Proclaim to the World the GOOD NEWS OF THE WORLD TOMORROW
BOX 111, Pasadena, California
Publishing: The PLAIN TRUTH a Magazine of UNDERSTANDING
December 20, 1954
Dear Co-Workers in Christ:
Again GREETINGS in Jesus name. I have NEWS! Important news. TREMENDOUS things loom just ahead — both in world happenings, and in God's work.
You know, we can go along for a long while — either in world events, or in the work of God — with ups and downs, with frequent times of crises, and then, at last, we come to the final CROSS-ROADS, the final major all-time TURNING POINT, where things are going to turn one way or the other.
God's work has reached that crucial TURNING-POINT — our "D-Day", which, to us now means DO or die! And also this is "D-Day" for the whole world! As I have been THUNDERING clear around the world the past few weeks, we have reached the time when an ENTIRE CONTINENT can be laid waste in one night without warning!
The Secretary of the United States Air Force, speaking for the President, warned the nation that this WILL HAPPEN, unless the nations cry out to God Almighty to stop it! General MacArthur says we have had our last chance — that now ONLY GOD can save us!
Look at the VERY LATEST world news. The Communists have now broken the Armistice in Korea. They keep U.S. fliers imprisoned in Red jails, falsely accused as spies. The Reds are challenging the United States and the United Nations to FIGHT! America faces this choice: Act now — resume War, or else bow weakly to Communist force. What is Washington doing? What is the United Nations doing about it? Merely using words, not weapons. But Reds are never impressed with words. They are becoming more insolent, threatening more force on their part, issuing more challenges. It used to mean TROUBLE for any nation who dared mistreat American citizens. More than 140 times the U.S. has sent armed forces into foreign territory to defend American citizens, without any real war. Today America sends only words. United States policy in dealing with Russia right now is to merely protest in WORDS. "Peaceful Coexistence" is getting a tryout. Meanwhile, heavy bombers and fighter planes that match anything the U.S. has are streaming out of 360 Soviet plants. Meanwhile, still more satellite nations are in process of being gobbled up by Russia — North Vietnam, South Vietnam, Indonesia — even Finland, Afghanistan, Iran, and Turkey appear headed in that direction.
Yes, MEANWHILE, another ally begins turning away from the U.S. The Russians and Chinese Communists are luring JAPAN with trade markets. God warned our people NEVER to rely on foreign allies — that they would always turn from us and hate us, and turn on us — we should turn to GOD and rely on HIM. Japan turned on us in 1941. After we conquered her, we tried to make her our ally — disobeying GOD. Now she is once more turning away from us! Prophecy marches on!
News now is released of a BIG CHANGE in plans for Europe's defense against Russia. All former conventional defense plans are being scrapped. They are now staking EVERYTHING on ATOMIC-weapons!
It now is definitely planned — definitely announced on highest authority — the NEXT war will be altogether atomic and HYDROGEN- bomb war! And that means WHOLE CONTINENTS not only may, but will be laid waste in one night!
Co-Workers! Brethren! This is the last, final TURNING- POINT! The die is now cast! The next war is rapidly approaching — inevitable! And it means TOTAL DESTRUCTION — such massive slaughter and annihilation as your mind can't possibly conceive — UNLESS GOD STOPS THIS HELLISH BUSINESS! It means the END OF THE WORLD!
When is the END of the world to come? Jesus Christ said it will come WHEN His very own Gospel of the GOVERNMENT OF GOD has been preached in ALL THE WORLD, for a witness to ALL NATIONS! That Gospel has not been proclaimed for 1,850 years. Today God Almighty is using YOU and me as His instruments in proclaiming it to the world.
How NEAR is the END OF THE WORLD? Already this very Gospel is going WORLD-WIDE, but it is still FAR from reaching ALL NATIONS.
It is not reaching the nations of South America. It is not reaching Australia or South Africa. It is being heard in some parts of Africa, and we are now receiving letters from listeners on the east coast of Africa, but not yet enough to say that we are really proclaiming this Message effectively in Africa. It is heard in all Europe — but only in the English language so far, and we cannot thunder this Message as a witness into Germany until we get Herman Hoeh on Radio Luxembourg speaking to Germany in the German language. We cannot say we are declaring this warning Gospel message to the French people until Dick Armstrong gets his French language program on the French beam of Radio Luxembourg. In like manner, we cannot as yet be said to be reaching the other nations of Europe, the Middle-East, or the Orient, EFFECTIVELY.
