MATTHEW KALLIMAN'S WEBSITE
Songs and Teachings of the Bible
Songs and Teachings of the Bible
My Story
by Matthew Kalliman
"Let's go up to the mountain!"
Seeking and finding the one true God and the one true religion
(Hebrews 12:18, 22-24)
Seeking and finding the one true God and the one true religion
(Hebrews 12:18, 22-24)
"Write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after this."
(Revelation 1:19)
This is a website about God and the Bible -- not about me. Yet, I deem it appropriate to say something about my background and what led up to the creation of this website. I know that God's hand is in the story.
My father was born in Plessa, Greece. In 1915, at the age of 15, he was brought to America by his father. After some years his father returned to Greece to be with the rest of his family. My mother, whose parents had emigrated from Croatia, met my father in Minnesota and converted to the Greek Orthodox religion from Roman Catholicism when she married him. I was the fourth of five children (three boys, two girls) who were brought up in the Orthodox faith. My father died of cancer when I was only nine years old. Shortly before his death he called me to his side and said, "Matthew, I think you are going to live to see the Second Coming of Christ!"
My father was born in Plessa, Greece. In 1915, at the age of 15, he was brought to America by his father. After some years his father returned to Greece to be with the rest of his family. My mother, whose parents had emigrated from Croatia, met my father in Minnesota and converted to the Greek Orthodox religion from Roman Catholicism when she married him. I was the fourth of five children (three boys, two girls) who were brought up in the Orthodox faith. My father died of cancer when I was only nine years old. Shortly before his death he called me to his side and said, "Matthew, I think you are going to live to see the Second Coming of Christ!"
My parents, Theodore and Mary Kalliman:
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When I was sixteen years old my older brother, Sam, died under extremely tragic circumstances. The deaths of my father and older brother made me wonder deeply about the purpose of life. I wanted to know, at an early age, answers to the most important questions human beings must face -- the questions pertaining to life and death. Risen From the Dead -- After Death, Then What? -- When Adam Died -- Doctrine Four
My younger brother, Tony, was born with Down's Syndrome. Tony and I grew up together and were very close. I was able to teach him such skills as how to ride a bicycle, how to play musical instruments including soprano and alto recorders, and, in due time, to help him learn about the Holy Bible. Tony has always been a part of my family and I was his primary caregiver for over twenty years (2002-2023). Tony Kalliman on Recorder
My younger brother, Tony, was born with Down's Syndrome. Tony and I grew up together and were very close. I was able to teach him such skills as how to ride a bicycle, how to play musical instruments including soprano and alto recorders, and, in due time, to help him learn about the Holy Bible. Tony has always been a part of my family and I was his primary caregiver for over twenty years (2002-2023). Tony Kalliman on Recorder
My brother, Tony Kalliman
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Tony and me at Walt Disney World
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I was the student body president of West High School in Minneapolis, Minnesota during my senior year (1968-1969). I didn't yet realize that God was working with me, but I learned valuable lessons about leadership that year. Later I came to understand that God's purpose is to call many throughout this age to be prepared for positions of leadership in the World Tomorrow, and that Jesus' job is to train each of them to be good shepherds, motivated by an attitude of love and concern for the ones they will serve and govern (Genesis 17:6; Jeremiah 23:4; Ezekiel 34:23; Luke 1:31-33; 22:24-30; Hebrews 2:5-10; Revelation 1:6; 2:26-27; 20:4-6). The Basic Questions
Addressing the student body at West High School, Minneapolis
One morning during high school my clock radio popped on unexpectedly as The World Tomorrow broadcast was on the air. The program really caught my attention. I listened to it with interest and began to tune in regularly. I did not request any of the literature offered on the program at that time.
During my freshman year at the University of Minnesota (1969-1970) a classmate showed me a copy of The Plain Truth magazine. I remembered hearing The World Tomorrow radio broadcast in high school. I borrowed the magazine, read it and requested a subscription of my own. Then I began to request additional literature, finding that the publications of the Worldwide Church of God -- especially articles and booklets written by Herbert W. Armstrong including Why Were You Born?, The Seven Laws of Success and Just what do you mean. . .Kingdom of God? -- made more sense to me than anything I had ever read or heard before. They provided answers to the biggest questions of life. I felt greatly inspired by them. I began to study the Bible. I started to show Mr. Armstrong's booklets to friends and acquaintances at the Greek Orthodox church, and to question the teachings of traditional Christianity. I had been taught that the Orthodox church was the one true church because it adhered strictly to the decisions of the seven ecumenical councils of the Middle Ages which occurred prior to the Great Schism of 1054 A.D. I was taught that, after the Schism, Catholics had added to those decisions and Protestants had taken away from them. Mr. Armstrong, however, taught that mainstream Christianity had departed from the true biblical foundation long before those ecumenical councils had ever occurred. Why Were You Born? -- The Seven Laws of Success -- Just what do you mean. . .Kingdom of God?
During my freshman year at the University of Minnesota (1969-1970) a classmate showed me a copy of The Plain Truth magazine. I remembered hearing The World Tomorrow radio broadcast in high school. I borrowed the magazine, read it and requested a subscription of my own. Then I began to request additional literature, finding that the publications of the Worldwide Church of God -- especially articles and booklets written by Herbert W. Armstrong including Why Were You Born?, The Seven Laws of Success and Just what do you mean. . .Kingdom of God? -- made more sense to me than anything I had ever read or heard before. They provided answers to the biggest questions of life. I felt greatly inspired by them. I began to study the Bible. I started to show Mr. Armstrong's booklets to friends and acquaintances at the Greek Orthodox church, and to question the teachings of traditional Christianity. I had been taught that the Orthodox church was the one true church because it adhered strictly to the decisions of the seven ecumenical councils of the Middle Ages which occurred prior to the Great Schism of 1054 A.D. I was taught that, after the Schism, Catholics had added to those decisions and Protestants had taken away from them. Mr. Armstrong, however, taught that mainstream Christianity had departed from the true biblical foundation long before those ecumenical councils had ever occurred. Why Were You Born? -- The Seven Laws of Success -- Just what do you mean. . .Kingdom of God?
I went to the leading Greek Orthodox priest in Minneapolis (a well-known and highly respected author in Orthodox circles) and asked him, "Why do we keep Sunday when the Bible says we should observe Saturday, the seventh-day Sabbath (Genesis 2:1-3; Exodus 20:8-11; Matthew 19:17; Mark 2:28; Luke 4:16; 23:56; Hebrews 4:4)?" He replied somberly, "Because that is the holy tradition of our church." Then I asked him, "Why does our church reverence icons when the Bible forbids the use of images as an aid to worship (Exodus 20:4-6; Acts 17:29; I Corinthians 10:19-20)?" His response was the same. Every question I asked the priest was answered in similar manner: "Because it is our holy tradition." Fourteen Reasons Why Everyone Should Keep the Seventh-Day Sabbath
I found in Matthew 15:9 and Mark 7:7 that those who worship Christ according to the traditions of men, instead of the commandments of God, do so in vain. The Apostle Paul, when called by God to follow Christ, gave up all of the man-made religious traditions he had been taught from his youth, counting them as rubbish; he instructed his converts to do the same (Galatians 1:14; Philippians 3:7-8; Colossians 2:8, 20-22; Mark 7:3-13). The Apostles Upheld the Law of God
After my interest in Herbert W. Armstrong's teachings became known in the Greek Orthodox community, I was given literature by Orthodox officials written by one Roger F. Campbell who accused Mr. Armstrong of being a "man of confusion" and a "false prophet." I read Mr. Campbell's booklets carefully. They strongly defended traditional Christianity. I became alarmed. Until then I had assumed that all religions were more or less acceptable to God, but now I saw clearly that they couldn't all be of God -- Mr. Campbell's opinions and Mr. Armstrong's teachings were totally opposite one another; someone had to be wrong.
I found in Matthew 15:9 and Mark 7:7 that those who worship Christ according to the traditions of men, instead of the commandments of God, do so in vain. The Apostle Paul, when called by God to follow Christ, gave up all of the man-made religious traditions he had been taught from his youth, counting them as rubbish; he instructed his converts to do the same (Galatians 1:14; Philippians 3:7-8; Colossians 2:8, 20-22; Mark 7:3-13). The Apostles Upheld the Law of God
After my interest in Herbert W. Armstrong's teachings became known in the Greek Orthodox community, I was given literature by Orthodox officials written by one Roger F. Campbell who accused Mr. Armstrong of being a "man of confusion" and a "false prophet." I read Mr. Campbell's booklets carefully. They strongly defended traditional Christianity. I became alarmed. Until then I had assumed that all religions were more or less acceptable to God, but now I saw clearly that they couldn't all be of God -- Mr. Campbell's opinions and Mr. Armstrong's teachings were totally opposite one another; someone had to be wrong.
Both sides quoted the Bible, but I didn't yet know enough about the Bible to discern who was telling the truth. Either one side -- or the other -- had to be the greatest religious hoax of all time! The Bible says that Satan deceives the whole world (Revelation 12:9; II Corinthians 4:3-4; 11:3-4). I was now faced with the question, "What is the true religion?" That is the most important question because eternal salvation is at stake. I did the only thing I could think of: I went to my bedroom, closed the door, got down on my knees and prayed earnestly to God about the matter. With Mr. Armstrong's booklets in one hand and Mr. Campbell's in the other, I implored God to show me whose side He was on -- that of Mr. Armstrong and the Worldwide Church of God, or that of Mr. Campbell and mainstream Christianity. It took three years, a great deal of study, some grueling experience and a miracle from God for that prayer to be answered. I also applied to attend Ambassador College and was accepted for the 1971-1972 school year. What is the True Religion?
The importance of these pre-Ambassador College experiences cannot be underestimated; they influence everything that follows.
The importance of these pre-Ambassador College experiences cannot be underestimated; they influence everything that follows.
My First Two Years At Ambassador College
1971-1973
1971-1973
Photo from the Ambassador College 1973 Envoy
It was a difficult decision for me, emotionally, to leave my mother and brother Tony to go to Ambassador College, but I remained in close contact with them while I was away. I also gave up a major in Elementary Education at the University of Minnesota which I had been working on for two years.
I arrived on the Ambassador College campus in the fall of 1971 with great enthusiasm for the teachings of Mr. Armstrong and a burning desire to learn as much as I could about the Bible in order to prove those teachings. [My first Feast of Tabernacles was at Squaw Valley, CA, in 1971, a significant festival mentioned in Mr. Armstrong's Co-Worker Letter of June 28, 1978.] I fully expected to find Ambassador College to be the happiest place on earth, as described in the Church's literature. I had been very favorably impressed with The Ambassador College 1969 Envoy before applying to attend the college. My goal was to learn all about the Worldwide Church of God and to become a part of it. Mr. Armstrong's Co-Worker Letter of June 28, 1978 -- This is The Worldwide Church of God -- This is Ambassador College -- The Ambassador College 1969 Envoy
I arrived on the Ambassador College campus in the fall of 1971 with great enthusiasm for the teachings of Mr. Armstrong and a burning desire to learn as much as I could about the Bible in order to prove those teachings. [My first Feast of Tabernacles was at Squaw Valley, CA, in 1971, a significant festival mentioned in Mr. Armstrong's Co-Worker Letter of June 28, 1978.] I fully expected to find Ambassador College to be the happiest place on earth, as described in the Church's literature. I had been very favorably impressed with The Ambassador College 1969 Envoy before applying to attend the college. My goal was to learn all about the Worldwide Church of God and to become a part of it. Mr. Armstrong's Co-Worker Letter of June 28, 1978 -- This is The Worldwide Church of God -- This is Ambassador College -- The Ambassador College 1969 Envoy
The State of Ambassador College in 1971
Within a few weeks of arriving on campus, however, I began to notice that something seemed wrong at Ambassador College. I didn't know how to describe the feeling at the time, but somehow I came to sense that God was absent; that the Spirit of God was missing; that Ambassador College was not as the Church had described in its literature. I wondered where God was hiding amidst all of the beautiful buildings. These feelings grew stronger and stronger within me over the next two years, although I kept them to myself and studied vigorously in classes, listened intently to Bible studies and sermons every Sabbath (both AM and PM services), and attended all college forums and assemblies.
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During my second year at Ambassador I counseled for baptism with Mr. Charles Oehlman, faculty chairman in charge of student affairs, and was approved by him for baptism. When the time came, however, I could not follow through with the baptism in good conscience because of my doubts about the state of the college. I broke into tears near the baptismal pool in Ambassador Hall, and Mr. Oehlman tried to comfort me. A week later Mr. David Albert, one of my instructors, asked me to counsel with him about my failed baptism. In his office I explained my impression that something seemed wrong at Ambassador College. He disagreed with my feeling, saying, "I don't think there's anything wrong with the college, I think the problem is with you!" He counseled me to withdraw from the college until I could find the answers I needed. At Mr. Albert's counsel I withdrew from Ambassador College in the spring of 1973, utterly perplexed.
Much later, on June 17, 1978, Mr. Stanley R. Rader made the following observations in a message given in the Ambassador Auditorium following a sermon by Herbert W. Armstrong. Mr. Armstrong had just begun the process of putting Ambassador College, the ministry and church back on track:
Much later, on June 17, 1978, Mr. Stanley R. Rader made the following observations in a message given in the Ambassador Auditorium following a sermon by Herbert W. Armstrong. Mr. Armstrong had just begun the process of putting Ambassador College, the ministry and church back on track:
". . . things were different around here -- 10, 12 years ago -- they were quite different.
"There was a spirit that pervaded this organization that you could practically touch. You could cut it with a knife -- everybody noticed it. Anybody stepping foot on this campus noticed it, whether he be a person from the Pasadena downtown area, somebody clear across the ocean or a hard-nosed businessman from the East or some other metropolitan center. We know what it is and, as I said you could practically touch it. You could sum it up. Everyone seemed to love everyone else. Everyone, of course, loved God, and as a consequence things seemed to be completely different in this organization.
"As time went on, however, things began to change just enough so that it wasn't quite the same any more. I wrote a memorandum on the subject -- a very long memorandum (about eight or nine pages) -- in 1971 to a man whom I still hold in the very highest regard. He . . . was a very active member and had a very elevated position. . . .
"As time went on we found people coming into the Work who were never here when the other spirit pervaded the institution. We had people coming in who found themselves in positions of some influence, of some power, of some authority, and they had never experienced the other attitude -- the attitude that went back just a few years. They found the spirit of competition. They saw a spirit of conflict -- quite different than what had been here before."
-- Transcript of Stan Rader's address, Worldwide News, July 3, 1978
Mr. Armstrong echoed the above sentiments in 1985, in a lengthy article written shortly before he died:
"All members need to be updated on the history of the Philadelphia era of God's one original Church as founded in A.D. 31 by Jesus Christ -- especially the past 15 years of its life. . . .
"Up through the 1960s, with new lost truths being continually restored to this era of God's Church, there had been little contention or opposition within the Church. But the wily Satan was not to allow this growth in harmony and peace and unity to continue without opposition. We were to learn the truth of Jesus' parable of the sower and the seed (Luke 8).
"The seed sown was the Word of God -- the Bible. The Word was being proclaimed over the United States, Canada, Britain, Europe and some other parts of the world. It fell on four types or classifications of people. The first and largest number were those by the wayside. They heard, but 'then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.' These were the millions who heard, but the truth of God's Word never sank in. There was no response from this largest number, though they did hear, at least in part.
"The second group were those on the rocks, who, when they heard, were interested and received the message with joy. Many of these were baptized. But they had no root, and temporarily believed, but because they lacked depth of purpose or capacity to grow spiritually, soon dropped out.
"The third group were among thorns. When they heard the message they were baptized. But the cares and interests of the world choked them. They still wanted to be like the world. They were liberals. They brought forth 'no fruit to perfection.'
"The fourth group, smallest of all, were those on 'good ground,' which kept the word and came out of the world, growing spiritually in character and biblical knowledge. They brought forth 'fruit with patience,' in various degrees (see also Matthew 13:23).
"So it has been, especially since about 1969 in God's Church. . . .
"These were the years when my commission required that I be absent from Pasadena, and traveling overseas to almost all parts of the world as many as 300 of the 365 days of the year. . . .
"The Church of God was being systematically liberalized, the broadcasting had gone from top to bottom in the world, and from spiritual effectiveness to almost total ineffectiveness. God says we are to judge by the fruits. During those liberal years, the Church was bearing virtually no fruit. The Plain Truth and publishing work also had become almost totally ineffective. Ambassador College had been destroyed as God's college. In 1978, after my 'resurrection' from total heart failure, I had to completely close Ambassador College at Pasadena, starting all over again, as in 1947, with one freshman class. The colleges in England and in Texas had already been closed. . . .
"The Church has taken on a new spiritual vitality. Ambassador College is once again God's college. . . .
"Those liberals who went out or were put out of the Church through 1979 have no idea of the difference in the Church today. It is as different as white is from black or up is from down. In those years, headquarters was filled with contention, political striving for status and power. The atmosphere was rife with doctrinal disputations and contentions. There's an old saying, 'When the cat's away, the mice begin to play.' "
-- Herbert W. Armstrong, Recent History of the Philadelphia Era of the Worldwide Church of God, Worldwide News, June 24, 1985
Mr. Armstrong explained fully, in a co-worker letter dated June 28, 1978, why God had withdrawn from -- been driven from (Ezekiel 8:6) -- Ambassador College in the 1970s due to extremely sinister forces working behind the scenes at a very high level within the ministry, obstructing the Government of God and causing the entire Church to go off-track. Mr. Armstrong's Co-Worker Letter of June 28, 1978
My Two-Year Hiatus From Ambassador College
1973-1975
1973-1975
My entire Ambassador College experience, including my senior year, coincided precisely with the "off-track" years described by Mr. Rader and Mr. Armstrong above. (Oh, how often I have wished I could have attended Ambassador when it was "on-track," and that it had never gone "off-track" in the first place!) When I arrived back home in Minneapolis I was so troubled, so worried that I counseled with the local pastor, Mr. Robert Jones, about it. Mr. Jones' advice was, "Stop worrying, so God can work with you!" I found that a book entitled "How to Stop Worrying and Start Living," by Dale Carnegie, helped me greatly at that time. One Day at a Time
Returning to the University of Minnsesota
I had withdrawn from Ambassador College in the spring of 1973, perplexed and unable to become a baptized member of the Worldwide Church of God. Prior to that time I had attended the University of Minnesota for two years (1969-1971) and Ambassador for two years (1971-1973). Now I returned to the University of Minnesota for two more years (1973-1975). I was unable to re-enter its Elementary Education program, but today I am grateful not to have become part of an educational system which teaches values in public schools contrary to those of the Holy Bible. For the following two years I studied history and theology from the secular point of view at the University of Minnesota in order to compare and contrast with my Ambassador College experience. My curriculum included such classes as "Ancient Israel," "Medieval Jewish Philosophy," "The History of Christianity," "The History of Religion in America," "Biblical Archaeology" and "The King James Bible as Literature." I graduated in 1975 with Associate of Liberal Arts and Bachelor of Elected Studies degrees.
The classes I took at the University of Minnesota during my two-year hiatus from Ambassador College indelibly impressed upon my mind the fact that modern scholars view the Bible through the eyeglasses of evolution, the documentary hypothesis and higher criticism. Many of today's university professors are well acquainted with the Bible but do not regard it as the inspired Word of God (II Timothy 3:16; 4:4; Daniel 12:9-10; I Corinthians 2:14). Unfortunately, religious students taking their courses are pressured to "cave in" to the scholarly community and abandon their sincere belief in the Bible (Luke 8:11-12; Romans 1:20-22; Hebrews 11:6; Proverbs 2:1-6). Regarding the Theory of Evolution
The classes I took at the University of Minnesota during my two-year hiatus from Ambassador College indelibly impressed upon my mind the fact that modern scholars view the Bible through the eyeglasses of evolution, the documentary hypothesis and higher criticism. Many of today's university professors are well acquainted with the Bible but do not regard it as the inspired Word of God (II Timothy 3:16; 4:4; Daniel 12:9-10; I Corinthians 2:14). Unfortunately, religious students taking their courses are pressured to "cave in" to the scholarly community and abandon their sincere belief in the Bible (Luke 8:11-12; Romans 1:20-22; Hebrews 11:6; Proverbs 2:1-6). Regarding the Theory of Evolution
". . . surveys have shown that even though 95% of freshmen entering college still believe there is a God, by the time they have absorbed four years of this world’s 'higher education' 95% of graduating seniors have become agnostics or atheists!"
