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    l n t eT H E

    r n a t i o n a l M - a g a z i n e o fC H U R C H O F G O D

    VOI.. IX, NUMBER 8 AUGUST, 196

    How to Get Out of DEBTMopley problems trouble more people than any other singleproblem, including health. Heres why, and how you cansolve

    your financial worries.

    by Herman L. Hoeh

    EW PEOPLE know the seven prin-c les of financial success. FewerF till are willing to apply them-

    even if they learn them . Peo ple assumethere is always a shortcut to financialsecurity and prosperity. They want totake the easy road to quick gain, onlyto land up deeply in debt, frustrated and-more often than sup po se d- on theverge of suicide

    T h e B U R D E N of D e b t

    Deficit spending is fashionable today.1: fundamentally began in 1933 whenthe people were promised aN E W DEAL.They were told that going into debt ona national scale was a temporary meas-ure to prime the financial pump-toget prosperity rolling again.

    Instead, it took a war to bring arti-ficial prosperity. But those seven yearswere enough to teach the people thehccbit of staying in debt , the habit of

    buying things on t ime and paying later-if still emp loyed. It has becom e anational fixation. It is even spreadingto other lands and nations. Credit isexterided co pracrically everyone onpractically eve rythin g. D eb t is consid-ered normal by most people.

    Some claim our public and privatedebt with mounting interest the causeo f o u r apparent prosperity. But is i t?

    Why, i f being in debt is normal, arei n a n y suffering froin thc terriblc

    mental strain of being i n deb t ? Why,in such seeming financial prosperity,

    are so many burdened about their jobs,about security, ahnnt paying off theirmonthly installments, about losing theirhomes, even about bankruptcy?

    It is time we faced these questions

    Mus t t he Poor Stay Poor?

    It is not uncommon to hear the state-men t: We re just poor folks and proudof it.

    But why should anyone be proud ofpoverty. Poverty is a shame. God speaksof poverty as a curse-a penalty re-sulting from broken laws.

    Many of us, of course, cannot helpbeing poor. It may be too late in lifeto change matters. Or we may have in-herited unusual financial burdens. Godknows your circumstances. God haschosen the poor of this world to whomH e reveals H is truth. Most poor peopleare more wil l ing to l is ten to God thanare the wealthy. Poverty breeds a closer

    consciousness of God and the need forGod. But that does i zo t mean that Godspeople have to stay poor

    God prospered Abraham. H e pros-pered Isaac and Jacob. They were alltithe payers. Material prosperity as arig ht of birth-the Birthright-becam eJosephs. Ou r English-speaking worldinherits rhat Birthright today, as well asthe Blessing. Certainly God makes plaintha t H e wants His people to prosper.fohn the Apostle WAS itisyircd to writc-Beloved, I wish above all things thatthou mayest prosper and be in health,

    even as thy soul prospere th ( I l lJohn 2 ) .

    Notice that above all things in thismaterial world, God intends usto pros-per and be in health-even as we areprospering spiritgally. Physical prosper-ity and health go hand in hand withspiritual prosperity.

    Th e reason this nation-or any na-tion, for that matter-is suffering fromso much worry about debt and healthis that no nation on earth today isspiritually prospering. Since all of usought to be spiritually prospering, letnotice the rules, the laws that governour physical prosperity.

    Though health is a MAJOR consid-eration in our financial well-being, thiis not the place to bring up health lawsW e have a n article on Seven LawsofHealth by Mt. Roderick C. Meredith.

    Now to examine the principles thagovern our financial prosperity.

    Case Histories

    Before we plunge into the laws offinancial success, we oug ht to noticthe personal experiences of individualswho have made tragic mistakes in theilife, people who have plunged so deep-ly into debt that they m a y remain indebt for life or be forced into bank-ruptcy. Some of these cases are noonly frighteningly tragic, bur frighten-ingly co111111011.

    Mi. Hugh Mauck, our Office Mariageland Secretary of the Radio Church of

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    international magazine ofTHE CHURCH OF GOD

    niinistering i o i ts members

    scattered abroadVOL. IX N U M B E R 8

    Herbert W. ArmstrongPublisher and Editor

    Garner Ted ArmstrongExecutive EditorHerman L. HoehiMmaging Editor

    Roderick C. MeredithAssociate Editor

    Address communications to the Editor,Box 1 11, Pasadena, California.

    Copyright, August, 1960By the Radio Church of God

    Be sure to notify us immediately ofchange of address.

    k x i , h a h w n grnrro i i s in providing mewith several common examples ot in-debtedness.

    Take the case o f Mr. M.Would you have made the same mis-

    rakes that he did?Mr. M. has a very good job and earns

    iibove average salary. He accumulatedseveral hundred dollars for the purposeo t purchasing a little house for himself

    his family. He made the mistake,h(,wever, o f purchasing the house be-fo re he had sufficient funds to properlyfurnish it.

    Onc-e he sc.t-aprA together all t ha t hepossibly could to make the downpay-ment, he realized that he would havero overspend in order to furnish theplace. H e was offered very good terins;md time payments that he felt he couldmeet. Having obtained the house andt h e furniture, and having signed allthe necessary contract papers and terms,hc and his family moved into the littlehouse.

    I r was n o t long after he moved intothe house, however, that he began torealize there were all sorts of littlenceds fo r the house--garden tools fo rthe garden. and small items that took;t few dollars from his wages everyweek. These few dollars here and theresoon mounted up At t h e end of t hemonth he found that he did not havesuficient to make payments on the fur-niture. These payments began to getj , t r thcI . i d t ;~ rcher ehind. He ~ieg lec i -C J t o discuss his problem with thefurniture company. I t was not long

    before he had to lag behind also inthe house payments.

    By the time he had been in the houseone year, he was billed for taxes andinsurancc. Natu rally thiswas morc thanhe expected. H e now was faced withthe problem of losing everything hehad.

    What should Mr. M. have done?Mr. M. should have counted the cost

    before he purchased his house. Had heanalyzed the situation, he would haveknown b efore he went too far, just whathe was getting into. H e could havesaved for one additional year beforepurchasing the house, and he couldhave made arrangements to purchasethe furniture a little at a t ime duringthat period, preferably for cash. Hewould not have had the interest on thefurniture, and many of the little itemsfor the house he could have picked upi n advance throughout that year andt h e n prepare to move into the house.

    A Business Ve n t u r e T h a t FailedHere is another example:Mr. B. started a small business with

    out suficient background or experiencei i i t h e type of hiisinrss in which heentered. After making his initial in-vestment, he no longer had sufficientfunds to hire a supervisor who didI i ave l h c b.dCkg;l.utiiid ; t i i d experiericcnecessary to handle the situation. Hetried to struggle on alone, and beganto borrow money.

    H e worked long, hard hours for thefirst year or so and was just barely able

    to keep his head above water. Wh en herealized he was getting nowhere, heavydiscouragement set in, and he graduallybecame slack.

    The business was soon lost and allof the original investm ent was absorbed.He came out broke, tired and penni-less.

    What should Mr. B. have done?Mr. B. should have properly trained

    hiinself for this type of business, or heshould have entered into a business inwhich hc was skillcd.

    Now take this case:Mr. A. was a skilled ceineiit worker.