BUT — and this is of TREMENDOUS IMPORTANCE —
We have reached the TURNING POINT! God is now opening the doors so that we may, during this coming year, make a powerful START in reaching the rest of the world — ALL nations! STUPENDOUS facilities for reaching more and more of these nations in MANY DIFFERENT LANGUAGES are now opening to us, now! In a moment, I'll tell you the big surprise.
One year ago the door of a great major radio Network was opened to us. For a year now we have struggled, and endured the "tight squeeze," to keep up financially and stay on the Network. Somehow, by the sustaining providence of God, and the faithfulness and sacrifices of you Co-Workers, we have been enabled to hold on and survive. Time after time it appeared we would have to go off the Network. The many thousands and thousands of new listeners had not been hearing Christ's very own Message long enough, as yet, to join you as Co-Workers. But I have known, and have told you all along, that in due time they would. For a long time these NEW listeners, mostly from parts of the country we never reached before, were contributing about 5% of the actual cost of the Network broadcast each week. Then 10%. And now, just these past three or four weeks, more and more of them have begun voluntarily, of their own accord, to join us. Now they are sending us between 25% and 33% of the actual cost of the broadcast. BUT THAT DOESN'T MEAN WE CAN LET UP OUR PART — rather, now, we must stretch to the greatest effort of our lives! We must now sacrifice and strive as NEVER BEFORE. We have now reached the crucial TURNING-POINT!
Here are the STUPENDOUS facilities God is now opening before us.
The first TREMENDOUS door God seems about to open is right here in America. Listen carefully! Most of you Co-Workers know that people receive the precious TRUTH far, far more effectively when they hear the broadcast EVERY NIGHT, or every day, than when they hear it only once a week.
All right, LISTEN! We reach thousands upon thousands of listeners EVERY night on such super-power stations as XEG, XELO, and XERB. But what you may not have fully realized is this: XEG is heard pretty well, and without much interference in most localities in the states of Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi. This big station is heard, but with increasing interference, as we get farther north and east. But when we come to Missouri, especially the northern part, and Illinois, Indiana, Tennessee and Kentucky, Ohio, etc., it is not heard so plainly, and interference increases, and we have fewer and fewer listeners. When we get into Iowa (where WHO, Des Moines interferes), and northern Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan, northern Indiana, Ohio, XEG is heard very poorly, and so is XELO — and we have had very few listeners in this great, vast, populous middle- west farm belt.
Well now I believe God is opening the BIGGEST door in all this most important territory — the one station listened to by more farmers and probably by more people than any other station in America — the great Prairie Farmer station in Chicago, WLS, at 890 on your dial. A few weeks ago WLS offered us the MOST valuable time of the whole week — 8:30 Sunday nights, Central time. The WORLD TOMORROW has now been going out over this powerful WLS, not only at 11:30 Sunday morning on the Network, but also at 8:30 Sunday nights, for the past few weeks.
But here's the BIG NEWS! This great Chicago station is now considering the matter of opening their very important station time for The WORLD TOMORROW on E V E R Y N I G H T, except Saturday night, at this same most listened-to time, 8:30 EVERY NIGHT!
NEVER has any station of this high caliber and importance opened its super-power facilities for EVERY NIGHT broadcasting for a FULL HALF HOUR to any religious broadcasting before!
I have just come from Chicago, where our Advertising Agent and myself spent a good part of two days with the Vice-president and general manager, and the sales manager of this great station. This great BIG all-important door has not yet swung wide open to us — but it's being seriously considered — and I feel the door is partly opened, and God has His foot in it, and Co-Workers, IF WE ALL JOIN IN FERVENT PRAYER that God will cause them to decide in our favor and OPEN that door, I feel sure it will open. The Sales Manager of the station shook his head gravely, saying, "You know, a thing like this has never been done before — it would break all precedent. We've NEVER had a religious program on the station week nights — no important 50,000-watt station ever has, so far as I know. It's pretty hard for us to come to a decision like this."