-- Why Ambassador College Was Founded
For example, the professor who taught "Ancient Israel" spent three weeks discussing the documentary hypothesis -- a theory purporting that various names for God used in the first five books of the Bible indicate different sources of authorship, represented by the letters J, E, D and P. At the end of the three-week unit the professor said, "Now that we've covered this material, I'd like to know if anybody here still believes that Moses wrote the five Books of Moses?" Out of about three hundred students in the lecture hall I was the only one who responded. "Ah!," exclaimed the professor, putting me on the spot in front of everybody, "in that case I have a question for you!" He wanted me to explain an alleged contradiction between two Scriptures, Genesis 4:26 and Exodus 6:3, asking, "How could men have called on the name of the LORD in the days of Seth when God had not revealed that name until the time of Moses?" The Hebrew name used in these verses, transliterated into English, is JHVH or YHWH, often translated "Jehovah" or "Yahweh." The answer to the professor's question is that Moses knew this name of God when he wrote the Torah. Moses wrote in the Hebrew language which was, in all probability, not the language used before the flood (Genesis 11:1-9; Zephaniah 3:9). In Genesis 4:26 Moses was simply explaining that Seth and his descendants remained in contact with the one true God as the society around them became progressively more wicked -- they prayed to God using the language of their day.
An interesting parallel to the above is that, in 1972, Mr. Herbert Armstrong laid to rest a "sacred names" movement which had infiltrated the Worldwide Church of God. He did so by showing that New Testament writers frequently quoted Old Testament Scriptures, but used corresponding Greek equivalents for the names of God whenever they appeared in the text, not the Hebrew names. Hence, it is not necessary to use Hebrew names when we call on God today or discuss Him in our respective languages.
Another one of my classes, "The History of Christianity," was taught by a man who had written articles for the Catholic encyclopedia, headed an archaeological dig at Sardis (Rev. 3:1-6) and pastored a large Protestant congregation in the Twin Cities. This renowned professor learned that I believed all books of the Old and New Testaments were written by their expressly stated authors (II Timothy 3:16) in spite of the claims of higher critics and what he was teaching in class. He required me to write a term paper demonstrating that I at least understood biblical criticism, even though I took the Bible literally, before he would allow me to pass his class. He returned the paper to me with the words, "I'm convinced," written clearly at the end.
An interesting parallel to the above is that, in 1972, Mr. Herbert Armstrong laid to rest a "sacred names" movement which had infiltrated the Worldwide Church of God. He did so by showing that New Testament writers frequently quoted Old Testament Scriptures, but used corresponding Greek equivalents for the names of God whenever they appeared in the text, not the Hebrew names. Hence, it is not necessary to use Hebrew names when we call on God today or discuss Him in our respective languages.
Another one of my classes, "The History of Christianity," was taught by a man who had written articles for the Catholic encyclopedia, headed an archaeological dig at Sardis (Rev. 3:1-6) and pastored a large Protestant congregation in the Twin Cities. This renowned professor learned that I believed all books of the Old and New Testaments were written by their expressly stated authors (II Timothy 3:16) in spite of the claims of higher critics and what he was teaching in class. He required me to write a term paper demonstrating that I at least understood biblical criticism, even though I took the Bible literally, before he would allow me to pass his class. He returned the paper to me with the words, "I'm convinced," written clearly at the end.
Discovering the Seven Millennial Days of Human History
At this point in the story I must backtrack a little. One of the subjects I had studied intensively while attending Ambassador College, in conjunction with my history and theology classes, was that of Bible chronology. The importance of this subject had been impressed on my mind by one of my favorite teachers at Ambassador, Ernest L. Martin, head of the Theology Department in 1973. He taught that chronology is the backbone of history, and, along with geography and events is one of the three elements necessary for a thorough and proper understanding of history. Dr. Martin showed in class how to bridge certain gaps in the chronology. I had wanted to learn more about history as taught at Ambassador College, and to understand the biblical foundation for the doctrine of a 7,000-year plan -- for Mr. Armstrong taught that the seventh day of Creation, the weekly Sabbath, pictured the Millennium of Revelation 20, also known as "The World Tomorrow" or "Seventh Millennial Day":
"For this grand and glorious purpose, God has marked out a duration of SEVEN THOUSAND YEARS! Each 24-hour day of the Genesis 1 creation was a type of the seven millennial days of the spiritual creation.
"Except for those whom God specially and individually calls, for the first six millennial days, God leaves man to WRITE his lesson in human experience. Man made the CHOICE of relying on himself under sway and influence of Satan. God is allowing man to DEMONSTRATE beyond question his helplessness -- without God's Holy Spirit -- to live in a way that produces peace, happiness, and universal abundance.
"Or, the parallel: God is allowing Satan the six millennial days for his labor of deception and evil. And on that seventh millennial day he shall not be allowed to do any of his evil work -- he shall be imprisoned, while the living Christ brings TRUTH and SALVATION to the world."
-- Herbert W. Armstrong, "Why Were You Born?," 1957, 1972
I had visited Dr. Martin frequently in his office with my questions about chronology and made, for my own benefit, historical charts encompassing the entire panorama of 6,000 years. I had come to see, while still at Ambassador, that there were three major divisions of human history, each covering approximately 2,000 years. The first period extended from Adam to Abraham, the second from Abraham to Christ, and the third from Christ to our time. The vast majority of the Bible story was contained in the second, or middle division. ELM on Chronology -- Chronological Charts
Dr. Martin teaching class; that's me down front taking notes.
Now, to return to the point in the story from which I backtracked: During the fall quarter of 1973, about six months after I had withdrawn from Ambassador College, my mind was on the subject of history due to the course of study I was pursuing at the University of Minnesota. One evening a question popped into my mind -- out of "nowhere," out of "a clear blue sky," as it were -- as I was studying one of my college textbooks. The question was: "If there is a 7,000-year plan of human history as taught by Mr. Armstrong, then could the first six days of Creation picture the first six millenniums, as the Sabbath pictures the seventh?" At first I tried to dismiss this thought from my mind -- to reject it as nonsense -- but it kept returning again and again as if some mysterious unseen power was trying to gain my attention.
"If there is a 7,000-year plan of human history as taught by Mr. Armstrong, then could the first six days of Creation picture the first six millenniums, as the Sabbath pictures the seventh?"
I put down the textbook I had been reading and pulled out the charts of biblical chronology I had made while at Ambassador College. They were buried under a stack of notebooks, folders and papers in a large desk drawer; I had not looked at them since attending Ambassador. I located a chart labeled "Overall Perspective of Bible Chronology," opened my Bible to the Genesis Creation Account and compared it to the chart. To my astonishment I saw the Seven Millennial Days of Human History instantly! I found that the Creation Account dovetailed perfectly with Bible chronology. The similarities and parallels were so clear that a child could understand them. The Genesis Creation Account was like a divine blueprint of history! Overview
Over the next few weeks I wrote down my findings and was baptized by a minister of the Worldwide Church of God on December 27, 1973 [just prior to the "ministerial rebellion" of 1974 mentioned in Mr. Armstrong's Co-Worker Letter of June 28, 1978]. The man who baptized me was one of the 35 ministers who left the Church in the spring of 1974, but I was baptized in good conscience and aware that God had answered my prayer of three years earlier -- showing me that He was on the side of the Worldwide Church of God, as opposed to that of mainstream Christianity. The seven millennial days provided the "grand context" for understanding the Bible (Isaiah 29:11; Daniel 12:4, 9-10) and confirmed many of the basic teachings of the Worldwide Church of God including the seventh-day Sabbath, the 7,000-year plan and the compatibility of the Law of God (Third Millennial Day) with the Spirit of God (Fifth Millennial Day). The seven millennial days also constituted proof that God existed, that the Bible was His Word and that Mr. Armstrong was indeed God's true servant -- a lone voice crying out in the midst of a Babylon of religious confusion -- for no other world evangelist was preaching God's 7,000-year plan (e.g., the Pope wasn't doing it; Billy Graham wasn't doing it). Only Herbert W. Armstrong was announcing the Good News of the World Tomorrow -- the Seventh Millennial Day of human history -- all around the world, precisely when it needed to be proclaimed, as the end of the 6,000-year period was drawing near (Matthew 24:14). The Basic Questions
Over the next few weeks I wrote down my findings and was baptized by a minister of the Worldwide Church of God on December 27, 1973 [just prior to the "ministerial rebellion" of 1974 mentioned in Mr. Armstrong's Co-Worker Letter of June 28, 1978]. The man who baptized me was one of the 35 ministers who left the Church in the spring of 1974, but I was baptized in good conscience and aware that God had answered my prayer of three years earlier -- showing me that He was on the side of the Worldwide Church of God, as opposed to that of mainstream Christianity. The seven millennial days provided the "grand context" for understanding the Bible (Isaiah 29:11; Daniel 12:4, 9-10) and confirmed many of the basic teachings of the Worldwide Church of God including the seventh-day Sabbath, the 7,000-year plan and the compatibility of the Law of God (Third Millennial Day) with the Spirit of God (Fifth Millennial Day). The seven millennial days also constituted proof that God existed, that the Bible was His Word and that Mr. Armstrong was indeed God's true servant -- a lone voice crying out in the midst of a Babylon of religious confusion -- for no other world evangelist was preaching God's 7,000-year plan (e.g., the Pope wasn't doing it; Billy Graham wasn't doing it). Only Herbert W. Armstrong was announcing the Good News of the World Tomorrow -- the Seventh Millennial Day of human history -- all around the world, precisely when it needed to be proclaimed, as the end of the 6,000-year period was drawing near (Matthew 24:14). The Basic Questions
"Meanwhile, in the spring of 1974, there was a major rebellion among some 35 ministers brought on primarily because of their opposition to Garner Ted being brought back into a limited top executive authority (WHICH AUTHORITY, AS I WILL LATER SHOW, HE ABUSED AND FAR EXCEEDED). . . . It had been intended as a 'coup' to wrest entire control of the Church from Garner Ted, and of course from myself.
"But we with God's guidance 'broke the back' of that rebellion, though we lost 35 ministers."
-- Mr. Armstrong's Co-Worker Letter of June 28, 1978
"The Lord is near to all who call upon Him,
To all who call upon Him in truth.
He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him;
He also will hear their cry and save them."
(Psalm 145:18-19)
"Such basic truths are revealed, not thought out in any human mind. They come from God, not man! And in all biblically recorded cases the initiative was God's!
" . . . I repeat, at this point, this is the crux of the whole matter, the initiative is God's. His purpose shall stand. The world is full of religions that originated in the imagination, reasoning and speculating of certain humans. But they had no true basis to reason from. The TRUTH is REVEALED from God!"
-- Herbert W. Armstrong, "Mystery of the Ages"
(Introduction, "How the Seven Mysteries were Revealed,"
section "The Source of TRUTH")
It should be noted that Mr. Armstrong wrote an editorial in the February, 1972 issue of Tomorrow's World magazine in which he apologized for the Church having appeared to set dates concerning end-time events. II Peter 3 should be studied in this context -- the fact that Christ did not return during the apostle's lifetime does not nullify the fact that He is certain to come (Acts 1:10-11; Revelation 22:20) and that all biblical prophecies will be fulfilled according to God's timetable (Matthew 5:17-18; Luke 21:22; Acts 1:6-7; 3:18-21). We are instructed always to be ready and watching (Mark 13:37; Luke 12:40; 21:34-36). Mr. Armstrong often stated the coincidence, or fact that God called and ordained him precisely 1,900 years after the original apostles were called and ordained. We can date the year 27 A.D. in terms of Bible chronology and reckon confidently from that point to the beginning of Mr. Armstrong's calling in 1927. When all the pieces are assembled it becomes clear that 6,000 years of human history have not yet elapsed. HWA on 19-Year Time Cycles -- ELM on Chronology -- The Words of the Prophets Carry Authority
"Let your waist be girded and your lamps burning; and you yourselves be like men who wait for their master, when he will return from the wedding, that when he comes and knocks they may open to him immediately. Blessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes, will find watching. Assuredly, I say to you that he will gird himself and have them sit down to eat, and will come and serve them. And if he should come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants. But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect."
(Luke 12:35-40)
"But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night. . . ."
(II Peter 3:10)
"For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night."
(I Thessalonians 5:2)
"Plan your life as if Christ isn't coming for two hundred years, but live morally as if He is coming tonight!"
-- Advice given by Herbert W. Armstrong to a handful of senior students gathered around his dinner table on March 1, 1976
Betrothal, Marriage, and Returning to Ambassador
I wanted to return to Ambassador College, and wrote the following on my application for readmission, dated October 30, 1974:
"I had come to Ambassador College seeking the true church of God. When, after two years of deep study and scrutinization, I had doubts as to whether or not I had found that church, I felt it would be best for me to withdraw from the college and try to resolve the problems.
"Since my withdrawal from Ambassador College, I have found solid answers to every question or doubt which plagued me, in a manner which is, to me, nothing short of miraculous. All problems have been resolved and I have become a baptized member of the Worldwide Church of God.
"I desire to be readmitted because I want to be a part of the Work of God actively. I have proved that this is the Work of God in spite of problems I perceived were in it. I believe this Work, this church, needs dedication, fervency and unity, as well as understanding, like never before. I think that, if given the chance, I can help make a significant contribution toward that end. . . .
"I have written a rather lengthy paper entitled 'The Meaning of History' which, according to Dr. Dorothy's office, has been turned over to the task force on prophecy. Upon readmission, I would have opportunity to discuss with far greater ease than I can do now, certain concepts I feel will vitally benefit the church, with those in the departments of history and theology."
-- Matthew Kalliman
Application for Readmission to Ambassador College
October 30, 1974
During my two-year hiatus from Ambassador College I became acquainted with a girl in the local Minneapolis Church choir who sang beautifully and loved folk music as much as I did. We both played guitar, and we began to sing folk songs together. In 1974 I wrote the first six "Millennial Day Songs," having already written "The Mountain Song" representing the World Tomorrow in 1972 (after hearing a sermon at headquarters by Dr. Herman L. Hoeh in which he stated that the Church of God was "culturally barren" except for the songs of Dwight Armstrong, and he encouraged anyone who could do so to add to that body of culture), and we performed the seven millennial day songs for the Twin Cities congregations, along with other songs written by our friend Jim Hargarten. Gathered From the Nations -- And There is Peace
My studies had led me to understand the subject of betrothal in the Bible, so Sharron and I were betrothed for a year, and then fully married on July 27, 1975.
My studies had led me to understand the subject of betrothal in the Bible, so Sharron and I were betrothed for a year, and then fully married on July 27, 1975.
"The present relationship of Christ and the Church is actually that of a bride and groom expecting to be married. In the Bible, a young man and woman were betrothed before they were fully married. During the betrothal period the couple did not live together, but were reckoned as bound, or promised to one another as husband and wife (Matthew 1:18-25; Deuteronomy 22:22-29). Christ and the Church are presently betrothed. Paul wrote,
" 'For I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ' (II Corinthians 11:2).
"Betrothal is a beautiful custom given to Israel by God and being used by Christ today. It gives a young couple time to grow together in unity and harmony before they live together.
"Christ is preparing for marriage right now, upon the Sixth Millennial Day. He earnestly wants to help His betrothed wife, the Church, prepare for the marriage."
(The Sixth Millennial Day)
Wedding day!
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At Lake of the Isles, Minneapolis
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My application for readmission to Ambassador College had been approved, so Sharron and I traveled to Pasadena shortly after our wedding in order to complete my senior year.
My Senior Year at Ambassador College
1975-1976
1975-1976
Performing Special Music at Headquarters
I had been accepted at Ambassador College for the 1975-1976 school year. Sharron and I lived off-campus as married students, with Sharron taking classes part-time and working in the college's Radio Production Department. We sang in the Ambassador Chorale and, during the second semester were given opportunity to perform special music three times in the Ambassador Auditorium, and for congregations throughout the Pasadena and southern California areas as far as Bakersfield and San Diego.
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The man in charge of scheduling special music for the Ambassador Auditorium was Mr. John D. Schroeder. We auditioned before Mr. Schroeder with The Mountain Song. At the end of our performance Mr. Schroeder had tears in his eyes. He said he really wanted to schedule us but was afraid of criticism from high-ranking Church officials and their wives because guitars had never been used in the Ambassador Auditorium before. The construction of the auditorium had been completed in 1974 during the two-year hiatus between my junior and senior years. Mr. Schroeder scheduled a second audition before Mr. Garner Ted Armstrong. Mr. GTA didn't show up for the audition, so Mr. Schroeder scheduled us to perform on his own authority. He told me that the greek word translated "harps" in the book of Revelation was the root of the english word "guitar." The Mountain Song -- Ambassador Auditorium
"After much prayer about it to learn God's will, I was allowed to build the finest modern auditorium on this earth -- the Ambassador Auditorium in Pasadena, California. But I did much thinking and planning -- I engaged the largest and best firm of architects and engineers in the world to design my general idea of such an edifice into finished PLANNING. We were twelve years thinking out, designing and putting into actual plans and blueprints this Auditorium before even breaking ground. Every cubic inch of the Auditorium was designed on paper before a single cubic inch went into production.
"How much more, then, must the Great God and the Word have thought out, planned, and designed in their minds before the actual Creation?"
-- Herbert W. Armstrong
The Incredible Human Potential
Chapter IV, "Pre-existence Before the Material Creation"
After performing in the Ambassador Auditorium we received the following memo from Mr. Schroeder:
Dear Kallimans --
Just a short note to thank you so very much for your warm performance Sabbath. Your music speaks heart to heart, thought to thought. In my opinion the open, sincere, intelligent happiness you project is at the heart of what should define most -- if not all -- sacred music.
Personally, I am immensely impressed, immensely grateful. You may have smashed an icon or two, and there may have been some raised eyebrows. But I'd wager nobody will take you to task on the matter of heart.
Heart.
You forced us all to be involved, to relate, and to enjoy with you that very special day made for man.
Wonderful stuff.
Sincerely,
John S.
-- John D. Schroeder, musical director at Ambassador College, March 9, 1976, after scheduling us to perform special music in the Ambassador Auditorium
Bringing the Millennial Days to Headquarters
Having returned to Ambassador College, I brought the Seven Millennial Days to the attention of the Theology Department, and to the attention of Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong. Their reactions were totally opposite from one another -- as different as night is from day.
Before I brought the millennial days to the Theology Department, one of the history professors, Mr. Roy Schultz, told me, "The only thing that amazes me is that no one ever thought of this before!" Also, an instructor in international relations, Mrs. Dorothy Lacour, said to me, "This is brilliant -- but the Theology Department will reject it!" She named members of the department individually and predicted accurately how each one would react.
I learned that Dr. Charles Dorothy, with whom I had corresponded during my two-year hiatus from Ambassador College, sent a copy of my paper to Mr. Fred Coulter, a minister of the Worldwide Church of God in Monterrey, California. Mr. Coulter contacted me while I was in Pasadena requesting a meeting. He traveled to the campus, met Sharron and me in the college student center and said that he would like to publish my paper as a book with additional material written by himself, naming both of us as co-authors. He wanted to call the book, "A Day is as a Thousand Years!" I denied Mr. Coulter permission because I felt the material should go to Mr. Armstrong first. Mr. Coulter, however, didn't think I'd be able to get the material to Mr. Armstrong. "You're a dreamer!," he exclaimed, "You'll never get this to Mr. Armstrong!" [Was this because Mr. Armstrong's son forbade anyone to talk to his father without going through his office, on pain of being fired, as mentioned in Mr. Armstrong's Co-Worker Letter of June 28, 1978?]
Before I brought the millennial days to the Theology Department, one of the history professors, Mr. Roy Schultz, told me, "The only thing that amazes me is that no one ever thought of this before!" Also, an instructor in international relations, Mrs. Dorothy Lacour, said to me, "This is brilliant -- but the Theology Department will reject it!" She named members of the department individually and predicted accurately how each one would react.
I learned that Dr. Charles Dorothy, with whom I had corresponded during my two-year hiatus from Ambassador College, sent a copy of my paper to Mr. Fred Coulter, a minister of the Worldwide Church of God in Monterrey, California. Mr. Coulter contacted me while I was in Pasadena requesting a meeting. He traveled to the campus, met Sharron and me in the college student center and said that he would like to publish my paper as a book with additional material written by himself, naming both of us as co-authors. He wanted to call the book, "A Day is as a Thousand Years!" I denied Mr. Coulter permission because I felt the material should go to Mr. Armstrong first. Mr. Coulter, however, didn't think I'd be able to get the material to Mr. Armstrong. "You're a dreamer!," he exclaimed, "You'll never get this to Mr. Armstrong!" [Was this because Mr. Armstrong's son forbade anyone to talk to his father without going through his office, on pain of being fired, as mentioned in Mr. Armstrong's Co-Worker Letter of June 28, 1978?]
