySpirit-the Spirit of FAITH!

He will not deny you. "If a son shallask bread of any of you that is afather, will he give him a stone? ... Ifye then, being evil, know how to givegood gifts unto your children: HOWMUCH MORE shall your heavenly FatherGIVE the Holy Spirit to them that ASKhim?" (Luke 11 :11-13.)

Even the FAITH we need comes fromGod!

Humility, selflessness, obedience toGod-and faith-are still often notenough, however! Often, MORE is stillrequired!

13

Patiently Persevere!

Some, if God doesn't answer rightaway-if He doesn't jump when theycrack the whip-begin to lose faith.

They conveniently forget that, al­though God promises to answer, He no­where promises to answer RIGHT AWAY!God does not tell us exactly HOW orprecisely WHEN the answer will come.Sometimes it may come in a way wewould least expect!

That is why Jesus declared "... thatmen ought ALWAYS to pray, and not tofaint" (Luke 18:1). Or, as Goodspeedtranslates it, "not give up."

How many are willing to perseverein prayer, until God answers? Howmany are willing to WAIT on God tosend the answer? How many are PA­TIENT?

James wrote, "... the trying of yourfaith worketh PATIENCE" (Jas. 1:3).How impatient we human beings seemto be ! WAITING on God, in patientFAITH, seems to be one of the hardestthings to do!

Remember, God keeps the time in Hisown hands. Don't cease praying aboutthe problem or affliction! God wantsus to come before His throne DAY ANDNIGHT. He wants us, like Abraham, toENDURE in faith and not stagger atHis promises in unbelief.

One of the lessons God wants us tolearn is PERSISTENCE - stick-to-it-ive­ness! We must learn to IMPORTUNEGod for what we know is good in Hissight (Luke 11: 5-9). We must learn topersistently, shamelessly, carry ourproblems and needs, the needs ofothers, and God's Work, before Hisheavenly throne in prayer.

Pray BOLDLY!

Another problem many have, some­times due to a lack of faith, is that theyare WEAK in their prayers. They areafraid to ask for much-afraid to askGod's richest blessings. They hangback in doubt. They are hesitant andapologetic in their prayers! They arenot sure of God's will, so they only askhalfheartedly.

Again-what about you?

God wants you to approach Hisglorious throne with BOLDNESS-with

14

fervency and urgency! "The effectualFERVENT prayer of a righteous manavaileth much," James wrote (Jas.5: 16). "Let us therefore come BOLDLYunto the throne of grace, that we mayobtain mercy, and find grace to help intime of need," the Apostle Paul ex­horted (Heb. 4:16).

When Moses prayed for Israel, heprayed BOLDLY, courageously! WhenElijah prayed, he prayed boldly, withfaith and confidence. These mightymen of God did NOT hang back apolo­getically, in gnawing doubt.

They KNEW God's will-and theyprayed accordingly!

For you to pray boldly-with realfaith and CONFIDENCE-you must firstKNOW GOD'S WILL. His will is re­vealed in the Bible ! You must come toknow how God thinks, how He acts,how He looks upon things. You mustknow His CHARACTER and His holi­ness, the purpose He is working outhere below, and the PROMISES He hasmade in His Word.

Then you can lift up your voice inprayer, and cry aloud BOLDLY!

"And this is the confidence that wehave in him, that, if we ask any thingaccording to his will, HE HEARETH US:and if we know that he hear us,whatsoever we ask, we KNOW that weHAVE the petitions that we desired ofhim" (I John 5:14-15).

Halfhearted prayers never broughtabout wholehearted intervention! Con­sider this, the next time you begin todroop, or drowse, in prayer!

Sense of Urgency

When Jesus Christ prayed to the Fa­ther, He meant it. He did not approachGod merely to "pass the time." HISprayers had deep MEANING. He feltthem. He was deeply MOVED on manyoccasions when He communed withGod. He was emotionally affected bythe urgency of the situation.

Christ prayed URGENTLY!

In Hebrews we read, "Who in thedays of his flesh, when he had offeredup prayers and supplications withSTRONG CRYING AND TEARS unto himthat was able to save him from death,and was heard in that He FEARED"(Heb. 5:7).

The GOOD NEWS

Arc your prayers meaningful-e-tc

you? If not, how do you expect themto be moving to GOD?

David was another who was oftenmoved deeply when he prayed to God.Many of the Psalms reveal his depth ofemotion and deep feeling.

David prayed, "HEAR ME when I call,o God of my righteousness: thou hastenlarged me when I was in distress;have mercy upon me, and HEAR myprayer" (Ps. 4: 1). He cried out, "Havemercy upon me, 0 LORD; for I amweak: 0 LORD, heal me; for my bonesare vexed. My soul is also sore vexed:but thou, 0 LORD, how long? Return,o LORD, deliver my soul: oh save mefor thy mercies' sake" (Ps. 6:2-4) .

David was often moved to tears whenhe cried out to God in fervent, boldprayer! "I am weary with my groan­ing; all the night make I my bed toswim; I water my couch with mytears" (Verse 6). Have YOU ever prayedwith such depth of emotion, feeling?Have you ever prayed with suchURGENCY?

Have you ever really wholeheartedlyCALLED UPON GOD?

This kind of prayer achieves realRESULTS! This is the kind of prayerwhich is WELL PLEASING in God'ssight. God is deeply moved by suchearnest, sincere, heartfelt prayer!

God says to those who have neverprayed this way, "Therefore also now,saith the LORD, turn ye even to mewith ALL yOUR HEART, and withfasting, and with weeping, and withmourning: and rend your heart, andnot your garments, and turn unto theLORD your God: for he is gracious andmerciful, slow to anger, and of greatkindness ..." (Joel 2:12-13).

The POWER of Prayer

Notice, now, one of the shortest­and most POWERFUL-prayers recordedin the Bible. Turn to John 11, theaccount of the death of Lazarus.

Lazarus, a close friend and discipleof Jesus, had died four days previously.When Jesus arrived at the tomb, Hewas moved inwardly because of theunbelief of those present, and theirlack of understanding. He wept!

Jesus then lifted up His eyes and

August, 1965

prayed, standing, "Father, I thank theethat thou hast heard me. And I knewthat thou hearest me always: but becauseof the people which stand by I said it,that they may believe that thou hastsent me" (John 11 :41-42).

When Jesus had thus prayed, HeTHUNDERED, "LAZARUS, COMEFORTH" !

What a miracle! What an exampleof ANSWERED PRAYER! Jesus had realFAITH. He literally walked with God!

He wants YOU to have the very sameFAITH dwelling in YOU! (Gal. 2: 20;Phil. 3:9.)

This kind of prayer is NOT a "balmfor the soul" or a "psychological re­lease." It is REAL! It is effective! ITACCOMPLISHES MIRACLES!

