A Joyous PENTECOST - Herbert W. Armstrong

1 VOL. X,NUMBER6 InternationalMagazineofTHECHURCHOFGODJUN E,1961 AJoyousPENTECOSTT housandsobservedtheDayofPentecostaroundt heworldinGOD' 'sworkisgrowingineverydirection-andSEVEN nation-widebaptizingtoursarescheduled! the day come, they were allwithoneaccordinam:place"(Aus2: 1 ) .Therecentjoyousobservanceof Pente-cost by literallythousandsofbrethrenaroundthisea rthwascertainly"withoneaccord" as it was inapostolicdays! Al-thoughthistime-asit was in the days ofPaul whenPentecostwasobservedatEphesus (1 :8)as well asothermajor centers - theobservanceof thisFestival was heldon severalcontinentsinvarious firstpartof thethree-day FestivalwiththeLondonchurchon the weeklySabbath, on Sunday toNewYorkCity to bewithGod'sChurchthereforthe Day of PENTECOST . He wasreturningto thiscountryanyway for amuch-neededvisit toimportantradio stations, and soplannedto spend this Holy DaywithGod'sChurchinAmerica'slargest theNewYorkCitychurch, ,reports:"AgainI amhappytoreportthegreatestHoly Day Festival ever held in thisgreatcity!

2 Therewere 293adultsand 118 chil-dren,representingten states plus Canadaand\'(Tashington, , was by far thegreatestnumberofGod's people ever assembled inNewYork City in thePhiladelphiaera ofGod's Church."Notonly was it thegreatestFestivalobserved hereattendance-wise;butmostimportantof all, it was, I sincerely feel,the mostprofitable, to bebubblingoverwithenthusiasm,warmthand joy. ,whomwe wereveryhappyto havewithus, saidthatthischurchis the'handshakingest'grouphehad ever seen. Also, we were overjoyedto see and hear ,and anumbercommentedto me after theservices as to howmuchthey had beeninspiredby his messages 'to really domore' in the way , itcertainlywas a'shot-in-the-arm'for theentirechurchto have Mr. Arm-strongwithus again for the second timesince thechurchwasstartedinNovem-ber of 1959. I hopethatthis shot will lastuntilhe canreturnto give usanotherone,"In the way of physicalenjoymentwe,of course, had the physical feastduringtheinterimbetweenthemorningan dafternoonservices.)

3 Everyonepartookofand enjoyed the delicious andhealthfulfoodpreparedby God'speopleas onlyGod' we able to please the palatewithgood food,butalso the ears were soothed,duringtheafternoonservices, by a coupleofbeautifulandmelodicsongs, the l stand I I 7th Psalms set to music by our ownMr. thegreaterpartof his lifeunderprivateinstructorsand now has hisown musicstudiowherehe teaches piano,accordion andotherinstrumentsas ,his specialty for hisown likes is the organ. He is nowenthusi-asticallyengagedinsettingothe rsongsto music. Oh, yes, Iwantto saythatthetwoabove-mentionedsongs were sungby our sextet made up of Messrs. CalvinandRaymondMickens andtheirwives,plus Mr. and Mrs. have agreatdeal ofmusicaltalentplustalentin manyotherfields here inNewYork."Toillustratejust howmuchGod reallydoeswantthose who sincerely seek andobey HisCommandmentsto enjoy andprofit from the services, first let me tellyou whatoccurredto one of ourfaithfulwomenduringPentecost.

4 Mrs. CharlesNickel,shortlyafterthemorningserv iceended, wasstrickensuddenlywithseverecramps andupsetstomach. She was verysick and felt very and asked me toanointher, which , she came to me and told methatas soon as we had come out of thelittleroomthatthe pains in her body dis-appearedandthatshe was able to enjoyandprofitfrom theafternoonservicewhich I had asked God to make , God is amercifulGod and He isverymuchconcernedfor Hischildrenaswe have seenevidencedhere many times."So, all in all, this was a most enjoy-able andprofitableHoly Day. Muchell-thusiasm wasgeneratedand all wentaway!,ookingforwardto the next one 'sChurchin Sydney,Australia,thattheyobservedawonder fulPentecostFestival. Mr. TonyHammerconductedanentirethree-dayFest ival therewithmorningand after-noonpreachingservices each inattendancefor theFestival from allpartsofAustralia-somehavingto travel many miles to new radiostationsare nowbeingadded in "the land downunder"God'swork there should soon beBOOMING more than ever!

5 Many of youbrethrenwill behappytolearnthatwe are nowplanningtosendMr. and help in the work there soonaftercol-legegraduationthis June. from nearNeosho,Missouri,and isnowgraduatingfromAmbassadorCol-lege. His wife, the formerBerniceStover,is a veryfaithfulanddedicatedmaid-servantof JesusChrist,and it is feltthatthis couple will addmuchto the work inAustraliawhere somuchgrowthis our prayersgowithMr. and !Reportsare stillincompletefrom theBritishIslesregardingtheobservanceofP entecostthere,butwe do knowthatalarge Festival was heldwithGod'sChurchin London, inattendance,plus manyothers in theoutlyingchurches. As re-portedearlier, there over the weeklySabbathbeforeflying , services on theDay ofPentecostforGod'sChurchin"Ephraim."Fro m the far awayPhilippineIslands, the Day thepreachingof God'struthin this far-away land, and arebeginningtomeetwithGod'sChurchandlear nmanythingson His Holy Days.