PRAY for it, brethren and Co-Workers! I NEED YOUR EARNEST, PREVAILING PRAYERS! Ask God to turn the minds of these radio station officials to open their great facilities to GOD'S MESSAGE. Pray that God will bless them and their station for so doing! — and I know He will. If this door is opened, it will mean that WLS will take up where XEG and XELO leave off, and the millions of people all over this great Middle-West will be able to hear the program CLEARLY every night except Saturday. And THINK OF THIS — God has already provided a way to pay for it the first three and a half months. When we passed the first year mark on the ABC Network, we had earned a rebate of enough to pay for WLS every night broadcasting for 3« months — and 3« months of EVERY NIGHT broadcasting will bring enough NEW Co-Workers to join us to pay the expense from then on! ISN'T THAT POSITIVELY PROVIDENTIAL? God has surely never forsaken His great work! Let US never forsake it!
Now, in addition — still for the United States — facilities are opening which will allow us to cover the entire United States, and every corner of it, with good strong clear radio reception EVERY NIGHT — IN EVERY SECTION. I have just talked to the manager of WWVA, Wheeling, W. Va. — near Pittsburgh. That is one of the strongest, most listened-to stations in America — 50,000 watts. It thoroughly covers all of eastern Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, all New England states, West Virginia, and all other Atlantic Coast states as far as North Carolina. This station will broadcast our program at 11 or 11:05 PM Sunday nights beginning our 21st anniversary broadcast January 2nd. The manager told me he may, later, be able to clear an earlier time EVERY NIGHT for us. Station WRVA, the great 50,000-watt station of Richmond, Va., which thoroughly reaches all the middle and South Atlantic states at night-time, probably also will open up an EVERY NIGHT time for us, later. We cannot afford it now. But these tremendous facilities are opening to us.
Recently, the headquarters of the great NBC Network in Rockefeller Center, New York — the very headquarters that brought pressure on NBC stations against broadcasting our program ten years ago — called their Hollywood representative and asked him to contact our advertising agency and notify us that they expect soon, after the first of the year, to open up good time for "THE WORLD TOMORROW" program, on some of their top-ranking stations, including WNBC, New York, and KNBC, San Francisco. Of course we already have very powerful stations in those cities on the ABC Network — but the very FACT we are on this major network is the one thing that has made our program DESIRABLE to the biggest, most powerful stations in this nation. Such stations as KOA, Denver, WOAI, San Antonio, WTAM, Cleveland, KOB, Albuquerque, N.Mex., — all super-power 50,000-watt stations among the nation's most top-level stations, have directly or tentatively offered to open their doors to us, and possibly KMOX, St. Louis.
Now, Co-Workers, one thing I must explain. You probably know that Television has cut in very severely on radio. Actually, probably only 40% or 45% as many people listen to radio — or, rather, they listen only 40% as OFTEN or as MUCH to radio, as formerly. But this does not mean we cannot reach people by radio any more. It only means it takes us TWICE AS LONG to build up a listening audience. People who become really INTERESTED in God's mighty message on The WORLD TOMORROW do still tune in their radio sets, even if they do not listen to any other program. We know that. But, so far, Television is not a suitable medium for our purpose. Television costs, with production cost, about FIFTEEN TIMES as much as radio, and gives a concentrated audience in a VERY SMALL AREA. TV does not reach out far. It reaches only LOCAL neighborhoods, whereas our program calls for reaching the WHOLE NATION, and the WHOLE WORLD. A Coast-to-Coast TV network would cost, with production, between $35,000 and $50,000 EVERY WEEK. Later — perhaps another year — we may try out Television in two or three cities, such as perhaps Portland, Oregon, Tacoma or Seattle, Washington, or San Antonio, Texas. We must realize that we can no longer reach 2,000 people on radio with every dollar you send in. We simply have to realize it — THAT'S ONE REASON WE ALL HAVE TO KEEP DIGGING DOWN DEEPER — SACRIFICING STILL MORE — it is now costing us more than it did three or four years ago to reach two thousand people — probably about $2, today. It means that where we formerly put $1 into God's work, we now must put in at least $2, in order to accomplish as much. Where we formerly put in $20, we now must put in $40 or $50. These are the conditions of the time. BUT GOD'S WORK MUST STILL GO ON — until the END OF THE WORLD!