God heard the fervent, movingprayers of Abraham, Moses, Elijah. Heheard the prayers of David, Samuel,Hezekiah. He heard the prayers of Je­sus, the apostles. He will hear YOURprayers!

He is no respecter of persons (Rom.2: 11 ). He intervened for others. GODWILL INTEKV.EN.E FOR YOU!

Your personal, heartfelt PRAYERS­on the behalf of GOD'S WORK, on be­half of those who are sick and af­flicted, on the behalf of God's minis­ters-your prayers for help, deliverance,healing, strength to overcome tempta­tion-YOUR FERVENT PRAYERS can ac­complish MIRACLES!

What about it?

Will you permit this article to HELPyou? Will you follow this instructionand allow it to make a CHANGE inyour life?

Are you CONCERNED about prayer?Are you really concerned about God'speople, His ministers, HIS WORK inthese end times?

What about it?

Your prayers-yes, YOUR personalprayers--can change lives, save lives,work MIRACLES!

Will you go, now, to a private placeand really intercede with God, inearnest prayer, according to His Word-not only for your own problems, butalso the problems of others, and for thevery Work of the Living God?

God will BLESS those who do!

August, 1965 The GOOD NEWS 15

What Our Readers Say ...

Windows of Heaven Open

"We sent in just a little more for anoffering last payday and to illustratehow God really meant what He saidabout overfilling the barn: Yesterdaythe President of the big company Iwork for came to see me and said, 'Ihear you are going to see your songraduate in California.' I said, 'Yes,Sir!' ... Then he said, 'This companyis very proud to have a man who worksand turns out the quality of work youdo. To show our appreciation for whatyou have done for this company, and tolet you know you are a real asset to

Leslie H.C, New Jersey

Comments on Tithing:

"We want you to know what tithinghas done for us. We have been tithinga little over two months. My baby­sitting and ironing money has greatlyincreased, and my husband's pay checkhas almost burst its seams."

Dolores C C, Indiana

"I set aside 10 percent each week astithes. I found it hard not to spend it.Each week, as the amount gets larger,the greater the temptation. Finally, Ireached the point of unbearable temp­tation not to send it in, but to spendit. If this force had won me over Iwould have been guilty of stealingGod's money. So I just dropped youa check in an envelope without an ex­planation. I now find it a lot easier toset aside God's 10 percent. I no longerhave to worry about spending itfoolishly."

Monday she took one step on theparallel bars; Wednesday, eight steps;Thursday I took her swimming andshe stood four seconds alone. Fridayin therapy they cancelled my appoint­ment with the psychologist. Saturday atnoon she suddenly stood up and walkedaway from her wheel chair, turnedaround, bounced her knees up anddown, leaned over and hugged our 2­

year-old. She has been doing more eachday. I'm sure her therapy is almost over.This was not an expected event at thistime, as they thought that by today shemight STAND ALONE ONLY."

Mrs. R.L.B., Florida

Mr. Melvin 1. B., Oregon

"Thank you, each and everyone, foryour prayers and thoughts. It is hard toconceive of so great a God, and yet thisis truly His hand touching us with amiracle. I wrote you that the doctorswere going to send our daughter Bonnieto a psychologist, etc., but from thetime I wrote you she began to rally.

"We had come to the conclusion thatmy husband or I, one, was sterile untilyour book on marriage and sex wasread and we received your letter. Yourletter advised us to put the matter inGod's hands and trust Him for a familyand healing. I did not expect an an­swer to my prayers so soon. Here it isMay and we are expecting a child inNovember. The impossible happened,because according to medical science itwas impossible for us to have children.We both are so happy. Thank God fornot changing!"

Mrs. Ronald 1.]., Oklahoma

Healing

"Now for the very best news, Ithink. I've mentioned in some previousletters that I've suffered three coronaryattacks of very serious nature, and forthe past two months my heart seemedto bother me more than it had forsome time. So on Monday I was suf­fering severe pains in my chest andleft arm to the extent that I realizedI was in very grave danger. I im­mediately phoned the minister and heimmediately sent one of the Elders, Mr.White, to pray for my healing. Mr.White arrived very soon and anointedand prayed for me, asking God to healme. I can say that it seemed that wehad barely finished the prayer to Godwhen all the pain was completely gone.I shall never quit praising my God andSavior Jesus for this instant healing."

Mrs. Edna B. C, Washington

Floyd M., Ohio

Printing

"Thank Mr. Jon Hill for the historyof printing, on the great amount ofwork that it takes to print a magazine,for all the pictures and figures he gave

Eyes Opened to Truth

"I am returning the tape which youso kindly sent me. I have enjoyed hear­ing it so much. It is the first time in 20years that I have had anything like it.Apart from some scriptures in braille,I have had nothing else. I am the onlyblind person in the Glasgow Church,and I felt I was missing something.Now I have something to talk aboutas the others get the PLAIN TRUTH toread,"

Blind Lady, Glasgow, Scotland

Friendly Children

"We enjoyed the latest GOOD NEWS,

especially the correction in the articlesabout friendly children and news of theWork. The personalized accounts are ex­citing to read."

Mr. and Mrs. W. P. R.,California

Summer Camp

"I am so thankful God prepared abeautiful place as He has for the Sum­mer Camp this year. Words just can'tdescribe the beauty. I am so thankfulI have gotten to go. I am enjoying itvery much-wish it could last forever;it must be a foretaste of what theWorld Tomorrow will be like. I justwish all the children in the Churchcould go. It is a tremendous blessing!"

Miss L R. M., Kansas

(Continued from page 2)

more fun to be in something than just us. It is something we are all interestedwatch. I gave my Ice-Breaker speech in in, and helps us to better understandSpokesman's Club and, to my surprise, something of the size and scope of thisI got a cup. I don't have a lot of educa- Work."tion, but I know that having the trueknowledge of God is the best knowl­edge I could ever get. Anyway, my lifeis changing and I know thousands moreare too, thanks to The WORLD TOMOR­ROW. That started me out on the rightcourse."

16 The GOOD NEWS August, 1965

Cancer Healed"I know that God can heal. I asked

you to pray for me nearly 3 years ago.I had cancer-now the doctors say theycannot find any trace of cancer about

this organization, we want to presentyou and your wife two round trip jetflight tickets to go on, instead ofhaving to drive.' We sure know God isreal and close to us because of themany blessings we recieve every day."

Mr. and Mrs. Doyce B., Texas

"To live by God's law, as nearly asis humanly possible, has proven to medaily that God does reward us even inthis life. I pray that I may be strong inthe Lord and be able to hurdle whenI reach my 'breaking point: That was agood article Mr. McDowell wrote."

Mrs. R.J.P., Colorado

Budget"I am in my third tithe year and I

am slowly cleaning up all my bills, andhave really done a lot more this year.I have just about all bills paid now andby following the budget from TheGOOD NEWS, I hope to have a goodbank balance soon, too."