    He, too, had always made above aver-age wages. H e came from a city in thesoutheastern part of the United Stateswhere building and construction wasayear arourid trade.

    Mr. A. had Tzet,er beliet'ed in savingj o i emergencies. H e was convincedthat . should emergencies arise, he wouldbe able to borrow money sufficient forthe needs. But he had not counted onbeing laid off due to work stoppage.

    Having moved into t l ic Los AiigcIc-s.wa, l ie soon came to the realizationthat cement work ;ind construction were

    spasmodic.H e found competi t ion keener and

    jobs fewer in the larger city. He wasforced to sell his car in order to live.

    Without sufficicnt transportation, hcwas unable to take advantage of manyof the job opportunities offered to him.Several months went by before herealized he was fighting a losing battle.

    What should Mr. A . have done?Mr. A . should have first, before he

    left his home comm unity, made a t r ipto Los Angeles and investigated work-ing conditions, housing conditions, andliving conditions. H e would have knownwhat to expect and could have preparedfor it months or even years before hemade this move. He w ould have beenwise to have saved for emergencies.And he would have been wise had heanalyzed, before selling the car, whichpossession of his was of least impor-tance to his future earnings. Had hedone this, he could have refinanced

    and kept the car, giving him the trans-portation needed to take advantage ofthe job opportunities which he had.

    A Farmer Goes to Town

    Mr. W., in his middle fifties, is ainan who has been farming all his life.He was a successful farmer ona smallscale. Mr. W . has a wife and three~ ~ 1 1 1 s . is d c l c s r so w a s p,rrlraps 26years of age when he entered college.Although successful, Mr. W . was notable to finance his son's education.

    Approximately one year after the eld-est son left for college, Mr.W. found

    it necessary to give up his farm andmove to the city.This was a complete change of en-

    vironment, which Mr. W. was not ableto cope with. He had no experience inworking or coping with the hustle andbustle of city life. H e was untrainedand unskilled. Naturally adverse con-ditions resulted, and he soon ran outof money-his savings now were com -pletely exhausted.

    H e sold his possessions one after theother until there were none left. Theyounger boys were not of working age,and they soon faced starvation. Some-one had to come to his rescue.

    W hat should Mr. W . have done?If Mr. W. had used foresight, if he

    had his finger more on the pulse of hisbusiness and knew exactly where hestood, and if he had begun to preparcfor the crisis staring him in the facebefore he left his farm,be would haaeprepared himself before it wcis t o o lcitc.

    This preparation could consist ofeither night training in school, train-ing by c-orrespondencc course, or o nthe job training during the off sedson

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    BAPTISMAL TOURS..Progress Report

    T h e iiut ioii- uid e baptismal tours huve com pleted theirseveutb t i leek.I-lese

    isr i

    coricise re por tof

    their progress so fur undthe

    f r u i t s G-odis add ing to His Church.

    by A. J. P o r t u n e

    Y J U N E 1 of this year over 1,200 re-quests for baptism had reachedheadquarters here in Pasadena,

    California. For several weeks the menselected to go on tour had spent longhours pinpointing cities and towns ondetailed road maps of theU.S. As thetime neared for departure, exact itiner-aries and schedules had been workedout by the teains.

    Three groups daily were scheduled tobe contacted by each tour-morning,early afternoon and evening. The nexteleven weeks would be jam-packedweeks of hard work and long drivin ghours.

    On June 7 and 8 the three mainteams left f ro in Pasadena-each withthe names of over 350 persons on theschedule.

    Southern To u r

    Mr. Ronald Kelly and Mr. Carl Mc-Nair turned southward to cover thesouthern part of the United States fromCalifornia to Florida and return. In thefirst two weeks their mission carriedthem through Arizona, New Mexicoand rain-soaked Texas. Reporting fromPecos, Texas, here i s a comment fromtheir first weekly report:

    Greetings from the rain-soaked re-gions of New Mexico and Texas. W ehave had just that-PLENIY of good we twater pouring down on us. We haveheard reports o f two or three tornadoesnncl a great deal of damaging hail, butnone has come near 21s thus far. As youcan see we always need the prayersofeveryone for protection, even from bad

    weather.God has certainly been with us allthe way. Thro ugh this region it has beenvery difficult to find places suitable forbaptism. B ut, in every case, we hav ehad a place provided.

    In the next few weeks t h e tour passedthrough Mississippi, Alabima, Florida,Georgia and North Carolina. In theirreport from S anford, Florida, here isanother interest ing excerpt:

    W e w er e discussing ;i serious prob-I C i i l xr~ith iiiail d wife. The mailwas n o r particularly interested an d did

    not appreciate our telling him whathe would have to give up. He wasnta large man, but he stood up, staredthrough cold steel-grey eyes and said,You men m a y be right. But if you arenot, there will be a PRICE PAID. I aman exper t with a bull whip, and I usedto be in show business with a whip.As he stared at us we did not knowwhat might happen. It was possible that

    within a few moments we might feelthat whiplash across our backs. But theprayers of Gods people have been heardand he suddenly wheeled around, gotin his truck and droveoff. W e fe l t muchbetter all of a sudden.

    I wonder if we realize how muchour prayers mea n to these men It is insitua tions such as the one just describedthat these men m ust put their fai th andconfidence in God to work out thecircumstances. W he n we are earnestlyand diligently praying for t h e safety o fGods servants then God will heed andgive our men favor and protection.

    L o n g Hours Produce Fruit

    As the weeks passed and the thou-sands of miles rolled by, the long hoursof counseling and tedious driv ing beganto bear frui t . Wi th each weekly reportthe statistics came in-more me t, morebaptized.

    But cold statistics dont tell the storyOnly in the changed lives and in theoverwhelming joy of the newly begot-ten children of God is the real storytold. W he n we realize that each newlife-begotten of God-is to becom e aneternal king and priest , to rule and

    ie ign wi th Jesus Christ and to becomea very son of God, then we realize thetrue significance of the fr uit beingborn.

    Now, after eleven weeks, Mr. RonKelly and Mr. Carl McNair have trav-eled over 20 000 nziles. O u t of 254scheduled to meet them, they have metand counseled with 208. Ninety-onehave been baptized

    Cent ra l Tour

    Mr. 8111 McDowel l J I I ~ Mr Jamr:.Wells (first English student to attend

    Ambassador Colle ge), leaving in theearly iiiorriirig hours of June 7, begantheir tour that would carry them acrosthe central belt of the United States andreturn. Their first few weeks took themthrough Nevada, Utah and into Wyoming. The following week, leavingWyoming and Nebraska behind, IowaIllinois and Indiana greeted them withviolent weather and heavy rains. Here

    is an excerpt from their weekly reportfrom Paoli, Indiana:

    Gre etings from the m ucky middlepart in the United States; weve beenup to our ears in rainy, muddy con-ditions for the past two weeks. Wevewalked down muddy roads we couldndrive down, waded across creeks thahad overflowed their banks and crossedthe road (bef ore we dared crossi n thecar) and baptized in creeks swollenwith muddy water and slime. One creekwas s o shallow we had to lay the personon her back in the mud, and the waterwas just deep enough to flow over he

    completely.W LS Broadcas ts Missed

    Now , in their seventh week, the touhas passed through Illinois, IndianaOhio, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia. While in the Illinois area manycommented about the program beingstopped on WLS. Many felt this was atremendous loss to the ir lives-not be-ing able to hear TheWORLD TOMORROWprogram any longer. Some apparentlywerent reading rhc radio log for othestations.)

