the Trinity, while Armstrong in sisted this was pagan in its origin. Songs about heaven were a regular part of the worship services at the church, but The Plain Truth publi cations declared that heaven was not the reward of the saved. The church worshipped on Sunday, but the evi dence presented by Herbert Arm strong seemed conclusive that Sat urday was the proper day. I pointed out these things to Ruth and the children. I called Ruth’s at tention to the authority with which Armstrong spoke, and we noted to gether the many Bible verses he pre sented as proof for his teachings. And there was an impressive num ber of unfolding world events that Armstrong neatly fitted into his pro phetic teaching. Ruth was not fully convinced, but we decided to follow the teachings of Herbert W. Arm strong. We began to keep Saturday as our day of rest and worship. We dropped all pork from our diet. We even con sidered driving weekly from our home near Grand Rapids, Mich., to South Bend, Ind., a distance o f 100 miles, to attend a gathering of fol lowers of the Radio Church of God. Our decision to follow this new way of life was made near the Christmas season, and we decided
there would be no recognition of Christmas at all, except for a few exchanges of gifts, since, according to Armstrong, all Christmas festivi ties are rooted in paganism. We sent no greeting cards to friends or rela tives. We had no Christmas tree. We must have been expecting a great blessing from that “ no Christ mas” experience, but instead it seemed barren and empty. We truly missed remembering Christ’s birth that year. Somehow, following th e “ Arm strong way of life” was not nearly as satisfying as I had anticipated. The conflicts within grew rather than subsided. Unanswered questions pressed upon my mind every waking hour. My work required me to be alert, but my inward struggles de manded priority. Every part of my life was being affected by the awful uncertainty as to my relationship with God. While I had little instruction in the Bible, I had always held a great respect for the Scriptures. The thought struck me that God must have the answer to my spiritual struggle, and that His answer must be contained in the Bible. I deter mined I would seek out the truth in the Bible, and that I would not rest until I had found peace with God.
It was about 5 o’clock in the eve ning when I opened my Bible to begin my search. I read with an ur gency and interest greater than I had ever experienced. I read care fully and yet swiftly. It was as if I were trying to devour the whole Bible in an evening, and yet to sift from its pages some single truth that would be the key to this crisis in my life. The hours passed quickly. That night I read for 11 hours, and when I closed the Bible at 4 o’clock in the morning it was only because my eyes were too weary to continue. At 7 o’clock I was awake and back to the Bible again. All through the next day I continued my study. It would have been useless for me to carry on the usual business of the day. My Bible reading did not end until that evening. When I finally closed the Bible that evening, I still did not have the answer. A few days later a business trip took me away from the city. I had pulled myself together enough to carry on my work, but the struggle continued. On the return trip the battle within became more intense, and I brought my car to a stop be side the road and once again opened the Bible. ________________ (continued on page 36)
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B P SUPPLIES
AUGUST, 1966
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