Herbert Armstrong's Tangled Web of Corrupt Leaders
Why You're Going To The Lake of Fire: July 19, 1961 Co-Worker Letter
Co-Worker/Member Letter - July 19, 1961
Yet, when our Lord and Master and leader Jesus Christ PUTS HIS CHURCH TO THE TEST, a very large portion of us seem to FAIL HIM. We, like carnal Israelites of old, do not want to OBEY His orders. We gripe and "murmur" and complain and criticize, and want to go contrary to HIS way, even as carnal ancient Israel. But, IF we are really IN God's own Church, WE HAVE RECEIVED THE GIFT OF HIS HOLY SPIRIT----we have had our carnality CHANGED---we have been graciously given, by God's mercy and loving grace, a NEW NATURE---A NEW ATTITUDE AND SPIRIT---one of willing and eager submission and cooperation, instead of the spirit of rebellion, independence, and criticism.
I am thoroughly discouraged, and I'm going to tell you WHY---and if some of you---yes, MANY of you---do not WAKE UP, and REPENT, I say to you on Christ's authority that He is about to spue you out of His mouth, and your end will be the lake of fire! I am not going to soft-pedal or mince words. God commands me, as His minister, to cry ALOUD and show you who profess to be HIS PEOPLE your sins, lest you fall under HIS TERRIBLE CONDEMNATION! I do not propose to minimize this, because MANY OF YOU PROFESSING BRETHREN ARE IN DANGER OF THE FINAL HELL FIRE JESUS SAID SO MUCH ABOUT!
I am heartsick and grieved at heart. Some of you whom God has called to be my real HELPERS in His work make yourselves,instead, my biggest discouragement.
This is being caused by TWO current experiences.
1) On June 19---just a month ago---our office in Pasadena sent you in the western third of the United State a long letter about the Feast of Tabernacles being held---for brethren of this western part of the country---at a new place JESUS CHRIST has designated for us---a magnificent, exciting, breath-takingly beautiful place---Squaw Valley.
YET IT IS NOW REPORTED TO ME THAT MANY OF YOU SEEM TO BE COMPLAINING, AND PLANNING TO REBEL AGAINST YOUR LORD JESUS CHRIST AND GO TO GLADEWATER, TEXAS, IN SPITE OF US!
Brethren some of you---and apparently MANY of you---need to go to a private place of prayer, and beg the Christ who died for you and granted you the gift of His Holy Spirit to HAVE MERCY ON YOU and FORGIVE YOU! Some of you are showing a wrong rebellious uncooperative and selfish spirit. Some of you are putting the visiting with unconverted relatives ahead of obedience to CHRIST, and cooperation with His CHURCH!
contributed by SHT, all direct quotes of Herbert Armstrong
10 comments:
Aww, you didn't post the whole letter; it gets even better (worse?) than the excerpt!
https://www.hwalibrary.com/cgi-bin/get/hwa.cgi?action=getcoworker&InfoID=1350558398&byYear=&page=25&return=coworkers
10:01
a) think in the rest of the letter hwa is more rational than ever.
b) the rest of the letter exactly shows how hwa's faith worked. If an opportunity arose and sufficient funds became available it was an open door from God. If somehow funds did not become available a project was postponed or canceled (like the 1964 conceived auditorium). There is 100 percent confirmation of this in all his letters.
In reality this means that members did have the power as a community to influence the course of the organism all along.
But the Loren Carpenter Pong Experiment was still far on the horizon. And all these new members (50% in 2 years) had not sufficiently networked to realize this yet.
"All watched over by machines of love and grace" from minute 8 onwards.
https://vimeo.com/groups/96331/videos/80799353
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9eVz4wBBgU
https://www.forbes.com/sites/patrickspenner/2011/10/21/what-pong-tells-us-about-global-marketing-really/#a1c4393546d9
And besides that. Anyone preferring Gladewater over Squaw Valley should go to the Lake of Fire. :-) To think that just a year later the elite of the elite island in Georgia opened for the democratic masses.
nck
As an observer I find the reaction of the tribes of Israel interesting when after a short period of deliverance they long for Egypt (gladewater) again.
