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Nov. 23, 1953
Dear Co-Workers in God's Work:
The work God has given us to do has reached ITS MOST
IMPORTANT HOUR! This is the TURNING POINT---the SUPREME CRISIS---
in this work's entire history, past and future!
From this moment God's work either falls backward and
fails, or plunges on in multiplied magnitude toward its God-
commissioned goal. This is a time of GRAVE DECISION on your part,
as well as mine.
So listen carefully---read and re-read every word---and
then PRAY as you never did before!
First of all, let me tell you YOUR PRAYERS HAVE BEEN
ANSWERED! Here's really important news!
We go back on XEG every night, at 8:30 Central time,
starting Tuesday night December 1st! Yes, back on SEVEN NIGHTS A
WEEK. The XEG management tells me this great super-power station
is now going out stronger, in greater power, and with firmer,
clearer reception, than ever before. And several reports from
listeners verify this.
And here's further good news! In the past you have not
been able to get good reception in the summer months. Radio waves
do not travel far in daylight---they reach out many times farther
after dark on super-power stations. The past two summers I have
taken the program off the air, partly because of this, and partly
because I have found it absolutely necessary to rest up so I could
go back on every night again in the fall. But now we have made NEW
PLANS for next summer. The program will stay on the air all
summer, being broadcast TWICE EVERY NIGHT---the first time at the
regular 8:30 P.M. period, and then the program will be repeated
again at a later time, around 11:P.M. Many people are still up at
11:P.M., and at that hour it will reach out all over the United
States.
Do you know what that means? THINK OF IT! With the
program going out every night seven nights in the week over these
giant super-power stations XEG, XELO, and XERB, and every day,
seven days a week over two Los Angeles stations, KGER and KBLA, and
over KPDQ in Portland, Oregon;---and with the Sunday program going
out over the great XERF, and XEDM beside WAIT, Chicago, KMAC, San
Antonio, KXL, Portland, and KVI, Seattle;---and then, in addition
to all this THE ABC NET-WORK, COAST-TO-COAST,---and TWO broadcasts
now going out over the world's most powerful station, RADIO
LUXEMBOURG, to ALL EUROPE, and THE BRITISH ISLES---with all this,
The World Tomorrow becomes probably THE MOST POWERFUL RADIO
BROADCAST ON EARTH TODAY!
That is as it should be---for GOD'S WORK IS THE GREATEST
WORK ON EARTH!
What WONDERFUL things our God is doing for us! What
MIGHTY and POWERFUL DOORS The Supreme Creator-RULER of the universe
is opening to His called and chosen servants for carrying HIS
MESSAGE to this dying world in these very last days!
But did not God also forewarn us, thru His prophet
Daniel, that in these very SAME last days when JESUS said this same
GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM which HE preached should go to ALL NATIONS,
---to ALL THE WORLD AS A WITNESS---that also "Many shall be
purified, and made white, and TRIED."
We are now in that time of TRIAL and TEST, which God
allows to make us, His people, purified and WHITE---spiritually
WHITE! We are now in that supreme TESTING TIME!
Even now, in the beginning of the second 19-year time-
cycle when God has OPENED THE DOOR to broadcast His Message to all
Europe---and to open a publishing office over there to PUBLISH His
Message by printed Word for all Britain and Europe---and the door
has opened on the great ABC Net-Work, Coast-to-Coast---even NOW, we
are entering a time of economic readjustment---a MILD DEPRESSION IS
ON US, and many, whose hearts are not fully aroused to the
importance and need of GOD'S WORK are going to either cut down the
amount they spend for God's Work, or stop sending in altogether!
MORE THAN THAT,---we are now once again into the
Christmas SHOPPING SEASON, when so many forget all about CHRIST and
HIS work, and CEASE giving gifts to HIM, in order to EXCHANGE GIFTS
among their relatives and friends! Every year at this time MANY
withhold their gifts from CHRIST, in order to TRADE gifts back and
forth with fellow-humans!
THINK! Consider carefully! People buy presents lavishly
at Christmas time, SUPPOSING they are following the example of the
wise men in giving gifts to Christ. YET WITHOUT REALIZING IT, THEY
ARE DOING JUST THE OPPOSITE! Notice this carefully:
Here is THE PLAIN TRUTH!
From the Bibliotheca Sacra, Vol. 12, pages 153-155, I
quote: "The interchange of presents between friends ... must have
been adopted by Christians from the PAGANS." The fact is, the
custom of exchanging gifts at Christmas time has not a single trace
of Christianity about it! Did you ever attend a birthday party,
where all the guests spent lavishly for BIRTHDAY PRESENTS, and then
traded all their gifts among themselves, GIVING NOTHING TO THE ONE
WHOSE BIRTHDAY THEY WERE HONORING? Wouldn't that be silly? Yet
that's what nearly everybody is doing! And Christmas does NOT
honor Christ's birthday, because JESUS WAS NOT BORN DECEMBER 25, OR
EVEN IN THAT TIME OF THE YEAR! Nowhere does the Bible tell us to
celebrate Christ's birthday. Only PAGANS celebrated birthdays, and
THE BIBLE CONDEMNS THE CHRISTMAS TREE WITH ITS PRESENTS ON IT---see
Jeremiah 10:1-4!
