December 14, 1964  
December 14, 1964 - Brethren & Co-Workers Letter
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Herbert W Armstrong 

The WORLD TOMORROW
A WORLDWIDE BROADCAST

HERBERT W. ARMSTRONG

Proclaim to the World the GOOD NEWS OF THE WORLD TOMORROW

Box 111, Pasadena, Calif. 91109

Publishing: The PLAIN TRUTH a Magazine of UNDERSTANDING

December 14, 1964

Dear Co-Workers with CHRIST:

   This is an emergency letter. I am having to RUSH it AIR-MAIL!! Here we are, in the very midst of the most furious Christmas shopping spree of all time. Many of our Co-Workers are spending lavishly, buying presents — (as they suppose) — for CHRIST'S BIRTHDAY!

   But are they giving their birthday presents to CHRIST? No, they are exchanging presents BETWEEN THEMSELVES! Right now many of our Co-Workers are forgetting — neglecting — to send gifts for CHRIST and His Work!

   So WHAT HAPPENS? Right at this season when you'd suppose the very WORK in which the living Jesus Christ has called you and me as CO-WORKERS with Him — in this great WORK OF GOD which He heads, guides, directs, and blesses — when you'd suppose all of us would pitch in and help with our BIGGEST GIFTS for CHRIST and HIS WORK, many are neglecting it entirely!

   Of course, the irony of this whole tragic situation is that you'd suppose — IF we ought to present birthday gifts at this season — that they would be given to CHRIST, not exchanged back and forth among ourselves! Yes, you'd surely suppose people would not only give the BIGGEST gift of all to CHRIST — but if it is HIS BIRTHDAY PRESENT, you'd surely suppose they'd give ALL of their gifts to HIM, wouldn't you?

   Do people go to a birthday party, and then simply SNUB the guest of honor — neglecting to give him anything — or giving him a small gift — trading their gifts between themselves? Ridiculous? When you put it that way, YES!

   But look at the FACTS! December 25 is not Jesus Christ's birthday! Jesus was not born at this season of the year! And the idea of celebrating birthdays is NOT Christian, but an old heathen, pagan custom! None of the Apostles ever celebrated Jesus' birthday!

   Do you know what the BIBLE says about the Christmas tree? It speaks plainly about it and CONDEMNS it as a heathen custom! God, in His BIBLE, condemns these pagan customs — SAYS HE WILL NOT ACCEPT SUCH WORSHIP! Many people will say — even their pastors will say - "Yes, I know, Christmas is a pagan custom that started long before the time of Christ — but we don't observe it to worship heathen false gods — we use it to honor CHRIST!" Do you know what GOD SAYS about that? He says HE WILL NOT ACCEPT such worship! He commands us not to take part in it. Speaking of the way pagans worshipped their false gods, the ETERNAL commands: "Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them,...and that thou enquire not after their gods, saying, 'How did these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise.' Thou shalt not do so unto the LORD THY GOD; for every abomination to the LORD, which He hateth, have they done unto their gods!" (Deut. 12:30-31).

   Co-Workers, Jesus Christ is ALIVE! He lives! He is the living, guiding, directing HEAD of THIS WORK! He has called YOU and me, to be CO-WORKERS WITH HIM in completing THE WORK OF GOD!

   The GREAT COMMISSION is: "Go ye into all the world, and preach the GOSPEL!" The very SAME Gospel HE TAUGHT! Of HIS WORK today — right NOW — just before THE END OF THIS WORLD, He says: "This Gospel of the KINGDOM shall be preached in all the world, for a witness unto ALL NATIONS; and then shall the END (of this world) come."

   Right now we are coming in on the home stretch of this race to get HIS GOSPEL into all nations, around the world! TIME IS ALMOST UP! It is FAR later than you think! WE HAVE A TREMENDOUS WORK YET TO DO!

   Already the living CHRIST is using us, in this Work, to get His Gospel AROUND THE WORLD — into every inhabited continent on earth! But not yet into ALL nations!