Now, for OTHER NATIONS! Here's BIG NEWS! Most of you probably read "The READER'S DIGEST," at least once in a while. It is the largest circulated magazine on earth. What you may not know is this: They publish more than THIRTY different editions, in 14 different languages, with huge circulations in most of the nations of the earth. And in all foreign lands, THEY OPEN THEIR PAGES TO ADVERTISING, OR MESSAGES SUCH AS WE PREACH. Their Spanish edition reaches hundreds of thousands in South America and in Spain. Their Swedish edition, in Swedish language, reaches the people of Sweden.
Their Japanese edition reaches all Japan in their own language. So far we are training men to preach in four languages, English, French, German, and Spanish. We have no way to preach, over the air, in other languages, as yet. But we can write our messages, effectively displayed with advertising headlines, and have them TRANSLATED into all 14 of these languages, and we can reach MANY MILLIONS of people in most of the nations of the earth, in full- page, two-color Messages in the foreign-language editions of Reader's Digest!
Now LISTEN! We can't do this yet. We can't do it until we can afford it. We can't do it until there's money enough to pay for it. The cost will be about as much as we now pay for radio broadcasting. And, when we are ready to start this WORLD-WIDE campaign in the Reader's Digest, we will start in just one country at a time — those that are smallest and cost the least, at first.
But IT IS FAR LATER THAN WE THINK! We cannot delay long. I hope that during this next year we may make the start. And here, too, WE MUST PRAY — pray fervently, earnestly, persistently, continually — that God will cause this great magazine to be willing to accept Christ's Message into their pages. They may object to taking a religious Message, unless we PRAY. But God can give us grace and favor in their sight. Co-Workers, WE HAVE REACHED THE SUPREME CRISIS — THE TURNING POINT — where the great work of God must now leap forward in multiplied POWER. We must, soon, place God's dynamic, powerful, gripping Message in advertising space in FARM PAPERS, on the CHURCH PAGES of the Saturday daily newspapers. We must find new and effective ways of GETTING OUT GOD'S VITAL MESSAGE — now into ALL nations!
Let's AROUSE ourselves — let's STIR ourselves as we never did before! Let's Pray for God's work IN REAL EARNEST, every single day! Let's RISE to MEET THIS GREAT CHALLENGE — to go THRU these tremendous doors God is opening — to FINISH the work He has given us to do!
AT LAST — the BIBLE CORRESPONDENCE COURSE is ready, and the first lesson mailed out. This is going to HUNDREDS in ENGLAND and the British Isles, who are studying every month in their homes over there. GOD'S WORK IS GROWING — growing in POWER, in SCOPE — in INFLUENCE. It is empowered by the SPIRIT OF GOD. Nothing can stop it. ONWARD WE GO!
WE have reached the TURNING-POINT! From here, God's work thru us must take its biggest leap ahead in world-wide power, or it will go back and die out. But the very work of God CANNOT go back- ward. God has promised He WILL NOT drop the work He has begun. And we MUST NOT slacken, but spur ourselves on to greater efforts.
Here we are, late in the Christmas shopping season. So MANY are forgetting any gift for CHRIST, and spending lavishly to EXCHANGE presents with relatives and friends. The receipts of tithes and offerings for God's work is NOT HOLDING UP WHERE IT SHOULD. It's a DANGEROUS situation. There has been, since my last letter, a good RAIN of one and two-dollar offerings (the widow gave TWO mites) — but not the DOWNPOUR we needed. We need a CLOUDBURST! Many of you have remained loyal with your full honest tithes and generous offerings — GOD BLESS YOU — but others of you have been neglectful of CHRIST and His work. Always, at this time of year, a FEW who are able have made it possible to tide the work over with really large contributions of $500, $1,000, or even two or three thousand. This year there seems to be almost a famine of the larger amounts. THEY ARE NEEDED, — very seriously needed — and only a FEW of you are able to send such amounts, so the responsibility rests heavy on those who are able — if God has full free reign in your hearts. Finally, brethren, PRAY earnestly — pray for me personally that God will give me strength and health for my heavy responsibilities — PRAY for the work. GOD BLESS YOU!
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