    Our prayers are needed that anothepowerful station will open there soon.

    Meet Pentecostal MinisterHere is another interesting excerp

    from the baptismal tour report of July9, rom Hagerstown, Maryland:

    W e also met a Pentecostal ministewhose wife wanted to be baptized. i tmakes one really thankf ul f w i tlir tiaiii-ing and experience at AmbassadorCol-lege, because he did his best to t ry totake ooer the meeting. I now see morand more why Mr. Armstrong finds thapreachy toneso distasteful. I finally had10 convict him ;1 little; then he wen

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    Page The GOOD NEWS A ugust, 1960

    back to the car and left us alone. Itwas surprising to see how muchmorewe knew about the Bible than he did-though he had been a minister for sometime. One thing for cerrain THEY HAVENO ANSWER Were so thankful GodsHoly Spirit is with us to give us thehelp and answers right on the tips ofour tongues when it is needed in timesl ike that.

    W e can certainly b e thankful thatGod is with these men supplying theirevery need. They certainly need wis-dom, understanding andcourage. Heresanother situation experienced by thesei i i e r i as contained in their reports fromR ichlands, Virginia:

    Th is week we have had some har-r.ozuiizx experiences It started with per-secution. I left James to wait at thehome of a couple who wanted baptismwhile I went to another home. W hen Ireturned, James had been ATTACKEDA N D WOUNDED-by a banty rooster

    which had snuck up on him from theblind side I guess James is not usedto our U.S. brand of wild and indignantbanty roosters.

    Thus far in their tour, Mr. Bill Mc-Dowell and Mr. James Wells hnve met206 out of 258 that were originallyscheduled. Oiae hrmdred twelve havebeen baptized thus far. In the remain-ing f o u r weeks, they have tlir Ileaviestpart of their schedule as they entermore heavily populated areas.

    Northern Tour

    June 8 was the departure date for

    the northern tour. Mr. Roger Foster-i-ecen ly orclaiiird m ini s er-and M rCarn Catherwood (oneof our Canadianstudents) turned immediately to theNorth, passing through Oregon, Wash-ington and then into the provinces ofBritish Colu mb ia, Alberta an d Sas-katchewan in Canada.

    In the first two weeks o f their tour6,000 miles were driven in meetingonly 61 persons-the popu lation beingwidely scattered. Here is an excerptfrom their report from Canada:

    The people in Bri t ish Columbia, Al-b e r t a a n d S a s k a t c h e w a n 4 n e h u n d r e dperce nt of them-had very goo d atti-tudes. Every single person that camewith the intention of being baptized-was baptized.

    On the whole wc were able to stayon the bet ter roads in Canada, but oneday last week we had to drive 200miles over winding, mountainous, wash-board roads o f dirt and gravel in one

    Back to t h e U.S.

    clay.

    l.cci\,ingCuiiacla, t l ic- tc i l i i i rcrurliccl t othe LJnited States, passing through

    North and South Dakota, Minnesotdand Wisconsin. After the sparsely pop-ulated areas, the number contacted rap-idly increased. Reporting from Wiscon-sin, here are comm ents from their mostrecent reports:

    One of the most interesting visitswe had all week was with a 72-year-oldinan and his wife. He was anexumpleof how very active a person can keephis mind even past 70, if one will usei t propcrly. In spi te of iliis mans agehe still had one of the best understand-ings of the Bible of all the people wehave met. Both he and his wife werebaptized.

    On Sunday, July 17, we baptized ayoung fellow who was suffering frommyasthenia gravis, a general weaknesswhich was especially bad in his faceand thro at. In May of 1759, the doctorsdid a permanent tracheotomy on histoindpipe. Today rhere remains a holethroug h his neck into his windpipe. He

    had to put tape over the hole so hewould not drown when he was bap-t ized. W e were able to talk to him, buthe could only write or nod his headsowe would know what he wanted to say.His att i tude was vsally cxccllcizt.

    Her e is a inan who needs our prayersMessrs. Foster and Catherwood have

    met 177 thus far out of 209 scheduled.They have baptized Jez r i z t j -ezgbt. l h ehigh percentages being baptized out ofthose met in Canada gives them aslightly higher average than the othertwo tours.

    Tw o - t h i r d s C o m p l e t eAt this point in the tours two-thirds

    of the peop le have been met-with ap-proximately 100-1 50 yet to be visitedby each tour. Our tour office, here inPasadena, has been sending out newletters to the teams each week. Theseadded visits m ust be sandwiched intotheir already crowd ed dx xlu les . Fur a lthree tours the heaviest ireas are yetto be covered.

    By now the gru ellin g pace is begin -ning to tel l o n these men Long hoursof driving, sleepless nights and irreg-ular meals take their toll. Mr. RonaldKelly recently wrote of severe head-aches causing him considerable painand discomfort.

    Lets not let down in o u r prayers f o rthese men Lets remem ber they are inconstant danger every d q . They need tobe alert and filled with zeal and withGods Holy Spir it . They are dependingo n Y O U W e should pray for them

    California Tour Complete

    Mr. Lcruy N.efi, ordained ministei,;ind Mr. Bill Winner have just returned

    cJlevyr q

    from a three-week tour into northernCalifornia and southern Oregon. Onthis tour 5 5 were met out of 70 sched-uled. Only 19 were baptized

    Mr. Neff feels that the low percent-age of those being baptized can be at-tributed to the comparatively shortlength of t ime Thc WORLD TOMORROWprogram has been on RadioKGO, SanFrancisco. However, a great many ofthose who were baptized asked howsoon a Church might be established inSacramento or in the San Francisco-Oakland Bay area. There are certainlyenough baptized members in this areato start quite a large Church. W e needto ask God to send more laborers intothe harvest to shepherd the growingflock.

    F ina l Pick-up Tour

    For inany who were too late in writ-ing, and for others that could not beincluded in one of the three main tours,there will be a final pick-up tour tobe conducted by Mr. Richard Pinelliand Mr. Clarence Huse.

    These two men have been assistingMr. Carl ton Smith in the New YorkChurch during the summer-visitingthe brethren of this rapidly growingarea. They will have left New York byAugust 15 to return to Pasadena heforethe start of college. On this return tripthey will meet some 60 persons in theirpick-up tour. They were able to visit2 0 on thcir way to N c w Yu r k in theearly part of the summer. Already Godhas added over 300 newly baptized

    mem bers to Hi s Church-through thesetours Mo re will be added in the nextfew weeks.

    Lets all of us rejoice, along with allthe angels of God who leap for joy a tone sinner come to repentance. Letsall thank God for more brothers andsisters, mothers and fathers with whomwe can meet aiid fellowship at the com-ing Feast of Tabernacles. And , letsnot let down in our prayers to theCreator God for the safetyof His serv-ants in His service on these ours.

    H O LY D AY C A L EN D A RA U T U M N , 1960

    Fe.rtii.d of Trrtmpets . Thursday,September 22, beginning previous

    Daj , of A t o i z e m e i z t fast day, Sabbath,October 1, beginn ing previousevening.