Now consider carefully what the Bible says about the wise
men giving gifts. It is in Mat. 2:1-11: "Now when Jesus was born
in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold there
came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, saying, 'Where is He that
is born King of the Jews?'" Notice, these wise men knew, and
exclaimed, that Jesus was BORN KING. "...and when they were come
into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and
fell down and worshipped Him: and when they had opened their
treasures, they presented unto HIM gifts."
Why did they present HIM with gifts? NOT BECAUSE IT WAS
HIS BIRTHDAY---for Jesus was already born before they started their
journey. It was now DAYS after His birthday! And they did not
EXCHANGE gifts among themselves!---no, they gave their treasures
and gifts TO CHRIST! But WHY?
Yes, WHY? Here's the answer, from the Clarke Commentary,
Vol. 5, page 46: "The people of the east never approach the
presence of kings or great personages, without a present in their
hands. The custom is often noticed in the Old Testament, and still
prevails in the east." There's the answer! The wise men were not
instituting some new custom for Christmas time---for Christmas was
never heard of until generations later. They were following an
ANCIENT CUSTOM of presenting gifts to a KING whenever---no matter
what day---they came into his presence. Just like the Queen of
Sheba brought gifts to King Solomon!
No, dear Co-Workers, the custom of trading gifts back and
forth is NOT CHRISTIAN---it has NO BIBLE AUTHORITY---it was never
done by the apostles or the TRUE Church of God in apostolic days
while it had the guidance of God's Spirit! Instead, IT IS A PAGAN
CUSTOM, which TAKES GIFTS AWAY FROM CHRIST AND HIS WORK!
Christmas has become a COMMERCIAL SEASON, stimulated by
every kind of ADVERTISING, to take money away form the WORK OF GOD,
and put profits into the pockets of store owners, salesmen and
manufacturers and jobbers and the commercial world. It is a custom
of modern "BABYLON," and God calls His people to COME OUT of
Babylon!
CO-WORKERS! In JESUS' NAME, and by HIS AUTHORITY, I now
come to you and appeal to you---DON'T LET THE PRECIOUS WORK OF GOD
LOSE OUT IN THIS CRISIS!
Finally, it is VITAL that you understand both The PLAIN
TRUTH and the NET-WORK situation. We simply didn't have enough
money to get the October number out on time---it was about three
weeks late. The November number is all printed, but we lack
sufficient funds to get it from the printers. We have had to
cancel the December number altogether, and IF you Co-Workers
respond, we hope to get the January number out on time---but there
will be NO DECEMBER NUMBER, much as we hate it.
You will find in the November issue a whole page devoted
to listing all the stations on the powerful ABC Net-Work. Then
turn a page and you will find a large TWO PAGE MAP of the United
States, showing where every station is on the map, and how far it
reaches out. Now here is the all-important fact: If you'll look
at a map in the atlas, showing density of population, you'll find
that the heaviest population of the United States is centered in
the North Atlantic states and the Middle-West states bordering the
Great Lakes. Perhaps nearly two-thirds of all the people in the
United States live in these regions. We have not reached into
these thickly populated areas very strongly before. XEG is very
STRONG in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi,
and fairly strong in Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, Southern
Illinois, and Southern Missouri and Kansas. XELO is fairly strong
in most of these states, and strongest in western Texas, Colorado,
and New Mexico. Of course both these stations reach on out farther
than this, but beyond these states only a small percentage of the
people listen. XERF gives us a SCATTERED coverage all over the
United States, but reaches only a VERY SMALL PERCENTAGE of people
in these thickest-populated parts of the country.
But THE ABC NET-WORK IS STRONGEST RIGHT IN THESE HEAVY-
POPULATION SECTIONS WHERE MOST OF THE PEOPLE LIVE---New York,
Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, North
and South Carolina, Georgia and Florida, Massachusetts,
Connecticut, Rhode Island, all New England states, Ohio, Michigan,
Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, Kansas,
North and South Dakota, Montana, and Missouri. Because we already
reach such a tremendous radio audience in Texas, Louisiana and
Mississippi on the super-power Mexican stations EVERY NIGHT, we did
not take any net-work stations in any of these states. We use only
one station in Arkansas, in Little Rock, one in Alabama, in
Birmingham, one in Tennessee in Memphis (a 10,000-watt station),
and one in Oklahoma is to start releasing the program in a week or
two, a 50,000-watt station in Tulsa. But we have TWO 50,000-watt
stations in New York state---one in New York City, WABC, and one in
Buffalo, at 8:P.M., when it covers all territory EAST of Buffalo.
We have a 50,000-watt station in Chicago, one in Waterloo, Iowa,
and later are to have one in Kansas City.
