Ten Crucial Daily Questions For Spiritual Survival!

These questions below are crucial for every true Christian to ask daily in their life of battling Satan, society and self. I strongly believe that Herbert W. Armstrong was spiritually inspired to pose these questions to the Church of God.

Source: by Herbert W. Armstrong, Co-Worker Bulletin, February 14, 1941.

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1.  Did I awake spiritual, in a happy, prayerful attitude, and was I watching to keep my mind from wandering this morning?

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2.  Have I, this day, kept my mind clean, my thoughts and contemplations on “the things above,” in continuous happy, positive, prayerful attitude?

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3.  Have , as a “babe in Christ,” partaken three times today of spiritual food by submissive Bible study and earnest prayer ALONE with God? Have I grown closer to God? Have I grown today in grace and knowledge?

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4.  Have I walked by faith, asking God for wisdom and guidance in all things, committing every little problem to Him, trusting Him with it?

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5.  Have I exercised self-discipline, denying impulse, doing what God’s word shows I aught to do instead of what I wanted to do?

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6.  Was my speech and conversation today kind, cheerful, soft?

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7.  Have I exercised patience today? Have I been charitable towards others, showing tolerance and love, or resentment, jealousy and anger?

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8.  Have I, while putting spiritual interests first, been diligent in performing regular material duties today, doing my very best?

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9.  Have I made the most of my time, or been weakened by unwatchfulness?

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10.  What have I done for God’s work and for others? Have I spent anything today to please myself that could have been saved for God’s cause?

How Old Is Mankind – 6000 Years Or 600,000?

Remove from a library shelf any volume on ancient man. Examine its opening chapter. What will you find? Expressions as: “it is thought,” “there appears to be some basis for believing,” “it has been suggested,” “it may be presumed,” “one may safely assume,” and “others are of the opinion” — just to mention a few.

What do all these carefully chosen expressions really signify? Just this: Science has no demonstrable evidence for accepting as fact what has been written in the book. The conclusions are mere speculation!

Never Safe to Assume

Just how old is Man? Is there any AUTHORITY who can tell us? Several modern writers, relying only on geological inferences, place the appearance of man about 25,000 to 35,000 years ago. Others suggest the period is no less than 100,000 years ago. No small number of scholars assume it may be 500,000 years ago. And there are a few who place it several hundred thousand years earlier. Do any of these men really KNOW?

And how could intelligent, able men arrive at such absurdly varying figures for the origin of man and the beginnings of ancient history? They all have access, remember, to the same geological and archaeological sources of information. They all have the same facts — but they don’t have the same answers! Why?

The answer is, they are all interpreting geologic and archaeological evidence in accordance with their private theories. They are only guessing. They have no way of knowing.

One well-known writer phrased it this way: “We know that there is no absolute knowledge, that there are only theories; but we forget this. The better educated we are the harder we believe in axioms” (Lincoln Steffens “Autobiography”, page 816).

Herbert W. Armstrong Warned Of Global Economic Crash Decades Ago!

pcg.g5i.net/french/whowashwa.php

Decades ago, the Plain Truth magazine – under its founder, the late Herbert W. Armstrong declared that two events would dominate the prophetic horizon:

• The resurrection of Germany at the helm of a Eoropean superstate that would revive the Holy Roman Empire for one final rule over world affairs.

• A great social upheaval, triggered by the collapse of the global financial and economic system.

Mr. Armstrong prophecied that this  socio-economic upheaval would cause  a strong and forceful leader to again arise in Germany to lead European nations to suddenly unite as a powerful world empire larger than the Soviet Union or the United States. That, in turn, he said could suddenly ignite nuclear World War III and lead directly to the coming of Jesus Christ.

Now, if we have a common sense look clearly around us, we can easily see that this scenario has already significantly advanced toward fulfillment. In in doubt, have a look at these specific prophecies of Mr. Armstrong which have already come to pass:

• 1945 – he forecast Germany’s rise from ashes to become the economic and political powerhouse of Europe. This is now an undisputed fact.
• 1954 – Russia would give East Germany back to the Germans and relinquish Eastern European countries.
• 1960 – he foretold the fall of the Berlin Wall.
• 1967 – he said Europe would adopt a common currency.
• 1972 – he prophecied the integration of Yugoslav states into a united Europe.

The reason Mr. Armstrong was right in these events was because he based his view of current events on inerrant Bible prophecy. And events prohecied for the next few years will violently affect Britain, the United States, Western Europe and the Middle East.

Source: www.pcog.org

Worldwide Church Of God Morphs Into Grace Communion International

Herbert W. Armstrong was the Pastor General of the Worldwide Church of God (WCG). Those studying the Bible with a critical eye recognized him as restoring long lost biblical truths. He stood against traditional Christianity’s error and taught the plain truth of the Bible. Now he’s dead and his successors have effectively dismantled any semblance to what was originally, and correctly, taught.

