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God has called to be my real HELPERS in His work make yourselves,
instead, my biggest discouragement.
This is being caused by TWO current experiences.
1) On June 19---just a month ago---our office in
Pasadena sent you in the western third of the United State a long
letter about the Feast of Tabernacles being held---for brethren of
this western part of the country---at a new place JESUS CHRIST has
designated for us---a magnificent, exciting, breath-takingly
beautiful place---Squaw Valley.
YET IT IS NOW REPORTED TO ME THAT MANY OF YOU SEEM TO BE
COMPLAINING, AND PLANNING TO REBEL AGAINST YOUR LORD JESUS CHRIST
AND GO TO GLADEWATER, TEXAS, IN SPITE OF US!
Brethren some of you---and apparently MANY of you---need
to go to a private place of prayer, and beg the Christ who died for
you and granted you the gift of His Holy Spirit to HAVE MERCY ON
YOU and FORGIVE YOU! Some of you are showing a wrong rebellious
uncooperative and selfish spirit. Some of you are putting the
visiting with unconverted relatives ahead of obedience to CHRIST,
and cooperation with His CHURCH!
Now let me make one or two points PLAIN to you. First,
I do not believe anyone in the Church could have been more
reluctant to have the great Festival of Tabernacles in TWO places
in the United States than I. IT DEFINITELY, EMPHATICALLY, WAS NOT
MY IDEA OR WISH! Even after many other ministers saw the need of
it, I held out against it---until finally shown beyond any doubt
that THIS IS CHRIST'S DOING! Then I had to submit, even as YOU
must!
But, to briefly repeat the FACTS---membership in God's
Church, and attendance at this Festival is increasing at the rate
of 30% every year. Our attendance DOUBLES at the rate of every 2
years and 7 months---multiplied 8 times every 8 years. Figure just
roughly and quickly---we had over 7,000 in attendance last October
---in 1960. This rate of increase that has been going on for over
27 years means that in 1968 we would have 56,000 in attendance. By
1971 it would be around 120,000. We had to face the FACT that the
27-year record shows we would have to provide for 100,000 in ten
years! That is a whole CITY!
On grounds owned by one of our deacons, adjoining our
Church grounds near Gladewater, is a great natural bowl, about 900
feet wide. We found that the Behlen Manufacturing Company, who
built our present large Tabernacle, could span this natural bowl
with a roof---without pillar or post---and thus build for us a
gigantic auditorium---the largest ever built by mankind---seating
over 100,000 people.
This loomed as a STUPENDOUS project. The manufacturer,
his engineers and our architect all visited the spot with me.
Preliminary architectural drawings were made. We found we could
build this gigantic auditorium in two stages. The quoted price for
the first stage was ONE MILLION DOLLARS. This did not include the