This great radio net-work REACHES THE HEAVIEST POPULATION
AREA WHICH WE HAVE NOT REACHED HERETOFORE! It took the adoption of
an entire NEW POLICY by the American Broadcasting Company in New
York to admit one more religious program to the net-work---and of
all those clamoring to get on, THEY CHOSE "THE WORLD TOMORROW."
Last Monday, in the office of the Vice President of the Net-Work in
Hollywood, he leaned forward, pointed a finger at me, and said
emphatically, "If you ever cancel out or go off the net-work, I'll
tell you definitely right now, you'll never get back on again."
I simply have to tell you the TRUTH, dear Co-Workers!
Whether we can stay on the net-work HANGS IN THE BALANCE FROM WEEK
TO WEEK. A week ago yesterday, it seemed we could not stay on
another week. I actually started to the telephone to CANCEL OUT
THE NET-WORK, but by a miracle God stopped me, and if ever God
spoke to my mind, He did then and showed me that HE opened this
door, and if we TRUST HIM in faith, He will supply the need. But
right now it hangs by the slenderest thread. Every week it looks
like we will not have money to go on the following week. We MUST
NOT CLOSE THIS MIGHTY DOOR, which is reaching MILLIONS of
additional people whom we were not reaching with Christ's Gospel
before! WE CAN, AND MUST, CARRY ON!
I have to tell you, now! God's work is in DESPERATE
DANGER! Yes, this supreme trial and test comes AT THE VERY HOUR OF
GREATEST OPPORTUNITY GOD EVER OPENED! Just when God has OPENED THE
DOOR of the greatest transcontinental radio net-work which will
accept religious broadcasting---just when God has opened the door
to ALL EUROPE---just when God has ANSWERED YOUR PRAYERS AND MINE,
and opened the door once again for EVERY NIGHT time on the greatest
station in North America, XEG,---just here we come to a season and
a condition when the whole work is IN GRAVE DANGER!
Now listen, CO-WORKERS! There are ENOUGH of us, to whom
I am addressing this letter, that if YOU---each and every one of
you---will OPEN YOUR HEARTS, as God has opened the doors for us,
and each stretch just a little farther to GIVE JUST A LITTLE MORE
TO CHRIST for HIS PRECIOUS WORK than ever before, we can hurdle
over this supreme trial and test, and the Work of God can go on to
overwhelming victory and glory, and when Jesus comes we may hear
Him say to us. "WELL DONE, thou good and faithful servants!"
Oh, friends and Co-Workers, of all the blessings,
rewards, accomplishments, acquisitions, or anything else my mind
can possibly think of that I might WANT more than anything else, it
is to hear the very voice of Jesus, Himself, say to me, when He
comes, "WELL DONE, GOOD AND FAITHFUL SERVANT!" I am willing to
give up EVERYTHING in this material world for THAT! Aren't YOU?
Five years ago this work faced, at this very season, the
greatest financial crisis from its beginning until this present
one. We had been off XEG that year, like this, from April on. It
looked like we were going to lose the college property, our office
building for the headquarters of this great work, and have to go
off the air. DO YOU REMEMBER,---I asked ALL you Co-Workers to send
in AT LEAST the widows' two mites---I asked for a great DOWNPOUR of
two-dollar, or even one-dollar offerings---and for all those who
were able, to send in one, two, or three thousand dollars each.
I shall NEVER forget how you Co-Workers let God soften
your hearts, and how nobly and generously you responded! I have
never stopped thanking GOD for it, and I never shall. By the
THOUSANDS, letters came in containing one or two dollars each---
yes, the DOWNPOUR of widows' mites CAME, and it counted up to
thousands of dollars! Without all those small amounts coming from
people who could not send more, we never could have saved this
work. On the other hand, there were not even then enough of them,
and a small number of people who were more able sent in one
thousand, and up to three thousand dollars each. And the hundreds
of others who sent in $10, $50, $100, and $500, and other amounts
in between, PUT US OVER---IT WAS A BLESSED M I R A C L E ---and
the work of God was saved!
Co-Workers, and brethren, I have to call on God once
again for a MIRACLE! I have to appeal to you---every one of you---
to PRAY WITH ME, and to PUT YOUR HEART INTO YOUR PRAYERS, and to
pray earnestly and persistently, and continually without letting
up, that God will lay it on the hearts of people so overwhelmingly
at this desperate hour that EVERYONE will respond, each according
as he is able---those who have but little, and are unable to send
more, to each send in the widow's mites until there is once again
a veritable DOWNPOUR of them---and those who have more ability, to
PUT CHRIST AND HIS WORK FIRST, and send in the largest amount
possible, whether $20, $100, or several thousand dollars.
This is the time when we need to give our largest gifts
to CHRIST that His glorious work may go on! THANK YOU, dear
brethren and Co-Workers for PRAYING with me---if we AGREE, and pray
unitedly, God will hear and move on Co-Workers as never before, and
this crisis will be met, as before! Yes, THANK YOU, and GOD BLESS
YOU IN EVERY WAY!
In Jesus' name,
Herbert W. Armstrong
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