6 May ourthoughtsand prayers bewiththem!PentecostatChicagoA three-dayPentecostFestivalwasheld in there from Pasadena to assistthe local pastor, , inconductingservices there for over 1100people!Mr. Blackwell sends thefollowingre-port:"A warm,enthusiastic1104peoplerejoicedbefor eGod in thecommemora-tion of thefoundingof God'sChurch1930 years the special music by theChicago chorale as well as the soloists."Mrs. Viola Peets is to becommendedon herpersistentlynear-flawless job ofTheGOOD NEWS managingthe go toher helpers for the meals and service. Inobedienceto God'sinjunctionthat werise upbeforethe 'hoary head,' the olderpeoplealways gothroughthe food linefirst."A very enjoyable time of social fel-lowshipwas held on Saturday coloredbrethren, 'ssupervision, Master Peets, thehusbandof Mrs. Peets and aninterestedfriend of the church, of God'screationwere enjoyed bythose12years old andunderand a nurs-erywasprovidedfor the smallerchildrenby ,a Chicagochurchgrandmotherherself.

7 "Attendanceat the all-day services onSabbathand Sunday was 665 and run verysmoothlyas the result of anoutstandingjob done by a very capablegroupof asmany newbrothersand sisters wereadded to ourspiritualfamily."Otherrecentcause forrejoicingtookplace on theSabbathof May 6 when wewere blessed in Chicago and Blooming-ton by theadditionof two new deaconsin God's service. In Chicago, ,a very yielded, zealousItalianmemberof God'sChurchwas elevated togreaterservice for ,helpfulwife adds to his serviceandpotentialas well asbeingtruly anhelpmeetfor him. This raises the Chi-cagogroupof special servants to an un-usual sixconsistingof twoGermans, ; two Russians, ;our colored dea-con, Mr. ElishaCrim;and our new Ital-ian deacon, Mr. Filipello."Thevery first deacon for the Bloom-ingtonchurchwasordainedon the sameSabbathby Mr. Hal Baird and me. ,who has showngreatzealand yieldedness in God'sChurch,wasreadilyrecognizedas qualified by all huthimself.

8 "Havingdrivenover100miles tochurch in El Paso for over two years inorderto assembletolearn and help thenewerbrothers, He ishelped by a verywarmandspirituallygrowingwife, and two smalldaughterswho will addexperienceinmanagementandpatience."Pe ntecostatGladewaterandPasadenaFlying back to Texas by 707 Jet, I wasprivilegedtobe at our own big taber-nacle atGladewater,Texas to join - the localminister-June,1961inconductingservi cesduringthe study on Friday night, five preach-ing services and two Bible studies wereheldduringthe three day Swisher and I were assisted in con-ductingthese services by Mr. FrankWil-son - who led the singing, and by Battles - whobroughttwo sermon-ettes. Also, a veryspecialtreatwas givenall of us when theGladewaterImperialHighSchoolChorusren deredtwo spe-cial selections on the Day ofPentecostduringthe finalafternoonservice. Thisgroupof young singers was led by , teacher in theImperialSchool,and they theme of the sermons was on re-sisting thespiritof Satan and his demons,and on being filledwiththeSpiritof Al-mightyGod.

9 On the Day of Pentecostitself, well over 1,000 were inarrencianceand enjoyed awonderfulday of feastingandfellowshipon thebeautifultaber-naclegroundsas well as in thepreachingservices Pasadenaheadquarterschurch, over900brethrenassembled for the Feast ofPentecost- plushundredsof others inothernearby local churches in the LosAngeles area. Thepreachingservices inPasadena wereconductedby Mr. GarnerTedArmstrongassisted by was onknowingthepowerof God and His , and awonderfulfeast was heldom-of-doorsonour own lovely Ambassador College in the Los Angeles area, theLos Angeles and Long Beach churchesmettogetheratGardenaunder the direc-tion of head of theLetterAnsweringDepartment- and Over300brethrenjoined in this service, theShermanOaksChurchof God, preach-ing services wereconductedby Mr. Nor-man Smith and Mr. Selmer Redlands,California,about125membersof theRedlandschurchattend-edPentecostservi ces conducted by Mr.

10 AlDennis, ,about130 were inattendanceon the Day of PENTECOST . Thepreachingservices there wereconductedbyMr. Jon Hill, local pastor, and , formerly from theChicagochurchand now a zealous , the SanDiegoChurchof God assembled for asplendidPente-cost Festivalunderthedirectionof a vis-itingminister,Mr. Leroy Neff, andtheirJune,1961local elder, in themorningon themeaningof the Day ofPentecost,anenjoyable feast was held in anearbyparkfollowed by a Bible ,about175were inattendanceand specialnumber,"TheHolyCity." festival inCentralCalifornia:"BoththeSacramentoan dFresnochurchesmet inModesto,California,toobservetherecentD ay theAmericanLegionHalltoonce again review andlearnmoreaboutthe rerypurposeforwhichwehumansarehere -tobeFlRSTFRUITSinGod'splan of salvation!Thislarge crowd showshowgrowthinCaliforniacontinues."The churchinSacramentonow hasover700artendingEVERYWEEK!Many zealous new familiesdriveoverfrom many miles on all sides of Sacra-mentotobewithGod' to bebaptizedandwill , nodoubt,will result in agreatincrease.