    I: .r t c t l o f l r t b e s n L L ~ J e g i n sWednesday evening, October 5 .Last Great D a y Thursday, October13. October 6 and 1-3 are annualSabbaths.

    SLlnSet.

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    a perfect ability to determine what wasgood and what was evil. H e reasonedthat God expects us to find happinessand Eternal Life through our own ef-fcrts (Hagenbach, History of D O C -trines, p. 158).

    Origin also would have inade a good P R O G R E S S I V E EDUCATOR. H e t a u g h t

    that man was good and that this in-herent goodness is only tobe developedby instru ction . H e reasoned that ifGod had given inail an evil nature,then God would appear as an unjustjudge of His own creat ion (His to ry o fDoctrines, Vol. 1, p. 150).

    Origin decided to believe that Godcould not have given man an evil hu-man nature which he could not over-come. He thought that a loving Godwould not condemn a man for fai l ingto overcome these strong human tend-encies. It pleased Origin to call mangood.

    Origin, just like the MODERN DAYEDUCATORS, cowzNzpletely ignored thetruth of God : tha t for a ~ e r yreat pur-pose, God decreed that before man canOVERCOME, he MUST accept JesusChrist as his Savior, he MUST REPENT,and he must be baptized to receivethe POWER of the Holy Spirit-thePOWER that overcomes our filthy, rot-ten human nature. H e COMPLETELY ig-nored the fact that God gave us thishumanly unconquerable carnal natureas a POSlTIVE GUARANTEE that CHAR-ACTER can never be developed by turn-ing to the god of human reason. Forto be carnally minded is death

    ( R o m . 8 : 6 ) .Now you can understand what hap-

    pened. The early Catholic Church fa-thers followed the way that seemethright to a man. They accepted so muchgood from PA G A N Greek philosophyt ha t they soo n had little, if any, truthleft. A s an example: They wanted tobelieve that it was good to do awaywith Go ds Holy Days-they sneeringlycalled them Jewish. As a result theylost the Plan of God, the Plan of Sal-vation, the PURPOSE for LIFE . They de-cided that it would be good to sub-stitute the worship of Satans fool

    days, Halloween, Christmas, and East-er-for Gods Ho ly Days. Th ey rea-.sotied that the holidays upon which thePAGANS &orshipped SATAN would beguucl if they bur changed their names,and called them Christian-instead ofPAGAN. They also reasoned that to gainsalvation one should study the PAGANGreek philosophers (WHO NEVER asmuch as heard of theTRUE G o d ) . T h e yxccepted the idea that they had the rightr o call whatever they wanted to believe-the tru th of Jesus Ch rist.

    Satans m inisters of today are an ex-

    act image of their self-willed forefa-thers. Rather than obey God, they studywhat men have said about the Bible-never reading the Bible to see for them-selves what God has said.

    Teachers of t h e M i d d l e A g e s

    The thinkers of the Middle Ageswerent to be outdone by their fore-fathers. They took special pains to re-vive the study of the coil philosophy ofthe Pagan Greeks.

    You will find these REVEALING state-ments in the Catholic Encyclopedia( p . 303, Vol. 5 ) : M e n of fai th andleaning l ike Alber tus Magnus andThomas Aquinas taught Christians tomake the Greek philosophy the . .basis of belief. . . . Having used thesftbtitles of Greek thought to sharpenthe students mind, the Church there-upon presented to him her dogmaswithout the least fear of contradiction.

    Now we begin to understand whythe Catholic Church leaders did notFEAR that the scholar would REJECTthe MOTHER Church, af ter having stud-ied Greek philosophy Th e teachingoft h e Pagan Greeks was so similar to theteaching of the Catholic Church-thatto ACCEPT one was to ACCEPT the other

    Eve% to this very day-Satan inspiresihe leaders of many fam ous well-knowncolleges of religion to require thattheir students study Greek philosophybefore they ever study theology.SATANknows that the student who has had hismind corrupted by PHILOSOPHY can-not UNDERSTAND t ruth.

    W h a t Is M o d e r n E d u c a t i o n ?

    The Schoolmen of the Reforma-tion accepted as good the belief inthe worth of the individual, as taughtby the Greek philosophers-especiallySocrates and Plato. They accepted andtaught that each man could achieve thebeautiful and happy life through SELF-development-just exactly the oppositeto the TRUTH that Jesus Christ revealed.You are to crzbcify the self-not deve lopit

    Modern education, even though it

    may claimto

    be divorced from organ-ized religion, teaches the same atrociouslie that Satans SLAVES have alwaystaught-that ma n can decide for him-self what is good and what is evil. Theearly Catholic Church fathers called thisphilosophy Christian, the SCHOLARSof today call it progressive ediication;nevertheless, i t is still the same old lieSatan taught Adam and Eve.

    T h e g o d of modern education is hu-man reason; and its high priest, Saran.Its founding fathers are those of theCatholic Church and the Greek philos-

    ophers who taught that man came totruth through REASON.

    Modern education is a religion, thesame religion Satan has been teachingman since the days of Adam and Eve(Gen. 3:4, 5 , the religion of rebellionagainst the LAWS of b o d Almighty-the religion of believing whatever seeinsgood to you-just as long as you labelit Christian

    Th e Churches of this world have ut-terly failed to find the answer to T h ePlan of Salvation, and Why we wereborn? Similarly their GODLESS, con-fused, atheistic cohorts ~ the mod-ern educators-have chosen to believethat it is good to GUESS that out ofnothing came great quantities of mat-t e ~ ,nd that by accident precise LAWS,governing this matter, came into beingThey believe it is logical to guess thatheat, light, and energy just happenedinto existence.

    They have decided it is also goodto guess that the amoeba evolved fromdead, lifeless matter-into all [he form sof: life we know today. Upon such apreposterous foundation of GUESSES-modern educators build their beliefthat man is all the god there is.

    These great SCHOLARS are so proudof their guesses that they a s m m e a wiseand dignified look and inform the worldthat these great guesses were discoveredthrough painstaking, scientific research.

    This nations FOREMOST educator,Lawrence G. Derthick, recently said, M o d e rn E D U C AT I O N is t he O N EGR EA T FORCE to l i f t mankindHIGH-ER A n d : MODERN EDUCATION is aseed which can provide UNLIMITEDGROWTH, from which when planted,fertilized, plowed, and nurtured, wereap a MYSTIC yield-a power of uii-derstanding resourcefulness, ability, in-tegrity, culture and development-theproduct of which creates markets, MAG-N I F I E S industry an d multiplies the fru itsof freedom in terms of IMPROVED

    ER STANDARDS of LIVING and GREATERUNDERSTANDING of MORAL and S P I R -ITUAL VALUES.

    Prominent educators loudly proclaimtheir glowing tributes to the marvelousbenefits of modern progressive education-when the newspapers of this na-tion blare out in BANNER H E A D L I N E Sthe proof that juvenile crime is mount-ing at an alarming rate, and is growinginto a FRANKENSTEIN monster thatTHREATENS the very life of this nation.W e are being destroyed from withinbythis moral breakdow n resulting frommodern education.

