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PASTOR'S REPORT, May 7, 1979
Page 6
will bless all of you and make up for any inconveniences you may suffer
as a result of transfers if you maintain a right attitude and keep God
and his Work first in your lives. In the ministry we are all servants
and must be willing to go where we are needed, when we are needed.
Pentecost is coming up on Sunday, June 3, as all of you know. We
will be sending some men out from Pasadena and will be notifying
you when we consider the various requests coming in for speakers.
I would like to close by briefly explaining how one minister who
recently had to be put out of the Church was able to deceive a large
part of his congregation into following him. I have given this a lot
of thought and would like to relate to you the following points:
He began emphasizing certain Bible doctrines and teachings with the
implication that the Worldwide Church of God is not following the Bible.
He began saying that Christians should follow no man and that no man
has any spiritual authority over us--only Christ is over us, implying
that Mr. Herbert Armstrong has no authority over us. He alleges that
Mr. Herbert Armstrong is departing from God's way and becoming Laodicean,
and imp"lrted his feelings to the brethren.
He used the legal problems we are having in a totally negative way
--the charges against us, the lawsuits, the sit-ins, etc. to say that we
are hiding something and that is why we are (supposedly) not being
subject to the civil authorities according to Romans 13.
He has been in regular contact via phone with Garner Ted Armstrong
for many months and also contacted the Church of God Seventh Day in
Denver. This minister believes God is using them to do a great work
also and convinced many of the brethren of this.
He is saying Mr. Herbert Armstrong learned most of the basic
truth that he knows from the Church of God Seventh Day and not directly
from God and the Bible as he claimed.
And finally, he convinced most of the brethren under his responsi
bility that no one can ever put them out of God's Church--that they are
only leaving one era of the true church to join with another. He
convinced most of the brethren that the Worldwide Church of God is be
coming Laodicean and that they would be better off associating with the
Church of God Seventh Day and/or Garner Ted Armstrong.
I gave a sermon recently at one of the Pasadena churches on how
this happened and explained how this minister was able to accomplish
this over a period of many months. He was very subtle but some of the
loyal members began to detect his disloyalty and reported it to us here
at Pasadena. This minister was actually accepting a paycheck signed
by Herbert W. Armstrong but was, in essence, working undercover for
Garner Ted Armstrong. I know he would deny this, but it is the truth.
I will be writing up answers to the above points for a later issue
of the Pastor's Report. In the meantime give them some thought. These
are issues you need to be aware of and be prepared to answer.