Terry M., Oregon

• If this budget works in the thirdtithe year-it must work EVERY YEAR­be sure YOU have your finances bud­

geted!

(Continued from page 10)

vision of the parents), or simply re­main with an adult after services con­

clude. That way, he enjoys the otherchildren, but is never allowed to runloose whooping and hollering all after­noon.

Blessings Won't Quit!

"I haven't told my friends and fam­ily yet, but since the first of the yearwhen I started giving God His rightfulshare of my income, my income hasnearly doubled. I can scarcely believeit! Also, I prayed for my to-year-olddaughter to improve her citizenshipgrade in school, and for the first timein 3 years, she made an 'A' for this

(Continued on page 24)

CHILDREN

Let's remember, now, your first im­

pression of church. You very likely,as mentioned at the beginning of thisarticle, were practically shocked at theobedient and happy children. You wereamazed that one full third of the con­gregation was made up of children­babies to teen-agers. So don't go over­board and now assume that our childrenare totally out of line. The averagechurch congregation of this world(whatever the denomination might be)would not dare bring their children tochurch. CHAOS AND CONFUSION WOULDREIGN!

But on the other hand-althoughour children on the whole do very well-we have a great deal of room forIMPROVEMENT.

If each parent will diligently go towork on his own children, and eachone will concern himself with gettingmore out of church, and having hischildren get more out of church, wewill each experience the richly reward­ing feeling of accomplishment and willknow the true blessings of happyobedient children! This will be truenot only in church services on theSabbath but throughout the entire week-the month-the year--and through­out the years that are to come!

Get a Balanced Picture

"Since last corresponding with you,I have had the opportunity to talk witha representative of the Church of God,Mr. George Meeker, and also, to attendthe last 2 Sabbath day assemblies inMilwaukee. Words cannot convey mythanks for having been provided withthese rich experiences. Mr. Meeker andI had a very informative visit at whichtime all my questions were answered. Ienjoyed this conversation immensely!As a result of our discussion, my desireto learn more of God's way was cer­tainly stimulated. Mr. Meeker extendedan invitation to me to attend theChurch of God assembly a week agolast Saturday. I did attend; I saw; Iheard. The experience was simply awonderful blessing."

Richard L. H., Wisconsin

Mrs. Sue R., Tennessee

"Enclosed please find my check fortithe and offering. This is the best in­vestment I've ever made. In 1964my income increased by more than$2,000.00 and this year it looks asthough it may increase by another$1,000.00. Truly God has 'opened thewindows of heaven, and poured out ablessing' as He promised."

Donald W. R., Indiana

Another Success

"Well, here it is tithe time again. Itseems like time just flies away lately.Things seem to get better for me everyweek. I am putting more money in thebank, and still have more to spend thanI have ever had before, and I know itis all because I try to be faithful in mytithing. Although most of us at workmake the same salary, I am the only onewho seems to ever have any money tosave; the rest are usually 'broke' before

pay day." Robert V., Illinois

Wise Husband

"My husband doesn't believe in God'sTrue Church, but he does insist ontithing. Ever since we started doing so,we have had less and less financialworries and my husband has found hisfirst permanent job since his dischargefrom the Air Force last October. Tithingis indeed a joy to give, and a blessingin return."

Mary E. B., Texasme."

General Miscellaneous Comments:"In the March issue of The GOOD

NEWS, Mr. Bill McDowell wrote anarticle on 'What Is Your BREAKINGPOINT?' which has been of much helpto me. I had been nearing my breakingpoint, for since I came home from thelast day of Unleavened Bread, it seemsthere has been no end of the trials andpersecutions that have beset me. Butwith answered prayers and much Biblestudy, I've never given up. I am sothankful that we have such a powerfulFather to see us through everything ifwe trust and obey Him:'

Mrs. James P., Tennessee

THE ANSWER TO SIN!Do you wonder why you are not changing? Have you repentedof a sin, only to repeat the same sin? Here are the steps to

conquering sin PERMANENTLY.

by Charles V. Dorothy

I N LAST month's article-WHAT IsSIN?-we learned that God in­spired different words in the origi­

nal texts to emphasize different kindsof sin. All mistakes, errors and failuresare sin. But by using different wordsto identify the different kinds of er­rors, God helps us to know our enemy.

Our society and our personal humannature stand condemned by God'sdefinitions of sin. As we saw in thelast article, society is set up to TEMPThuman nature-and we yield too of­ten! That is, we miss the mark (He­brew word chattah). We saw thatvanity of personal appearance, braggingon children, general senseless frivolityis aven-that is, nothingness and vani­ty ! We saw that modern art and musicis greatly "twisted"-bent, wrested andperverted from its true use !-avon.We found that "sneakiness," treachery(Hebrew ma'al) included word-break­ing, disloyalty, petty thieving, etc.

We saw then how clearly, how un­mistakably the Bible pictures, brands,and condemns sin.

Know Your Enemy

These two articles are intended tohelp you personally to locate, spot,pinpoint the sin in your life-and rootit out!

Your enemy-sin-has a real target:You. "Yea, on you its desire [is set],but you should rule over it" (See ADistinctive Translation of Genesis byJ. Watts and Revised Standard transla­tion of Genesis 4: 7). If you do not"master" sin Now-while you have thechance-you will end up a reprobate:a person who "cannot cease from sin"!

(II Pet. 2:13-15.)

Sin of course is not a person orpersonality. Sin is a force, a power.

Sin is that part of your human naturewhich pulls you DOWN, makes youwant to go the WRONG WAY, whichmakes you want to give up, quit. Inshort, sin is what makes us the carnal,miserable wretches we are.

To win this battle over your humannature-your sin-you must clearly seewhat sin is. You must know yourenemy, to defeat him.

Sin Splints

Track men and athletes are familiarwith the excruciating, stabbing pains of"shin splints." God is familiar with thestabbing, excruciating pains of sin! Wewho are Christians must also becomefamiliar with the sins in our own lives.Let's discover a few more facets andkinds of sin-both national and per­sonal-which God identifies in theBible before we give the answer to sin.

Last time we mentioned only sinswhich were "not necessarily intention­al." But the Bible does talk about inten­tional sin-since all human beings andnations DO SIN INTENTIONALLY, sometime or other in life. The Hebrewzimmah means meditated wickedness, aplan for evil, especially with sins ofunchastity, incest, rape. Many such sin­ners (people plotting crime, sexualcriminals) roam our streets today. Wedon't call them sinners; we call themhomicidal maniacs, psychopaths, or un­fortunate, or sometimes misunderstood.

The ugly episode of the concubine(Judges 20) is termed zimmah (KingJames "lewdness") in Judges 20:6.

