Basic HTML Version
father.
I was not quite four years old when my father originated
The WORLD TOMORROW program -- back in the first week of 1934.
For over 22 years, thousands of listeners had been hearing
HIS voice -- listening to his personality -- to the message of
Christ through HIS efforts. Our familiar address, known to
millions, had always been in HIS name. I was trying to make plain
to all those who had been listening over the years that I was only
CONTINUING in the same work -- preaching the SAME truths, PART of
the same program they had heard for years.
Not that I just "automatically" followed along. I suppose
many have assumed my father may have just "appointed" me to do the
program when mature enough, and when his responsibilities grew too
heavy.
Not so. This is CHRIST'S doing -- NOT THE WORK OF MEN!
All who know me, personally, know I was very HOSTILE to the work of
Christ through my young life, and into early manhood. Not that I
recognized it as the work of Christ. To me -- it was just "Dad's
religion."
I was quite ashamed of it. I wanted to be LIKE THE WORLD.
I wanted to be PART of the world -- not knowing that my natural
carnal mind just AUTOMATICALLY resented God's LAWS and His TRUTH!
Human nature has never changed. There is a time when EVERY young
teen-age son begins to "know more than his father." Thankfully,
most of them experience profound shock somewhere in their
mid-twenties to find out how much "Dad has learned" since the teens
gave way to the twenties! So, rather than "automatically"
following along in my father's calling -- my carnal mind did just
the OPPOSITE! It AUTOMATICALLY (Romans 8:7) rebelled!
I continually ran from hearing the truth. My mind was
closed. I had never read, believe it or not, ONE of the booklets
my father had written. Oh, I suppose I had skimmed lightly through
one or two of the many -- but had never really READ any of them.
I never read The PLAIN TRUTH magazine. That was just something
"DAD was doing." Finally, I ran away to join the navy. Discharged
after four years, including the automatic extension of one year
under President Truman's administration which meant several cruises
offshore Korea during the Korean war, I was offered a temporary job
in the college mailing office. The Office Manager at the time, Mr.
V.R. Mattson, found his responsibilities were growing -- that he
couldn't supervise the general business office and the mailing at
the same time. He knew I had (much to my distaste, since I was
never a yeoman) received some office managerial experience in the
navy.
I was still smoking, at the time. One of the office rules
was an emphatic "NO SMOKING" by any employees. So I merely "went
underground," or so I thought! I tried (and any non-smoker will
laugh at this) to "keep it a secret" and smoke on the sly! So
utterly ignorant was I at the hypersensitive noses of nonsmokers
that I would literally walk around the block, have a cigarette, and