My comment is triggered by this posting but moreso by the surfacing videos showing the Italian police having to fiercely argue the Italians at Genova at the collapsing bridge to prevent them from collecting their cars that are still on parts of the collapsed bridge.
People are a strange lot when it concerns their "perceived property", "perceived rights", or "rights obtained by habit" disregarding all other concerns.
nck
"b) the rest of the letter exactly shows how hwa's faith worked. If an opportunity arose and sufficient funds became available it was an open door from God. If somehow funds did not become available a project was postponed or canceled (like the 1964 conceived auditorium). There is 100 percent confirmation of this in all his letters."
What you have skillfully admitted from your assessment of HWA's letters is what happens between "If an opportunity arose" and "and sufficient funds become available".
This is where the sales pitch would come in. (This is URGENT, IMMEDIATE, CRISIS), and is of an earth-shaking level (Could stop this whole work of God), and the need MUST be met (by you) in any way possible (including selling your homes or property or giving your invested money you do not need - see co-worker letter 9/3/43).
If the need was STILL not met, HWA would get even more desperate. Then, he would call the members slackers, luke-warm, lazy, stagnant, not really converted, and other common guilt-inducing and demeaning names.
If the need was considered by him to be paramount importance (notice I said "considered by him"), THEN he would pull out the big guns and threaten "the lake of fire", often "by Christ's authority" for the lack of movement in whatever direction HWA demanded (whether the need was financial, or statistical, or ecclesiastical determination), to FORCE the change using fear religion and fear control.
What you call "Faith" was actually a well-coordinated psychological manipulation of people's psyche to achieve whatever goal he had, to the harm and detriment of the mental state of those "forced" to give whatever they had, under the fear that they would end up in the Lake of Fire if they did not comply.
Actually, this meets the definition of extortion.
"5311 extortion. Literally “twisting out”; obtaining money, etc., by violence, threats or unreasonable demands. Extortion condemned. Ps 62:10 See also Ecc 7:7; .."
(Bible Gateway)
We even sang against this very practice while it was going on in the hymn "God is My Rock, My Salvation".
Vain men are they, delighting in craft;
Their lips they bless with, but they curse inwardly;
Low men or high, both are less than a breath;
Trust and rely not on extortion and gain.
Rescue shall come from my God alone,
and I shall never be greatly removed.
What HWA was doing was spiritually immoral, at best, and spiritual (or genuine) extortion, at worse. He was building up his empire at the complete expense of those who were oppressed into giving resources, under the auspice of eternal extinction in the Lake of Fire. And, according to scripture, this practice was wickedness.
This is what was 100 percent confirmed in his letters.
-SHT
Customer Feedback, which is coveted and sought by business organizations, and is necessary for proper planning and creativity was/is ALWAYS viewed negatively by HWA and the COG.
How do you know that miss connie ?
Too bad HWA never learned to respect his followers. We all want respect. RIP Aretha
Jim-AZ
If this was happening then, how watered-down, wimpy and weak are COG members today!
Why, UCG doesn't even to designate "assigned Feast sites" anymore. It's freedom run wild! :-)
Thanks for the link, 1001! Among the various things covered in the letter are the makings of what would become the feast site transfer request form. Continuing a previous posting on the racism in R/WCG is one of the acceptable reasons to ask for a site transfer: 2. For the Negro brethren whom Mr. Jackson feels will be better able to have the right fellowship if they meet at Gladewater together.
Hard to believe Fatman was able to get away with this same Shtick for 50 years!
The downside of this cruel business-model was high turnover (requiring continual expensive marketing) and halted growth (resistant to saturation marketing) after spectacular 1972 prophecy failure
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