Our nation is filled with sexuallooseness and lewdness-for which wemust be punished! (Read Jeremiah 13,especially Verse 27 where "lewdness"is zimmah.)

Our NATIONAL lewdness will mean

our VERY DESTRUCTION! (See how fre­quently the word "lewdness" [zimmahin Hebrew] is used through the middlechapters of Ezekiel.)

A Worldwide Sin

God is going to intervene soon­because of sin-and shake this earth!All nations and probably all individualstoo are guilty of REVOLT, REBELLION!To break away from, to change al­legiance, to fall away, apostatize, REBELis the definition of the Hebrew pashd­another word translated sin in theKing James translation. God says ourteachers have committed pasha' inIsaiah 43: 27: "Thy first father hathsinned, and thy teachers have trans­gressed against me." Furthermore, Jere­miah shows in Chapter 2, Verse 8 thatthe priests and pastors have also re­belled. "The priests said not, 'Where isthe Lord?' and they that handle thelaw knew me not: the pastors alsotransgressed [revolted, pasha'] againstme, and the prophets prophesied byBaal, and walked after things that donot profit."

The leaders, teachers, and educatorsof this world HAVE REBELLED! Andrebellion never goes unpunished (SeeProvo 16:25 in Moffatt, and Provo17:11).

Make sure that rebellion is not a partof your personal life!

Sin Is Personal

Sin is not only national and world­wide, it is individual and personal.

Can you control your rashness, yourtemper? The sin of going astray (es­pecially through temper or rashness) isserious, once requiring the blood of asin offering: Leviticus 4:13-14 andNumbers 15:27-29.

You must be constantly on guard

18

against this sin of piercing, or breakingthrough the limits of self-control anddecency. This sin of GOING ASTRAYthrough ignorance or temperamentalrashness is called shagag in Hebrew,and requires the blood of Jesus Christto wash you clean.

Even David fell victim to this sin:"Before I was afflicted I went astray[shagagJ: but now have I kept thyword" (Ps. 119:67). David also over­came, as the phrase "now have I keptthy word" shows!

Worse Wandering

A related word, shagah, means toWANDER IN MIND, either from drunken­ness or from just plain being carriedaway by foolishness. Do you "getcarried away" eating? Some of youreading this article are enormouslyoverweight; you need to change-stopgetting carried away.

Sad to say, some of you readers alsoget carried away by too much alcohol!This is GLUTTONY! The Bible demandsself-control and moderation (true "tem­perance") in all things (Gal. 5 :23;Phil. 4:5).

Another very common sin includedunder shagah is just exactly what theword says: MIND WANDERING. Anuncontrolled, wandering mind (evenwithout the help of alcohol) producesforgetfulness and daydreaming.

Do you often forget when youshould remember? Some forgetting ofcourse is innocent. But forgetting canalso be A SIN! Sometimes we forgetbecause we want to forKet-to remem­ber is unpleasant.

Stop forgetting! If you have to-asmany of God's ministers do-carry anotebook or three-by-five cards withyou at all times. Jot down things youMUST remember: important appoint­ments, vocabulary words, a grocery list,daily duties, etc. Make it a habit tocheck your card or notebook every day.

Moreover, too many of us allow ourminds to wander, daydreaming!

Do you realize that God condemnsdaydreaming? Daydreaming is a sin!

Are you letting your children getinto this ugly habit? If you allow themto stay awake, lying in bed for longperiods of time, they will pick up this

The GOOD NEWS

vicious trait. Letting the mind just "flitoff" into a never-never land of make­believe and dreams is a vicious, mind­and-character-destroying sin!

Watch for this malfunction (sick­ness) of the brain in both yourselfand your children.

Falsity and Sham

How open and honest are you?Openness, innocence, and straight­

forwardness are earmarks of conversion.The direct opposite qualities-treach­ery, slipperiness, DECEIT and SHAM(Hebrew bagad)-are earmarks of car­nality and sin. Bagad, often translatedperverseness, is a form of treachery,slippery dealing-what we sometimescall double dealing. Business today isfilled with double dealers, slipperysalesmen, deceitful advertisements andsales "pitches," falsified claims forphony products. God condemns slip­pery, crooked business in Proverbs11:3, h.

And what of you? Do you once in awhile-as wives-use just a little deceitto convince your husband? And youhusbands, do you once in a whileexaggerate to impress the men at theoffice, the wife, the family? Stretchingthe facts is a form of deceit and sham-slipperiness. And all deceit, all slip­periness is sin!

The New Testament Speaks

Just as there are differences in He­brew synonyms for sin, so also the NewTestament shows various aspects of sinby using different words.

Interestingly enough, the most com­mon word for "sin" in the NewTestament is hamartia, meaning exactlythe same as Hebrew chattah-MISS THEMARK. The English word sin translateshamartia in the great Bible definitionof sin, I John 3:4. It was this sin that"entered the world" with Adam. SeeRomans 5.

Evil Thing?

Many of you talkative women, youwho pass on information, are con­demned by the Bible. Titus 2 :7-8 showswhat you ought to practice. "In allthings showing yourselves a pattern ofgood works: in doctrine showing un-

August, 1965

corruptness, gravity, sincerity, soundspeech [not gossip and senseless talk},that cannot be condemned." The sameverse shows that carnal people will setthe opposite example in their speech:"That he that is of the contrary partmay be ashamed, having no EVILTHING to say of you." This "evilthing" is GOSSIP. The Greek word forevil thing is phaulos meaning evil orempty thing, something without basis.Isn't that exactly what gossip is?

It is easy to speak senseless thingsand to gossip. If you allow yourself tofall into this easy trap of back yardscuttlebutt, you are guilty of phatl!os­sin.

Check yourself next time you pass oninformation. Gossip is phaulos-evil,empty sin!

Active and Passive Sin

For those who would like to studymore-possibly with a concordance oran interlinear-you will be interestedin the two Greek words for evil or sin:kakia and poneria. Kakia is sin, but itis the passive type. Kakia docs not tryto destroy others; in other words it ispassive, it is lacking, it is no good,good for nothing. Passive sin is FAIL­ING to do what you know is right.

On the other hand, poneria is ac­tively, agressively bad-it is destructionon the march.

Satan is called "the evil one" inGreek-the "one of poneria:" Satan isaggressively evil-seeking to destroyeveryone.

Search yourself! You'll probably seesome passive evil, and worse yet someactive evil! Errors of omission anderrors of commission-both must berooted out!

Last but Not Least

One last thing before we attack sin.Are you one of those all-tao-frequent"members" who holds your own opin­ion-contrary to the Church? Do youthink Mr. Armstrong "just doesn't un­derstand" ? Do you think some others ofGod's ministers are "just a little bitoff"? Do you feel your explanationof Scripture is MORE CORRECT thanGod's Church's? Do you dare "judge"the authority God Himself placed over

August, 1965

you? Do you disagree with the Feastlocations-the handling of tithes-thepoor fund-the selection of SpokesmanClub officers?