    W h a t can you d o LO prorect your chil-dren from these diabolical DOCTRINES?

    lPlea.re rout i ime o n page 9 1

    HEALTH, BETTER GOVERNMENT, HIGH-

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    Be a POSITIVE ChristianHaving trouble with your neighbors? WHY? This wi l l show youthe REASON, and g ive you a POSlTIVE P L A N t o guide you iril iving the happ y, abzlndant, and exem plary life that God intended.

    NIIAGED at the evangelists, the fu ri-ous bloodthirsty mob broughtE hem to the city officials crying,

    These that buve turned the world up-j ide d o w n are come hither also (Acts17:6) .

    W it h these words, the angry Jews atI hessalonica accused the apostle Pauland his helpers of th e very sam e thin gof which many of you have been ac-cused. Does true Christianity turn theworld upside down, or right side up?Is the Holy Spiri t the Sp iri tof a peculiarmixture of misguided religious zeal, un-reasoned superstition, and a rebellious

    attitztde toward custom, society, andother people in general? Is this the at-titude of a good Christian?

    Lets face fucts Som e of o ur brethrenhave been accused of such wrong atti-tudes and conduct. Sometimes the ac-cusation is clearly false, but sometimesit s bused on fact

    H o w s h o d d Christians live to gainthe respect o f unconverted neighborsand friends? In spi te of persecutions,how can we live the joyous, fruitfulkind of lives that we should?

    Lets look into Gods Word for theanswers, and use sound-minded w isdom

    in applying the principles containedthere.

    Are You a Light?Jesus told His disciples, Ye are the

    light of the world. And later, Letyour l ight so shine before men, thatthey may see your good works, andglorify your Father which is in heaven(Ma t . 5 : 14, Id ) . Jesus taught that weare not to put our light under a bushel,but on a candlestick where all can see.But h o w do we let our light shine be-fore men?

    Notice that Jesus said men would.see our good works and glorify God(verse 16) . H e didrzt say that theywould hear our constant prat ing aboutthe Bible. Our good works, ourkind-ness and thoz/ghtfulness to others, ourwillingness to sacrifice, our Christian. ex-c i i i z p l ~ n daily living, these things willcause even unconverted men to admirefind respect us. Eventually, they willrealize that it is God w ho is he lpin g 11slive this w ay.Then they will glorify Him .

    But arguing, disputing , and trying toconvince people they arc wrong isiiowhere referred to ;IS good works. IfL friend or relative isnt interested in

    _

    by Roder ick C . M e r e d i t h

    Gods truth, they will in no way behelped if you constantly plague themwith w hat they regardas your religion.It is certainly not the religion of JesusChrist Tha t is not the kind of examplethat H e set.

    Remembcr that men will glorify Godbecause of your good works, not be-cause of what you say. W ha t type ofgood works should you demonstrate inthis modern day?

    Chr i s ti an Work s

    In John 14:11, Jesus said Relieveme that I am in the Father, and the

    Father in me: or else believe me forthe very works sake. He was referringto the miracles which He performed,and said in verse 12 that one who trulybelieved on him would perform evengreater works.

    Most of Jesus miraculous works wereacts of kindpzess t o others-healing thesick, feeding the multitudes, casting outunclean spirits. Paul wrote the Corin-thian brethren, Now ye are theBODYof Christ, and memb ers in particular( I Cor. 12 :27) .

    Today, Jesus is not here to performgood works in person, but we of Godstrue Church comprise Hisbody throughwhich He can and does perform mirac-ulous works. Many times, unconvertedfriends of our brethren have beenforced to glorify God and His powerwhen they have witncsscd a genuine,miraculous healing according to Godspromise.

    Th e Church of G od is Christs instru-ment to preach the true gospel as awitness to all the world, to feed theflock, to heal the sick, cast out demons,and exercise all the other gifts of GodsSpirit. By each of us drawing closer toGod in diligent Bible study, earnestprayer, and fasting, we shall receive theFOWER to carry Out our m ission in a waythat men cannot help but notice. In thedays of the apostles, God, confirmedthe word with signs following (Mark16:20). If we draw as close to Godaswe should, if we hunger and thirstafter righteousness, H e will gra nt usthe ~ O Z L J ~ Vo do the same miraculousworks as the early apostles, and manyothers will learn to glorify God.

    But aside from these miraculous workso f the ministry, there are many, manythings that wc should all be doing toglorify Go d in our lives. W ha tare these?

    Be a Good N e i g h b o rOne of the most beautiful parablesof

    Jesus [ha[ we all learned as a child, butsometimes seem to forget as an adultChristian, is the story of the Good Sa-maritan (Luke 10 :30 -37) . It is thestory of one man, a priest, who thoughthe was too holy or too important to bebothered with helping a poor fellowwho had been set upon by thicvcs, andwas lying wounded and sufferingby theroadside. It also portrays the splendid,unselfish compassion of the SamaritanH e was not too good to help evenawretched fellow in trouble whom hehad never seen before.

    Notice Jesus instruction: Go, a i ddo thou likewise.

    Jus t how good u neighbor aye YOU?This is a vitally IMPORTANT factor in

    determining your ability to be a lightto others and, incidentally, in determining your own happiness.

    Yo u should rcalizc from the U U L X Lthat carnal-minded friends and neighbors are just naturally going to have abad op ini on of you-a tru e Christia ntrying to keep all of Gods commands-against which their carnal mind rebelsThey are going to look upon you aspeculiar or fanatic unlesr y o u takepositive action to counteruct this d t t i -tude.

    To separate yourself from worldlyfellowship and participation in politicand pagan customs, you may have todrop out of any lodges, clubs, religiouor political organizations of which youmay be a member. You may be regardedas a quitter. You will be accused ofnot lovin g your fellow man-and manyother charges mill be laid a t your door-step.

    T h e SOLUTION to this problem is toprove by posi t ive ACTION that thesethings are not true. Go out of your wayto be a really wonderful neighbor. Re-member that Jesus said, It is morblessed to GIVE than to receive (Act2 0 : 3 5 ) .

    The chief attributes of Gods HolySpirit are loce, joy, @eace, ong-suffering(Gal. 5 : 2 2 ) . Put the l o v e of God towork in your life. Try to be under-standing, patient, and always ready tbe of service to others. Cultivate thatt i tude o f j o y and peuce at all times.Cry to make others feel happy iri yourpresence.

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    August, 1960 The GOOD NEWS Page 5,

    shining example before others.They maynot agree with all your doctrine, butthey will respect theresalts you achievei n ynnr life.

    Make an exciiing game out of life-out of overcoming yourself and all theobstacles in the world. Accept yourselfas a bu ndl e of possibilities-the soft,pliable clay out of w hich Go d, theSu-preme Potter-can fashion a characterand personality worthy o f e t evvd /if.in His kingdom.

    Try hard NOT to give others the im-pression that you are queer,or pe-culiar. Yo u r job is to show them theSpirit of a SOUND MIND in everythingyou do. If people d o ask you questionsconce rning your belief hich theywill if you are living it-be prep aredby diligent study to give them the an-swer in a non-argum entative, clear, andcommon-.rense way. Show them t ha tGods way mukes sense-and is basedon a law o f love which would preventzuur, murder and most of humanitystroubles, if it were only taught andobeyed. But only tell people what theyask you about. Dont try to force newtruth upon them. Just show them byyour words and ACTIONS that Gods wayis based on commo?z seme and a soundmind.

