Raising the Ruins (44 page)

“Buy the truth, and sell it not .…”

— Proverbs 23:23

Why did we do it? Why bog down in six grueling years of spiritual trench warfare? Why spend $5 million in legal fees and settlement costs for books and booklets we’re going to give away free?

The best answer to that question is, read it for yourself.

With the exception of Mr. Armstrong’s
Autobiography,
everything we fought for and now own the copyrights to—7 books, 11 booklets and a monthly correspondence course—we now furnish to anyone who asks for it.

Mystery of the Ages
is the capstone of Mr. Armstrong’s lifelong work. In it, he sought to summarize and make plain all the Bible’s major truths in one volume, supplying the reader with “the thread of the Bible.” He wrote it to be very accessible to the reader completely unacquainted with his teachings, which is why he marketed it to bookstores and libraries. Ask us for a free copy to see what was at the heart of the
WCG
v.
PCG
battle. What did Joseph Tkach believe was his “Christian duty” to keep out of your hands? Why did we so fervently disagree? Read it for yourself.

The Incredible Human Potential
,
which focuses on the transcendent destiny of humankind, is one of Mr. Armstrong’s most inspiring works. It explains the overview of God’s master plan for humans, answering our deepest questions about why we are here.

The Missing Dimension in Sex
is a treasure trove of practical, Bible-based knowledge regarding marriage, family, dating and sex
.
A companion book we also own is Mr. Armstrong’s
Why Marriage—Soon Obsolete?

Mr. Armstrong considered the message contained in
The United States and Britain in Prophecy
to be the “strongest proof” of God’s existence and the inspiration of the Holy Bible. Written during the 1930s, this book probably did more to help build the Worldwide Church of God under Mr. Armstrong than anything else he ever published. During his lifetime, more than 6 million people had obtained copies. The foundational history and prophecy it covers is more urgently needed today than ever before.

The Wonderful World Tomorrow
draws on numerous biblical passages to vividly describe what human civilization will be like during the 1,000-year reign of Jesus Christ, now just ahead of us. This is the vision that kept Mr. Armstrong’s focus on the future. It’s why he was such a positive, joy-filled, forward thinker!

We could go on. Other booklets by Mr. Armstrong that we will eagerly send you at no charge include:
Does God Exist?
,
The Proof of the Bible
,
Who or What Is the Prophetic Beast?
, The Plain Truth About Healing,
What Science Can’t Discover About the Human Mind
,
The Seven Laws of Success
,
What Is Faith?
,
Just What Do You Mean … Born Again?
,
Which Day Is the Christian Sabbath?
and
Pagan Holidays or God’s Holy Days—Which?

On top of all that, the 58-lesson correspondence course we won the rights to publish has become the basis for an updated course:
The Herbert W. Armstrong College Bible Correspondence Course.
Monthly lessons help you to find your way around the Bible proving basic doctrines and learning vital lessons in Christian living.

Finally, I encourage you to request a free copy of another book that is central to the story you have just read. It is the manuscript that got my father fired and excommunicated from the
WCG
. It is the book that launched the Philadelphia Church of God. It is the agonized cry of the betrayed—and the call to remembrance of the faithful. It is the trumpet alarm we blasted to every minister and member of the
WCG
we possibly could:
Malachi’s Message to God’s Church Today
.
Those who, after reading
Raising the Ruins
,
take the time to read
Malachi’s Message
will discover that everything I have described—the casting down of Mr. Armstrong’s teachings, the lies that supplanted them, the treachery of the men who drove the transformation, the breakaway of a remnant holding fast to the truths once delivered—was foretold in Scripture, just as the court battle itself was. Chapter 24 of this book gave you a look at the biblical basis for the faith that propelled us forward in our legal struggle;
Malachi’s Message
will give you an understanding of how God foresaw what would happen to His church in our day, and how He prophesied it in the Bible. Having read the details of what actually happened in the
WCG
, you will be amazed at how vividly descriptive and thorough the Bible’s prophecies of these events are.
Malachi’s Message
contains the scriptural indictment of the
WCG
’s betrayal of Mr. Armstrong—the truth that angered Joseph Tkach Jr. enough to summarily fire my father and later accuse him of trending toward “sociopathic cult” status. Read it for yourself.

Some few have criticized us for
paying money
for Mr. Armstrong’s literature. They question why we would give even
one dollar
to an organization we so fervently disagree with. But giving up “mammon” for the truth of God did not violate our faith one bit. To the contrary, God’s word says, “Buy the truth, and sell it not” (Proverbs 23:23). It is the Worldwide Church of God that ought to be ashamed that they “sold” the truth. Like Esau, they gave up their spiritual inheritance for what amounts to a bowl of soup.