"Garner Ted was maneuvering so that NO ONE DARED GO ABOVE HIM -- under threat of being fired! Many top ranking men of senior years of service would give solemn AFFIDAVITS to that truth. Shutting off all above him, my son, lusting for POWER, shut off also THOSE ABOVE ME -- Jesus Christ and Almighty GOD."
-- Mr. Armstrong's Co-Worker Letter of June 28, 1978
During that school year I became aware that much of the faculty and Theology Department had turned against the teachings of Herbert W. Armstrong. They had absorbed what Mr. Armstrong later described as the deadly leaven of higher education and liberalism -- the same "scholarly" approach toward the Bible I had been exposed to at the University of Minnesota -- and they "chipped away" at Mr. Armstrong's teachings daily in their classes. On one occasion a girl voiced her objection to what was being taught in class by raising her hand and saying with consternation, "But that's not what Mr. Armstrong teaches!" The teacher responded smugly by saying, "Frankly, students, we have outgrown the teachings of Herbert W. Armstrong!" (A statement which characterizes the main problem permeating the ministry today.) During that year I said to my wife, "I think God is teaching us there is a time NOT to follow our church leaders! If we had been created as angels and assigned to Lucifer, then -- if we blindly followed our leader -- we would have become demons!" Lucifer had once administered God's Government over those angels. Battle of the Universe
When I brought the seven millennial days to the attention of the Theology Department I found that most of its members had thrown out the doctrine of God's 7,000-year plan completely, even though Mr. Armstrong was teaching it continually. They called the seven millennial days my "theory" and tried to persuade me not to bring it to Mr. Armstrong. One man said to me, "There is no proof of the 7,000-year plan!" Another said, "What if 6,000 years goes by and nothing happens?" My response was, "You are employees of Mr. Armstrong and are expected to uphold his teachings, and Mr. Armstrong teaches the 7,000-year plan continually!" I was persistent. On one occasion the head of the Theology Department exploded at me in his office in a fit of rage, literally shouting, "This is HERESY, and as a minister of Jesus Christ I count it my duty to protect the Church from people like you! I command you in the name of Jesus Christ not to tell anyone else on campus about this -- and if you continue to believe it I will personally blackball you if you try to go through the ministerial trainee interviews in February!" Those interviews were for the purpose of being considered for hire by the Church.
On one occasion Mr. Roy Schultz, the history professor who believed the seven millennial days, and I were summoned to one of the classrooms for a private meeting with the head of the Theology Department, who tried to refute the millennial days once and for all. For an hour, aided by a blackboard, he launched a tirade against, mocked and ridiculed the entire concept. After this, and after I had been threatened as described above, Mr. Schultz seemed afraid to talk to me anymore. I perceived that he had been threatened too.
The head of the Theology Department allowed me to take a graduate-level course he was teaching called "Hebrew Prophets/New Testament Eschatology" which covered the subject of prophecy in the Old and New Testaments. It was a class intended for field ministers who were brought in to Pasadena on a refresher program. There were about twenty ministers in the class, along with one other undergraduate student and me. It was held on the second floor of Ambassador Hall. One day after class I returned to the classroom to pick up a notebook I had forgotten there. To my surprise I found one of the younger ministers sitting alone, weeping, with his head in his hands and a well-marked Bible on the table in front of him, open. "What's the matter?," I asked sympathetically, "Is there anything I can do to help?" He looked at me with tears in his eyes and said, "All these markings in my Bible don't mean anything to me anymore!" I put my hand on this young minister's shoulder and said to him, "Look, I take everything taught in this class with a giant grain of salt. I'm sure that if we hold on to God's truth which Mr. Armstrong teaches and wait patiently, that everything will turn out all right in the end!" Two years later God used Mr. Armstrong to put the entire college and Church back on track. I sincerely hope that this young minister endured and is continuing to abide on the true foundation today -- for THE WORD OF GOD IS THE FOUNDATION OF KNOWLEDGE (Matthew 7:24-27; I Corinthians 3:10-13; John 15:1-8; 17:14-19). Introduction to the Book of Doctrines -- Doctrine Six
When I brought the seven millennial days to the attention of the Theology Department I found that most of its members had thrown out the doctrine of God's 7,000-year plan completely, even though Mr. Armstrong was teaching it continually. They called the seven millennial days my "theory" and tried to persuade me not to bring it to Mr. Armstrong. One man said to me, "There is no proof of the 7,000-year plan!" Another said, "What if 6,000 years goes by and nothing happens?" My response was, "You are employees of Mr. Armstrong and are expected to uphold his teachings, and Mr. Armstrong teaches the 7,000-year plan continually!" I was persistent. On one occasion the head of the Theology Department exploded at me in his office in a fit of rage, literally shouting, "This is HERESY, and as a minister of Jesus Christ I count it my duty to protect the Church from people like you! I command you in the name of Jesus Christ not to tell anyone else on campus about this -- and if you continue to believe it I will personally blackball you if you try to go through the ministerial trainee interviews in February!" Those interviews were for the purpose of being considered for hire by the Church.
On one occasion Mr. Roy Schultz, the history professor who believed the seven millennial days, and I were summoned to one of the classrooms for a private meeting with the head of the Theology Department, who tried to refute the millennial days once and for all. For an hour, aided by a blackboard, he launched a tirade against, mocked and ridiculed the entire concept. After this, and after I had been threatened as described above, Mr. Schultz seemed afraid to talk to me anymore. I perceived that he had been threatened too.
The head of the Theology Department allowed me to take a graduate-level course he was teaching called "Hebrew Prophets/New Testament Eschatology" which covered the subject of prophecy in the Old and New Testaments. It was a class intended for field ministers who were brought in to Pasadena on a refresher program. There were about twenty ministers in the class, along with one other undergraduate student and me. It was held on the second floor of Ambassador Hall. One day after class I returned to the classroom to pick up a notebook I had forgotten there. To my surprise I found one of the younger ministers sitting alone, weeping, with his head in his hands and a well-marked Bible on the table in front of him, open. "What's the matter?," I asked sympathetically, "Is there anything I can do to help?" He looked at me with tears in his eyes and said, "All these markings in my Bible don't mean anything to me anymore!" I put my hand on this young minister's shoulder and said to him, "Look, I take everything taught in this class with a giant grain of salt. I'm sure that if we hold on to God's truth which Mr. Armstrong teaches and wait patiently, that everything will turn out all right in the end!" Two years later God used Mr. Armstrong to put the entire college and Church back on track. I sincerely hope that this young minister endured and is continuing to abide on the true foundation today -- for THE WORD OF GOD IS THE FOUNDATION OF KNOWLEDGE (Matthew 7:24-27; I Corinthians 3:10-13; John 15:1-8; 17:14-19). Introduction to the Book of Doctrines -- Doctrine Six
"Then Jesus said to them, 'Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.' . . . .
"Then they understood that He did not tell them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees."
(Matthew 16:6, 12)
The head of the Theology Department -- who had called the seven millennial days "HERESY" -- assigned everyone in this class to write a term paper on prophecy and to present it to the class. I asked him if I could present my paper on the millennial days. To my utter surprise he gave me permission to do so. During my presentation I drew a diagram of the days of Creation on the blackboard, then sketched a chart representing Bible chronology directly beneath it. I proceeded to demonstrate the connection between the seven days of Creation and the seven millenniums of history. After class three of the ministers came up to me privately, very excited about what they had seen and heard that day. One of them was Mr. Paul Suckling. He said enthusiastically, "I can hardly wait until 'the chief' [Mr. Herbert Armstrong] gets ahold of this!" Twenty-six years later I saw Mr. Suckling at a Feast of Tabernacles in Mont-Sainte-Anne, Quebec. He remembered me instantly and told me he had been preaching the seven millennial days in congregations all over the world! He opened his briefcase and showed me his Bible, in which he had copied extensively from my paper onto its opening pages. He also sent me a list of the many cities in which he had taught the message.
A minister by the name of Gerald Waterhouse gave a sermon for the headquarters Church during my senior year which I greatly appreciated and which helped me weather the storms I was facing that year. In his sermon Mr. Waterhouse said he had once been in the navy. He compared the Church to a ship, and Mr. Herbert Armstrong to the captain of the ship. "ANY MINISTER WHO STEPS OUT OF LINE OF MR. ARMSTRONG'S AUTHORITY," Mr. Waterhouse declared, "NO LONGER CARRIES GOD'S AUTHORITY!" I surmised that Mr. Waterhouse was aware of what was going on behind the scenes at headquarters and that it took a great deal of courage for him to give that sermon.
During the second semester the head of the Theology Department was replaced by another man who was more mild-mannered than the first, but of whom Mrs. Dorothy Lacour had warned me was "smarter than a whip." I went to this man with the seven millennial days. His response was, "You have built a grand organizer of history which is fine if it helps you personally, but I don't think this is something you should try to take to Mr. Armstrong." I did not, however, "invent" the seven millennial days -- they were new truth which had come from God! This man, in his position, should have helped me bring them to Mr. Armstrong. After all, Mr. Armstrong did teach the 7,000-year plan, and did teach that the seventh day of Creation pictures the seventh millennium. It would be incongruous to say that the first six days do not picture the first six millenniums when it can be demonstrated that they do. I was aware that the Theology Department no longer believed the 7,000-year plan, that most of its members thought they knew more than the Apostle who employed them -- whom they were supposed to represent -- and that they were infected with what Mr. Armstrong later called the deadly leaven of higher education. Did the Theology Department fear that Mr. Armstrong might believe the seven millennial days if he were exposed to the idea? [And/or did they themselves fear being fired by Mr. Armstrong's son, as mentioned in Mr. Armstrong's Co-Worker Letter of June 28, 1978?]
A minister by the name of Gerald Waterhouse gave a sermon for the headquarters Church during my senior year which I greatly appreciated and which helped me weather the storms I was facing that year. In his sermon Mr. Waterhouse said he had once been in the navy. He compared the Church to a ship, and Mr. Herbert Armstrong to the captain of the ship. "ANY MINISTER WHO STEPS OUT OF LINE OF MR. ARMSTRONG'S AUTHORITY," Mr. Waterhouse declared, "NO LONGER CARRIES GOD'S AUTHORITY!" I surmised that Mr. Waterhouse was aware of what was going on behind the scenes at headquarters and that it took a great deal of courage for him to give that sermon.
During the second semester the head of the Theology Department was replaced by another man who was more mild-mannered than the first, but of whom Mrs. Dorothy Lacour had warned me was "smarter than a whip." I went to this man with the seven millennial days. His response was, "You have built a grand organizer of history which is fine if it helps you personally, but I don't think this is something you should try to take to Mr. Armstrong." I did not, however, "invent" the seven millennial days -- they were new truth which had come from God! This man, in his position, should have helped me bring them to Mr. Armstrong. After all, Mr. Armstrong did teach the 7,000-year plan, and did teach that the seventh day of Creation pictures the seventh millennium. It would be incongruous to say that the first six days do not picture the first six millenniums when it can be demonstrated that they do. I was aware that the Theology Department no longer believed the 7,000-year plan, that most of its members thought they knew more than the Apostle who employed them -- whom they were supposed to represent -- and that they were infected with what Mr. Armstrong later called the deadly leaven of higher education. Did the Theology Department fear that Mr. Armstrong might believe the seven millennial days if he were exposed to the idea? [And/or did they themselves fear being fired by Mr. Armstrong's son, as mentioned in Mr. Armstrong's Co-Worker Letter of June 28, 1978?]
"I began to realize there was a NEW conspiracy actuated by Satan in an effort to destroy God's Church subtly going on behind my back. As I stated, my son had demoted and removed to minor positions the top ranking ministers, senior in years of service -- THOSE MEN HE KNEW WOULD BE LOYAL TO THE CHURCH under God's Apostle -- which active removal HE HAD NO AUTHORITY TO DO. In their minor positions of demotion, THESE MEN WERE THREATENED WITH BEING FIRED ENTIRELY IF THEY COMMUNICATED AT ALL WITH ME! Garner Ted moved to surround himself with men he thought would be loyal to him personally above being loyal to the CHURCH and to GOD. . . .
"Garner Ted was maneuvering so that NO ONE DARED GO ABOVE HIM -- under threat of being fired! Many top ranking men of senior years of service would give solemn AFFIDAVITS to that truth. Shutting off all above him, my son, lusting for POWER, shut off also THOSE ABOVE ME -- Jesus Christ and Almighty GOD."
-- Mr. Armstrong's Co-Worker Letter of June 28, 1978
Rejection from Being Hired by the Church
The first question I was asked during the ministerial trainee interviews in February, posed by this new head of the Theology Department, was, "Matt, do you still believe your theory?" "Yes," I answered warily (remembering that his predecessor said he would blackball me if I persisted in my belief). [In retrospect, as in Matthew 21:23-27 I should have asked him, "Does Mr. Armstrong believe the 7000-year plan?" If he were to answer, "Yes," then I could have said, "Then why don't you and the rest of the Theology Department believe it too?" If he were to avoid answering my question, then I might have refrained from answering his question also.] His second question was, "Would you preach it from the pulpit if you were hired?" I said, "Not without Church approval, but I would reserve the right to believe it." [This website is a good indicator of what I would have preached if I had been hired.] I briefly explained the millennial days to the seven men on the panel because I did not feel they knew what the head of the Theology Department was referring to in his opening questions. I also mentioned the Theology Department's rejection of the millennial days and commented on the state of the college, but was courteous and respectful in doing so. To my horror, the interview degenerated quickly after these things. One of the men said contemptuously, "Would you like to know what I think of you? I think you'd go to work for any church that would hire you!" I asked the men on the panel if they listened to Mr. Armstrong when he gave his sermons, because the Pastor General had declared from the pulpit with great emphasis, "God has withdrawn His blessing from this Church and I’m going to find out the reason why!" I knew the Theology Department had turned away from the teachings of Mr. Armstrong and I felt certain that that was the reason why God had withdrawn His blessing. I noticed that Mr. Charles Oehlman, who had once approved me for baptism, hung his head during most of the interview and said nothing. I realized I was being summarily rejected from being hired as a ministerial trainee during that first interview. At the conclusion of the interview Mr. Dean Blackwell said, "I don't understand anything that's happened here today!" And Now Christ Sets Church Back on Track Doctrinally!
At the beginning of the second session, composed of a different team of interviewers, I interrupted the first questioner and said sorrowfully to all of the men present, "I really don't think there's any need to conduct this second interview because I was already rejected in the first one." They were incredulous and wanted to know more. Most of the time was spent discussing what had happened in the first interview and my experiences during the school year leading up to it. One of the men, Mr. Keith Oberlander, tried to encourage me by saying, "I would just like you to know that I heard you and your wife perform in the Imperial Gym last Sabbath and that, on that occasion, I got more out of your special music than I did from the sermonette!" The minister in charge, Mr. Stephen Martin, closed the interview with the sympathetic comment, "I think you're going to carry this with you for a long time." I responded, "I think you're right."
After the conclusion of those two interviews in the Hall of Administration on that February afternoon in 1976 (the worst day of my life), I walked home slowly to our apartment on Marengo Boulevard and cried on my bed for five hours, until my eyeballs felt as dry as ancient parchment and I literally couldn't cry any longer. I realized I had been rejected from being hired for a career I had been hoping for and counting on, and that, after seven years of college I had no idea where my life would go from there. My wife was pregnant. I had earnestly desired to become part of the Work which God was doing through Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong -- spreading the precious truth of the Bible throughout the world, helping to draw people to the hope of the Kingdom of God -- and to devote my life to God's Work in whatever way He directed. The original purpose of Ambassador College was to train personnel for that Work. Now I felt the full impact of my senior year come crashing down upon me. It was disillusioning and disheartening to learn that Church officials would say, in effect, "We don't want you -- we hate you -- we reject you!," in response to an Ambassador student trying to bring what was certainly an important new truth to them. I had believed God would work a miracle that day and grant me success in those interviews in spite of the Theology Department's rejection of the seven millennial days. But now I felt like Joseph when his brothers rejected him (Genesis 37:28; 42:21). Three days later I received an official letter of rejection from the Church.
At the beginning of the second session, composed of a different team of interviewers, I interrupted the first questioner and said sorrowfully to all of the men present, "I really don't think there's any need to conduct this second interview because I was already rejected in the first one." They were incredulous and wanted to know more. Most of the time was spent discussing what had happened in the first interview and my experiences during the school year leading up to it. One of the men, Mr. Keith Oberlander, tried to encourage me by saying, "I would just like you to know that I heard you and your wife perform in the Imperial Gym last Sabbath and that, on that occasion, I got more out of your special music than I did from the sermonette!" The minister in charge, Mr. Stephen Martin, closed the interview with the sympathetic comment, "I think you're going to carry this with you for a long time." I responded, "I think you're right."
After the conclusion of those two interviews in the Hall of Administration on that February afternoon in 1976 (the worst day of my life), I walked home slowly to our apartment on Marengo Boulevard and cried on my bed for five hours, until my eyeballs felt as dry as ancient parchment and I literally couldn't cry any longer. I realized I had been rejected from being hired for a career I had been hoping for and counting on, and that, after seven years of college I had no idea where my life would go from there. My wife was pregnant. I had earnestly desired to become part of the Work which God was doing through Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong -- spreading the precious truth of the Bible throughout the world, helping to draw people to the hope of the Kingdom of God -- and to devote my life to God's Work in whatever way He directed. The original purpose of Ambassador College was to train personnel for that Work. Now I felt the full impact of my senior year come crashing down upon me. It was disillusioning and disheartening to learn that Church officials would say, in effect, "We don't want you -- we hate you -- we reject you!," in response to an Ambassador student trying to bring what was certainly an important new truth to them. I had believed God would work a miracle that day and grant me success in those interviews in spite of the Theology Department's rejection of the seven millennial days. But now I felt like Joseph when his brothers rejected him (Genesis 37:28; 42:21). Three days later I received an official letter of rejection from the Church.
"Put my tears into your bottle;
Are they not in Your book?"
(Psalm 56:8)
"Blessed are you who weep now,
For you shall laugh."
(Luke 6:21)
"Ambassador College was started October 8, 1947. It was started for the SOLE PURPOSE as GOD'S OWN COLLEGE of training ministers and other needed administrative personnel for the Work."
-- Mr. Armstrong's Co-Worker Letter of June 28, 1978
THE BIBLE IS THE STORY OF THE SEVEN MILLENNIAL DAYS OF HUMAN HISTORY!!!
The Bible is a book about the Seven Millennial Days of human history. It doesn't say much about what happened before the First Millennial Day, or what will happen after the Seventh. But it says a GREAT DEAL about God's dealings with mankind during these Seven Millennial Days!
-- The Bible Speaks for Itself
In the above-stated context, the following biblical passage would certainly seem to apply:
"Then the voice which I heard from heaven spoke to me again and said, 'Go, take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel who stands on the sea and on the earth.'
"So I went to the angel and said to him, 'Give me the little book.'
"And he said to me, 'Take and eat it; and it will make your stomach bitter, but it will be as sweet as honey in your mouth.'
"Then I took the little book out of the angel's hand and ate it, and it was as sweet as honey in my mouth. But when I had eaten it, my stomach became bitter."
(Revelation 10:8-10)
In all honesty, it took about twenty years for me to recover fully from the emotional impact of being rejected by Church officials during my senior year at Ambassador College. During that time I frequently related to Jeremiah's description of himself in the third chapter of Lamentations, which I called "The Plight of the Prophet." I struggled for years to earn a living in jobs of very humbling means, and felt humiliated in the eyes of relatives, acquaintances and local ministers.
"It is good for a man to bear
The yoke in his youth.
"Let him sit alone and keep silent,
Because God has laid it on him;
Let him put his mouth in the dust --
There may yet be hope.
Let him give his cheek to the one who strikes him,
And be full of reproach.
"For the Lord will not cast off forever.
Though He causes grief,
Yet He will show compassion
According to the multitude of His mercies.
For He does not afflict willingly,
Nor grieve the children of men."