MANY OF YOU DO!

You are holding on to your ownopinion-you are opinionated! You arestubborn and bullheaded! And worstof all, you're wrong-you're DEADWRONG! You ARE MISSING THE MARK!And that's sin! You're guilty of chattahand hamartia.

Why don't you give up your opinion-surrender your will to God-beforeGod has to shake you? May God helpthose of you who in some form oranother pit yourselves against God andHis Church to repent and CHANGE.

The ANSWER

Now we're ready for the attack!Actually, if you read these two arti­

cles on sin, and if you got the point,you are already well on your way tochanging! You see, the first step inconquering sin is TO SEE sin.

You must know your enemy. Youmust pray, study the Bible, listen tosermons whenever possible, and striveto see YOUR sins. If you do not seethem, how can you fight them? Paulsaid he would not have known (un­derstood) sin, unless the law revealedwhat it was (Rom. 7:7).

If you do not think you have anysins, or have not seen a new sin for along time, you are self-righteous. AskGod to show you how you look toHim-and He'll do it!

That's the first step. But there aretwo more steps.

The Second Step

Here is a simple-sounding, but dif­ficult-to-perform point. Pay close atten­tion. You may be missing this vitalkey! "HATE the evil, and love thegood" (Amos 5:15). The Bible com­mands you to hate-to loathe-YOURSINS!

There is one great reason that sin isdifficult to hate-the carnal mindLOVES sin!

"We all had our conduct in timespast in the lusts of our flesh, fulfillingthe desires of the flesh and of themind; and were by nature the children

The GOOD NEWS

of wrath, even as others" (Eph. 2:3).Here is the point: LUSTS are pleasant,appealing, strongly pulling desires­desires which are illegal! These strong,illegal pulls and desires of the hwnanmind are exactly what the hwnan mindwants! The human mind, by nature,LOVES its lusts! The carnal human mindHATES God's way-hates to give up itslusts!

Can you see this terrible tendencyin yourself? Can you realize your mindwants its way-not God's? If so, youCAN overcome.

But how?It is simple. God HATES sin. Notice

Proverbs 6: 16: "These six things doththe Lord hate: yea, seven are an abomi­nation unto him." Read the rest of theverses of Chapter 6 for yourself. Godhere reveals His HATRED against sin.Slowly but surely, you too can receive(through God's Spirit) true hatred ofSIO.

When you really hate sin, you willbegin to overcome! Ask for God'sSpirit! Ask for God's mind-ask forhelp, to HATE.

Another aid in the direction of hat­ing sin is something you can do foryourself. Did you realize the entire OldTestament history is a chronicle of theresults of sin? Read, meditate, THINKDEEPLY on the sufferings and failuresof Old Testament men and women whosinned. MEDITATE on the results ofyour personal sins. Picture yourselflocked out of God's Kingdom-thrustinto oblivion. Think about the Lake ofFire, about eternal failure, aboutDEATH ! Your sins will KILL YOU ifyou do not change.

Receiving God's own help throughHis Holy Spirit, meditating on theresults of your sins, will make you anovercomer.

The Third Step

REPENT!

II Corinthians 7: 10 shows that thereare two kinds of sorrow: one worldly,one Godly. Worldly sorrow is whatSaul demonstrated in I Samuel 15,when he begged Samuel to pardon hissin and pray for him. Reading Saul'swords would make you think he wasreally repentant. But the fruits showedotherwise.

19

Godly sorrow-which Saul did nothave-does work a change-repent­ance!

How can you have godly sorrow?

You must become more concernedabout God and His Work than your­self! You must draw so close to Godthat you really care what God thinksand feels about you. Make no mistake:your sins do affect God your Father.God is not an insensitive monster, buta kind, loving and deeply interestedParent-a Parent who grieves over Hiserrant children.

If you understand God's parenthood,if you are this close to God, you will beable to truly repent TO GOD, when yousin. You will be ashamed of yourself,for what you have done to God person­ally, to God's love, to God's ways, toHis outstretched helping hand. Yes,Godly sorrow-sorrow strong enoughto make you change-is sorrow to God,not just sorrow for "having messedyourself up."

Worldly sorrow is sorrow all right­maybe to the point of bitter tears­but it is sorrow for having failedyourself. You are sorry because youhave not lived up to the "image" youhave of yourself. You are sorry becausethis mistake does not exalt you. Ittarnishes your picture-it spoils yourself-esteem, it lowers you in your ownmind.

That is selfish, worldly sorrow.

For Failure, Take This

If you are trying to overcome, butnot succeeding, then try this. Analyzethe reason you are trying to overcome.Is it purely selfish, in the same way asworldly sorrow described above?

Do you want to overcome so thatyou may put yourself forward? So thatyou will rise in the eyes of others? Sothat you will be advanced? So that youmay /Iget ahead"? So that your positionwill be raised? If so, your motive forovercoming is CARNAL! The carnalmind wants to "get ahead" (walking"after the flesh"). The Godly mind(walking "after the Spirit," Romans 8)wants to serve others.

Analyze yourself-honestly now! Forwhat reason do you want to get rid ofsin? If it is just for yourself, and not

20 The GOOD NEWS August, 1965

In Geneva to Stay

hand-a direct appeal, through ac­credited legal channels, to the SWISSCOUNCIL OF STATE, the highest courtin Geneva. The sounding-out of localopinion showed clearly how unlikely itwould be for the Council of State toreverse a decision of this nature by alocal legislative body. Any other organi­zation would, at this stage, have closeddown and left the country-in fact, anumber had already done so.

But God's Work is no ordinary or­ganization!

On March 15, 1965, the transcript ofa cable from the French office inGeneva arrived on Mr. Apartian's deskin the World Headquarters at Pasadena.It read as follows: "COUNCIL OF STATEREVERSE UNFAVORABLE DECISION ANDPERMIT SEVEN STAFF: TWO FOREIGNAND FNE SWISS."

What further endorsement do weneed have to show us that when Godopens a door for His Work, no au­thority or power-however awesome itmay be-<:an shut it?

We are here in Geneva to stay­until God's Work is accomplished!Thank God!

"Le Monde A Venir" is the listing for ourottice in Geneva.

CEASED FROM SIN; that he no longershould live the rest of his time in theflesh to the lusts of men, but to thewill of God" (1 Pet. 4:1, 2).

My earnest prayer for you brethren­and the prayer of all of God's ministers-is that you too will cease from sin!