The final separation of the new WCG from “all things Armstrong” occurred recently with their official announcement that the church’s name will now become “Grace Communion International.” I’m not sure how much closer they could get it to sounding like the Amway of Evangelical Churches. 

The change was also picked up by another religious news source:

Worldwide Church of God Changes Name to Signal Inner Change: Religion News Service reports that the Worldwide Church of God, which re-examined and later rebuked the teachings of founder Herbert W. Armstrong after his death in 1986, has changed its name to Grace Communion International. “We are a church that God radically transformed,” said church president Joseph W. Tkach, who is a board member of the National Association of Evangelicals. “Our new name is consistent with the transformation and aptly describes what God has made of our fellowship.” Armstrong denied the Christian belief in the Trinity and took Old Testament law to heart and encouraged works of righteousness to earn salvation. The church lost half its members, 95 percent of its 1,000-person staff, millions of magazine readers and its college in Pasadena, Calif., when it officially repudiated Armstrong’s teachings and “prophetic speculation” in the mid 1990s.  http://www.crosswalk.com/news/religiontoday/11602619/

Changes in the WCG/GCI

WCG membership peaked in 1986, with about 150,000 members worldwide. However, the new leadership began systematically rejecting and destroying every teaching and tradition Mr. Armstrong established. Immediately, massive doctrinal changes swept the Church, initially concealed from the membership. 

In 1989, Gerrald Flurry and John Amos were disfellowshipped for adhering to the original doctrines of the WCG. The Philadelphia Church of God was then established to most accurately, among all WCG offshoots, preserve the teachings and legacy of its founder, Herbert W. Armstrong.

By 1990, numbers dropped to about 133,000, and in 1992, as income continued to decrease, a prominent minister and 3,000 members left to form the Global Church of God.

Perhaps the most traumatic change came in December 1994: Tkach announced that Christians do not have to keep old covenant laws. Many members did not accept these changes and in early 1995, hundreds of ministers and 12,000 members left to form the United Church of God. 

By 1996, attendance was approximately half  of 1990 numbers (67,000).  In the US, membership slid from 89,000 to 49,000. Thousands more stopped attending any church, and many congregations were left with only half the members they used to have. Church income dropped another 50 percent, and hundreds of employees were laid off. Now, the Worldwide Church of God is about half the size it used to be.

The television ministry, once one of the largest in America, is gone. Circulation of The Plain Truth fell from a peak of 8,000,000 down to less than 100,000. And as stated before, the number of employees in Pasadena fell from 1,000 to about 50, as reduced income forced them to remove some pastors from the payroll, and lay pastors were appointed for small congregations. Ambassador College/University was forced to close because the church could no longer subsidize it, and its properties have been sold. The church’s properties in Pasadena were also sold in 2004. An office building in Glendora was purchased, and all offices were relocated there in 2005. 

Grace Communion International now claims 42,000 members in 900 congregations worldwide, though those numbers are suspect.

Milestones In The Life of Herbert W. Armstrong

I include this post because I use and believe the writings of Herbert W. Armstrong, as based on the Bible. He was a man strongly used by God, as was shown by the fruits in his life.

Herbert W. Armstrong (July 31, 1892 – January 16, 1986) was the founder of the Radio Church of God / Worldwide Church of God; Chancellor of Ambassador Colleges and Ambassador University; Publisher of The Plain Truth magazine in several languages; Presenter of The World Tomorrow radio and television programs and director of several programs in other languages.

He was also President of the Ambassador International Cultural Foundation; self- styled as Ambassador for World Peace and Patron of the Ambassador Auditorium concert series

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July 31, 1892 — Herbert W. Armstrong is born in Des Moines, Iowa, the eldest son of Horace and Eva Armstrong.

Summer, 1908 — An employer’s encouragement stimulates ambition and the will to succeed in 16-year-old Herbert W. Armstrong.

July 31,1917 — Mr. Armstrong and Loma Dillon are married in Chicago, Ill.

August, 1917 — In a dream during their first week of marriage, Loma Armstrong sees an angel descend from heaven, put his arms around the Armstrongs and announce that Jesus Christ will return in this generation, saying that Christ has work for them to do.

Fall, 1920 — A flash depression wipes out Mr. Armstrong’s advertising business.

Fall, 1926 — Mr. Armstrong is challenged into a diligent study of the Bible.

May or June, 1927 — Mr. Armstrong is baptized.

August, 1927 — Mrs. Armstrong recovers from a combination of quinsy, blood poisoning, a dog bite and several other ailments, proving God’s promise to heal is sure.

Summer, 1928 — Mr. Armstrong gives his first sermon, in a vacant country store building south of Salem, Ore.

June, 1931 — Mr. Armstrong is ordained to the ministry of Jesus Christ.

July, 1933 — Mr. Armstrong gives a series of lectures in Eugene, Ore., that leads to the formation of God’s worldwide Work.