Basic HTML Version
PASTOR GENERAL'S REPORT, May 23, 1980
Page 5
But, once married, CHRIST WILL NEVER MARRY ANOTHER CHURCH. He will
cleanse us on confession and repentance PRIOR to the divine marriage, but
He will NEVER divorce or put us away after that marriage.
Marriage is a spiritual as well as a physical union. That is why
Paul, in I Corinthians 7, allows a believer in the Church to divorce an
irate nonbeliever who opposes our belief in Christ to the point of hostile
confrontation and absence of peace, and marry within the Church. In the
marriage to Christ there will be none in the Bride causing hostile con
frontation against the TRUTH. That marriage will be PEACE, HARMONY, LOVE.
We shall not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. That is why
Paul makes the allowance "to the rest" in I Corinthians 7 during this
physical life in God's Church.
The Church must be HOLY, as Christ's Bride shall be in the resurrec
tion. Some who are not holy and in PEACE do creep into the HUMAN Church,
now. And the Bible makes provision in various cases for putting such out
of the Church and AVOIDING them. In the Kingdom of God there will be no
hostile dissenters. We must clean them out of the Spirit-begotten HUMAN
Church today.
FROM MINISTERIAL SERVICES
Report on Trip to Africa and Mediterranean
Peter Nathan (business manager for East, Central and West Africa) left
London on March 23rd bound for Ghana, taking with him a film of a sermon
given by Mr. Herbert Armstrong at the 1979 Feast in Tucson, Arizona. The
primary reason for the trip was to bring much of the latest news of de
velopments in the Work to the churches in the area.
One problem which faces the ministers in Africa is a lack of effective
communications which we in the Western world take for granted. In many
areas of Africa phone calls can take up to three days to arrange, and the
delivery of parcels from overseas (eg. computer listings and labels) can
often take between three and seven months. Mr. Nathan's just being able
to talk personally with Mr. Harold Jackson and Mr. Melvin Rhodes was an
important accomplishment.
One very important side benefit was that Mr. Nathan was able to take with
him and distribute 400 lbs. of good secondhand clothing donated by the
British churches. A man's shirt in Ghana can cost an entire week's wages,
and a lady's dress up to a month's salary! Not having to buy clothes at
these inflated prices enables the brethren there to spend their money on
more critical items such as food.
(This should meet local needs for a
while but is an area we have to be careful in, lest the Church start to
draw attention from others as being a good organization to be a part of-
especially if you can get plenty of good clothes. Ministers have to be
careful in handling assistance coming in to ensure this doesn't happen.)