You simply cannot affix a monetary value to spiritual truth. That is why Mr. Armstrong always gave away his literature for free. He did also offer his major works for sale in bookstores, but only to reach a larger audience with that material. However he went about it, Mr. Armstrong’s mission was
ALWAYS
about
giving
the word of God—and to
as many people
as possible. As President Reagan remarked in 1986, Mr. Armstrong wanted to
share
that way of life with his community and throughout the nation—and the world, we would add. He genuinely wanted everyone else to have what he had been given. As his ministry grew, he invested every available resource the church had right back into the work so that the
MESSAGE
could be freely distributed to the largest audience possible.

That’s who he was. That’s what he did. And now that you know the truth about his legacy, we hope you’ll take a closer look at what we fought for in court for six years—for the
MESSAGE
Herbert W. Armstrong proclaimed.

That
is why we did it—that is why we fought. And that is why, even after six years of litigation and spending millions of dollars, we will always make Mr. Armstrong’s literature available for free.

All you have to do is ask for it.

And then, read it for yourself.

Foreword

1. Joseph Tkach,
Transformed by Truth
(Sisters, OR: Multnomah Publishers, 1997), 203.

2. Declaration of Ralph Helge at 3,
Worldwide Church of God v. Philadelphia Church of God
, No. CV-97-5306-CAS (C.D. Cal. dismissed April 14, 2003).

1.
Pastor General’s Report
, May 24, 1985, 1.

2. John Dart,
Los Angeles Times
, September 28, 1985, part 2, 4. 80,000 of these were baptized members.

3. The 210,000 figure included 80,000 co-workers and 130,000 donors. Co-workers were those who made donations to the church at least twice during a six-month period (
Pastor General’s Report
, June 7, 1985, page 9). The
Pastor General’s Report
, April 18, 1986, reported that there were 91,937 co-workers, but that 11,903 had been added the first three months of 1986 (page 11). Since Mr. Armstrong died on January 16 of that year, I did not count the ones added those first three months. Thus, at the time of his death, there were approximately 80,000 co-workers. Added to those figures, there were 130,000 donors (ibid.). Donors are defined in the March 15, 1985,
Pastor General’s Report
as Òthose who send a donation once or twice in a yearÓ (page 3). The April 18 issue reported that there were 148,328 donors, but that 15,889 had been added the first three months of 1986. Since Mr. Armstrong died on January 16 of that year, I did not count the ones added those first three months. Thus, at the time of his death, there were approximately 130,000 donors.

4.
Pastor General’s Report
, May 24, 1985, 1.

5. According to the August 28, 1989,
Worldwide News
, the churchÕs income for 1987 amounted to $192,081,000 (page 7). Using that established figure, we then calculated the published percentage increases in reverse. According to
The Worldwide News
, income in 1987 increased by 5.5 percent over 1986 (July 11, 1988, page 3), which means the income in 1986 would have been approximately $182 million. This figure, according to
The Worldwide News
(May 11, 1987, page 3), was 11.2 percent above 1985, which means revenue for 1985 would have been approximately $163.7 million.

6. Richard N. Ostling, “Power, Glory—and Politics; Right-wing preachers dominate the dial,”
Time Magazine
, February 17, 1986, 62; ÒSpeaker Says Slide to Liberalism is Costing Methodists Members,Ó
Washington Post
, July 12, 1986, D10. The
Time
article identified FalwellÕs annual income at $100 million, while the
Post
reported GrahamÕs revenues to be $55.3 million.

7. Richard N. Ostling, “Power, Glory—and Politics; Right-wing preachers dominate the dial,”
Time Magazine
, February 17, 1986, 62. The annual income for these preachers during the mid-1980s breaks down like this: Swaggart, $140 million; Roberts, $120 million; Bakker, $100 million; Falwell, $100 million. The article did not include an exact figure for Robert Schuller, but noted that his annual TV budget was $37 million and that he spent Òan additional $5.7 million on non-TV operations.Ó

8. “World Tomorrow: No. 1,”
The Worldwide News
, August 19, 1985, 1.

9. “1985: year of media expansion,”
The Worldwide News
, January 27, 1986, 7.

10. Richard Rice, “MPC records greatest harvest,”
The Worldwide News
, January 27, 1986, 7.

11. Paul Richter, “End of the Paternalistic Era,”
Los Angeles Times
, January 31, 1986, part 4, 1.

12. “1 in every 633 receives the
Plain Truth
magazine,Ó
The Worldwide News
, May 13, 1985, 5.

13. Richard Rice, “MPC records greatest harvest,”
The Worldwide News
, January 27, 1986, 7.

14. Paul Richter, “End of the Paternalistic Era,”
Los Angeles Times
, January 31, 1986, part 4, 1; Alison Rogers and Karen Kraner,
Adweek
, November 18, 1985.
Time’s
circulation was 5.9 million and
Newsweek’s
was 3 millionÑtotaling 8.9 million.
The Plain Truth
and
The Good News
, by comparison, totaled 9.23 million.