(Lamentations 3:27-33)
I have since come to recognize that Jesus Christ is in full charge of our lives; that He is training us for everlasting careers in the Kingdom of God; that to be in the First Resurrection at His Second Coming is the true meaning of success. He is the Captain, or Pioneer of our salvation who learned important lessons through suffering (Hebrews 2:10, 18; 5:7-9; 12:2-3; Isaiah 53:3; Psalm 118:22-23; Matthew 21:42; I Peter 2:7). The apostles instructed those who suffer with Christ that trials are an important part of the character-building process which help prepare us for eternal life (James 1:2-5, 12-13; Romans 5:3-4; I Corinthians 10:13; see also Philippians 3:10-14; I Peter 2:19-23; Matthew 5:3-12). Count Your Trials a Joy -- The Stone that was Rejected -- Doctrine Three -- The Strait and Narrow Way
Bringing the Millennial Days to Mr. Armstrong
A few weeks later, on March 1, 1976, God opened the door for me to bring the seven millennial days to Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong. I found him to be receptive and willing to listen. His demeanor radiated a refreshing childlike innocence. His reaction was enthusiastic. I had received an unexpected phone call that day from the class president, who invited my wife and me to attend dinner at Mr. Armstrong's home that evening. This would be the last time, he said, that Mr. Armstrong would be able to have students over during the school year. I accepted the invitation, of course. About ten students were in attendance. After a lovely get-acquainted session with Mr. Armstrong in his living room, a beautiful dinner at his dining room table and an interesting group discussion in his upstairs study, the group broke up for the evening. As the other students were leaving I asked the housekeeper quietly if my wife and I might remain and speak with Mr. Armstrong privately. She left us for a moment and returned with the message, "Mr. Armstrong will see you." Sharron and I sat down in the living room and waited for Mr. Armstrong. Soon he emerged, still dressed in his tuxedo, happy to see us. "What can I do for you?," he asked. I told Mr. Armstrong there was a subject I had been studying which I would like to tell him about. I proceeded to explain the seven millennial days to him thoroughly.
I began by asking, "Mr. Armstrong, when did you first come to understand God's 7,000-year plan?" Without hesitation he replied, "Why, forty-nine years ago" [1927], "when I saw that a thousand years are as a day to God!" He grasped the concept of the seven millennial days immediately and listened intently. I was impressed with the fact that Mr. Armstrong was well acquainted with the days of Creation, and able to anticipate some of my explanations before I gave them. For example, he perceived, even before my explanation, that "the greater light to rule the day" (Genesis 1:16) pictured Christ's First Coming on the Fourth Millennial Day (Luke 1:30-33; John 8:12). When we came to the Sixth Millennial Day I explained that the creation of Adam pictured the Second Coming of Christ to have dominion over the earth. At that point Mr. Armstrong raised a concern about the timing of Christ's Second Coming. He said, "But Christ doesn't come until the end of the 6,000 years!" I replied that the symbolism of the Fall Holy Days pictures Christ as coming before the seventh millennium begins, because the Day of Trumpets (which pictures Christ's Second Coming) precedes the Day of Atonement (which pictures Satan's banishment), and the Day of Atonement precedes the Feast of Tabernacles (which pictures the World Tomorrow, or Seventh Millennial Day). I mentioned also that the book of Revelation pictures Christ as coming before Satan is put away for a full thousand years. "These points place Christ's Second Coming on the Sixth Millennial Day, not the Seventh," I said to Mr. Armstrong, who nodded thoughtfully. At the conclusion of my explanation of the seven millennial days Mr. Armstrong slapped his knee with enthusiasm and exclaimed, "Say, I think you've GOT something there!"
Mr. Armstrong later wrote the following on pages 18-19 of his booklet, "NEVER BEFORE UNDERSTOOD -- Why Humanity Cannot Solve Its Evils":
I began by asking, "Mr. Armstrong, when did you first come to understand God's 7,000-year plan?" Without hesitation he replied, "Why, forty-nine years ago" [1927], "when I saw that a thousand years are as a day to God!" He grasped the concept of the seven millennial days immediately and listened intently. I was impressed with the fact that Mr. Armstrong was well acquainted with the days of Creation, and able to anticipate some of my explanations before I gave them. For example, he perceived, even before my explanation, that "the greater light to rule the day" (Genesis 1:16) pictured Christ's First Coming on the Fourth Millennial Day (Luke 1:30-33; John 8:12). When we came to the Sixth Millennial Day I explained that the creation of Adam pictured the Second Coming of Christ to have dominion over the earth. At that point Mr. Armstrong raised a concern about the timing of Christ's Second Coming. He said, "But Christ doesn't come until the end of the 6,000 years!" I replied that the symbolism of the Fall Holy Days pictures Christ as coming before the seventh millennium begins, because the Day of Trumpets (which pictures Christ's Second Coming) precedes the Day of Atonement (which pictures Satan's banishment), and the Day of Atonement precedes the Feast of Tabernacles (which pictures the World Tomorrow, or Seventh Millennial Day). I mentioned also that the book of Revelation pictures Christ as coming before Satan is put away for a full thousand years. "These points place Christ's Second Coming on the Sixth Millennial Day, not the Seventh," I said to Mr. Armstrong, who nodded thoughtfully. At the conclusion of my explanation of the seven millennial days Mr. Armstrong slapped his knee with enthusiasm and exclaimed, "Say, I think you've GOT something there!"
Mr. Armstrong later wrote the following on pages 18-19 of his booklet, "NEVER BEFORE UNDERSTOOD -- Why Humanity Cannot Solve Its Evils":
"With God, a thousand years are only as a day, and a day as a thousand years (II Peter 3:8). The six days of the first chapter of Genesis were a type of the six millennial days of man, swayed by Satan. The coming millennial day was typified by the seventh day Sabbath. . . .
"Is it mere coincidence that, as the sun brought the light of the day from the darkness of night on the fourth day of 'creation week,' Christ brought the light of truth out of the darkness of evil after 4,000 years? In Him was light. Yet most still loved darkness!"
-- Herbert W. Armstrong, NEVER BEFORE UNDERSTOOD -- Why Humanity Cannot Solve Its Evils
I refrained from telling Mr. Armstrong about my experiences in bringing the seven millennial days to the Theology Department that year, of my rejection from being hired by the Church for having believed them, or of the state of the college in general, because I felt I had already given him enough to think about for one evening. I left these matters in God's hands. We thanked Mr. Armstrong for his time and left quietly.
After this meeting with Mr. Armstrong God opened the door for the Millennial Day Songs album to be recorded in the Ambassador College TV studios.* Our performances of special music for the headquarters Churches had borne good fruit. I have long felt that this beautifully adorned album portraying God's seven millennial days, produced by members of the Church's editorial and graphics departments, is my true "diploma" from Ambassador College. Previously I had denied Mr. Fred Coulter permission to publish a book about the seven millennial days based on my paper because the concept was "new truth" and should be cleared by Mr. Armstrong first. But after this meeting with Mr. Armstrong I felt willing, in good conscience, to allow the seven millennial day songs to be published and made available to the public. Ours was the first album of religious music ever produced by and for members of the Worldwide Church of God, and was distributed nationally and internationally. Seven Millennial Day Songs
After this meeting with Mr. Armstrong God opened the door for the Millennial Day Songs album to be recorded in the Ambassador College TV studios.* Our performances of special music for the headquarters Churches had borne good fruit. I have long felt that this beautifully adorned album portraying God's seven millennial days, produced by members of the Church's editorial and graphics departments, is my true "diploma" from Ambassador College. Previously I had denied Mr. Fred Coulter permission to publish a book about the seven millennial days based on my paper because the concept was "new truth" and should be cleared by Mr. Armstrong first. But after this meeting with Mr. Armstrong I felt willing, in good conscience, to allow the seven millennial day songs to be published and made available to the public. Ours was the first album of religious music ever produced by and for members of the Worldwide Church of God, and was distributed nationally and internationally. Seven Millennial Day Songs
* The recording session for this album was originally scheduled to occur off-campus at a professional studio in Los Angeles, but at the time it was supposed to have occurred the studio's equipment refused to work! The man in charge of the project quickly called someone he knew at Ambassador College and had the session moved to the college's TV studios. I definitely felt that this unexplained phenomenon was providential.
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Why All of This is Important
The seven millennial days are the key* to understanding the New Heaven and Earth of Isaiah 65:17-25; II Peter 3:13 and other Scriptures. Just as the Lord made heaven and earth in six days and rested on the seventh day (Genesis 1:31-2:1; Exodus 20:11; 31:17), in like manner He is creating a New Heaven and Earth over the course of six millennial days of human history. The Seventh Millennial Day
* See Luke 11:52; Revelation 3:7-8; 4:1
* See Luke 11:52; Revelation 3:7-8; 4:1
All of this means that in our time God has opened His Book, the Holy Bible, to human understanding more than ever before. He now offers the people of the earth opportunity to enter into His holy "Millennial Sabbath Day" -- the Day of Jesus Christ; the world to come; a New Heaven and Earth -- which He has been preparing throughout the first six millennial days. Human beings who choose to remain unrighteous will not be allowed to enter into it (Revelation 22:6-21; Matthew 13:40-43, 47-50; Isaiah 65:12-25; 66:22-24; Malachi 4:1-3; II Peter 3:1-13). Good News
“ . . . anyone who wants to live on into the Seventh Millennial Day must become holy. The unrighteous will be excluded. Living through the fall holy days will be like traveling down a 'road' (the 'holy highway' mentioned in Isaiah 35 and elsewhere) that leads to the Utopia promised throughout the Bible.“
-- Overview
"Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, 'Who are these arrayed in white robes, and where did they come from?'
"And I said to him, 'Sir, you know.'
"So he said to me, 'These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation" [the time pictured by the Day of Trumpets] "and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb" [the time pictured by the Day of Atonement]. "Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple" [the time pictured by the Feast of Tabernacles -- a great multitude from many nations will become the first human generation of the World Tomorrow and shall be governed by Christ and the resurrected Saints]. "And He who sits on the throne will dwell among them. They shall neither hunger anymore nor thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any heat; for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.' " The Days of Trumpets and Atonement -- The Seventh Millennial Day -- The Prophets Upheld the Law of God
(Revelation 7:13-17; see Isaiah 49:10; 65:19 and Revelation 21:1-5)
The Bride of Christ (Ephesians 5:30-32; Revelation 19:7-9) consists of all the Saints from every age who will be gathered together and made immortal at the Second Coming of Christ -- one body with many members (I Corinthians 12:12-14; 15:50-55; I Thessalonians 4:15-18; II Thessalonians 2:1-2; Hebrews 12:22-24).
She includes the Old Testament Prophets and the New Testament Apostles who wrote the Bible (Luke 13:28; Ephesians 2:19-22), and has been commissioned by Christ to deliver God's Message to the world before the end of the age (Matthew 24:14; 28:18-20; Revelation 10:5-11).
-- Teachings of the Bible
Revelation 22
Post-Ambassador College Experiences (1976-Present)
and Exhortations for God's People
and Exhortations for God's People
" . . . exhort one another daily, while it is called 'Today,' lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin."
(Hebrews 3:13)
" . . . exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching."
(Hebrews 10:25)
In this section I would first like to say a few words about our music and record albums, then relate some of my post-Ambassador College experiences and observations about the state of God's Church today.
About Our Music
After graduating from Ambassador College I returned with Sharron to Minneapolis. Our first son, Samuel, was born in September, 1976.
The local minister in Minneapolis at that time was Mr. Robert Hoops. I developed a great deal of respect for Mr. Hoops and we came to have a good relationship. I told him about my experiences at the college and about my rejection from being hired. Mr. Hoops told me I should have been hired in the Church's musical department at twice the salary of a ministerial trainee, and he became a driving force in promoting our music at the local and regional levels.
I continued writing songs about the Bible. Sharron and I performed special music for congregations in the upper midwest regularly and were very well received. A full-length concert developed which was sponsored by the Minneapolis Church's young people's "ACTION" group backed by Mr. Hoops. We performed this concert locally, regionally and at the Wisconsin Dells feast site three years in a row (1977, 1978, 1979). The festival concerts were attended by about 2,000 brethren each year.
The local minister in Minneapolis at that time was Mr. Robert Hoops. I developed a great deal of respect for Mr. Hoops and we came to have a good relationship. I told him about my experiences at the college and about my rejection from being hired. Mr. Hoops told me I should have been hired in the Church's musical department at twice the salary of a ministerial trainee, and he became a driving force in promoting our music at the local and regional levels.
I continued writing songs about the Bible. Sharron and I performed special music for congregations in the upper midwest regularly and were very well received. A full-length concert developed which was sponsored by the Minneapolis Church's young people's "ACTION" group backed by Mr. Hoops. We performed this concert locally, regionally and at the Wisconsin Dells feast site three years in a row (1977, 1978, 1979). The festival concerts were attended by about 2,000 brethren each year.
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Wisconsin Dells Concert
Feast of Tabernacles Concert (Partial)
Matthew and Sharron Kalliman
Wisconsin Dells, WI
Matthew and Sharron Kalliman
Wisconsin Dells, WI
Sabbath Concert
Matthew and Sharron Kalliman
Mankato, MN
Matthew and Sharron Kalliman
Mankato, MN
Four record albums were published between 1976 and 1981. While our fourth album, Flowers in the Grass, was in production the Wisconsin Dells festival coordinator, Mr. Carl McNair, wrote to us stating that "the Church frowns on commercialism" and would no longer permit us to perform our concert as long as we had albums for sale. The albums were neither sold nor mentioned at our concerts, but Mr. McNair said the concerts tended to promote the sale of our albums in stores at festival locations. I wrote to Mr. McNair reminding him that his brother, Raymond, had written a book (Ascent to Greatness) which was published and distributed by the same company which sold our records -- a company founded by a well-known and highly respected Plain Truth writer and editor of Worldwide Church of God publications -- and that no one regarded Raymond McNair's sermons in Church as promoting the sales of his book. In fact, Mr. McNair had shown me the plates for his book (published simultaneously with our first album) during my senior year, and I knew from a conversation we had had that he regarded his book as a means of doing God's Work at a time when the Church was off-track. Nevertheless, with respect to Mr. Carl McNair's decision we discontinued making albums after Flowers in the Grass. Twenty years later Mr. Larry Salyer, an evangelist in the Global Church of God, convinced Mr. Carl McNair to overturn his decision, and Mr. Salyer told us that we should publish our songs again because they would help the brethren. We received an official letter from the Global Church of God to that effect. Mr. Salyer used our song, The Proof of a Christian, as the basis of his opening night sermon during a CGCF Feast of Tabernacles in the late 1990s. Flowers in the Grass -- The Proof of a Christian
Mr. Armstrong said that doing God's Work is "10% inspiration and 90% perspiration." Without that 10% inspiration nothing good can be accomplished. All of our songs were written with the sincere motivation of serving God and a desire to fulfill the purpose for which He had drawn me to Ambassador College. We never made a profit from the record albums; we financed the last three ourselves. I struggled for years to earn a living in jobs of very humbling means. I knew that the inspiration for the songs had come from God and that nothing worthwhile could be accomplished without that inspiration (John 15:1-8).
Mr. Armstrong said that doing God's Work is "10% inspiration and 90% perspiration." Without that 10% inspiration nothing good can be accomplished. All of our songs were written with the sincere motivation of serving God and a desire to fulfill the purpose for which He had drawn me to Ambassador College. We never made a profit from the record albums; we financed the last three ourselves. I struggled for years to earn a living in jobs of very humbling means. I knew that the inspiration for the songs had come from God and that nothing worthwhile could be accomplished without that inspiration (John 15:1-8).
Below are advertisements from the Triumph Publishing Company which included Mr. Raymond F. McNair's book, other publications and our first two albums:
A 1979 letter from Triumph included the following announcement about our third album, Songs of David:
". . . now for the first time ever the brand new, marvelously done and beautifully inspiring record album by Matthew and Sharron Kalliman is now available. Entitled THE SONGS OF DAVID, this new album is taken directly from the Psalms of the Bible. Take my word for it, some of these songs are absolutely splendid! You will treasure this wonderful album. . . ."
Songs of David
In due time our three children, Samuel, Deborah and David, grew to become talented musicians and joined our "Kalliman Family" performances of special music in Church.
David, Deborah & Sam; photo by Matt Seiler
About the State of the Church Today
Now, back to the main story thread of my post-Ambassador College experiences and observations about the state of God's Church today.
All members should read through the second and third chapters of the book of Revelation and ask themselves, "Which of these seven categories of the true Church do I best fit into?" (Zechariah 4:1-3, 11-14; Revelation 11:1-4). The New King James Bible describes the seven Churches as follows:
All members should read through the second and third chapters of the book of Revelation and ask themselves, "Which of these seven categories of the true Church do I best fit into?" (Zechariah 4:1-3, 11-14; Revelation 11:1-4). The New King James Bible describes the seven Churches as follows:
The Loveless Church
The Persecuted Church
The Compromising Church
The Corrupt Church
The Dead Church
The Faithful Church
The Lukewarm Church
The Persecuted Church
The Compromising Church
The Corrupt Church
The Dead Church
The Faithful Church
The Lukewarm Church
"Let it be noted that all seven Churches existed at the same time when John originally wrote to them; that these messages were intended for all true Christians during the Church Age; that various characteristics of the seven Churches dominated at different times throughout Church history; and that all seven messages apply to the entire Church today."
-- The Seventh Millennial Day
Mr. Armstrong put the Church Back-On-Track in 1978
Mr. Armstrong suffered total heart failure in 1977 -- the year after my graduation -- but miraculously revived. He learned that Ambassador College had become Satan's college, and refused to give the commencement address that year. In 1978 Mr. Armstrong shut down Ambassador College and launched a major effort to put the college, Church and ministry back on track. I literally jumped out of my chair with joy when I read Mr. Armstrong's announcement about this in The Worldwide News. I said to myself, "This is the first time that there is LIFE in this Church since I've come into contact with it!"
"It is now clearly evident that God brought me back for a vital purpose, by CPR, from death by heart failure. Had I remained dead the Church of the living God would have been virtually destroyed by the liberal element that had crept in, especially in headquarters administration during my absence from Pasadena. During those liberal years, much of what was going on in policy changing and doctrinal liberalization had been carefully kept from me. . . .
"Ambassador College had been destroyed as God's college. In 1978, after my 'resurrection' from total heart failure, I had to completely close Ambassador College at Pasadena, starting all over again, as in 1947, with one freshman class. The colleges in England and in Texas had already been closed.
"It is very evident to those led by the Holy Spirit of God that there was a very significant reason why God brought me back to life at age 85 in 1977 to once again take over the reins and remove this liberal element -- to once again recapture the true values and to prepare this Philadelphia era of God's Church for the coming of Christ and the reign of the Kingdom of God."
-- Herbert W. Armstrong, Recent History of the Philadelphia Era of the Worldwide Church of God
Mr. Robert Hoops, pastor of the Twin Cities congregations when I returned home from Ambassador College and 1959 graduate of the college, had been promoting our music enthusiastically as described earlier. On one occasion he showed me, in his home, a lengthy handwritten letter he had received from Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong personally thanking and praising him for the excellent job he was doing in the field ministry. He also showed me a photo of himself and Mr. Armstrong together. I greatly respected Mr. Hoops, and could see that He was very proud of that letter. I was deeply saddened, therefore -- beyond words to express -- when Mr. Hoops left the Worldwide Church of God in 1978 to follow Garner Ted Armstrong, son of Herbert W. Armstrong who had been disfellowshipped by his father in the purge of liberalism from the Church and who started a different church in competition to his father. Garner Ted was a 1956 graduate of Ambassador College. Mr. Armstrong had stated, "Jesus Christ showed me that, much as it hurt, the No. 1 deceiver with watered-down doctrines, in authority, whom I had to mark and put out of God's Church, was my only living son whom I loved as only a father can." I was not totally shocked by Mr. Hoops' actions, however, because I had noticed that whenever he gave the announcements during Church services he had a way of making any news that came down from "headquarters" seem as if it were coming directly from God. I called Mr. Hoops' attention to this, along with my awareness that "headquarters" was divided, much of it having turned away from the senior Mr. Armstrong. Apparently Mr. Hoops didn't believe my assessment of the situation in Pasadena. I sent a strongly worded rebuke to Mr. Hoops while he was still our pastor, in writing and in love, regarding the tendencies he had demonstrated, and Mr. Hoops responded by reminding me that Michael the archangel did not rebuke Satan directly, but said, 'the Lord rebuke you!' (Jude 9). Consequently, I felt sorry that I had rebuked Mr. Hoops and have never rebuked a minister directly since that time, but I did sincerely wish that Mr. Hoops had heeded my advice. And Now Christ Sets Church Back on Track Doctrinally! -- What is a Liberal?
