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| Dr. Roderick C.
Meredith E-mail RCM
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January 8, 1999 Dear Brethren around the world, Greetings from San Diego! Things are moving forward swiftly in the Work. Many of you have asked that I update you more often until we get our normal magazines and newsletters coming out regularly. We are really busy getting things moving again! But it is exciting and we are so grateful to see God intervening for us again and again. Just in the last week, God seems to have "opened the windows of heaven" and blessed us in several wonderful ways. First, we found that we can get our old time back on WGN—the BIGGEST "door" we have had to use to preach Christ’s Gospel! Certainly it is an early morning time (6 a.m. Eastern Standard Time), but we have spent over two years "building an audience" at this time. So we are absolutely delighted to have our old time back again. Next, we now hear that our former slot on the VISION television network up in Canada is also available. So we hope to be back on VISION—and on WGN—at our former time slots beginning Sunday, January 31! Next, we have nailed down a contract for our office space and will be moving back into the Courtyard next week. We should be basically settled in our new offices—with phones and computers—by Friday, January 15. We will let you know our new numbers once they’re all settled and available. Finally, an inexpensive additional warehouse space, which we needed, has opened up very near our corporate offices. This new space will be ideal for our mailing offices—and should enable us to get by in our present facilities for another year or two without having to rent any additional space. So within a few weeks, God willing, the calls and letters from television listeners should once again start pouring in! We will be free to preach the Gospel and do the Work more powerfully than ever. We are in the final stages of producing the first issue of our Church magazine which will be entitled, Living Church News. As I have mentioned, Mr. Richard Ames will be Director of Media and Publishing—as well as assisting me in doing the telecasts. He will be ably assisted by Mr.William Bowmer, and by Donna Prejean—who has so ably served in the Work as one of our computer graphics artists for some time. Another editor will be joining us by mid-April and we hope to get out a full-color magazine for general circulation starting with the May/June issue. Earlier this week, Mario Hernandez and I drove down to our rented television studio near downtown San Diego and each of us made two programs. By making four programs a day, Mr. Ames, Mr. Hernandez, and I can more effectively use the time we have available in the studio. By using this outside studio in this way, we eliminate the need for three or four full-time employees and thus save the Work tens of thousands of dollars each year. And by renting smaller office space, we will save additional thousands. So in every way possible we will try to do more with less. Brethren, I just received an encouraging and exciting phone call! Seeing the Work we are beginning to do, Mr. Hernandez’ brother, Eduardo, has decided to join with us in the Living Church of God and in this Work. He has just completed visiting his church brethren in Columbia and Ecuador and almost 100% have decided to follow his leadership and join the Living Church of God. So now we have about 110 new brethren! Let us all thank GOD for these wonderful developments! And let us pray fervently for God to guide, encourage and bless these new brethren. And ask Him to bless and inspire the new programs now that we can go back on the WGN and VISION cable television networks. Please pray that God will INSPIRE all of us who are producing the telecasts, writing the articles and booklets and all who are involved in "doing" the Work. For truly, without God’s inspiration and guidance, we will "get nowhere fast." One scripture all of us need to review and focus on regularly is found in John 15:4-5: "Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do NOTHING." But if we will truly yield our entire being to God through Jesus Christ, each one of us can have a powerful impact in the Work of God. Even as I write, the impeachment trial of President Clinton is beginning in the United States Senate. America is being disgraced before other nations around the world. At the same time, Iraqi warplanes are regularly challenging American warplanes in the "no fly zones" over Iraq. America has utterly failed to properly deal with the Iraqi dictator, Saddam Hussein. Also currency trading has already begun in the "euro," the new European currency. As expected, it quickly rose against the American dollar on the very first day of trading. Many nations are now declaring their intention to hold a major part of their reserves in the "euro" and may have to sell BILLIONS of American dollars and dollar-denominated investments in order to do so. Therefore, unless we repent as a nation, the "pride" of our power will continue to be broken. Our nation, along with the other predominately Anglo-Saxon-Celtic nations such as Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand will soon receive God’s punishment for our mounting SINS (Jer. 30:14-15). Brethren, over the next several years, we in this Work have a "window of opportunity" to reach our beloved peoples with God’s warning Message BEFORE it is too late! We all need to grasp the fact that God has "called" each of us to understanding and has given us His precious Holy Spirit not only for our own nsalvation, but so we can "do the Work" and at least "witness" to the untold MILLIONS out there who so desperately need to know about the true God and His magnificent PURPOSE for all human beings. Today, very few of God’s people seem to be energized to POWERFULLY WARN our Israelitish peoples—and to preach the Gospel of the Kingdom of God with genuine power and conviction to the entire world. Recently, I was inspired to read again Mr. Armstrong’s powerful commitment to this task in the early days of the Work Christ did through him. Notice what Mr. Armstrong wrote way back in the 1930s: Nero fiddled while Rome burned! Many churches and religious broadcasts are today giving the people a sleeping potion in the form of nice, soothing, pleasing, comforting programs—lulling the people to sleep—while the judgments of God are fast coming upon them! Why, in Jesus’ name, do they not wake up and fearlessly SHOUT THE WARNING? This is no time for soft and smooth platitudes. It is time to AWAKEN people! It is time to WARN THEM! (Autobiography of Herbert W. Armstrong, Vol. 1, p. 616). Dear brethren, hundreds of you have written to thank us for standing up against the political manipulation and the "watering down" of the Work that was beginning to occur. And thousands of you "voted" with your feet and came with us in the Living Church of God. Again, I want to THANK YOU with all my heart for this inspiring vote of confidence! It is most encouraging to all of us here on the Headquarters team. We want you to know that we are "moving ahead." The Work is being done. We thank you for your constant encouragement, your prayers and your support in every way. We thank GOD through Jesus Christ for intervening so quickly, for opening "doors" for this Work, and for blessing us in so many different ways. Let us go forward together with FAITH in His love and mercy and in the leadership of Jesus Christ our Living Head and Savior. With Christian love, Roderick C. Meredith |