The Final Appeal

As if to emphasize the desperateneed for extra staff, and to show usthat somehow or other there would bea way out of this new impasse, GODcallsed the addition of two more weeklybroadcasts, this time on the powerfulRADIO LUXEMBOURG. Le Monde AVenir began to thunder out to theFrench-speaking peoples of Europe noless than six times a week.' In orderfor the thousands of listeners to re­ceive prompt response to their requestsfor literature, additional staff wouldhave to be engaged quickly.

Faced with this desperate situation,our lawyer played the last card in his

However, this was not to be, for inJanuary 1965, the "Office Cantonal dePlacement" REJECTED our appeal andstated that we would have to continneto operate with only two employees.But why? What was the reason for thisunfavorable decision? The sametroublesome law of 1962, designed torestrict the expansion of the Genevaeconomy.

(Continued from page 6)

approval to the establishment of LeMonde A Venir with two foreign em­ployees.

Almost as soon as our staff of twohad been officially permitted to work,it became vitally necessary to engagesecretarial assistance. Once again weappealed to the local authorities. Theywere shown clearly to what extent mailfrom the broadcasts had increased dur­ing the year in which we had beenoperating-the figure was actually 119percent-as well as the upsurge intranslation work undertaken by Mr.Bourdin, and other relative informa­tion. Everything pointed to the need[or secretaries, and every indication wasgiven that our appeal would be success­ful.

hates sin so much He calls it manureand sewage! That's how bad our sinsare. Will we cease?

"Forasmuch then as Christ hassuffered for us in the flesh, arm your­selves likewise with the same mind: forhe that has suffered in the flesh HAS

Will You CEASE?

The New Building

As you begin to overcome, it willhelp you to strive for a new habit.Let's put it this way: "Be not overcomeof [the habit of] evil, but overcomeevil with [the habit of] good" (Rom.12:21).

Sin is the thing we usually do. Sinis hard to root out because it is custom­ary, usual, pleasant, easy, habitual.

Build a new habit. Make yourself dothe opposite of sin. MAKE yoarsel]practice the right way several times,even if "you do not need to," Repeatthe good habit several times in a ro'UJ­overlearn!

To pick a simple example as an illus­tration, take smiling. Suppose you are a.

"frowny" person, can't make yourselfsmile. Well then, once you find a goodreason for smiling-and you do actuallysmile once-then make yourself SMILEAGAIN. Smile several times in succes­sion. Instead of practicing your oldhabit of constantly frowning, search forreasons, excuses, opportunities to smile.Smile at yourself. Smile at others. Smilejust because it's a good feeling to dodifferently than your old sinful way.Smile, smile, SMILE! Pretty soon, smil­ing will be easy.

Work at, build the habit of right­eousness ! (Connect this with Hebrews5:14--note the word "exercised.")

The answer to sin is ... STOP!Sin grows constantly worse. Sin goes

from bad to worse, from worse towretched, and from wretched to abso­lute filth and abomination! The He­brew word ra'-translated sin manytimes in the Old Testament-meansexactly that: rot, filth, DUNG! God

for the Work, you probably are notovercoming.

CHANGE your motive for overcom­ing, pray for the desire to serve others.When you really achieve a desire toserve others, you will realize why youneed to overcome. You will have anunselfish goal for changing. Seeingother peoples' sufferings and needs willgive you a desire to change for theirsakes, to help them!

You WILL BEGIN TO OVERCOME!

Please address any questions YOU would like answered

in this column to the Editor.

The Bible Answers Your Questions

August, 1965

Is it permissible to borrowfrom second tithe? I've heardthat some scriptures say this isall right.

People are inclined to reason thatsince God requires the tithe to be usedonly at the Festivals, it's all right toborrow from it.

"After all," one may reason, "it'snot doing any good lying there and asI'm short this week, surely it will beall right to borrow some and then re­turn it later." This is just one of themany ways by which we persuade our­selves that God will not mind our us­ing the tithe to help us over a financialhump.

Some will even turn to Leviticus27: 31 and say, "Here is proof that Ican borrow as long as I add another20 percent." But is it?

When we are dealing with God'sgoods we need to be very aware of ourresponsibilities with them. We canknow what God says we can do with Hismoney only by going to the Bible.

Deuteronomy 14:22-27 dearly showsthat God intends us to use the titheto eat where He shall choose (verse24). There is nothing to show that wecan borrow from it for our own pur­poses. It must be used only for travel­ing to and from the Festivals and pay­ing for whatever food and accommoda­tions are needed during that time.

Turn to Leviticus 27: 30 and see whatGod says about tithes: "And all thetithe ... it is holy unto the Lord." Godsays it is holy. That means it has beenput aside, dedicated and set apart, fora sacred use. Brethren, we cannot takesomething that is holy and put it to ause for which it was NOT intended.

Just what does it mean, "If a manwill at all redeem ought of his tithes, heshall add thereto the fifth part thereof"(Lev. 27: 31) ? "Redeem" means to buy

The GOOD NEWS

back-not to borrow. Verse 30 showsthat he can buy back "the produce ofthe land"-not livestock (see verses32-33). A farmer would buy back theland produce which he had tithed whenhe desired the food for his own con­sumption. When he bought it back, hewould pay the current market priceplus 20 percent. This money wouldthen represent the tithe.

God says the tithe is His. We haveno right to borrow from it. He does notallow us to use it this way because Heknows human nature. If a man bor­rows from his second tithe, somethingis likely to come up that will preventhim from paying it back. He may evenreason that since the money is spent,the sin has been committed and he canmerely ask God for forgiveness and

everything will be all right.

H you find yourself with a financialproblem, borrowing from the secondtithe is not the solution. Have faith inGod's promise given in Malachi 3: 10and solve your problem God's way.

In Ecclesiastes 1:4 Solomonsaid that the earth abides for­ever. But in II Peter 3:10 weread that the earth will beburned up. I know that the Bibledoes not contradict itself, butplease explain this unclear point.

Wise King Solomon was inspired totell us: "One generation passeth away,and another generation cometh: but theearth abideth for ever" (Ecd. 1 :4).

This is a promise that will not fail.'Some have assumed that this scrip­

ture contradicts the Apostle Peter's state­ment in II Peter 3: 10 that the U earth... shall be burned up."

Is Peter really talking about thetotal destruction of the earth? The con­text of II Peter 3 tells us. "But theheavens and the earth, which are now,by the same word are kept in store,reserved unto fire against the day of

21

judgment and perdition of ungodlymen" (II Pet. 3:7).

Notice that this fire is the Judgmentof ungodly men. This is the Lake ofGehenna Fire which is the second death(Rev. 20:14). This is the unquench­able fire that will burn up the unre­pentant (Mat. 3:12).

Peter then goes on to describe theeffects of this unquenchable fire: "Inthe which the heavens shall pass awaywith a great noise, and the elementsshall melt with fervent heat, the earthalso and the works that are therein shallbe burned up" (II Pet. 3: 10). An un­quenchable fire is one that cannot beput out. It merely burns until it hasconsumed all combustible material.Then it dies out for lack of anythingelse to consume. This is as Peter hassaid-everything will be burned up.