Jesus, not Michael the archangel, rebuked Satan as related in the following Scripture:
Jesus, not Michael the archangel, rebuked Satan as related in the following Scripture:
"Then Jesus said to him, 'Away with you, Satan! For it is written, "You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve." ' "
(Matthew 4:10)
Mr. Hoops' actions represent, to me, ALL ministers who have broken away from what Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong taught them and the example he set when he put Ambassador College and the Church of God back on track. His son Garner Ted had been responsible for allowing liberalism to enter, permeate and destroy God's college. My entire Ambassador College experience (1971-1976), described previously in this story, corroborates Mr. Herbert Armstrong's oft-repeated statement that the college had been destroyed as God's college. I was on the GTA Campaign Choir during my senior year and heard Mr. GTA preach "the Ezekiel message" powerfully to a number of USA audiences -- while I also heard him preach at headquarters against "the liberal issues" which his father stood for and which he made seem unimportant. On one of those campaigns I slipped a note under Mr. GTA's hotel room door about the seven millennial days and requested a meeting with him, but I got no response. I noted that on his campaigns Mr. GTA preached that the book of Ezekiel could apply to no other time except today, while the head of the Theology Department maintained in his "Hebrew Prophets/New Testament Eschatology" class that the book of Ezekiel applied only to Ezekiel's day! The Church continued to keep the Sabbath and Holy Days throughout the 1970s during its off-track years under the liberal influence. It is evident, therefore, that God requires more of the Church than Sabbath and Holy Day observance in order to retain His blessing and presence (see Isaiah 1:13-14; Hosea 2:11; Lamentations 2:6). The Liberal Issues -- The Prophets Upheld the Law of God -- Ezekiel
Read Mr. Armstrong's Co-Worker Letter of June 28, 1978!
This letter of Mr. Armstrong explains my entire Ambassador College experience (1971-1976), and the reason for this website.
This letter of Mr. Armstrong explains my entire Ambassador College experience (1971-1976), and the reason for this website.
I urge the reader to remember that God is the Father of the whole Family in heaven and earth (Ephesians 3:14-15; 4:6), that He cast the rebellious son who divided His Family out of heaven (Revelation 12:7-9; II Peter 2:4), and that He now requires His whole Family to choose between God's Way (light) and Satan's way (darkness) -- life vs. death. The First Millennial Day -- Doctrine Three
Light
Satan has deceived the whole world (Revelation 12:9; 20:3; I John 5:19), but Jesus has overcome Satan and will rule the world in the Seventh Millennial Day (Daniel 2:44; 7:14, 27; Matthew 4:8-10; 6:9-10; Mark 1:14-15; John 16:33; Revelation 11:15; 20:4-6; 22:20). The Seventh Millennial Day
"There are two kinds of ministers, the 'HWA type' and the 'GTA type.' The second kind think they know more than Mr. HWA."
-- An Open Letter Regarding the State of the Church in 2007
Our daughter Deborah asked a high-ranking official of the United Church of God, one of many liberal teachers at its "ABC" school in 2007, why he accepted re-employment at Ambassador College in 1978 after Mr. Armstrong had shut the college down, and started it up again, in order to flush out the liberalism. His answer to Deborah was, "I believed in the Church but not in what Mr. Armstrong was doing."
The professor's candid statement bears repeating because it characterizes the thinking of the many liberal ministers and leaders today who have re-surfaced and negatively influenced the direction of the Church since Mr. Armstrong died in 1986:
The professor's candid statement bears repeating because it characterizes the thinking of the many liberal ministers and leaders today who have re-surfaced and negatively influenced the direction of the Church since Mr. Armstrong died in 1986:
"I believed in the Church but not in what Mr. Armstrong was doing,"
-- Statement of a highly respected ABC Professor in 2007
The above statement is self-contradictory. If you believe in what became the Worldwide Church of God, then you must believe in what Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong was doing.
Everything that follows in this story -- i.e., the state of God's Church today -- may be viewed in the context of the lesson of the two trees in the garden of Eden.
Everything that follows in this story -- i.e., the state of God's Church today -- may be viewed in the context of the lesson of the two trees in the garden of Eden.
Two Trees in the Garden
"The lesson of the two trees in the garden of Eden is the most important lesson in the Bible (Ephesians 6:10-18; I Peter 5:6-9; James 4:7-8). The two trees look similar, but one leads to life and the other to death (Deuteronomy 30:19; Proverbs 8:35-36; Matthew 7:13-14). One represents loyalty to the Government of God while the other represents rebellion against it."
-- The Basic Questions
While discussing the true history of the true Church on The World Tomorrow radio program, Mr. Herbert Armstrong declared that the true Church never falls away -- it would no longer be the true Church if it did -- but rather, that it is possible for people to fall away from the one true Church (II Thessalonians 2:3; Hebrews 3:6, 14; 6:4-12). Those who do so become like branches which have broken away from the trunk of the tree (John 15:1-8). A World in Confusion
Jesus taught that it is the strait, narrow and difficult pathway which leads to life (Matthew 7:13-14). The Ten Commandments are the "riverbed" down which the Holy Spirit -- "living water" -- flows. If people depart from that strait and narrow pathway taught by Jesus and His apostles, then they must return to it -- get back to it -- in order to gain eternal life (II Timothy 2:12-13). The Holy Spirit, required for salvation, does not flow outside of God's Law (i.e., does not follow those who depart from it), but God is willing to forgive anyone who sincerely repents (Psalm 51:10-11; I John 1:9; 3:4-10; Romans 6:1-2; 8:5-9; 13:8-10; Galatians 5:19-23). The Hidden Treasure of Eternal Life -- The Proof of a Christian -- O God, Create in Me a Clean Heart
Jesus taught that it is the strait, narrow and difficult pathway which leads to life (Matthew 7:13-14). The Ten Commandments are the "riverbed" down which the Holy Spirit -- "living water" -- flows. If people depart from that strait and narrow pathway taught by Jesus and His apostles, then they must return to it -- get back to it -- in order to gain eternal life (II Timothy 2:12-13). The Holy Spirit, required for salvation, does not flow outside of God's Law (i.e., does not follow those who depart from it), but God is willing to forgive anyone who sincerely repents (Psalm 51:10-11; I John 1:9; 3:4-10; Romans 6:1-2; 8:5-9; 13:8-10; Galatians 5:19-23). The Hidden Treasure of Eternal Life -- The Proof of a Christian -- O God, Create in Me a Clean Heart
My Church Experience Over the Years
1979-1990
In 1979 the state of California attacked the Worldwide Church of God (as described by Stanley R. Rader in his book, Against the Gates of Hell). I perceived that the seven millennial days had gotten "lost in the shuffle" of many nerve-shattering events which afflicted the whole Church. I began to try for the first time since graduating from Ambassador to bring the millennial days back to the attention of Mr. Armstrong through proper Church channels, now that Mr. Armstrong had ostensibly purged the Church of the liberal element. Mr. Armstrong had always taught that a Church member who thought he had found a point of new biblical truth should bring his findings to the local ministry. The local ministry would, in turn, send it to headquarters where it would be brought to Mr. Armstrong's attention. Mr. Armstrong said his door was always open to new truth from any source. The member's findings would be looked into and, if determined to be true, shared with the entire Church. Members were not to preach their findings to others themselves. These principles had guided me during my senior year at Ambassador College. Now I was to learn that "proper Church channels" did not function at the local level, just as they had not done at headquarters. The wife of Christ had "clogged arteries." Bringing new truth to the local ministry aroused the same kind of suspicion, resentment and anger it had done within the Theology Department.
I remembered that God used the young child Samuel to deliver an important message to Eli the High Priest (I Samuel 3), and that other prophets such as Jeremiah, David, John the Baptist and Jesus were called, taught and used by God from their youth (Jeremiah 1:4-7; Psalm 71:17; Luke 1:13-17, 30-33, 80; 2:52). God does work in mysterious ways, according to His own will, not the will of man (I Samuel 16:7; Ecclesiastes 8:17; Romans 9:14-21).
In 1981 the man in charge of the Twin Cities congregations reluctantly agreed to send my material to headquarters after I showed him, in print, the procedure the ministry should follow when a local member felt he had discovered new biblical truth. After a great deal of prodding the pastor said irritably, "All right, next Sabbath I'll bring a large envelope to church along with a cover letter from me. You can put anything you want into the envelope and we'll send it to headquarters." He brought the envelope, but refused to look at the material I put into it although I asked him if he wanted to do so. He said, "If there's anything important in there, I'll read it in the Good News magazine." I sealed and mailed the envelope myself. Six months later I received a phone call from Mr. Carroll Miller at headquarters who told me, "Your paper was sent to Mr. Tkach's office and returned without comment."
I remembered Mr. Armstrong's positive reaction when I brought the seven millennial days to him in person.
Mr. Armstrong died in 1986 and was replaced by Mr. Joseph W. Tkach, Sr. as Pastor General.
The new administration gradually and subtly began changing the doctrines taught by Mr. Armstrong -- returning to the "liberalism" of the 1970s and moving toward the Church's eventual merger with mainstream Christianity. The original purpose of Ambassador College was to prevent this very thing from happening. Mr. Armstrong's radio evangelism of the 1930s and '40s had borne abundant fruit, producing an ever-growing number of congregations which Mr. Armstrong had to pastor himself. The workload became too great for one man to bear alone. Mr. Armstrong would place the leading man in charge of each congregation and found that -- in every case -- the leading man would lead the people back into mainstream Christianity. Mr. Armstrong realized he needed to start a college which would produce well-trained ministers who would teach in the local congregations the same doctrines he was preaching on the radio. Unity was paramount (I Corinthians 1:10; 12:25; Matthew 12:25). The fruits of Mr. Armstrong's radio broadcasting grew into what became the "Radio Church of God," and later the "Worldwide Church of God." Introduction to the Book of Doctrines -- The Liberal Issues -- A World in Confusion -- And Now Christ Sets Church Back on Track Doctrinally!
I remembered that God used the young child Samuel to deliver an important message to Eli the High Priest (I Samuel 3), and that other prophets such as Jeremiah, David, John the Baptist and Jesus were called, taught and used by God from their youth (Jeremiah 1:4-7; Psalm 71:17; Luke 1:13-17, 30-33, 80; 2:52). God does work in mysterious ways, according to His own will, not the will of man (I Samuel 16:7; Ecclesiastes 8:17; Romans 9:14-21).
In 1981 the man in charge of the Twin Cities congregations reluctantly agreed to send my material to headquarters after I showed him, in print, the procedure the ministry should follow when a local member felt he had discovered new biblical truth. After a great deal of prodding the pastor said irritably, "All right, next Sabbath I'll bring a large envelope to church along with a cover letter from me. You can put anything you want into the envelope and we'll send it to headquarters." He brought the envelope, but refused to look at the material I put into it although I asked him if he wanted to do so. He said, "If there's anything important in there, I'll read it in the Good News magazine." I sealed and mailed the envelope myself. Six months later I received a phone call from Mr. Carroll Miller at headquarters who told me, "Your paper was sent to Mr. Tkach's office and returned without comment."
I remembered Mr. Armstrong's positive reaction when I brought the seven millennial days to him in person.
Mr. Armstrong died in 1986 and was replaced by Mr. Joseph W. Tkach, Sr. as Pastor General.
The new administration gradually and subtly began changing the doctrines taught by Mr. Armstrong -- returning to the "liberalism" of the 1970s and moving toward the Church's eventual merger with mainstream Christianity. The original purpose of Ambassador College was to prevent this very thing from happening. Mr. Armstrong's radio evangelism of the 1930s and '40s had borne abundant fruit, producing an ever-growing number of congregations which Mr. Armstrong had to pastor himself. The workload became too great for one man to bear alone. Mr. Armstrong would place the leading man in charge of each congregation and found that -- in every case -- the leading man would lead the people back into mainstream Christianity. Mr. Armstrong realized he needed to start a college which would produce well-trained ministers who would teach in the local congregations the same doctrines he was preaching on the radio. Unity was paramount (I Corinthians 1:10; 12:25; Matthew 12:25). The fruits of Mr. Armstrong's radio broadcasting grew into what became the "Radio Church of God," and later the "Worldwide Church of God." Introduction to the Book of Doctrines -- The Liberal Issues -- A World in Confusion -- And Now Christ Sets Church Back on Track Doctrinally!
"Ambassador College was started October 8, 1947. It was started for the SOLE PURPOSE as GOD'S OWN COLLEGE of training ministers and other needed administrative personnel for the Work."
-- Mr. Armstrong's Co-Worker Letter of June 28, 1978
1990-1995
Rapid Decline of the Worldwide Church of God
Rapid Decline of the Worldwide Church of God
In 1990 I had opportunity to send my paper to headquarters through Mr. Victor Kubik, who had been one of the local ministers in the Twin Cities area and was transferred to Pasadena to serve in the Church Administration Department (CAD). He was aware of my Ambassador College experience and acquainted with the seven millennial days. On one occasion Mr. Kubik had spoken in detail about the seven millennial days to the local congregation in Minneapolis and told me after the sermon, "I gave you a plug today!" He agreed to give a copy of my paper to the Tkaches. Not long afterward I received a letter from Mr. Joseph Tkach, Jr. rejecting the millennial days based on arguments similar to those used by the Theology Department during my senior year. I perceived in 1990 that the Church was traveling down the same off-track road it had been on in the 1970s.
Mr. Raymond F. McNair, a 1953 graduate of Ambassador College, one of the original evangelists taught directly by Mr. Armstrong and Deputy Chancellor of Ambassador College, Bricket Wood, England, for its first fifteen years, gave a sermon in the "Church of God, a Christian Fellowship" (CGCF) in which he reflected upon his experience in the early 1990s bringing his deep concerns to headquarters regarding the doctrinal changes being perpetrated by the leadership of the Worldwide Church of God. CGCF had formed in 1999. Mr. McNair said he traveled from Florida, where he had been stationed (demoted from the rank of evangelist to that of local pastor), to Pasadena in order to protest the off-track changes. The man he had to deal with in CAD was none other than Victor Kubik, my former pastor. Mr. McNair stated in his CGCF sermon that he could get no satisfaction from Mr. Kubik, and proceeded to join Dr. Roderick C. Meredith in the "Global Church of God" (GCG) which had formed in 1992. Later, after the demise of both GCG and CGCF, Mr. McNair refused to join the "United Church of God" (UCG) which had been started by Victor Kubik and others in 1995. These events will be described in greater detail later.
In 1993 I had opportunity to discuss the Church situation with Dr. Herman Hoeh* during the Feast of Tabernacles at Keystone, Colorado. Dr. Hoeh was one of the first four students of Ambassador College in 1947, part of its first graduating class of 1951, and one of the original evangelists taught directly by Mr. Armstrong. In a private, lengthy discussion witnessed by two of my children, ages 17 and 10 at the time, Dr. Hoeh told me, "Mr. Tkach [Sr.] is ambivalent, doesn't know how to research matters himself and relies on his advisers who, themselves, are in the dark doctrinally." I asked Dr. Hoeh if he still believed the 7,000-year plan. "Yes," he replied, "but Mr. Tkach's advisers have dismissed without proof the chronological evidence in the early chapters of Genesis." Dr. Hoeh also told me he knew of doctrinal differences between evangelists Roderick Meredith and Raymond McNair which would cause their new organization -- the Global Church of God -- eventually to split. He said, "We didn't disfellowship Dr. Meredith until after he had announced plans to start another church." This was contrary to Dr. Meredith's claim that he had been disfellowshipped before announcing such plans. At the end of our discussion Dr. Hoeh said to me, "You have lovely children!," because Samuel and Deborah had been very attentive and well-behaved throughout the meeting.
Mr. Raymond F. McNair, a 1953 graduate of Ambassador College, one of the original evangelists taught directly by Mr. Armstrong and Deputy Chancellor of Ambassador College, Bricket Wood, England, for its first fifteen years, gave a sermon in the "Church of God, a Christian Fellowship" (CGCF) in which he reflected upon his experience in the early 1990s bringing his deep concerns to headquarters regarding the doctrinal changes being perpetrated by the leadership of the Worldwide Church of God. CGCF had formed in 1999. Mr. McNair said he traveled from Florida, where he had been stationed (demoted from the rank of evangelist to that of local pastor), to Pasadena in order to protest the off-track changes. The man he had to deal with in CAD was none other than Victor Kubik, my former pastor. Mr. McNair stated in his CGCF sermon that he could get no satisfaction from Mr. Kubik, and proceeded to join Dr. Roderick C. Meredith in the "Global Church of God" (GCG) which had formed in 1992. Later, after the demise of both GCG and CGCF, Mr. McNair refused to join the "United Church of God" (UCG) which had been started by Victor Kubik and others in 1995. These events will be described in greater detail later.
In 1993 I had opportunity to discuss the Church situation with Dr. Herman Hoeh* during the Feast of Tabernacles at Keystone, Colorado. Dr. Hoeh was one of the first four students of Ambassador College in 1947, part of its first graduating class of 1951, and one of the original evangelists taught directly by Mr. Armstrong. In a private, lengthy discussion witnessed by two of my children, ages 17 and 10 at the time, Dr. Hoeh told me, "Mr. Tkach [Sr.] is ambivalent, doesn't know how to research matters himself and relies on his advisers who, themselves, are in the dark doctrinally." I asked Dr. Hoeh if he still believed the 7,000-year plan. "Yes," he replied, "but Mr. Tkach's advisers have dismissed without proof the chronological evidence in the early chapters of Genesis." Dr. Hoeh also told me he knew of doctrinal differences between evangelists Roderick Meredith and Raymond McNair which would cause their new organization -- the Global Church of God -- eventually to split. He said, "We didn't disfellowship Dr. Meredith until after he had announced plans to start another church." This was contrary to Dr. Meredith's claim that he had been disfellowshipped before announcing such plans. At the end of our discussion Dr. Hoeh said to me, "You have lovely children!," because Samuel and Deborah had been very attentive and well-behaved throughout the meeting.
* I once had the opportunity, during my college years, to ask Dr. Hoeh how he came to prove that God existed, that the Bible was His Word, and that this was the one true Church. His answer was that he had always believed God existed and the Bible was His Word. From the time of his earliest youth his parents had taught him to read the Bible. He gave the example that when he first read, as a child, that God had created Eve out of Adam's rib, he believed it, although he was aware that others might not. When he grew older, he listened to a number of preachers on the radio. He could tell when the doctrines they were preaching were correct, and when they were not. When he heard Mr. Armstrong on the radio, he knew that Mr. Armstrong represented God correctly because he was preaching all of the doctrines which Dr. Hoeh already knew were true, and none of the erroneous ones being taught by others. In addition, Mr. Armstrong had the true doctrines "tied together" into a cohesive whole which Dr. Hoeh had not been able to do on his own. When Mr. Armstrong announced that he was going to start a new college, Dr. Hoeh wanted to be a part of it.
"Mr. Tkach [Sr.] is ambivalent, doesn't know how to research matters himself and relies on his advisers who, themselves, are in the dark doctrinally."
-- Dr. Hermen L. Hoeh, 1993
During that 1993 Feast of Tabernacles Dr. Hoeh preached from the pulpit that those who had left the Worldwide Church of God in order to start their own churches had set themselves up in competition to the true Church. He had once stated, "You can't organize yourself into the Church of God, you can only organize yourself out of it!" He publicly and sternly warned members not to leave. He said that he was the only one of the pioneer students still in the Church because he understood Government. God's Government was in the Worldwide Church of God, he said, because between 1934 and 1986 the Church had sent its literature into every nation on earth, in fulfillment of Matthew 24:14. All nations had been on the mailing list of The Plain Truth magazine, not concurrently but at one time or another. Church Government, he said, was like Israel's government in the Old Testament -- when its leaders went off-track, God would send a prophet or correct the situation through means of His own choosing; the people did not leave the nation.
"You can't organize yourself into the Church of God, you can only organize yourself out of it!"
-- Dr. Herman L. Hoeh
A friend of mine from Ambassador College who continued to live in or near Pasadena in the 1990s told me about a group of brethren that called themselves the "Restaurant Church of God" because they would attend Church services in the Ambassador Auditorium, listen to the off-track messages being presented, go to a restaurant afterwards and discuss amongst themselves what they really believed. He said they went to Dr. Hoeh for counseling and anointing.