15. “Update,”
The Worldwide News
, December 16, 1985, 8.

16. Richard Rice, “AC Bible course passes three decades of printing,”
The Worldwide News
, January 7, 1985, 1.

17. Ibid.

18. Herbert W. Armstrong, Co-worker letter, January 1986, 2.

19. Richard Rice,
Pastor General’s Report
, June 7, 1985, 8.

20. Richard Rice,
Pastor General’s Report
, June 24, 1987, 12.

21. Richard Rice,
Pastor General’s Report
, August 2, 1985, 5.

22. Richard Rice, “MPC records greatest harvest,”
The Worldwide News
, January 27, 1986, 7.

23. Ibid.

24. Herbert W. Armstrong, Co-worker letter, November 25, 1985, 1.

25. “Update,”
The Worldwide News
, December 30, 1985, 8. ÒThis is the largest number of books to be distributed in such a short time period.Ó

26. Joseph Tkach,
Transformed by Truth
(Sisters, OR: Multnomah Publishers, 1997), 105.

27.
The Journal
, Church of God Timelime: 1996-2004. Available at
http://www.thejournal.org/archives/cgtimln4.html
.

28. Gary Scott, “Auditorium preserved,”
Pasadena Star-News
, May 14, 2004.

29. Joseph Tkach,
Transformed by Truth
(Sisters, OR: Multnomah Publishers, 1997), 184.

30. Ibid., 185.

31. J. Michael Feazell,
The Liberation of the Worldwide Church of God
(Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 2001), 43-44.

32. Ibid., 27.

33. Ibid., 23.

34. Ibid., 45.

35. Ibid.

36. Deposition of J. Michael Feazell at 236-37,
Worldwide Church of God v. Philadelphia Church of God
, No. CV-97-5306-CAS (C.D. Cal. dismissed April 14, 2003).

37. J. Michael Feazell,
The Liberation of the Worldwide Church of God
(Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 2001), 45.

38. Joseph Tkach,
Transformed by Truth
(Sisters, OR: Multnomah Publishers, 1997), 98.

39. Ibid., 186.

40. Worldwide Church of God, Intended preface to the e-publishing works, 2002, 2.

41. Deposition of J. Michael Feazell at 230,
Worldwide Church of God v. Philadelphia Church of God
, No. CV-97-5306-CAS (C.D. Cal. dismissed April 14, 2003).

42.
Id
. at 225.

43. J. Michael Feazell,
The Liberation of the Worldwide Church of God
(Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 2001), 146.

44. Ibid., 114, 45.

45. Ibid., 146.

46. Ibid., 112.

47. Ibid., 120.

48. Ibid., 120-21.

49. Deposition of Joseph Tkach at 451,
Worldwide Church of God v. Philadelphia Church of God
, No. CV-97-5306-CAS (C.D. Cal. dismissed April 14, 2003).

50. Ronald Kelly, “Planning under way for new financial model,”
The Worldwide News
, June 2004, 24.

1. Joseph Tkach,
Transformed by Truth
(Sisters, OR: Multnomah Publishers, 1997), 143.

2. Ibid., 71.

3. J. Michael Feazell,
The Liberation of the Worldwide Church of God
(Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 2001), 146.

4. Joseph Tkach, “Forgive Us Our Trespasses,”
The Plain Truth
, March/April 1996, 1.

5. Ibid., 26.

6. “Book charts church’s reformation,”
The Worldwide News
, June 24, 1997, 3.

7. Joseph W. Tkach Jr., “A Church Reborn,”
Christian Research Journal
, Winter 1996.

8. Joseph Tkach,
Transformed by Truth
(Sisters, OR: Multnomah Publishers, 1997), front matter.

9. “Book charts church’s reformation,”
The Worldwide News
, June 24, 1997, 3.

10. Ibid.

11. Greg Albrecht, “Updates from Plain Truth Ministries,”
The Worldwide News
, January 27, 1998, 13.

12. Personal interview with Multnomah representative, December 29, 2005.

13. J. Michael Feazell,
The Liberation of the Worldwide Church of God
(Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 2001), front matter.

14. Ibid.

15. “Zondervan publishes book by Michael Feazell,”
The Worldwide News
, July 2001, 3.

16. Deposition of J. Michael Feazell at 39-40,
Worldwide Church of God v. Philadelphia Church of God
, No. CV-97-5306-CAS (C.D. Cal. dismissed April 14, 2003).