    Continually ask God for the l u v rfaith, and wisdom to be a POSITIVEChristian. Put a smile on your face, pullback your shoulders, and hold your headhigh as you step forward to meet theworld with Gods LOVE in your hearttoward everyone, with His FAITH andPOWER to show others a positive PX-ample of the blessing that comes froma life of love and service, and with theSpirit of a SOUND MIND tha t yo~imaydemonstrate by your nctioias that Godsway is best, and could bring happinessto everyone.

    Even though you will still be perse-cuted by many, this positive attitadein Christian living will gain you newrespect in your community. You maythen be a Positi7.e influence for good.More important, this way of living fait hand uction will give your own life moremea ning, interests, and joy, and will pre -

    pare you to better serve as a King andPriest under Christ throughout life eter-nal. Use it.

    God is more willing t u give you

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    y o u r cars to the words of knowledge(Prov. 23:12), God wil l lead you andyour children into the WAY everlasting(Ps . 139 :24 ) .

    mnndments which 1 command you thisday, to love the LORD your God, andto serve Him with all your heart andwith all your soul Deut. 11: 1 3 ) .Take heed t o yourselves, that yourheart be not deceived, and ye turnxside, and serve other gods, and wor-s h i p t hem (v s. 16 ) .

    But this is not allNO TICE: And ye shall teach [ the

    Comtnandments) them [to] your chil-dren, speaking of them when thou si t-test i n thine house, and when thouvialkest by the way, when thou liestdown , and wh en thou risest up.

    C o m e O u t of Sin

    Before you can begin to train yourchildren-you must CAST out of yourmind the LIE that the human natureyour child has is so good that he willdevelop best if you will turn him loosezund let na tur e take i ts course. Cast ou tof your mind the lie that you must notforce your child to obey, lest you warphis character De ut. 2 1 : 18-21 ) .

    Cast out of your mind the false teach-ing of PROGRESSIVE EDUCATORS whoteach that you must not obey theconz-~imzd f the CREATOR God to trainyour children in the W A Y that theyshould go. They tell you to rely ontra ined teachers-who teach yourchildren that they have the RIGHT todecide for themselves that the lies ofChristmiis and Easter are truth, andt h a t the T K U T H o f God is a lie.

    Instead, teach your children the Com-inandnients o f the Alm ighty God. Teachthem that the LIES they learn in SCHOOL:ire L I E S . I N D UT what they are beingtaught.

    T h e C u l t of High - sound ing Ph ra se s

    Furthermore, STOP worshipping znzp o r t m t people who can spout fancyscunding phrases.

    For example: You parents who havebeen teachers-have heard the modernday philosophy of education expressedthis way by your college instructors: W e believe in a type ofFREE ACTIVITYin which the child is allowed to de-velop by doing. The child is thus al-lowed to discover his OWN TRUTH andDETERMINE i ts validi ty, UNAIDED bythe teacher and independent of allTRA-DITIONAL AUTHORITY.By traditionala~rthori ty, they mean t o include theLaws of God}. The child is stimulatedto self-activity w hile lea rning by do-ing , in a n mvironment tha t is NOT AP R E PA R AT I O N FOR LIFE, but is LIFEITSELF. Then your instructor wouldtell you that character is buil t by do-iug, b y F K I I : PIIA(:IICI: i l l i i i o r a l a c i i c i i n. d ~ d REI: biOI1AI. ~ Z P E ~ I L N C E

    W h a t d i d your collcgc professor iiieaii

    by FREE MORAL EXPERIENCE? HCmeant that character in your childrenis built by sowing wild oats. That isanother way of saying-haracter isbuilt by BREAKING GODSLAW

    Such trash is called philosophy. Areyou guilty in standing in AWE of DE-CEIVERS who spout such educatedphrases? God says, You are relying onfalse phrases, to no profit . . ( Jer.7 : 8 Moffatt trans.).

    Ye s , that is exactly the reason manyof you are having trouble with yourchildren-you are relying on MA N, youare relying on human reason, instead ofGod.

    Do you YIELD to believing these lies?Be honest Before you answer, ask your-self, Did I yield to letting m y childdo w hat h e wanted to do today-againstmy better judgment-JUST TO K E E PHIM HAPPY? D id my child do every-thing that I rold liiiii to do, IMMEDI-ATELY, the first time I told him? Doesmy child ever talk back to me wh en Itell him to do something? Examineyourself

    W h a t C a n Yo u Do?

    MAU your childrendo what you tellthem to do, without question, imme-diately.

    Dont let your children talk back t oyou. If you want their opinion, ask forit. If you dont, teach them toRESPECTyour AUTHORITY by making them keepstill.

    Be diligent in this and your childrenwill have security. They will alwaysknow what you are going to do. Theywill learn to LOVE and RESPECT you.They will be HAPPY. They will learnto love and obey God. Happy is thatpeople whose God is the LORD(Ps. 1 4 4 : 1 5 ) .

    Teach your children to know whatthey should do; how to obey. And ifthey will not obey, punish them untilthey will CHOOSE to obey rather thantake any more punishment. With somechildren-just a word will suffice, whileother children may require a few swatswith a paddle before they will chooseto obey your commands-rather than toreceive any more swats. Rut it will work.Ask God for WISDOM James 1 5 ) andH e will freely give.

    Finally, it has been suggested thatw e can teach our children to respect usand to obey us by having a morningworship time with the whole family forat least 15 to 20 minutes a morning.(See The G o o d News April , 1960,Article--Worship God-TOGETHER )

    Tra in up a child in the way he shouldLU. ;und when hc i b c ~ l c l , lie will 1 1 1t I e p m from i t h U v . 2 2 : G . If y u i l ~ p p l your hearts uiito instrucLioii, ancl

    Into What WereYou BAPTIZED?

    (Coii t inued f r o m p q e 5

    This is the doing of GOD-not ofman. It is done only when God hasperceived th e real attitud e of heart-whether there is R E A L repentance, REALsurrender to God and His laws, REALoffering of the self asa living sacrifice

    And SO-IF you have received ofGods Spiri t- --by His ow n Divine MIRACLE, and have been begotten as avery C H I L D OF HIS-then YOU HAVEBECOME, BY V I RT U E OF THAT BAPTISMWITH HIS SPIRIT, a M E M B E R O F H I SC H U R C H

    Yo ur Respons ib il i t ies asa M e m b er

    As a MEMBER of the Church of God,you have certain definiteRESPONSIBILI-TIES to perform. God reyaires the carry-ing out of these duties and responsi-bilities. Sludy the entire twelfth chap-ter of First Co rinth ians In it, you wilsee how God says regardless of WHOyou are, WHERE you are-whetherhousewife, executive, truck d river, pensioner, widow, or WHAT you are-You

    Yo u r J o b as a Me mb e r

    HAVE A D E F I N I T E JOB TO PERFORM

    Jesus Christ has COMMISSIONED H i sbody to perform a gigantic task ofpreachin g this Gospe l of the Kingdomto all the world as a witness. It is anoverwhelming, fr ighteningly hugeJOBIt takes many, inany laborers to accomplish it

    Paul explains how the very smallestpoorest, weakest member of all, thelittle toe of the human body, nevertheless performs a vital, importantnecessary PART