This fire of Judgment is further ex­plained in the first three verses ofMalachi 4. "The day cometh, that shallburn as an oven; and all the proud,yea, and all that do wickedly, shall bestubble: and the day that cometh shallbum them up ... And ye shall treaddown the wicked; for THEY SHALL BE

ASHES UNDER the sales of YOUR FEET."

Notice that there will be ashes leftwhen this unquenchable fire dies out!This globe we call the EARTH WILL

STILL EXIST! The saints will still beon this earth.

This is exactly what Peter meant.He used example of Noah's Flood

as a type of the future cleansing ofthe earth by fire. "Whereby the worldthat then was, being overflowed withwater, perished" (II Pet. 3:6). Justas the earth continued to exist afterthe Flood so it will continue to existafter the coming worldwide GehennaFire.

Continuing with the context of II

Peter 3 we find in Verse 13 that: "We. . . look for new heavens and a newearth, wherein dwelleth righteousness."In Revelation the new heaven and new

earth are mentioned immediately afterthe account of the Lake of Fire. "And I

saw a new heaven and a new earth: for

the first heaven and the first earthwere passed away [by fire]; and there

(Continued on page 23)

22 The GOOD NEWS

Church of God News - WORLDWIDE(Continued from page 4)

August, 1965

Ambassador College Photos

Mr. Michael Bousfield, left, and Mr. Adrian Botha were recently ordained Local Elders in God'sChurch. A photograph of Mr. Louis Jubert, also ordained a Local Elder, will appear in a coming

issue.

first service and Mr. David Antionbrought the opening sermon. Mr. JamesYoung, a graduate of Ambassador Col­lege in England, is now assigned asthe Pastor of Columbus. Mr. Younghas been serving in this area since hisgraduation-and now becomes responsi­ble as Pastor of both Dayton andColumbus.

On July 24, we started another newchurch in Charleston, West Virginia.Mr. David Antion, Superintendent overthe district including Charleston, re­ports the following: "With tempera­ture and humidity both in the 90's andperspiration ebbing out of everyone, 83faithful members of God's Churchattended the first Sabbath service of theCharleston, West Virginia Church.Many had looked forward to havingthis church in their own vicinity solong that neither the sweltering heator the stifling humidity could keepthem away from this opening service."

Mr. Roy Holladay will be the regu­lar pastor at Charleston and will makeit part of his circuit from Wheeling,West Virigina. Mr. Holladay reportsthat many of the brethren in that part ofthe West Virginia hill country are notused to traveling, but attendance shouldincrease substantially after a little en­couragement from him!

Also on July 24, another new churchbegan at Fayetteville, North Carolina,with 167 in attendance! The openingsermon was brought by Mr. KennethSwisher, and Mr. Arthur Craig is slatedto be the regular pastor-hooking thisup with Greensboro, North Carolina,as his circuit.

Then, on July 31, a new churchstarted in Central California, at Modes­

to. There were 132 attending for thevery first Sabbath. Dr. Herman L. Hoehbrought the opening sermon, and Mr.Al Dennis will be the local pastor.

Mr. Dennis reports: "There weremany comments about how gratifyingit was to have a new church, so close,by those who had been driving from75 to 100 miles to attend church formany years. The church should grow asthere are several prospectives in thearea."

Then, on August 7, a new churchbegan at Midland, Michigan, with agrand total of 196 attending! Most ofthis group formerly met over in Sagi­naw in the Bible study there, but abeautiful auditorium was located inMidland and other factors pointed to­ward having the church located in thiscity.

Mr. David Antion-District Superin-

tendent-was up to give the first ser­man, and Mr. Dennis Pyle gave thesermonette. Mr. Arthur Mokarow, whoorganized the church, acted as songleader and "master of ceremonies," andwill be the local pastor. They report avery enthusiastic opening service andMidland should certainly be a largeand growing addition to the Churchesof God.

Other Ministerial Changes

Recent news is that Mr. GeraldWaterhouse--one of God's Evangelistsand top man in the foreign work underMr. Garner Ted Armstrong-is beingbrought back to Pasadena to assist Mr.Armstrong in directing the worldwideactivities in the foreign work fromHeadquarters. This should be a won­derful change for Mr. Waterhouse, ashe has spent long years in the fieldorganizing and building up the LondonChurch and office and later being thepioneer in establishing and conductingGod's offices and Churches in Aus­tralia, the Philippines and South Africa

We are certainly looking forward tohaving Mr. Waterhouse with us. Inaddition to assisting Mr. Ted Arm­

strong in the foreign work, he will bea tremendous addition to the facultyand staff here at Pasadena helping outby bringing special lectures in Bible,

Advanced Public Speaking classes,forums and assemblies-plus, of course,preaching in many of the area churches.

Another man returning to Headquar­ters is Mr. David Roenspies-recentlyassisting Mr. Hal Baird 111 theSt. Louis-Columbia area. Mr. Roen­spies has been out of college for thepast fourteen months getting fieldexperience in God's ministry as anassistant. Now, he is coming back tocomplete his senior year of college andis being replaced in the St. Louis areaby Mr. Michael Heiss-graduate ofAmbassador College and a zealous as­sistant in the Los Angeles area VisitingTeam.

Mr. Ron Reedy-the new pastor-

August, 1965

Mr. Gerald Waterhouse, Evangelist.

designate at Omaha and Des Moines­is getting an assistant in the person ofMr. Allen Bullock. Mr. Bullock gradu­ated from Ambassador in Pasadena thisJune, and has been a fine help in thePasadena area Visiting Team.

Another very recent ministerialchange has affected very greatly thelives of Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Docken.As you read in last month's GOODNEWS, Mr. Docken was recently or­dained as a Local Elder-slated to servein the Los Angeles area. Now, Mr.Docken has already left for the Philip­pine Islands to replace Mr. Guy Amesas Director over the work there andpastor over a church to be raised up inManila!

Mr. Docken is certainly well pre­pared for this new responsibility as hewas Assistant Manager, under Mr.Hugh Mauck, of the entire Headquar­ters' Mailing Office here at Pasadena.Now, he himself becomes top manover the Philippine office-now send­ing out more PLAIN TRUTHS than anyother office on earth outside of Head­quarters!

But this is quite a geographicalchange for Mr. and Mrs. Docken, andtheir two children. So all of you breth­ren who know them should rememberthem continually in prayer in this im­portant new assignment-and remem­ber God's Work in the Philippines aswell.

The GOOD NEWS

Keep Your HEART inGod's Work!

Brethren, my family and I just re­turned from an extended visit to God'sCollege in Bricket Wood. This is thereason I have not been writing thiscolumn for the last two or threemonths, and the reason you may havenoticed some of my PLAIN TRUTHarticles datelined from Britain andEurope.

