Herbert W Armstrong

I hope you ministers have clearly in mind the supreme importance of applying God's marriage laws in your own lives. I know that some have felt that the Church should always come first after God — that if we must sacrifice our families to do God's Work, then somehow God will make up the difference for us. After all, wouldn't that be putting God first?

The fact is, we are putting God first when we obey Him. God shows us through the Apostle Paul in I Timothy 3:4-5 and Titus 1:6 that faithfulness as a husband and father are foundational to one's responsibilities as an elder. God does not want us to neglect our leadership at home in order to devote ourselves to His service. He expects us to fulfill our responsibilities to our wives and children as part and parcel of our duties as elders. Even our example in this regard is important to the brethren.

Broken laws bring penalties. God will not suspend the penalties of ongoing neglect of His clear instructions in His Word. If we fail to spend the time with our children that we should, it will affect them. We are not immune from the penalties of breaking God's laws. We won't be able to tell God, "I know I didn't do what you said, but it was so I could be a better minister."

God knows what makes a better minister. We need to be doing it His way, not our own way. If you also think you can neglect spending time and communicating with your wife and still have a good marriage and an effective ministry, you are wrong! If you want to be a good minister, you must be a good husband first!

Those of you who attended the second Ministerial Refreshing Program will remember Mr. Neff's class titled, "The Minister' s Personal Marriage." He went through the priorities a minister should have, listing them in the following order: 1) God, 2) family and 3) Church. The order was not: 1) God, 2) Church and 3) family. Why? Because God shows that fulfilling one's responsibilities toward his family enables him to properly fulfill his responsibilities toward the Church!

Does this mean that if you have neglected your family in doing the work of the ministry, all that work was futile or of no value? Of course not! God still does His Work through human beings, however imperfect we are, or unwise we may be at times. But it does mean that there will be penalties and problems to contend with.

We can't go back and retrace our steps. We can't undo the past. That is "water under the bridge." But we can change. We can ask God for His help to see where we may be falling short, and begin to correct habits and ways that are contrary to His Word. God is merciful and patient with those who are willing to repent and seek Him.

(I am not addressing here the reverse problem of neglecting the Church by spending excessive or undue amounts of time in personal or family pursuits. God has called us to do a work. That should not be forgotten, either. We must be diligent before God not to neglect either our families or His Work.)

I hope each of us will pay close attention to Dr. Zimmerman's sermon, and let it serve as godly instruction and correction to inspire us to strengthen and nourish our marriages.

I'd like to share with you a portion of a report from the Caribbean regional director, Mr. Stan Bass, and ask for your prayers and those of your congregations for God's people in Kingston and southwestern Jamaica.

We are facing a crisis in Jamaica. The whole Caribbean is experiencing a severe drought. It is especially severe in Kingston and the southwestern part of Jamaica. In metropolitan Kingston water flows in the pipes for no more than two hours out of a day. The city has two reservoirs with a capacity of 1.2 billion imperial gallons of water, but the reserves are down to about 60 million gallons — only a two day supply.

Authorities are supplying the city only the amount of water that runs off in the watershed area. The water must be boiled for all uses. Can you ask the members worldwide to pray for the city of Kingston, Jamaica, for the sake of the 159 members of God's Church who live in the city? To date there are no health problems in the Church as a result of this severe drought.

Regarding the situation in southern Africa, Dr. Roy McCar thy reports that our brethren remain safe in Zimbabwe and South Africa. On two occasions in Zimbabwe, rioters and looters burned down homes next door to members, and in two other instances rioters bypassed the streets on which members lived. Please continue to diligently support our brethren in these strife-torn areas in prayer for God's ever-faithful protection.

Festival Car Rentals and Air Travel in the U.S.

The Festival Office has recently mailed information on rental car discounts for U.S. Festival sites. Each pastor in the United States and Canada should receive a package of brochures within the next week or so. Also included in the package are some flyers from American Airlines, further explaining the discount program for travel to U.S. Festival sites that was announced in the May 17 PASTOR GENERAL'S REPORT.

This would be a good time to remind the brethren to complete their travel plans for the Feast, whether or not those plans include air travel or car rentals. If you have any questions about these programs, you or your festival advisor should call the Festival Office.