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New Yo rk, as well as the heads of
the largest industrial corporations.
Goodyear Tire and Rubber, J .I.
Case, John Deere
&
Co. and Avery
Co. were among my clients. 1 threw
myself into constant contact with
the top and most successful men- as
part of my own learning and prepa–
ration for future success.
1
was mak–
ing, on the equivalent of today's
do llar value, an income of about
$ 150,000 per year, with very minor
expenses.
Unusual Dream
l
was ma rried in 1917 at age 25. In a
few weeks' time, my wife had a most
unusual dream in which it was re–
vealed to her by an angel that God
had an impo rtant commission for
me and that Christ was coming
soon .
1
didn't take it serio usly ,
though
1
suggested she tell it to the
pastor of the church on the oearest
corner to our fiat, to see if he could
make anything of it.
lt
soon passed
from mind.
1
was not a bit religious
at that time.
After this, the flash depression of
1920 literally swept my business
away.
In 1924 we drove a Model T Ford
from Des Moines to the Pacific
Northwest. Packed into that little
car with all our luggage, tent and
sleeping equipment were my wife
and
1
and our two daughters, my
wífe's brother Walter Dillon, and
her unmarríed sister Bertha. There
were no paved highways in 1924.
Just dirt, mud and grave! roads. No
motels- but camps anda few empty
barnlike píoneer "motels." They
were called "cabins." The trip took
18 days.
Immediately,
I
sold my services as
a merchandising specialist to the
Vancouver (Washj ngton)
Colum–
bian
for six months at one-third of
the entire payroll.
Unshakable Challenge
Following this
I
started an advertis–
iog service fo r laundries- semi–
syndicated.
It
was tremendously
successful from the sta rt. We were
DOUBLING the volume of business of
our clients within six months to a
year. Just as it promised to go na–
tiona l into a multimillion-dollar en-
The
PLAIN TRUTH May 1977
terprise, an advertising agency in
Indianapolis ta lked the Laundry
Owners' National Association into a
large advertising campaign, cooper–
ated in by ALL laundries throughout
the nation, that completely ab–
sorbed the allowable advertising ex–
penditure of every laundry. They
were so well organized that the Na–
tional Association was able to bind
every laundry to it.
Again, through no fault of mine,
my business was swept right out
from under me- and th ere was
nothing
1
could do about it.
It was precisely a t this time that
my wife suddenly took up " religious
fanaticism. " She began keeping the
seventh-day Sabbath . This seemed
the most terrible thing that
~ad
ever
happened in my life.
I
was proud.
Immediately the thought ca rn e,
"What would my former business
associates and contacts think when
they heard my wife had gone into
religious fanaticism?"
1
tried to talk
her out of it. She said she got it out
of the Bible.
" But the Bible says, 'Thou shalt
keep SUNDAY,'"
1
insisted.
"Wherever does it say tha t?" she
asked.
"Well,
1
don't know where, but
I
know that's what it says because a ll
these churches observe SuNDAY,
and they get thei r religion ou t of the
Bible, don't they?
1
don ' t under–
stand the Bible myself, but
I
know
a ll these churches can't be wrong."
But argument was no use.
"Prove to me, by the Bible, that
Sunday is the right day, and
I'LI
go
back to it," was her firm and un–
shakable CHALLENGE. Like it or not,
1
was in for a real intensive Bible
study- the deepest, most thorough
research of
m
y life.
About the same time a young sis–
ter-in-law, just out of her freshman
year of college, challenged me on
evolution. She had been jnoculated
with the theory in college.
" Herbert Armstrong, you are sim–
ply IGNORANT," she accused. Busi–
ness reverses had cut deeply into
my pride, confidence and ego, but
her contemptuous accusa tion cut
more deeply into what was left
of it.
l want to intervene at this point to
reco rd that these business reverses–
having big-income businesses sud–
denly litera lly swept righ t out from
under my feet by circumstances en–
tire!y beyo nd my co ntrol and
through no fault of mine- had
brought me to a very low leve! in
morale.
I
was like King Midas in
r everse. Everyth ing he touched
turned to gold, you remember, but
everything
1
started was snatched
out from under me as if by unseen
magic.
Jt
was FRUSTRATINO!
Little did
I
realize that God was
now dealing with me.
The TIME HAO COME! lt was au–
tumn 1927. We had reached the be–
ginning of the LAST GENERATION of
this present wo rld- the beginning of
the generation during which the
eterna! Creator God is going to su–
pernaturally INTERVENE in th is
world, take over a ll earth's govern-·
men ts, and reestablish the rule of
the Kingdom of God on earth to
rule all nations.
Gospel of the Klngdom
J esus Christ had come 1900 years
before and ANNOUNCED the future
coming of His .KINGDOM. That an–
nouncement was His gospel.
Jesus Christ did.not then come on
a "soul-saving crusade." He carne
with the message of the reestablish–
ment on earth of that GOVERNMENT
OF Goo. But even those who " be–
lieved on Him" did NOT believe
WHAT HE SAID- His MESSAGE (John
8:30-45). The re were only 120 be–
lievers after
3Y2
years of Christ's
preaching to countless THOUSANDS
(Acts l : 15). And believe it or not.
H is gospel message-which was the
ANNOUNCEMENT Of the coming
KINGOOM OF
ÜOD-was
SUPPRESSED
and not allowed to be preached in
public by A.D. 68. (Gal. 1:6-7;
Rom. 1: 18 (shou ld read "hold
back
the truth"]; Il Cor. 11:4).
Christ's
gospel
of the Kingdom of
God (the family of God ruliog the
world) was replaced by:
1)
The claim that the church
(Catholic) was the Kingdom, al–
ready here.
2)
The doctrine of the Trinity
which did away with the HOLY
SPIRIT as the Spirit of God that can
(Continued on page 39)
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