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10
PASTOR GENERAL'S REPORT, DECEMBER
30,
1986
Question
and
Answer
Be
Why are
so
many people in God's Church becoming ill, and some dying
prematurely?
A, This question is being asked more frequently as we announce requests
for prayer in the 'Pastor General's Report" and "The Worldwide News."
Especially at this time of year, a few months after the Feast, Satan
attempts to discourage God's people.
The noticeable difference is that we are requesting prayers for those
people much more than was done in the past.
As
the Church is drawing
closer together as a family we see clearly that when one member suffers
we all suffer. In times past we did not call for the prayers of the
entire Church for the extremely sick ones as frequently as we do now. Of
course, now that we do, it has focused an awareness on the number of
people who are ill.
We have reviewed the death-rate statistics in the Church for the last
10
years.
In
1985 there were 58,293 baptized members in the United States and
493
died
in the faith.
For
1986 there are 60,831
U.S.
baptized members and
473
have died in the faith. This is a drop in the death rate from
.84
percent to .78 percent. It is interesting to note that the national
U.S.
death rate is at .86 percent. In other words, the fact is we have no
more people dying now than before. In fact, less died this year than
last year, but our focus on praying for the afflicted has tended to cloud
the view for
many
people.
The rate has remained fairly constant over the last
10
years.
Another real problem is that too many people have mistakenly equated
health with spirituality. Some erroneously feel your state of health is
an
indication of your spiritual maturity. This is utter nonsense. This
concept is a tool that Satan uses to discourage.
Some of the Old Testament patriarchs, the apostle Paul and Mr. Armstrong
all suffered with physical maladies. This did not diminish their
spiritual level.
There can be little doubt that some are sick due to the times in which we
live. The air, water and food may be polluted. We suffer from these
conditions just as ancient
Israel
suffered from the first three plagues
on Egypt. God says He visits iniquity of the fathers upon the children
to the third and fourth generation. Doctors even say
85
percent of
sickness involves hereditary factors.
It
is
also true some are sick for spiritual reasons. In
I
Corinthians
11r27-32, Paul does indict all who do not acknowledge the continual need
for repentance and discernment of Christ's sacrifice in one's life. This
is a problem at the individual level. Collectively, as the Church, we
have grown in grace and knowledge, and properly emphasize the need for
personal examination annually.
Literature
Revisions
As
we have mentioned in past "Pastor General's
Reports," when it becomes necessary to reprint a piece
of
our literature,
it
is
standard procedure to reedit it as instructed by Mr. Armstrong
years ago.' This ensures
a
regular review and updating.