   Christ Himself is SPEEDING UP the pace of this work almost beyond belief! It is only OUR CO-WORKERS who are lagging behind right now! Jesus Christ is moving events along so fast, right now, I am astonished myself! A week ago a long distance telephone call from our office in England summoned me to take an unexpected jet-plane flight to London and back. I returned just last night. A TREMENDOUS thing happened!

   You'll remember, of course, that Radio Luxembourg opened its door to The WORLD TOMORROW broadcast the first week in 1953. That station has several different transmissions on different wave- lengths. The one beamed on England, called "208," does not apparently transmit the same maximum power as their French beam. And it is so far away from England, that its reception there is not good at the hour they allot to us. When we were on at 11:30 to midnight, the reception was fairly good in England — but most people had already gone to sleep. Then more than a year ago they changed us to 6:00 P.M. Half of the year that is long before dark. Even in the winter the signal is not too strong at that hour. It delivers far fewer listeners now than it did at 11:30 P.M. And we have had it only two nights a week!

   BUT NOW LOOK AT WHAT'S HAPPENED!

   A NEW STATION is opening up — COMMERCIAL RADIO right on England's door-step — actually geographically IN England — in the Thames Estuary — called RADIO-LONDON, with 50,000 watts of power! It will broadcast on a wave-length right in between the two British government BBC wave-lengths. People in England dialing from one BBC dial-spot to the other will be STOPPED by it! Plans call for starting operations of this new SUPER-POWER BRITISH STATION the first week in January — 12 years after we started on Radio Luxembourg!

   THE LIVING JESUS CHRIST OPENED THIS SUPER-POWER DOOR TO THE WORLD TOMORROW. They have opened to us our CHOICE of time — 7:00 P.M., EVERY NIGHT IN THE WEEK!

   THIS IS THE B I G G E S T THING THAT HAS EVER HAPPENED FOR GETTING OUT THE GOSPEL! This one super-power station, even in daytime, covers with a STRONG signal the area in which MORE THAN THIRTY-SEVEN MILLION PEOPLE live! But, with its secondary signal, which still can be heard, it will reach ALL BRITAIN!

   The British are GOD'S BIRTHRIGHT PEOPLE! We have had to WAIT — and PRAY — and BE PATIENT, for God, somehow, to open a great voice for reaching the British. We have NEVER been able really to REACH England, like we have the United States and Australia, and South Africa, and Canada. JESUS CHRIST HAS MOVED! He has opened the BIGGEST door of all, so far!

   That's what HE has done these past few days! WHAT ARE OUR CO-WORKERS doing? Many are NEGLECTING Christ and THEIR part in HIS WORK!

   Christ has OPENED THIS TREMENDOUS DOOR! It will cost more money than any station we were ever on! But we are going to WALK RIGHT THROUGH THIS DOOR ON FAITH. Will you PRAY earnestly with me that God will lay it heavily on the hearts of Co-Workers to respond? PRAY EARNESTLY.

   The situation is DESPERATE right now!

   I am having to send this letter AIR-MAIL to you. I have to ask you to send the largest, most generous gift as a SPECIAL OFFERING you possibly can (in addition to your tithes!!) as soon as possible — RIGHT NOW before you lay this letter down, if you have it on hand — AND PLEASE SEND IT AIR-MAIL. The Christmas mails are clogged and congested. That's why we must use air-mail.

   Jesus Christ surely HAS NEVER LET US DOWN! WE MUST NOT LET HIM DOWN! Let's all make a great SPECIAL EFFORT right now! And for those who have larger sums you don't feel free to GIVE at this time, but could LOAN and let it be WORKING WHERE CHRIST CAN USE IT, such loans are NEEDED!

   BE SURE YOU WRITE FOR OUR SPECIAL BOOKLET on the PLAIN TRUTH about Christmas, if you have not already read it. (It's FREE, of course!)

   Co-Workers, LET'S GO!!!

With love, in Jesus' name,
Herbert W. Armstrong

Publication Date: December 14, 1964
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