17. Personal interview with Zondervan representative, December 29, 2005.

18. Joseph W. Tkach, “He Remembered You,”
The Plain Truth
, November/December 1986, 1.

19. Herbert W. Armstrong, Co-worker letter, February 25, 1985, 2.

20. Herbert W. Armstrong,
Mystery of the Ages
(New York: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1985), xii.

21. Joseph Tkach,
Transformed by Truth
(Sisters, OR: Multnomah Publishers, 1997), 12.

22. Ibid., 103-04.

23. Joseph W. Tkach Jr., Letter to Dennis Leap, April 20, 1990, 1.

24. Joseph W. Tkach, “Personal,”
The Worldwide News
, May 21, 1990, 6.

25. Joseph Tkach Jr., “A Church Reborn,”
Christian Research Journal
, Winter 1996.

26. “Journal reviews book by HWA,”
The Worldwide News
, November 18, 1985, 1.

27. “Update,”
The Worldwide News
, December 2, 1985, 8.

28.
Pastor General’s Report
, December 6, 1985, 7.

29. “Update,”
The Worldwide News
, December 30, 1985, 8.

30. Richard Rice,
Pastor General’s Report
, December 20, 1985, 7.

31. Declaration of Roger Lippross at 2,
Worldwide Church of God v. Philadelphia Church of God
, No. CV-97-5306-JSL (C.D. Cal. April 20, 1999).

32.
Pasadena Star-News
, January 17, 1986.

33. Joseph Tkach, “Forgive Us Our Trespasses,”
The Plain Truth
, March/April 1996, 1.

34. Joseph Tkach Jr., “A Church Reborn,”
Christian Research Journal
, Winter 1996.

35. “Friends Remember Mr. Armstrong,”
The Good News
, May 1986, 15.

36. Ibid., 16.

37. “Dignitaries, leaders share loss of pastor general,”
The Worldwide News
, February 10, 1986, 12.

38. “Friends Remember Mr. Armstrong,”
The Good News
, May 1986, 18.

39. Joseph Tkach, “Forgive Us Our Trespasses,”
The Plain Truth
, March/April 1996, 1.

40. “Friends Remember Mr. Armstrong,”
The Good News
, May 1986, 15, 17.

41. “Dignitaries, leaders share loss of pastor general,”
The Worldwide News
, February 10, 1986, 1.

42. “Milestones in Church’s work,”
The Worldwide News
, February 24, 1986, 5.

43. “Friends Remember Mr. Armstrong,”
The Good News
, May 1986, 15.

44. Herbert W. Armstrong,
Mystery of the Ages
(New York: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1985), 23-24.

45. Ibid., viii.

46. Stephen Flurry, “The Other Side of the Story,”
The Philadelphia Trumpet
, April 1997, 1.

47. Deposition of Joseph Tkach at 78,
Worldwide Church of God v. Philadelphia Church of God
, No. CV-97-5306-JSL (C.D. Cal. April 20, 1999).

48. Denise Hamilton and Daniel Cariaga, “Ambassador concert hall to close in May,”
Los Angeles Times
, January 28, 1995, A1.

49. Diane Haithman, “Hall needs a rescuer,”
Los Angeles Times
, December 20, 2002, part 5, 2.

50. “Church sells lower portion of Ambassador Campus,”
The Worldwide News
, June 2004.

51. Herbert W. Armstrong, “Recent history of the Philadelphia Era of the Worldwide Church of God,”
The Worldwide News
, June 24, 1985, special edition, 3.

52. Stanley Rader,
Against the Gates of Hell
(New York: Everest House, 1980), 86.

53. Ibid., 138-39.

54. Ibid., 86.

55. Larry Omasta, “HWA ‘a natural communicator,’ says director of Media Services,”
The Worldwide News
, February 10, 1986, 4.

56. Norman A. Smith, “Evangelist remembers early broadcasts,”
The Worldwide News
, February 10, 1986, 4.

57. Dexter H. Faulkner, “Editor in chief lives on through training of staff,”
The Worldwide News
, February 10, 1986, 5.

58. Ellis La Ravia, “Foundation helped HWA deliver Gospel,”
The Worldwide News
, February 10, 1986, 5.

59. Roderick C. Meredith, “HWA’s hallmarks: involvement and drive,”
The Worldwide News
, February 10, 1986, 8.

60. Leroy Neff, “HWA’s favorite subject: the work of God,”
The Worldwide News
, February 10, 1986, 9.

61. Frank Brown, “Mr. Armstrong’s clarity of vision helped inspire Church’s growth,”
The Worldwide News
, February 10, 1986, 10.

62. Joseph W. Tkach, “God’s will was ‘the joy of his life,’ says pastor general about HWA,”
The Worldwide News
, February 10, 1986, 3.

63. Joseph W. Tkach, Lecture to staff, Pasadena CA, January 16, 1986.

64. Joseph W. Tkach, Closing prayer at funeral service of Herbert W. Armstrong, Pasadena CA, January 19, 1986.