    YOUR PERSONAL PART in the Churchof God is manyfold God requires thatyou pay HIS TITHES, and your own liberal and generous offerings besides, tHis headquarters-for the furtheran cof the Gospel work. He REQUIRES thatyou not only spend much time in Biblestudy, but also especially in constantearnest, prevailing PRAYER, with FAST-ING occasionally, for the needs of thework, fo r other members, for His min-isters. He REQUIRES your attenda nce atHis annual Festivals as He makes ipossible, for your ow n spiritua l goodHe R E Q U I R E S your faithfdne.rr, your

    Yes, YOU) if yoti havc ir-ccived 0 1/ iYdltj ~ 6 u 1 AIRIOTISM

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    lhe GOOD NEWS Iagc I 1

    y o u r Heavenly Fathcrs Spirit,arc nowa full-fledgedM E M B E R O F HIS C H U R C HAs such, H e will watch over you, bewith you, pro tec t you, help you-as youyield yourself to Him, and let HimUSE you

    So remember, these are just a fewofthe BASIC REQ~JIRHMENTS ut Jesuswarns, So likewise ye, when ye shallhave done A L L THOSE T H I N G S W H IC HA R B C O M M A N D E D Y O U , say, W e areunprofitable servarics, we have done[only] that which was our dutyto do

    Luke 17:1 0 ) .Arc yozi going beyond your dutj

    growing in spiritual power and deeds?

    How to GetOut of DEBT

    Continued f r o m page 2 )u l his farm work.

    These are a few of the many exam-ples that come to our attention. Thereis no end t o the financial problems thatour people have, or have had, mainlythrough lack of proper understanding,proper foresight, and proper planning.

    Some o f these cases a re practicallybeyond repair. The individuals involvedmust either start life afresh, losingeverything they have; or they must re-main in debt for years, slowly climbingo u t of the financial pit; or they must-upon careful legal counsel and adviceby a competent individual or ministerin the Church-coiiiiiience ban krup tcyproceedings.

    No matter i f you are beginning toget into financial trouble or are deepi n finnncial trouble, the first thing todo is to seek proper financial advice.I personally find that more people arei n need of financial advice than adviceo i l health Many ministers in the Churchhave found the same thing true o f theirareas.

    Th is cond ition should not be-yet it isbccause we have never been taught theseven principles governing financialpiobperity.

    The Seven Pr inc ip lesMany businessmen w ho know nothing

    ;:bout the Bible fully understand six ofthe seven principles regulating theirprosperity. That is why they are finan-cial successes. But without that seventhprinciple, many a businessman has coin-mittect suicide in the face of sudden,unexpected ndversity.

    By contras t , not a few converted peo-ple know only 0 11 o rule of financial suc-cess and arc practicnlly failures i n lifc.Their only hope of deliverance lies be-ycind the grave Th is should not be.

    Here is rule nu?uber one; PUT SPlRlI-U A I . T H I N G S F I R ST. Jesus explained it:

    Seek y e f i i ~ ie Kiiigdoiri of God, andHis righteousness; and all these thingsshall be added unto you (Mat.6:33) .

    This is the one principle most pros-perous people are unacquainted with. Itis often the only principle that Chris-tians, who seek a knowledge of God,have ever understood.

    Thi s principl e, if appl ied, is anabsolute guarantee against starvationand grinding poverty. A knowledge ofchis principle is often the only reasonthat poor people are able to keep uptheir heads in the face of adversity.

    Ignorance of this one principle is thevery reason that many wealthy individ-uals, in the unexpected moment of ad-versity, co mm it suicide. New spapers aref u l l of such cases-men and wo men whoknow all the ot her rules of success, burwho have no mainstay in times of ad-versity.

    This first financial principle assumesyou fo l low Gods law of tith ing whichbrings a promise from God to supplyyour needs. IF YOU SEEK FIRST THEKINGDOM F Go%-His law s a nd g ov -ern me nt, you will naturally obey the lawof tithing.

    B U T the degree t o w h i c h G o d ,willprosper you and supply your needs de-pends on how thoroughly you seek andfol low the other laws of is in d o m

    ;ou r financial life-the other six principles r e p tiag

    The Othe r S ix Rules

    Everyone of these other six financialrules of success is found in the bookof Proverbs, though they may be re-peated elsewhere. It is not uncommonfor businessmen to have a copy of thebook of Pro verb s handy at homeor inthc office. These principles are ofteiihanded down to succeeding generationsin business operations.

    Here they are:Rule n z m b e r two : DO NOT BE A

    QUITTER.Many a failure occurs because an in-

    ctividual gives up when thcrc is stillhope of success. Just a little m ore ef-fort can often turn apparent defeat intosticcess. Solomon was inspired to write:If thou faint in the day of adver-sity, thy strength is small (Prov.24: 1 0 ) . Does debt seem overwhelming?Dont quit . Keep working. Keep think-ing. Keep planning. See your employer.See your creditor. T d k y o z ~ rpvoblemover with them. Dont sit at home andsay, Its no use

    l f yoti have lost your job, hit thepavement. Find work. There is noexcuse for unemployment.Buy a news-paper. Look i n the He lp Wanted sec-tion, or in the Employment Oppor tu-nities section. Go to an employment

    agency as a last resort. Too many areafraid to look for a job. They faintatthe thought of being turned down.Solo-mo n said: If you faint-give up, qui t,feel like a failure-you do nt have anybackbone, any fortitude, any strength.

    I know a man in the Los Angelesarea who suddenly lost a job throughno fault of his own. His creditors im -mediately jumped on him. He did notquit . H e rust led tip t w o jobs in orderto meet his payments. He went to worka t two jobs for many months until hegot out from under his debt load.

    Some of you may be in an i i n e i i iployment area. If so, the husband anclfather ought to go elsewhere and findwork-taking his family with himdfter,not bcforc, he has located and obtaiiiecla suitable job. There is always worksomewhere. It is a matter of not quit-ting until you find it

    Kule number three: BE D I L I G E N I ,not slothful in your work.

    Two different places in Proverbs isthis rule repeated : Re thou diligent toknow the state of thy flocks, and lookwell to thy herds [or whatever your oc-cupation may be): for riches are notfoi evei ( P r u v. 2 7 : 2 3 - 2 4 ) .And again: I went by the field of the slothful, andby the vineyard of the man void of un-derstanding: and, lo, it was all grownover with thorns, and nettles had covered the face thereof, and thc stone walthereof was broken down . . . so shallpoverty come . . I (Prov. 2 4 : 3 @ 3 4 ) .

    Havent you seen small businessesthat had the same general appearances

    as that farm Solomon saw. And howmany small farmslook like this proverbtoday. Too many of Gods people areslothful in their occupation. They arekizy and apparently do not know itAnd how many workers are just asslothful, lying down on thc job, seeking coffee breaks, tea breaks or what-ever it may be.

    You will never be a fiiiancial suc-cess unless you are diligent in yourwork. I know several men who receiveemploy ment practically anywheres i n -ply because they were diligent in theirwork. Even if they were not trainedf o ra particular job, employers know theywould be worth trai ning. Unfortunatclysome use lack of training as a n excusefor lack of effort, an excuse 1 coverslothfulness.

