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CO-WORKERS who began to join with me in God's work. SMALL AS THIS
WORK BEGAN, its very first expansion--going on the air--was made
possible by the help of others joining me in the effort. It was
THEIR PART which made possible the broadcast.
At first a few of the ministers of the Sardis era of the
Church with whom I had co-operated worked with me. But none of
them ever was really of THIS "PHILADELPHIA" CHURCH, or the great
work God is doing through us. So after a few years I was the only
minister in this work--in this CHURCH OF GOD. God was raising up
a NEW ERA OF HIS CHURCH, for a SPECIAL MISSION (Mat. 24:14). God
needed OTHER MINISTERS.
God knew He was going to need many trained and dedicated
men--office managers, department managers--people trained for
important positions in London, in Sydney and Melbourne, Australia,
in Johannesburg, South Africa, in Vancouver, B.C., Canada, in
Gladewater, Texas, and pastors for many Churches to be raised up.
I didn't foresee all this, but God did, and used me as His
instrument in founding His first college, here at Pasadena,
California. The college grew. The work grew. The CHURCH grew.
Other churches were raised up, and, with recent passing years,
more and more every year. TODAY THIS HAS BECOME A GREAT WORLD-WIDE
WORK.
Now we have two colleges, and, in one or two years there
probably will be three.
GOD'S WORK CANNOT STOP GROWING! For 27 1/2 years it has
continued to grow 30% a year. Now RIGHT HERE is our TOUGHEST
PROBLEM!
Do you realize that most churches don't grow at all--or
they grow at a very slow rate, compared to our 30% a year? Do you
realize that most business corporations grow very slowly--or not at
all? DO YOU KNOW WHY?
One reason is that when a business man or a corporation
starts an expansion program, they soon learn that expansion demands
the advance investment of MONEY, and trying to finance this
expansion often causes a firm to go bankrupt. Commercial business
corporations finance GROWTH and expansion programs by borrowings.
But both the Church and the two colleges are NON-PROFIT
corporations. And neither banks, nor loan companies, nor insurance
companies, nor private investors, will loan money to non-profit
corporations. Do you know why? They are afraid that IF they had
to foreclose on the mortgage, or whatever is given as security, on
a church, a college, or a hospital, there would be a great howl of
public protest. The bank or association loaning the money would
suffer great loss of public prestige and good will.
SO WE CANNOT FINANCE NECESSARY EXPANSION BY NEGOTIATING
LARGE LOANS. And, with an operation that MUST OPERATE ON MONEY, we
cannot MEET A 30% INCREASE IN OPERATIONAL EXPENSE EVERY YEAR out of
a 30% increase of income, and at the same time accumulate large
special funds for the purchase of additional properties and the
construction of additional buildings.