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letter I addressed to my son, Garner Ted Armstrong, on May l9th. Let
me say here that I did not realize the extent of his disagreement with
THE WAY Christ started God's Work through me, until somewhat recently.
There was not, and is not, any "power struggle" for control of God's
Church and His Work. JESUS CHRIST IS IN CHARGE! At all times I have
done all in my power to protect my son's good name and integrity. But
I feel now that to withhold from you the FULL FACTS, as stated in this
letter I am now making an open letter, would do more harm to his good
name than to state THE FACTS as they exist.
My son has stated several times that he would wish to be relieved
from the arduous duties of administration, and to devote his full time
to the more creative work of broadcasting and writing.
Also, an article will soon appear in the next issue of the
GOOD NEWS (formerly the Worldwide News) about the BIBLE FORM OF
ORGANIZATION OF GOD'S WORK.
Below is reproduced in its entirety my letter to my son, whom I
love so very deeply:
Tucson, May 19, 1978
"Dear Ted:
I have said many times I love you above every one on earth. But
true love is not blind. Right now my heart 'bleeds for you' to use a
modern expression. I hope and pray that what I say here will help and
bear fruit.
Before you were born, God called me to Him and His TRUTH. Your
birth was one of the fruits of that. Otherwise, had not God opened the
eyes of your mother and me to His truth about healing, you could not have
been born.
I didn't want to be God's minister. It was the last thing I would
have wanted. But God opened my mind to UNDERSTANDING--one thing I had
always desired. About the time of my conversion or very shortly
thereafter, I realized I was lacking, however, in WISDOM. I read in
James
how those who lacked wisdom could ask God, believing, and it would be
given. I confessed my human lack of it, and asked God, BELIEVING, and
also on conversion I gave my SELF to Jesus Christ.
Christ took my life, and USED IT. He also gave me not only
UNDERSTANDING of His Word, but committed to me THE GREAT COMMISSION--and
THE WISDOM OF HOW to go about it.
The Work He started through me started from literally NOTHING. I
had to hitchhike to get to a place to preach. The broadcast was started
literally on FAITH. There was diabolical opposition and persecution.
But it was CHRIST doing the Work, using me as His instrument. The
Work grew at the steady rate of approximately 30% a year for 35
years. I had never heard of any organization, institution or business
that matched that record. Not only did it GROW--it was done in a
MANNER unlike anything in this world--it was CHRIST doing it HIS WAY--
and not the way men would do it.