I prayed earnestly about Dr. Hoeh's advice not to leave the Worldwide Church of God. In due time I saw clearly, in the Bible, that God's Spirit is the Spirit of truth (John 16:13; I John 4:6), that God never lies (Titus 1:2; Hebrews 6:18) and that Satan is the father of lies (John 8:44). In the context of these Scriptures it became clear to me that when one knows his church is lying to him, it is not the Spirit of God doing so but the spirit of Satan, and that God's Spirit has been replaced by a different spirit which He does not want us to follow (II Corinthians 11:4; II John 9-10). I also remembered the important lesson I learned during my senior year at Ambassador College, at which time I said to my wife, "I think God is teaching us there is a time NOT to follow our church leaders! If we had been created as angels and assigned to Lucifer, then -- if we blindly followed our leader -- we would have become demons!" Lucifer had once administered God's Government over those angels. Battle of the Universe
By 1995 members of the Worldwide Church of God were being taught that God's Ten Commandments, including the seventh-day Sabbath, were "done away" -- abolished with the Old Covenant (Hebrews 8:13; Deuteronomy 4:13). Church leaders failed to teach that the Ten Commandments were also the basis of the New Covenant, and that the Spirit of the Law does not nullify the Letter of the Law (Matthew 5:17-19; 19:3-9, 16-19; Luke 16:17; Hebrews 8:10; 10:16; I John 2:4; Revelation 12:17; 14:12). Fourteen Reasons Why Everyone Should Keep the Seventh-Day Sabbath -- The Third Millennial Day
Mr. Armstrong taught the following regarding the Law of God:
I prayed earnestly about Dr. Hoeh's advice not to leave the Worldwide Church of God. In due time I saw clearly, in the Bible, that God's Spirit is the Spirit of truth (John 16:13; I John 4:6), that God never lies (Titus 1:2; Hebrews 6:18) and that Satan is the father of lies (John 8:44). In the context of these Scriptures it became clear to me that when one knows his church is lying to him, it is not the Spirit of God doing so but the spirit of Satan, and that God's Spirit has been replaced by a different spirit which He does not want us to follow (II Corinthians 11:4; II John 9-10). I also remembered the important lesson I learned during my senior year at Ambassador College, at which time I said to my wife, "I think God is teaching us there is a time NOT to follow our church leaders! If we had been created as angels and assigned to Lucifer, then -- if we blindly followed our leader -- we would have become demons!" Lucifer had once administered God's Government over those angels. Battle of the Universe
By 1995 members of the Worldwide Church of God were being taught that God's Ten Commandments, including the seventh-day Sabbath, were "done away" -- abolished with the Old Covenant (Hebrews 8:13; Deuteronomy 4:13). Church leaders failed to teach that the Ten Commandments were also the basis of the New Covenant, and that the Spirit of the Law does not nullify the Letter of the Law (Matthew 5:17-19; 19:3-9, 16-19; Luke 16:17; Hebrews 8:10; 10:16; I John 2:4; Revelation 12:17; 14:12). Fourteen Reasons Why Everyone Should Keep the Seventh-Day Sabbath -- The Third Millennial Day
Mr. Armstrong taught the following regarding the Law of God:
"The Old Testament sacrificial laws and ceremonial rituals were a mere temporary substitute for Christ and the Holy Spirit. When the reality came, the substitute was ended -- but the basic SPIRITUAL LAW -- the law of LOVE, codified in the Ten Commandments -- continued. But the CHURCH was required, having the Holy Spriit, to obey them not merely according to the strictness of the letter but according to the spirit -- or principal, or obvious intent of the law (II Cor. 3:6)."
-- Herbert W. Armstrong, The Incredible Human Potential
(Chapter IX, "Why the Church?,"
section "Now WHY the Church? Its Purpose")
"The spiritual law of God is a general principle, which, in its spirit, covers EVERY act. God intends for us today to apply the principle to every act. It is summed up in Ecclesiastes 12:13: 'Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.'
"The law of God is a WAY OF LIFE. It is all-encompassing, IN PRINCIPLE -- that is, according to its spirit. It is an attitude.
"It may be summed up in ONE WORD: LOVE. That one word is a principle of life. It is the way of OUTFLOWING love toward God and man. It is the way of GIVE, instead of GET.
"It is then magnified into the two great laws -- love toward GOD and love toward neighbor. In turn this is magnified into 10 general principles -- the first four of the Ten Commandments express the principle of love toward GOD, the last six the principle of love toward man.
"We are commanded to love God more than self -- with all our hearts. We are told to love neighbor as, or equal to, ourselves." -- What is a Liberal?
I began writing The Book of Doctrines in order to help myself retain God's truth, remain on-track, and to counteract the flood of doctrinal changes pouring down upon the Worldwide Church of God (Revelation 12:15). I was well aware that the Church was taking the same stand as the Roger F. Campbell "anti-Armstrong literature" which I had been exposed to before attending Ambassador College (see the first section of this story). God's answer to my urgent request to show me whose side He was on -- that of Mr. Campbell and mainstream Christianity, or that of Mr. Armstrong and the Worldwide Church of God -- was the Seven Millennial Days of Human History. I did not -- could not -- become a baptized member of the Church of God until after God had revealed the seven millennial days, which constituted proof of the things of God which I had needed and asked Him for. The Book of Doctrines
1995-1999
Our Global Church of God Years
Our Global Church of God Years
My family and I withdrew from WCG and attended the Global Church of God from 1995 to 1999. During those years I had opportunity to ask both Raymond McNair and Roderick Meredith, on separate occasions, to respond to Dr. Hoeh's charges mentioned above. Mr. McNair's impassioned response was, "There are no two ministers on the face of the earth closer than Dr. Meredith and myself!" Dr. Meredith said, "Dr. Hoeh is comparing apples to oranges; Church Government should not be compared with Israel's government in the Old Testament because, in the New Testament, you find men like Diotraphes casting true members out of the Church" (III John 9-10). He added, "Dr. Hoeh thinks that God will use him to put the Church back on track."
But Dr. Hoeh's prediction came true -- the Global Church of God did split in 1999. Roderick Meredith departed from the church he had started (GCG), taking 80% of the membership with him, and called his new group the "Living Church of God" (LCG). This left those who were, in my opinion, the three most important, notable and influential pioneer students of Ambassador College -- Dr. Herman L. Hoeh, Dr. Roderick C. Meredith and Mr. Raymond F. McNair, all senior evangelists under Mr. Armstrong whom I loved and respected -- in three different religious camps until the end of their lives. Two of them had been deputy chancellors of Ambassador College at the Bricket Wood, England and Big Sandy, Texas campuses.
The following list of Ambassador College's first graduates was published in the May 22, 1978 edition of The Worldwide News:
But Dr. Hoeh's prediction came true -- the Global Church of God did split in 1999. Roderick Meredith departed from the church he had started (GCG), taking 80% of the membership with him, and called his new group the "Living Church of God" (LCG). This left those who were, in my opinion, the three most important, notable and influential pioneer students of Ambassador College -- Dr. Herman L. Hoeh, Dr. Roderick C. Meredith and Mr. Raymond F. McNair, all senior evangelists under Mr. Armstrong whom I loved and respected -- in three different religious camps until the end of their lives. Two of them had been deputy chancellors of Ambassador College at the Bricket Wood, England and Big Sandy, Texas campuses.
The following list of Ambassador College's first graduates was published in the May 22, 1978 edition of The Worldwide News:
It is my fervent desire that all graduates of Ambassador College alive today remain faithful to its original purpose, recapture its true values, be loyal to God's Government over them (Hebrews 5:9; Matthew 28:20; I John 2:4) and remember that there is only one true God and one true religion (I Corinthians 12; Ephesians 4). Doctrine Six
1999-2000
Our Church of God, a Christian Fellowship Years
Our Church of God, a Christian Fellowship Years
Having been in the Global Church for four years, I was torn over the question of which group to follow after it split. I gave equal weight to evangelists Roderick Meredith and Raymond McNair, and felt like a child having to choose between two beloved parents after a divorce. The local pastor, Mr. Paul Shumway, tried very hard to persuade me to follow the new group (LCG), but our family remained with the parent organization which changed its name from "Global Church of God" to "Church of God, a Christian Fellowship" (CGCF). It was at that time -- twenty-three years after I graduated from Ambassador College -- that I first had opportunity to speak regularly in church. This was dictated by necessity as there were no ordained ministers in our tiny CGCF congregation and very little material from its headquarters to use during Church services. Messages From the Bible given by Matthew Kalliman
During those CGCF years I had opportunity to meet Mr. George Meeker, another pioneer student of Ambassador College and evangelist formerly associated with the Worldwide Church of God who, along with Raymond McNair, had been in Global and was now with CGCF. I asked Mr. Meeker, "Which church do you think Mr. Herbert Armstrong would belong to today?" (UCG and other churches had already formed, as will be discussed below.) His thoughtful answer was, "Frankly, I don't think Mr. Armstrong would join any of them!"
In the year 2000 most of the leaders of the "Church of God, a Christian Fellowship" (CGCF) wanted to merge with the "United Church of God" (UCG) which had formed in 1995, when the situation in the "Worldwide Church of God" (WCG) had become intolerable. Some of the CGCF ministers, however, did not want to go along with this merger because of alleged doctrinal differences between the two groups which, they said, existed. They felt the doctrinal differences must be worked out before any merger could take place. Some of these ministers created the "Church of the Eternal God," while Mr. Raymond F. McNair started the "21st Century Church of God." The CGCF leaders who did want to merge with UCG felt that the doctrine of "unity" outweighed any other doctrinal differences, which, they said, could be worked out later. Our family remained with CGCF which merged with UCG in 2000.
During those CGCF years I had opportunity to meet Mr. George Meeker, another pioneer student of Ambassador College and evangelist formerly associated with the Worldwide Church of God who, along with Raymond McNair, had been in Global and was now with CGCF. I asked Mr. Meeker, "Which church do you think Mr. Herbert Armstrong would belong to today?" (UCG and other churches had already formed, as will be discussed below.) His thoughtful answer was, "Frankly, I don't think Mr. Armstrong would join any of them!"
In the year 2000 most of the leaders of the "Church of God, a Christian Fellowship" (CGCF) wanted to merge with the "United Church of God" (UCG) which had formed in 1995, when the situation in the "Worldwide Church of God" (WCG) had become intolerable. Some of the CGCF ministers, however, did not want to go along with this merger because of alleged doctrinal differences between the two groups which, they said, existed. They felt the doctrinal differences must be worked out before any merger could take place. Some of these ministers created the "Church of the Eternal God," while Mr. Raymond F. McNair started the "21st Century Church of God." The CGCF leaders who did want to merge with UCG felt that the doctrine of "unity" outweighed any other doctrinal differences, which, they said, could be worked out later. Our family remained with CGCF which merged with UCG in 2000.
2000-2007
Our United Church of God Years
Our United Church of God Years
In the following paragraphs I will describe the critical moment in 1995 -- five years before the above-mentioned merger between CGCF and UCG -- when I had to decide between following 1) the Worldwide Church of God, 2) the Global Church of God or 3) the United Church of God. (I felt strongly that leaders of other churches which had previously split off from WCG had "jumped the gun" and should have waited to see what the primary evangelists of the Worldwide Church of God -- the pioneer students of Ambassador College who had been trained directly by Mr. Armstrong and had remained loyal to him throughout his lifetime -- were going to do.)
On the First Day of Unleavened Bread in 1995, while I and my family were still in the Worldwide Church of God, I was invited to attend the church service of a large congregation in Minneapolis which had recently broken away from WCG and would soon evolve into UCG. Split sermons were given at this service by Mr. Victor Kubik and Mr. Jim Servidio explaining their reasons for starting a new church. "The Worldwide Church of God is losing twenty-five thousand members a year," Mr. Kubik said, "and all of us ministers are going to become hamburger-flippers!" At the conclusion of the service I asked Mr. Kubik publicly, before the entire congregation, several questions pertaining to their newly forming organization. Mr. Kubik had once been my local pastor. "Do you believe in the trinity?," I asked him. "No," Mr. Kubik answered. "Do you believe in the 7,000-year plan?" "Yes," he said. Then I asked, "How do you justify leaving the Worldwide Church of God when Dr. Hoeh has very strongly urged the brethren not to leave?" "Dr. Hoeh says different things to different people," was his reply. Finally I asked Mr. Kubik, "Once you've made the decision to leave WCG, then why don't you join those who have already left? Starting yet another organization will cause further confusion, divide families and separate friends!" Mr. Kubik said, "You've got to go where you feel most comfortable."
After this exchange with Mr. Kubik I directed one more question toward Mr. Servidio before the entire congregation. It was based on the fact that months earlier I had heard news, which had leaked, about ministers on the national level who were laying plans to start a new church. Those planning the new church included Mr. Servidio. In his sermon, however, Mr. Servidio claimed that what they were doing was merely a response to recent urgings of local members. I felt that he should have been more honest and open about what they were doing, in the eyes of the brethren. Unfortunately the meeting ended in an uproar. In a phone conversation the following day Mr. Servidio told me, "Try to understand why we did it this way," and, "We don't want to put ourselves under the government of Rod Meredith!"
Later, one who became the pastor of another major split-off group, who had previously been a well-known minister in one of the Twin Cities WCG congregations, told me that he possessed a videotape of this entire church service which included the episode described above, and that it influenced him not to follow the United Church of God but to take an alternate direction.
In spite of the answers of Mr. Kubik and Mr. Servidio, along with Dr. Hoeh's advice during the 1993 Feast of Tabernacles, I made the decision to attend the Global Church of God with my family in 1995, as related earlier in this story. But, due to the GCG/LCG split in 1999 and the CGCF/UCG merger in 2000, we found ourselves in the United Church of God beginning in 2000. This lasted until 2007 when our daughter Deborah attended UCG's "ABC" school in Cincinnati and had a similar experience to my senior year at Ambassador College (see An Open Letter Regarding the State of the Church in 2007). It became obvious that the leadership of UCG absolutely disdained what Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong taught and what the faithful pioneer students of Ambassador College had received, believed and stood for (just as leaders of the organization now called "Grace Communion International," formerly known as the "Worldwide Church of God," do disdain Mr. Armstrong's teachings today). Recall that, as mentioned earlier, in the early 1990s Victor Kubik upheld and defended the Tkach doctrinal changes when confronted by Raymond McNair, who had traveled to headquarters to protest them. An Open Letter Regarding the State of the Church in 2007
On the First Day of Unleavened Bread in 1995, while I and my family were still in the Worldwide Church of God, I was invited to attend the church service of a large congregation in Minneapolis which had recently broken away from WCG and would soon evolve into UCG. Split sermons were given at this service by Mr. Victor Kubik and Mr. Jim Servidio explaining their reasons for starting a new church. "The Worldwide Church of God is losing twenty-five thousand members a year," Mr. Kubik said, "and all of us ministers are going to become hamburger-flippers!" At the conclusion of the service I asked Mr. Kubik publicly, before the entire congregation, several questions pertaining to their newly forming organization. Mr. Kubik had once been my local pastor. "Do you believe in the trinity?," I asked him. "No," Mr. Kubik answered. "Do you believe in the 7,000-year plan?" "Yes," he said. Then I asked, "How do you justify leaving the Worldwide Church of God when Dr. Hoeh has very strongly urged the brethren not to leave?" "Dr. Hoeh says different things to different people," was his reply. Finally I asked Mr. Kubik, "Once you've made the decision to leave WCG, then why don't you join those who have already left? Starting yet another organization will cause further confusion, divide families and separate friends!" Mr. Kubik said, "You've got to go where you feel most comfortable."
After this exchange with Mr. Kubik I directed one more question toward Mr. Servidio before the entire congregation. It was based on the fact that months earlier I had heard news, which had leaked, about ministers on the national level who were laying plans to start a new church. Those planning the new church included Mr. Servidio. In his sermon, however, Mr. Servidio claimed that what they were doing was merely a response to recent urgings of local members. I felt that he should have been more honest and open about what they were doing, in the eyes of the brethren. Unfortunately the meeting ended in an uproar. In a phone conversation the following day Mr. Servidio told me, "Try to understand why we did it this way," and, "We don't want to put ourselves under the government of Rod Meredith!"
Later, one who became the pastor of another major split-off group, who had previously been a well-known minister in one of the Twin Cities WCG congregations, told me that he possessed a videotape of this entire church service which included the episode described above, and that it influenced him not to follow the United Church of God but to take an alternate direction.
In spite of the answers of Mr. Kubik and Mr. Servidio, along with Dr. Hoeh's advice during the 1993 Feast of Tabernacles, I made the decision to attend the Global Church of God with my family in 1995, as related earlier in this story. But, due to the GCG/LCG split in 1999 and the CGCF/UCG merger in 2000, we found ourselves in the United Church of God beginning in 2000. This lasted until 2007 when our daughter Deborah attended UCG's "ABC" school in Cincinnati and had a similar experience to my senior year at Ambassador College (see An Open Letter Regarding the State of the Church in 2007). It became obvious that the leadership of UCG absolutely disdained what Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong taught and what the faithful pioneer students of Ambassador College had received, believed and stood for (just as leaders of the organization now called "Grace Communion International," formerly known as the "Worldwide Church of God," do disdain Mr. Armstrong's teachings today). Recall that, as mentioned earlier, in the early 1990s Victor Kubik upheld and defended the Tkach doctrinal changes when confronted by Raymond McNair, who had traveled to headquarters to protest them. An Open Letter Regarding the State of the Church in 2007
2007 and Beyond
Deborah met her future husband, Andrew Disher, at ABC. At Deborah and Andrew's request we began holding our own private family Bible studies in 2007 on Sabbaths and Holy Days (Hebrews 10:25; II Corinthians 6:14-18; Romans 16:17-18; II Thessalonians 3:6). Family Bible Studies
I started this website in 2013. Its purpose is to help the Church of God to get back on track again, as in 1978, and to make herself ready for her marriage to Jesus Christ at His Second Coming (Revelation 19:7). Let us remember that the Days of Trumpets and Atonement are soon to be fulfilled (Zechariah 13:8-9; Daniel 12:1), and that they will produce many people who are teachable (Isaiah 2:2-4, 10-21), including 1) present-day Church members who need God's correction (Revelation 2-3; Hebrews 12:5-12) and 2) those who are destined to become members of the one true Church after the Great Tribulation (Revelation 7:13-17). The true Church begins as small as a tiny grain of mustard seed but is destined to fill the whole earth (Matthew 13:31-33; Daniel 2:35, 44; 7:14; Revelation 11:15; 20:1-6; Zechariah 4:6-10). The Days of Trumpets and Atonement -- The Sixth Millennial Day -- The Basic Questions
Unfortunately, Deborah and Andrew left our little group in 2019 under the premise that I am not an "ordained minister." Although I was never "ordained," I feel that the reason God called me at the time and in the manner which He did was, ultimately, to produce this website with its songs and teachings. I was rejected from being hired as a ministerial trainee during my senior year at Ambassador College because I brought God's Seven Millennial Days of Human History to the Church at a time when the Church was grossly off-track. [See Mr. Armstrong's Co-Worker Letter of June 28, 1978.] During the early years of the college Mr. Armstrong looked for young men who could be ordained who were already bearing the fruits of one called to the ministry, before they were ordained. Mr. Armstrong judged them by their fruits. Today, the fruits of many liberal ministers who were "ordained" are contrary to the ways of God, Mr. Armstrong and the original purpose of Ambassador College (II Corinthians 11:4, 13-15; Acts 20:29-30; Matthew 15:14). Mr. Armstrong's Co-Worker Letter of June 28, 1978 -- A World in Confusion
In due time UCG split as the Global church had done. The new split-off group called itself the "Church of God, a Worldwide Association" (COGWA). I have observed that most Church of God split-off groups fail to follow Mr. Armstrong's teaching regarding women's makeup and other important issues, and that in so doing they reject God's Government over them and lose His blessing (Matthew 7:13-23; Luke 13:22-30; John 15:1-8; Revelation 3:14-22). They are in the same category as Mr. Robert Hoops, also mentioned earlier in this story, who in 1978 left the Worldwide Church of God to follow Garner Ted Armstrong. I remind the reader that there are two kinds of ministers professing to represent the Church of God, the "HWA type" and the "GTA type." The second kind think they know more than Mr. HWA, their apostle. Experience has shown that once Satan is allowed to "get his foot in the door" of the Church, the sin of liberalism spreads like leaven. What is a Liberal? -- How Subtly Satan Used Makeup to Start the Church Off the Track -- Two Trees in the Garden
During my senior year at Ambassador College I said to my wife, "I think God is teaching us there is a time NOT to follow our church leaders! If we had been created as angels and assigned to Lucifer, then -- if we blindly followed our leader -- we would have become demons!" Lucifer had once administered God's Government over those angels. Battle of the Universe
Mr. Herbert Armstrong stated, "God won't save anyone He can't rule," and "In the Church of God the mind of God rules" (see Luke 19:14, 27; Hebrews 5:9).