    Here is another proverb on this samesubject: Seest thou it nxin diligent inhis business? he shall stand bcforc kingshe shall not stand before mean men(Prov. 2 2 : 2 9 . Paul makes this ;I NewTcstariient conitnand in Rom. 1 2 : I

    Seek Advicelhe next rule ro reineniber is this.

    SEEK ADVICE; do not be self-wise.

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    Page 12 ? h e GOOD NEWS August, 1960

    Notice how this fourth rule followson the heels of the preceding one.Seest thou a man wise in his own con-ceit? there is more hopeof a fool thanof liiiii . . Tlir sluggard is wiser inhis own conceit than seven men thatcan render a reason (Prov. 26: 12- 16) .

    And again these short proverbs:. . . Cease from thine own wisdom

    . . Apply thine heart unto instruction,and thine ears to the words of knowl-edge (Prov. 2 3 : 4 - 1 2 ) .

    The wise person profits by others,rather than listening to himself all thetime. It is the know-it-all wh o reallyknows nothing. You will always meetsome man in your life who knowsmore than you do in some part icularfield. Listen to him. Weigh his advice.Dont act hastily on it. It could bewrong. It might not apply to your case.But above al l do not take your ownjudgment for granted or be conceitedin your past experience.

    Know your limitations and yourstrong points.Another mistake often made is lis-

    tening to the m an w ho talks t he loudestor seems the most persuasive. D o notjudge your advisors by their floweryphrases. Find the man who has plaincomm on sense-which gift is alto-gether too rare. Do not seek advice ofthe man who will flatter you. Literallydozens of proverbs in the Bible warnagainst the man who flatters his hear-ers.

    Find the iil ii w h o will tell youthe truth. If a m an is willing to tell youthe truth about your financial position,l is ten to him. H e is probably right. Ifhe leads you to see what poor judg-ment you have used, he is most cer-tainly right W ith ou t advisors and coun-sellors, businesses, as well as nations,collapse.

    Rule number fiue: HAVE FORESIGHT.Everyone needs to develop thoughtful

    regard and make provision for the fu-ture. Hind sight is not enough. Noticethe proverb: A prudent man foreseeththe evil, and hideth himself: but thesimple pass on, and are punished(Prov. 22 :3 ) .

    Is a lay-off in your factory aroundthe corner? Make provision in adznnce to meet the emergency. See thatanother job will be available. Have alittle handy cash on hand. Above all

    IS SECURE. And do not t ie up what youalready own as security unless you arewilling and able to lose it if an unfore-seen emergency arises. Some havefool-ishly tied up their car as security forIurniture. They lost their job, couldi i o t meet furniture payments, lost pos-session of the car and NOW YAV E NO

    DO NOT P L U N G E INTO D E B I WIlHOUlMAKING ABSOLUTELY SURE YOUR JOB

    M E A N S OF TRANSPORTATION TO AND

    FROM WORK.It is easy to put all your savings into

    a nice home on the assumption that allwill be fine, that no small amountofsavings will be needed. Remember thisproverb: Prepare thy work without,and make it fit for thyself in the field;and afterwards build thine house(Prov. 24:27). Spend your money foreducation, training, tools, job improve-ment. Then, when you are qualified tohold down a good job, and have hadthe foresight to save some money foremergencies, is the time to enjoy thepleasure of building a home for thefamily. D o not put your pleasures first.This does not mean that a convertedhusband and father should neglect thehome where his wife-especial ly if sheis unconverted-must spen d muc h ofher time.

    Some unwise men have been so illprepared to make a living for their

    family that they have allowed theirwives to hold down a job to help buyfurniture for their home. This shouldnever be.

    F i n a l Tw o RulesAlthough many of us would find the

    last two rules of rarer use, a lack oftheir knowledge could spell immediatedisaster if we become confronted withthe problems which they cover.

    Here is rule number six: DO N O T

    the first place, soloiiioii warns us; La-bour not to be r ich (Prov.2 3 : 4 ) .

    God wants us to prosper, but to berich is another matter. W e have heardmany schemes of people who intendedto supp ly a large pa rt of th eir profitsto pay for a l l the rad io work-or a l lthe cost o f piihlication, etc. God doesnot f inance H is work that way. Heworks through many individuals to-gether-His Church-made up of thou -sands of members.

    All get-rich-quick schemes are basi-cally selfish. T h e way t o prosper is towork diligently, plan ahead, investwisely-not follow som e wild projec tfor which one has no training, no mat-ter how easy it sounds. Money doesnot come easily. It comes throughwork. H e that tilleth his land shallhave plenty of bread: but he that fol-loweth after vain persons shall havepoverty enough-and quite often bank-ruptcy (Prov. 28:19). And notice thenext verses: A faithful m an shall aboundwith blessings: but he that makethhaste to be rich shall not be innocent. . H e that hasteth to be rich . con-sidereth not that poverty shall corn(.Lipon him.

    Lay as ide your ed riiiiigb lirclr byl i t -tle, until you have enough to meet your

    TRY A GET-RICH-QUICK SCHEME. I n

    cmcrgcncics. Rcmcmbcr thcantAnd the seventh rule: DO NOT M A K E

    YOURSELF LIABLE FOR ANOTHERSDEBTS. Be not thou one of them .that are sureties for debts. If thou hastnothing to pay, why should he takeaway thy bed from under thee? (Prov.22 : 2 6 - 2 7 ) .

    To be surety for a debt means tomake yourself responsible for anothersdebts. Some people are easy marks-others always take advantage of them.If you are not financially able to paythe full amount of anothers debt, donot sign a paper or promise to coverdefaults of obligations. Many have notonly lost their beds, butalso their shirtsby this mistake An d finally noticeProverbs 11: 15: H e that is surety fora stranger shall smart for it; and hethat hateth suretyship is sure.

    Brethren, these are living financialI,iws. These principlcs have been gov-erning your life whether or not you

    have known of them. Someof you areneedlessly poor because you havebeen heedless of these laws. Others otyou are now so deep in debt that youface a lifelong uphill climb.

    Some have assumed that if they paidtheir tithes honestly a fte r conversionthat that would undo all their past mistakes. Brethren this is untrue.

    Obedience to thc law docs not payfor your past m istakes. C hrists bloodpays for past mistakes. God forgivesyou for breaking these laws in the past-but the physical penalty of deb t stilrcmains. Remember that God forgaveDavid for adultery, yet his child-theresult of that one act of adultery-died. There is often a physical or finan-cial penalty to be paid to men andsociety even though God has forgivenyou of your transgression.

    Tithing enables you to have Godshelp henceforth. And many of youneed that help dearly to square your pasdebts with men. But tithing IS not theonly principle regulating prosperitythere are six other rules.

    Unless your creditors cancel y o u rdebts, you still owe them. They are tobe paid. The world, of course, knownothing about releasing a debtor inthe seventh year. See Deuteronomy15.Unfortunately some of you brethrenare being kept under an unnecessaryfinancial penalty because you are nobeing released from past financial obligation as Gods law requires of creditors. However, you are therefore required to continue payment nf yoiirdebts until they are squared away.

    If you follow these seven laws andremain faithful in your tithing, puttinfirst the Kingdom o f God, you willprosper. Will you rake God a t HISword?