During our trip abroad, I was able tovisit not only the Bricket Wood Collegeand office, but also the overseas of­fices in Dusseldorf, Germany, and inGeneva, Switzerland. It is certainlyinspiring to go to nearly every cornerof this earth and realize that the samespirit of God-of literal obedience toHim and His way of life - prevailsamong God's people no matter whattheir geographical location. Being therehelped me realize how much more weought to earnestly PRAY for the ser­vants of God in these far-flung officesand churches around the world! For,completely cut oft from many of thebig church-area activities in which somany of you are privileged to takepart, they are doing God's Work dayafter day with tiery little fellowshipwith other converted people. Entirelytoo few of us write to them and en­courage them. News from Headquarters,and from the church areas in Britainand America-is eagerly awaited andhighly appreciated when it comes!

And we need to remember all THREEof God's Colleges more in continuingprayer! God's College at Big Sandy isstill "pioneering" as it begins its sec­and year. And the College at BricketWood still has, to some extent, thefeeling of being "way off" from themajor Work of God at Headquarters andfrom the news of the huge churchareas in the United States and Canada.

But the College in Bricket Wood hascertainly grown in every way, as I wasthere--at its inception-for the entirefirst term nearly five years ago. Thestudent attitude and "esprit de corps"is certainly excellent. The attitude ofservice and "looking to Headquarters" iseven more prevalent there-in someways-than it is in other parts of God'sWork. Very seldom do the students re-

23

turn thanks at meals or AmbassauurClubs-or lead in prayer in c1asses­without praying personally for Mr.Armstrong and Mr. Garner Ted Arm­strong in directing God's Work, world­wide.

This was quite an inspiration andexample to behold, and helped merealize that the time Mr. and Mrs.Armstrong have spent in England hashelped instill in the students theresome of the "early Ambassador" atti­tude which the College here in Pasa­dena used to have so much of in itsearly years. And, as you have probablyall heard, the campus of God's Collegeat Bricket Wood is simply gorgeousas long as the sun is shining!

Mr. Armstrong has often said thatone of the prime indicators of aperson's spiritual growth is the extentto which his whole heart and beingis in the very WORK OF GOD. Inyour thoughts and prayers, therefore,be sure you are REMEMBERING God'sthree Colleges, His offices around theworld and His Churches everywhere.'

Realize that you are part of a literalcrusade to prepare for the end of thisage and the second coming of JesusChrist! Be vitally interested in thenews of God's expanding Work aroundthis earth. Be earnestly praying for theneeds-thanking God for the blessings-and really keeping your HEART 1Il

the Work of the Living Christ!

Bible Questions(Continued from page 21)

was no more sea. And I John saw theholy city, new Jerusalem, coming downfrom God out of heaven . . . thetabernacle of God is with men, andhe will dwell with them [on theearth]" (Rev, 21:1-3).

Thus we see that the EARTH WILLSTILL EXIST FOREVER. The simple ex­planation of II Peter 3: 10 is that thesurface of the earth and everything onit, including the incorrigibly wicked,will be destroyed by fire. God willthen remake the surface of the earth(with no sea and no sun) for a habi­

tation for Himself and the rest of theGod Kingdom (Rev. 21, 22).

You need to understand these prophe-

• • •Readers Say(Continued from page 16)

last 6-week period. I read in an m­spirational book what wonderfulchanges could be brought about inone's life by tithing and thought Iwould do it. I got a new car, com­pletely paid for, as a gift; my son madethe All-State Junior Boys' Basketballteam; I received a $100 per month raisein pay at the business school where Iteach; without asking for it, my ency­clopedia sales seem to come out of theblue; and I have been able to breaka bad habit (or maybe 'sin' would bea better word). I know none of thisis my doing. I've also tried muchharder. I fully expect to win an all­expense-paid tour of Europe for meand my son any day now. I'm begin­ning to think 10 percent isn't enough!"

B.V. W., Arkansas

August, 1965

How many times should onepray concerning his problems?

Some have read that Paul prayedthree times for a certain problem (IICor. 12:8) and believe that three timesis the answer!

Others have read in Matthew 7:7

where Christ said, "Ask, and it shall begiven you." So they asked once!

Still others turn to Matthew 9: 29and read, "According to your faith beit unto you," and don't pray at all!

Christ's parable in Luke 18 givesthe answer. The widow in this parablepersevered with her cause. She knewthat her request was lawful-accordingto God's will. She practiced determina­tion, patience and exercised her faith.'

It is important for us to rememberthat when God does not answer ourprayers immediately, there is a purposebeing worked out. We have to learnfrom our problems.

We have to learn that "men oughtALWAYS to pray, and not to faint." Socontinue praying about any problemuntil God answers.'

their faith in God. This is another ex­ample for us today (I Cor. 10:11).

God wants us to look to Him in un­wavering faith.

YES! God could have driven the in­habitants out of the valley! He evenpromised to do that very thing in alater instance.

"Thus saith the Lord, Because theSyrians have said, The Lord is God ofthe hills, but he is not God of thevalleys, therefore will I deliver all thisgreat multitude into thine hand, andye shall know that I am the Lord" (IKings 20:28).

But, because of Israel's disobedience,God said He would not drive out theirenemies. "Wherefore I also said, I willnot drive them out from before you;but they shall be as thorns in yoursides, and their gods shall be a snareunto you . . . I also will not henceforthdrive out any from before them of thenations which Joshua left when hedied" (Judg. 2:3, 21).

God was completely capable of per­forming this feat. But this is the reasonGod wouldn't drive them out for Israel.In the verse it appears as though Godwere not able to drive out the inhabi­tants! However, a simple understandingof proper English usage reveals themeaning of this verse. The antecedentto the pronoun "he" in Verse 19 ofChapter 1 is not "the Lord," butTudah. We have already proved whyTudah was unable to drive out these in­habitants. God had simply ceased tobe with them!

As we have seen, God could haveeasily delivered the inhabitants of thevalley into Israel's hand. But, ISRAELLACKED FAITH!! They began to lookat the enemy and their superior chariots.They ceased trusting and relying intheir God.

They allowed their fears to blot out

In Judges 1:19, we read, "Andthe Lord was with Judah; and hedrave out the inhabitants of themountain; but could not driveout the inhabitants of the valley,because they had chariots ofiron." Why was God unable todrive out the inhabitants of thevalley since all things are pos­sible with Him? (Mat. 19:26).

The GOOD NEWS

cies of your Bible and then REPENT sothat you will live over into the newheaven and new earth.

Ambassador

Colleges

an annualpictorialrecord

of the

anti so iour supplyof 1965

ENVOYS...

HURRY"

TIMIIS

RUNIINGOUT'

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