God cast Satan and the demons out of Heaven (Revelation 12:7-9; II Peter 2:4). God cast Adam and Eve out of the garden of Eden (Genesis 3:22-24). God cast Israel out of the Promised Land (Daniel 9:3-15). In like manner Mr. Armstrong cast his rebellious son out of the Church (Proverbs 22:10). All liberal ministers who fail to repent of their liberalism should be avoided -- not followed -- by the true members of God's true Church (II John 9-10). They may be recognized by their fruits (Matthew 7:16) -- by what they have done, by what they teach and what they avoid teaching, by the direction they have taken since Mr. Armstrong died. We all need to learn to discern good from evil (Hebrews 5:12-14), for the good of God's Kingdom (Family) forever. The First Millennial Day
After King Solomon asked God for wisdom -- and God granted it -- he was called upon to judge a case involving two women (I Kings 3:4-28). He did so by decreeing, "Divide the living child in two, and give half to one, and half to the other" (verse 25), and then watching their reactions. In like manner Jesus Christ -- in His wisdom (Isaiah 11:2-5) -- is judging the Church today (I Peter 4:17) by watching the reactions of everyone after having set the Church back-on-track during the final stage of Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong's lifetime. Recent History of the Philadelphia Era of the Worldwide Church of God -- A World in Confusion -- Introduction to the Book of Doctrines
Good News: When God delivered Israel from Egyptian bondage (Exodus 12-15; 20:2), it represented the fact that He will deliver humanity from the clutches of Satan and the demons. In His great love, God sent Jesus Christ to be the Passover Lamb who would save His people from their sins and deliver humanity from being held captive (Matthew 1:21; Luke 4:18-19; John 1:29; 3:14-21; Ephesians 2:1-5: 4:17-24; 6:10-18; I John 1:5-10; 2:1-2; Revelation 20:1-6). Israel's forty-year journey through the wilderness pictured the Christian life after baptism and humanity's deliverance from bondage (John 8:31-36; I Corinthians 10:1-12; Hebrews 3-4, Jude 1:5). The Promised Land pictured the world during the Seventh Millennial Day and beyond. God's Plan of Salvation for Mankind -- The Days of Trumpets and Atonement -- The Third Millennial Day -- The Seventh Millennial Day
I started this website in 2013. Its purpose is to help the Church of God to get back on track again, as in 1978, and to make herself ready for her marriage to Jesus Christ at His Second Coming (Revelation 19:7). Let us remember that the Days of Trumpets and Atonement are soon to be fulfilled (Zechariah 13:8-9; Daniel 12:1), and that they will produce many people who are teachable (Isaiah 2:2-4, 10-21), including 1) present-day Church members who need God's correction (Revelation 2-3; Hebrews 12:5-12) and 2) those who are destined to become members of the one true Church after the Great Tribulation (Revelation 7:13-17). The true Church begins as small as a tiny grain of mustard seed but is destined to fill the whole earth (Matthew 13:31-33; Daniel 2:35, 44; 7:14; Revelation 11:15; 20:1-6; Zechariah 4:6-10). The Days of Trumpets and Atonement -- The Sixth Millennial Day -- The Basic Questions
Unfortunately, Deborah and Andrew left our little group in 2019 under the premise that I am not an "ordained minister." Although I was never "ordained," I feel that the reason God called me at the time and in the manner which He did was, ultimately, to produce this website with its songs and teachings. I was rejected from being hired as a ministerial trainee during my senior year at Ambassador College because I brought God's Seven Millennial Days of Human History to the Church at a time when the Church was grossly off-track. [See Mr. Armstrong's Co-Worker Letter of June 28, 1978.] During the early years of the college Mr. Armstrong looked for young men who could be ordained who were already bearing the fruits of one called to the ministry, before they were ordained. Mr. Armstrong judged them by their fruits. Today, the fruits of many liberal ministers who were "ordained" are contrary to the ways of God, Mr. Armstrong and the original purpose of Ambassador College (II Corinthians 11:4, 13-15; Acts 20:29-30; Matthew 15:14). Mr. Armstrong's Co-Worker Letter of June 28, 1978 -- A World in Confusion
In due time UCG split as the Global church had done. The new split-off group called itself the "Church of God, a Worldwide Association" (COGWA). I have observed that most Church of God split-off groups fail to follow Mr. Armstrong's teaching regarding women's makeup and other important issues, and that in so doing they reject God's Government over them and lose His blessing (Matthew 7:13-23; Luke 13:22-30; John 15:1-8; Revelation 3:14-22). They are in the same category as Mr. Robert Hoops, also mentioned earlier in this story, who in 1978 left the Worldwide Church of God to follow Garner Ted Armstrong. I remind the reader that there are two kinds of ministers professing to represent the Church of God, the "HWA type" and the "GTA type." The second kind think they know more than Mr. HWA, their apostle. Experience has shown that once Satan is allowed to "get his foot in the door" of the Church, the sin of liberalism spreads like leaven. What is a Liberal? -- How Subtly Satan Used Makeup to Start the Church Off the Track -- Two Trees in the Garden
During my senior year at Ambassador College I said to my wife, "I think God is teaching us there is a time NOT to follow our church leaders! If we had been created as angels and assigned to Lucifer, then -- if we blindly followed our leader -- we would have become demons!" Lucifer had once administered God's Government over those angels. Battle of the Universe
Mr. Herbert Armstrong stated, "God won't save anyone He can't rule," and "In the Church of God the mind of God rules" (see Luke 19:14, 27; Hebrews 5:9).
God cast Satan and the demons out of Heaven (Revelation 12:7-9; II Peter 2:4). God cast Adam and Eve out of the garden of Eden (Genesis 3:22-24). God cast Israel out of the Promised Land (Daniel 9:3-15). In like manner Mr. Armstrong cast his rebellious son out of the Church (Proverbs 22:10). All liberal ministers who fail to repent of their liberalism should be avoided -- not followed -- by the true members of God's true Church (II John 9-10). They may be recognized by their fruits (Matthew 7:16) -- by what they have done, by what they teach and what they avoid teaching, by the direction they have taken since Mr. Armstrong died. We all need to learn to discern good from evil (Hebrews 5:12-14), for the good of God's Kingdom (Family) forever. The First Millennial Day
After King Solomon asked God for wisdom -- and God granted it -- he was called upon to judge a case involving two women (I Kings 3:4-28). He did so by decreeing, "Divide the living child in two, and give half to one, and half to the other" (verse 25), and then watching their reactions. In like manner Jesus Christ -- in His wisdom (Isaiah 11:2-5) -- is judging the Church today (I Peter 4:17) by watching the reactions of everyone after having set the Church back-on-track during the final stage of Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong's lifetime. Recent History of the Philadelphia Era of the Worldwide Church of God -- A World in Confusion -- Introduction to the Book of Doctrines
Good News: When God delivered Israel from Egyptian bondage (Exodus 12-15; 20:2), it represented the fact that He will deliver humanity from the clutches of Satan and the demons. In His great love, God sent Jesus Christ to be the Passover Lamb who would save His people from their sins and deliver humanity from being held captive (Matthew 1:21; Luke 4:18-19; John 1:29; 3:14-21; Ephesians 2:1-5: 4:17-24; 6:10-18; I John 1:5-10; 2:1-2; Revelation 20:1-6). Israel's forty-year journey through the wilderness pictured the Christian life after baptism and humanity's deliverance from bondage (John 8:31-36; I Corinthians 10:1-12; Hebrews 3-4, Jude 1:5). The Promised Land pictured the world during the Seventh Millennial Day and beyond. God's Plan of Salvation for Mankind -- The Days of Trumpets and Atonement -- The Third Millennial Day -- The Seventh Millennial Day
"Restoring all things (Acts 3:21)
"Mr. Armstrong said that the Second Coming of Jesus Christ will be the most important event not only in the history of the earth but of the whole universe! That is because the rebellion of the angels who sinned, and war in heaven, once ruined the whole universe; and that the Second Coming of Christ will mark the beginning of restoring first the earth, and then the rest of the universe. (See Mr. Armstrong’s book, 'The Incredible Human Potential.')
"Today 1) God’s Church, 2) the earth and 3) the whole universe need to be restored!"
-- Overview
"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge,
But fools despise wisdom and instruction. . . .
"Because I have called and you refused,
I have stretched out my hand and no one regarded,
Because you disdained all my counsel,
And would have none of my rebuke,
I also will laugh at your calamity;
I will mock when your terror comes,
When your terror comes like a storm,
And your destruction comes like a whirlwind.
When distress and anguish come upon you.
"Then they will call on me, but I will not answer;
They will seek me diligently, but they will not find me.
Because they hated knowledge
And did not choose the fear of the Lord
They would have none of my counsel
And despised my every rebuke;
Therefore they shall eat the fruit of their own way,
And be filled to the full with their own fancies.
For the turning away of the simple will slay them,
And the complacency of fools will destroy them;
But whoever listens to me will dwell safely,
And will be secure, without fear of evil."
(Proverbs 1:7, 24-33)
"Therefore I will number you for the sword,
And you shall all bow down to the slaughter,
Because, when I called, you did not answer;
When I spoke, you did not hear,
But did evil before My eyes,
And chose that in which I do not delight. . . .
" So I will choose their delusions,
And bring their fears on them;
Because, when I called, no one answered,
When I spoke they did not hear;
But they did evil before My eyes,
And chose that in which I do not delight.
"Hear the word of the Lord,
You who tremble at His word:
'Your brethren who hated you,
Who cast you out for My name's sake, said,
"Let the Lord be glorified,
That we may see your joy."
But they shall be ashamed.' "
(Isaiah 65:12; 66:4-5, see also Luke 6:22-23)
Relevant Instruction from Mr. Armstrong and Others
In order to impress the need for unity in the Church, Mr. Armstrong stated the following in a sermon given during my college years:
"All of you brethren came to your relationship with God either directly or indirectly through me. You may have first read an article by someone who was trained here at Ambassador College, but he was taught by me. When a minister leaves this Church, he doesn't preach the gospel to the world and make his own new converts -- he takes with him my converts, and the new group splits and splits until there's nothing left."
-- Herbert W. Armstrong, sermon given at Ambassador College
" . . . as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. . . .
"For though you might have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet you do not have many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel."
(I Corinthians 3:10; 4:15)
"God’s Church can come to no other decision than that changing the face God designed and gave, and following the world in makeup is SIN, and will certainly lead to DEATH in the LAKE OF FIRE!"
-- Herbert W. Armstrong, Satan Hasn't Given Up On Makeup
"Remember, an executive administrator DOES NOT SET POLICY OR PROCEDURES OR DOCTRINES. He administers--he carries out and directs--what has been already set from above.
"Even in this world, in the United States the President does NOT MAKE THE LAWS. He administers the policies as functions authorized by Congress--enforces the laws made by Congress. Administrators are set in the Church merely to supervise, direct, execute the policies, procedures, doctrines assigned to them from above."
-- Herbert W. Armstrong, "Mystery of the Ages"
(Chapter 6, "Mystery of the Church,"
section "One Church with One Government")
From Recent History of the Philadelphia Era of the Worldwide Church of God
by Herbert W. Armstrong
by Herbert W. Armstrong
"I want you, brethren, to think about and understand what happened to God's Church in the 1970s lest history repeat itself! I want you to see the 'fruits' of rebelling against God's way and God's government.
"After all, the basic issue all along was that of God's government in the Church. One who followed one liberal who, as the apostle Paul had predicted, sought to draw away followers after himself (Acts 20:30) said, 'We are liberated from that church government and now have a loosely knit organization, and that's the way we like it.' . . .
"Daniel prophesied of our time: 'Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand' (Daniel 12:10). Truly this has been a time of trying and testing. We are the firstfruits called to be students that we may become kings and priests and rule with Christ (Revelation 5:10). We in the Church are students, and we are in the time of final exams. . . .
"They are not bearing fruit for the Kingdom. They are not pleasing God or being blessed by Him. Jesus said, 'By their fruits you shall know them.' They usually claim to be 'branches' of the Church of God. But Jesus said, 'I will build my church' (Matthew 16:18). He did not say denominations, sects, cults, branches or a church divided against itself. Rather He said a house divided against itself cannot stand. There is one true Church and one only. The apostle Paul pictured humanly self-appointed 'branches' when he said to the elders of the local church at Ephesus that some of their own selves would depart to draw a following after themselves.
"Paul said, 'But now are they many members, yet but one body' (I Corinthians 12:20). How was that one body organized? Did it have one government? 'And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues' (verse 28). Verse 25 shows there should be no divisions in the body -- no branches or branch organizations.
"The Church is 'built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner stone; in Whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy Temple in the Lord' (Ephesians 2:20-21). Note, the Church is organized and fitly framed together, not organized with competing and differing branches.
"Notice Ephesians 4, there is only one organized church 'fitly joined together and compacted' (verse 16) -- compacted as if welded together into one well-organized body. And how did He organize this body? How was it governed? 'And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: till we all come in the unity of the faith . . .' (Ephesians 4:11-13). It is not DISunity or some other type of organization and government. Paul also said 'that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment' (I Corinthians 1:10).
"Christ said, 'Every plant, which My heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up' (Matthew 15:13). And the apostle John also stated, 'They went out from us, but they were not of us . . .' (I John 2:19).
"We who remain in the one and only true Church grieve over the loss of those who are so far failing in their final exams. . . .
"Meanwhile, we pray also that God will keep those of us who remain loyal, constantly steadfast, growing in grace and spiritual character and the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, overcoming self, the world and Satan and enduring to the end. Pray that you, the loyal members of God's Church, remain dedicated to the Kingdom of God -- which is the government of God."
-- Herbert W. Armstrong, Recent History of the Philadelphia Era of the Worldwide Church of God
From The Autobiography of Herbert W. Armstrong
"If MEN pay us a salary . . . we have now learned we must preach only what MEN order us to preach. If we are to WORK FOR GOD we must look to God as our EMPLOYER, AND TRUST HIM TO SUPPLY OUR EVERY MATERIAL NEED. And then . . . if we fail to serve Him as He commands, He will stop our income. . . .
" . . . as long as I was EMPLOYED by men who were over me, and who had proved to be susceptible of being influenced and swayed by false ministers, into acting contrary to God's Word, I was not yet free to RELY ON GOD ALONE, and to be completely FAITHFUL to His Word!
"The living Christ simply could not start opening the doors for HIS WORK, until I was free to RELY SOLELY ON HIM!
"I was now FREE! This final crucial test had proved that I would be FAITHFUL to God and His Word, even at the cost of giving up everything! . . .
"I know of evangelists who probably are sincere in supposing they are serving God -- and who would like to be free to proclaim many truths they now hold back. They reason something like this: 'If I go farther, and preach those things, I'll lose all my support. I'd be cut off from the ministry altogether. Then I could preach NOTHING. Better serve God by preaching as much of the Biblical truth as possible, than to be prevented from preaching anything.'
"They are relying on the financial support of MEN, or of organizations of men. Anyone in that predicament is the SERVANT OF MEN, and NOT OF GOD, whether he realizes it or not."
-- The Autobiography of Herbert W. Armstrong
Chapter 30, "The World Tomorrow Broadcast Begins"
Sections "The Double Cross" and "The Crucial Test"
From A True History of the True Church
by Herman L. Hoeh
by Herman L. Hoeh
"How many denominations have been willing to admit where they have been wrong, how many allowed the Holy Spirit to guide them into truth? The Church which Jesus is building is the collective body of those scattered individuals who have God's Holy Spirit, who admit it when they are wrong . . . and who accept the truth.
"Now notice Jesus' promise in John 16:13. He would send the Spirit of truth who 'will GUIDE you INTO all truth.'
"Here is the KEY that proves which individuals are in God's Church. It is composed only of those who are growing into truth as God reveals it. The moment anyone ceases to GROW, but wants to retain only what he had five or ten years ago, from that moment on the Holy Spirit ceases to live in him." (Page 6)
"The true Christians, who alone comprised the true Church, were being put out of the visible, organized congregations. . . .
"But that did not mean the scattered individuals were not part of the Church. They were the Church because they were joined to Christ through the Holy Spirit. Those who drove them out became the false church -- the church of the god of this world -- 'the synagogue of Satan.'
"But Jesus promised to be with the faithful remnant of His Church to the end of the age -- to guide His people into truth." (Page 8)
From The Incredible Human Potential
by Herbert W. Armstrong
by Herbert W. Armstrong
" . . . almighty God has decreed that 'this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations, and then shall the end come' (Matthew 24:14). This is the message the eternal God is delivering now, by His end-time apostle, to the heads of governments in world capitals all over the world.
"The true gospel, when viewed with all that it embodies . . . becomes the most all-encompassing subject that can enter the mind of man. Beside it, everything else shrinks to total unimportance. It is greater than any story of man ever written before. . . .
"A full and complete understanding of the message sent by God to all mankind, by His Divine Messenger Jesus Christ, involves a vast comprehension of God’s great purpose, and of events prehistoric, historic, present and future.
"I might say it means an overall understanding of everything!"
-- From Chapter II, “The Startling Revelation of What Was Christ’s Gospel"
"Did you ever start viewing a motion picture when it was more than halfway through? You probably were bewildered -- not having seen what occurred before and led up to the point where you first began to see.
"It's the same in coming to an UNDERSTANDING of what God has prepared for humanity -- of the ultimate human potential.
"True understanding can come only by beginning the story at the beginning!"
-- From Chapter IV, "Pre-existence Before the Material Universe"
"If one's approach to understanding today's chaotic world starts from the vantage point of what we see today, he is, indeed, confused, bewildered!
"We must view the motion picture of REALITY from the beginning."
-- From Chapter VIII, "Why Today's World Evils?"
"I travel to all parts of the world as an ambassador (without political portfolio) for WORLD PEACE. I discuss world problems, evils and world peace with many heads of governments -- kings, presidents, prime ministers and those high in the government, leaders in science, education, commerce and industry. . . .
"Most world leaders are of superior ability. Yet, they are utterly unable to abolish world evils or bring about world peace.
"Many scientists and leaders say that the only hope for world peace is the formation of a supreme WORLD GOVERNMENT, controlling the world's sole military power. Yet in the same breath they admit the utter impossibility of this, claiming that such supreme world power in human hands would enslave us all! . . .
"I have been privileged to announce to many of the world's 'great and near-great' this world's only hope -- SURE HOPE -- to occur in our time!"
-- From Chapter XIII, "World Peace -- How it Will Come"
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The Bad Example of the Pharisees
In Jesus' day the Pharisees were willing to follow Moses, but refused to follow Jesus (John 5:45-46; 9:28-29). Today many ministers once associated with the Worldwide Church of God claim to follow the Bible but refuse to follow Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong -- the very one through whom Christ raised up Ambassador College and the ministry of our day, and put God's doctrines into the Church. They would not even be ministers if it weren't for him. It is important that human beings learn to recognize what God is doing while He is doing it (Matthew 11:10, 14-15, 18-19; 23:39; Revelation 3:8). And Now Christ Sets Church Back on Track Doctrinally!
"We are Moses' disciples. We know that God spoke to Moses; as for this fellow, we do not know where He is from."
(John 9:29)
Of course, Jesus had a great deal to say about the bad example of the Pharisees (Matthew 5:20; 15:1-13; 21:33-46; 23:1-39).
How Moses and Samuel Dealt With Off-Track Leaders
Moses and Samuel sternly rebuked the God-appointed leaders who feared the people more than they feared God, and who did not administer the Government of God properly:
"So it was, as soon as he came near the camp, that he saw the calf and the dancing. So Moses' anger became hot, and he cast the tablets out of his hands and broke them at the foot of the mountain. Then he took the calf which they had made, burned it in the fire, and ground it to powder; and he scattered it on the water and made the children of Israel drink it. And Moses said to Aaron, 'What did this people do to you that you have brought so great a sin upon them?'
"So Aaron said, 'Do not let the anger of my lord become hot. You know the people, that they are set on evil.' "
(Exodus 32:19-22)
"So Samuel said,
" 'Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices" [or in accepting Christ's sacrifice while continuing in sin - I John 3:4-9; Romans 6:1-2; Galatians 2:17; Hebrews 1:8-9; 7:26; 10:26]
"As in obeying the voice of the Lord?
Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice. . . .
"For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft,
And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.
"Because you have rejected the word of the Lord,
He has rejected you from being king'. . . .
"Then Saul said to Samuel, 'I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord and your words, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice. Now therefore, please pardon my sin, and return with me, that I may worship the Lord.'
"But Samuel said to Saul, 'I will not return with you, for you have rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord has rejected you from being king over Israel. . . . The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today, and has given it to a neighbor of yours, who is better than you'. . . .
"Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him" [David] "in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of the lord came upon David from that day forward. . . . But the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul. . . ."
(I Samuel 15:22-28; 16:13-14)
A Message for Today
"Today, if only you would obey him!
He says, 'Do not be stubborn like they were at Meribah,
like they were that day at Massah in the wilderness,
where your ancestors challenged my authority,
and tried my patience, even though they had seen my work.
For forty years I was continually disgusted with that generation,
and I said, 'These people desire to go astray;
they do not obey my commands.'
So I made a vow in my anger,
'They will never enter into the resting place I had set aside for them.' "
(Psalm 95:7-11, NET, applied directly to the Church in Hebrews 3-4)
The Third Millennial Day
Summary and Conclusion
Before ending this story I would like to remind the reader that Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong raised up Ambassador College in 1947 to be God's college, but that by the 1970s it had become Satan's college. Mr. Armstrong stated frequently that God had been "kicked right out of the window" of Ambassador College during those off-track years (see Ezekiel 8:6; Joshua 7). I attended Ambassador College at that time. God revealed the Seven Millennial Days of Human History during the two-year hiatus between my junior and senior years (when I was away from Ambassador College), allowed me to bring the millennial days to Mr. Armstrong's attention during my senior year (over incredible opposition from the Theology Department), to receive a highly favorable reaction from him and to record the Seven Millennial Day Songs with Sharron in the Ambassador College TV studios prior to my graduation, all of which have been related above. Seven Millennial Day Songs
The first head of the Theology Department during my senior year shouted at me in blazing anger, "This is HERESY, and as a minister of Jesus Christ I count it my duty to protect the Church from people like you! I command you in the name of Jesus Christ not to tell anyone else on campus about this!" ("An undeserved curse has no effect" -- Proverbs 26:2, TLB.) He was replaced by a man who told me, "I don't think this is something you should try to take to Mr. Armstrong." But Mr. Armstrong -- God's Apostle -- after hearing a full explanation of the subject, exclaimed with enthusiasm, "Say, I think you've GOT something there!"
Years later I asked a minister in one of the Church of God splinter groups (GCG) what he thought of the seven millennial days. He answered with a sneer, "It's not going to change theology!" Jesus said, "You will know them by their fruits" (Matthew 7:15-20). A minister in another one of the splinter groups (COGWA) said to me regarding Church Government, "We know what Mr. Armstrong taught, but we reject military-style government!" Mr. Armstrong said that Church Government was the hardest doctrine in the Bible for him to come to understand. Over the years he did come to understand it, and taught that Church Government does exist, but that it is to be exercised in a family-style, gentle manner (Luke 22:24-30). Mr. Armstrong practiced what he preached. Most Church leaders, however, seem never to have learned how to follow and implement God's Government properly, although that is the most important lesson God wants to teach all of us in this age. The Basic Questions -- Doctrine Three -- Pentecost
God will decide which human beings will be allowed to survive the Great Tribulation and enter into the Seventh Millennial Day -- the New Heaven and Earth -- based on how they respond to His Message in the end-time (Isaiah 65:12-17; Zechariah 13:9; Revelation 3:10). God sent His true Gospel -- the Good News of the World Tomorrow; the Message of Christ's coming reign on earth -- to humanity through the prophets, John the Baptist, Jesus Christ and the original apostles. 1,900 years later He sent the same Message to humanity through Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong for over fifty years. He will send it again through those who represent Him properly at the very close of this age. Why Elijah Must Come -- Bible Man -- The Bible is the Foundation of the Church -- End-Time Countdown -- Isaiah's Vision of the World Tomorrow
The first head of the Theology Department during my senior year shouted at me in blazing anger, "This is HERESY, and as a minister of Jesus Christ I count it my duty to protect the Church from people like you! I command you in the name of Jesus Christ not to tell anyone else on campus about this!" ("An undeserved curse has no effect" -- Proverbs 26:2, TLB.) He was replaced by a man who told me, "I don't think this is something you should try to take to Mr. Armstrong." But Mr. Armstrong -- God's Apostle -- after hearing a full explanation of the subject, exclaimed with enthusiasm, "Say, I think you've GOT something there!"
Years later I asked a minister in one of the Church of God splinter groups (GCG) what he thought of the seven millennial days. He answered with a sneer, "It's not going to change theology!" Jesus said, "You will know them by their fruits" (Matthew 7:15-20). A minister in another one of the splinter groups (COGWA) said to me regarding Church Government, "We know what Mr. Armstrong taught, but we reject military-style government!" Mr. Armstrong said that Church Government was the hardest doctrine in the Bible for him to come to understand. Over the years he did come to understand it, and taught that Church Government does exist, but that it is to be exercised in a family-style, gentle manner (Luke 22:24-30). Mr. Armstrong practiced what he preached. Most Church leaders, however, seem never to have learned how to follow and implement God's Government properly, although that is the most important lesson God wants to teach all of us in this age. The Basic Questions -- Doctrine Three -- Pentecost
God will decide which human beings will be allowed to survive the Great Tribulation and enter into the Seventh Millennial Day -- the New Heaven and Earth -- based on how they respond to His Message in the end-time (Isaiah 65:12-17; Zechariah 13:9; Revelation 3:10). God sent His true Gospel -- the Good News of the World Tomorrow; the Message of Christ's coming reign on earth -- to humanity through the prophets, John the Baptist, Jesus Christ and the original apostles. 1,900 years later He sent the same Message to humanity through Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong for over fifty years. He will send it again through those who represent Him properly at the very close of this age. Why Elijah Must Come -- Bible Man -- The Bible is the Foundation of the Church -- End-Time Countdown -- Isaiah's Vision of the World Tomorrow
The lesson of the two trees in the garden of Eden is the most important lesson for God's people to learn (Hebrews 5:12-14; I Kings 3:9-10), and Satan's liberalism the greatest obstacle for them to overcome (Revelation 3:21; 21:7) in order that they may inherit eternal life. That is the lesson which this website is dedicated to making clear today. Christ wants to put His Church -- and all humanity -- back on track! Two Trees in the Garden -- Battle of the Universe -- The Hidden Treasure of Eternal Life -- Introduction to the Book of Doctrines -- The First Millennial Day
"Blessed is the man
Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly,
Nor stands in the path of sinners,
Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;
But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
And in His law he meditates day and night."
(Psalm 1:1-2)
God's Church will have made herself ready, come to speak the same thing and have no divisions by the time of Jesus Christ's Second Coming (Revelation 19:7; I Corinthians 1:10; 12:25; Matthew 12:25). Wedding Coming Soon -- The Sixth Millennial Day
God will transform the last generation of this present age into the first generation of the happy, peaceful and Wonderful World Tomorrow! A World in Confusion -- The Days of Trumpets and Atonement -- The Seventh Millennial Day
God will transform the last generation of this present age into the first generation of the happy, peaceful and Wonderful World Tomorrow! A World in Confusion -- The Days of Trumpets and Atonement -- The Seventh Millennial Day
"Then you shall again discern
Between the righteous and the wicked,
Between one who serves God
And one who does not serve Him."
(Malachi 3:18)
In this story I have shared the calling, education and some of the life-experiences which God has given me with those who visit this website. I have excluded my employment experiences after graduating from Ambassador College, although many valuable lessons were learned from those experiences. I struggled to earn a living in jobs of very humbling means, first at Twin City Federal Savings and Loan (ten years) as a messenger, mailroom clerk and warehouse manager, followed by working for the United States Postal Service (fourteen years) in an environment which strongly favored Sunday as the weekly day of rest and pressured me continually to abandon God's holy seventh-day Sabbath -- pressure to which I never succumbed. Letter of Reference from a Twin City Federal Supervisor
During my 4½ "messenger years" at TCF (first job after graduating from Ambassador) I learned that the messenger is a relatively insignificant person in an organization, but that the deliveries he makes are extremely important. I was entrusted daily with large deposits (sometimes totaling millions of dollars) and vital documents to be delivered to other banks and institutions around the Twin Cities. I learned over the years, working for TCF and the USPS, that 1) the message is the important thing, not the messenger, and that 2) the mail is sacred and must get through.
"Ambassador" means "messenger" (one authorized to represent the sender -- II Corinthians 5:20; Ephesians 6:20; Proverbs 13:17; 25:13). God has sent messengers into the world in times past, and will continue to do so (II Chronicles 36:15-16; Haggai 1:13; Malachi 2:7; 3:1; 4:5; Matthew 11:10; 17:10-13; 23:37-39; Mark 1:2-3; 12:1-11; Luke 7:27). Jesus said God's people would recognize His messengers by what they teach (Matthew 7:13-27; Luke 6:43-49). Looking back over the course of my lifetime I realize, in retrospect, that God has led me to "the top of the mountain," as it were (Hebrews 12:18, 22-24), and revealed vital new understanding of His Holy Bible. Now, well past my seventieth year, I bring God's Message -- the Seven Millennial Days of Human History -- to you, the visitor to this website. May God be with you as you listen to the songs, study the teachings and Recapture the True Values of the one true God and the one true religion (Deuteronomy 6:4-5; Matthew 22:37-38; I John 5:19-20; Revelation 14:6-7). The Seven Millennial Days of Human History
During my 4½ "messenger years" at TCF (first job after graduating from Ambassador) I learned that the messenger is a relatively insignificant person in an organization, but that the deliveries he makes are extremely important. I was entrusted daily with large deposits (sometimes totaling millions of dollars) and vital documents to be delivered to other banks and institutions around the Twin Cities. I learned over the years, working for TCF and the USPS, that 1) the message is the important thing, not the messenger, and that 2) the mail is sacred and must get through.
"Ambassador" means "messenger" (one authorized to represent the sender -- II Corinthians 5:20; Ephesians 6:20; Proverbs 13:17; 25:13). God has sent messengers into the world in times past, and will continue to do so (II Chronicles 36:15-16; Haggai 1:13; Malachi 2:7; 3:1; 4:5; Matthew 11:10; 17:10-13; 23:37-39; Mark 1:2-3; 12:1-11; Luke 7:27). Jesus said God's people would recognize His messengers by what they teach (Matthew 7:13-27; Luke 6:43-49). Looking back over the course of my lifetime I realize, in retrospect, that God has led me to "the top of the mountain," as it were (Hebrews 12:18, 22-24), and revealed vital new understanding of His Holy Bible. Now, well past my seventieth year, I bring God's Message -- the Seven Millennial Days of Human History -- to you, the visitor to this website. May God be with you as you listen to the songs, study the teachings and Recapture the True Values of the one true God and the one true religion (Deuteronomy 6:4-5; Matthew 22:37-38; I John 5:19-20; Revelation 14:6-7). The Seven Millennial Days of Human History
"Behold, I send My messenger, |
"Most assuredly, I say to you, he who receives whomever I send receives Me; and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me." |
A member of the 1975-76 Ambassador College Theology Department asked me the question, "What if 6,000 years goes by and nothing happens?" A better question would be, "Before God allows the Great Tribulation to begin according to His timetable (Revelation 7:1-3; 8:2-6), will He send another messenger in the Spirit of Elijah to prepare the people for it?"
Selected Songs and Messages
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Before the Day of Trumpets
Things to Come
Ezekiel
Sodom and Gomorrah
Day of Trumpets Message The Fall of Babylon and End of this Age God's Protection |
After the Day of Trumpets
Good News
The Mountain Song
Go Tell it on the Mountain
Day of Atonement Message The Restoration of Israel and All Humanity The Song of Moses |
Addenda
I would like to include the following two stories which occurred during my first year at Ambassador College (1971-72) and made a great impression on me:
1. Mr. Armstrong gave a pre-Passover Bible study in which he stated that he had heard of ministers in the field who were teaching it was necessary for all members to consume a piece of unleavened bread every day during the Days of Unleavened Bread. I was sitting in or near the front row, watching and listening intently as Mr. Armstrong's fist came crashing down on the podium and his voice thundered, "THAT IS NOT THE TEACHING OF THIS CHURCH!" Mr. Armstrong elaborated upon the importance of everyone in the Church speaking the same thing (I Corinthians 1:10). He explained that the Days of Unleavened Bread are an excellent time to fast in order to draw closer to God, and that the biblical command, "Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread" (Exodus 12:15; 13:6), is like the Sabbath command, "Six days you shall labor" (Exodus 20:9; Deuteronomy 5:13). It is NOT a sin, he said, to take a day off from work or to have a vacation. The command to work six days a week means that when you work it must be during the time designated for that purpose, not on the Sabbath. In like manner, the command to eat unleavened bread seven days during the festival means that IF you eat bread during that time, it must be unleavened.
Over the years there have been occasions when I mentioned the above to ministers who taught that members must consume at least one piece of unleavened bread all seven days of the festival. Unfortunately, most of them did not believe what I told them, but in one instance a minister, to his credit, said that he would contact headquarters in order to verify the matter. A few weeks later an item appeared in The Worldwide News confirming Mr. Armstrong's teaching.
2. On another occasion during my first year at Ambassador College, Mr. Armstrong stated in a sermon that there were some people who were questioning the Church's teaching regarding Pentecost -- whether it should be observed on a Sunday or on a Monday. The Church observed it on a Monday. "If any of you have questions about this, come and see me after the sermon and I will explain it to you," Mr. Armstrong said. Being a new student, I thought that this would be a good opportunity to meet Mr. Armstrong and to learn a point of doctrine which I had never heard explained before. I was not questioning the doctrine, but I did approach Mr. Armstrong, introduced myself and asked him to explain the Church's teaching about the matter. "I'll explain it to you," Mr. Armstrong said, and with great emphasis he added, "but first I'll tell you that I'd rather have FIVE dedicated people with me whose hearts are in the preaching of the Gospel to the world, than FIFTY THOUSAND half-hearted people who bicker and complain about Church doctrine!" "Yes sir, Mr. Armstrong," I replied. He then opened his Bible to Leviticus 23:15-16 and said, "Now, a week from a Sunday is a Sunday, and seven weeks from a Sunday is a Sunday, and one more day brings you to a Monday."
The following Sabbath Mr. Armstrong devoted his entire sermon to our conversation! I'll never forget it. "Last week one of the students came to me and asked how to count to Pentecost," he began. Mr. Armstrong went on to say, "Counting to Pentecost is a picky-little thing," and, "If the Church needs to change, then we'll all change together," and further, "What everyone needs to keep their eyes on is that this Church is preaching the true Gospel to the world, and no one else is doing that!"
In 1974 the Church did change its observance of Pentecost from Monday to Sunday, when it was determined beyond any doubt that the Hebrew word translated "from" in Leviticus 23:15 should be rendered "beginning with." (I like to compare this to a piano keyboard: if you were to start with a "low C" and count upward seven octaves, seven notes per octave, you would count 50 notes and end with a "high C.") To my great sorrow Dr. Ernest Martin, who had been one of my favorite teachers at Ambassador, left the Church over the issue of Pentecost just prior to the Church changing its teaching on the matter. I have long wished that Dr. Martin had had more patience and faith, and had stayed with the Church. God used Mr. Armstrong to make a number of important doctrinal changes in 1974 and to put the whole Church back on track in 1978.
Some years later I realized that the Church had learned how to count to Pentecost, but not why. The reason the Bible connects Pentecost to the Passover and Days of Unleavened Bread by a period of seven weeks, instead of giving it a specific calendar date, is to picture the connection of the one true Church to God and Christ through the Holy Spirit.
1. Mr. Armstrong gave a pre-Passover Bible study in which he stated that he had heard of ministers in the field who were teaching it was necessary for all members to consume a piece of unleavened bread every day during the Days of Unleavened Bread. I was sitting in or near the front row, watching and listening intently as Mr. Armstrong's fist came crashing down on the podium and his voice thundered, "THAT IS NOT THE TEACHING OF THIS CHURCH!" Mr. Armstrong elaborated upon the importance of everyone in the Church speaking the same thing (I Corinthians 1:10). He explained that the Days of Unleavened Bread are an excellent time to fast in order to draw closer to God, and that the biblical command, "Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread" (Exodus 12:15; 13:6), is like the Sabbath command, "Six days you shall labor" (Exodus 20:9; Deuteronomy 5:13). It is NOT a sin, he said, to take a day off from work or to have a vacation. The command to work six days a week means that when you work it must be during the time designated for that purpose, not on the Sabbath. In like manner, the command to eat unleavened bread seven days during the festival means that IF you eat bread during that time, it must be unleavened.
Over the years there have been occasions when I mentioned the above to ministers who taught that members must consume at least one piece of unleavened bread all seven days of the festival. Unfortunately, most of them did not believe what I told them, but in one instance a minister, to his credit, said that he would contact headquarters in order to verify the matter. A few weeks later an item appeared in The Worldwide News confirming Mr. Armstrong's teaching.
2. On another occasion during my first year at Ambassador College, Mr. Armstrong stated in a sermon that there were some people who were questioning the Church's teaching regarding Pentecost -- whether it should be observed on a Sunday or on a Monday. The Church observed it on a Monday. "If any of you have questions about this, come and see me after the sermon and I will explain it to you," Mr. Armstrong said. Being a new student, I thought that this would be a good opportunity to meet Mr. Armstrong and to learn a point of doctrine which I had never heard explained before. I was not questioning the doctrine, but I did approach Mr. Armstrong, introduced myself and asked him to explain the Church's teaching about the matter. "I'll explain it to you," Mr. Armstrong said, and with great emphasis he added, "but first I'll tell you that I'd rather have FIVE dedicated people with me whose hearts are in the preaching of the Gospel to the world, than FIFTY THOUSAND half-hearted people who bicker and complain about Church doctrine!" "Yes sir, Mr. Armstrong," I replied. He then opened his Bible to Leviticus 23:15-16 and said, "Now, a week from a Sunday is a Sunday, and seven weeks from a Sunday is a Sunday, and one more day brings you to a Monday."
The following Sabbath Mr. Armstrong devoted his entire sermon to our conversation! I'll never forget it. "Last week one of the students came to me and asked how to count to Pentecost," he began. Mr. Armstrong went on to say, "Counting to Pentecost is a picky-little thing," and, "If the Church needs to change, then we'll all change together," and further, "What everyone needs to keep their eyes on is that this Church is preaching the true Gospel to the world, and no one else is doing that!"
In 1974 the Church did change its observance of Pentecost from Monday to Sunday, when it was determined beyond any doubt that the Hebrew word translated "from" in Leviticus 23:15 should be rendered "beginning with." (I like to compare this to a piano keyboard: if you were to start with a "low C" and count upward seven octaves, seven notes per octave, you would count 50 notes and end with a "high C.") To my great sorrow Dr. Ernest Martin, who had been one of my favorite teachers at Ambassador, left the Church over the issue of Pentecost just prior to the Church changing its teaching on the matter. I have long wished that Dr. Martin had had more patience and faith, and had stayed with the Church. God used Mr. Armstrong to make a number of important doctrinal changes in 1974 and to put the whole Church back on track in 1978.
Some years later I realized that the Church had learned how to count to Pentecost, but not why. The reason the Bible connects Pentecost to the Passover and Days of Unleavened Bread by a period of seven weeks, instead of giving it a specific calendar date, is to picture the connection of the one true Church to God and Christ through the Holy Spirit.
"A calm and modest life brings more happiness than the pursuit of success combined with constant restlessness." -- Albert Einstein
"What profit is it if a man gains the whole world
But loses his own life?" (Matthew 16:26)
Death Makes Life a Waste of Time
Flowers in the Grass
"What profit is it if a man gains the whole world
But loses his own life?" (Matthew 16:26)
Death Makes Life a Waste of Time
Flowers in the Grass