by Herbert W. Armstrong

The other day members of the Mail Processing Center in Pasadena wrote me personal letters. One, for example, had been writing letters FOR me to those who had written to me, taking off of me for the past twenty years the time-consuming job of giving personal answer to the voluminous mail addressed to me – yet had never in all those twenty years written a letter TO me! It was a letter of gratitude and THANKS for all the truth and spiritual help I had given this writer.

Others were in a similar vein. They brought tears to my eyes. They made me realize, as never before, how much I owe to HUNDREDS of you – ministers, wives, and other full-time assistants working WITH me in getting God’s job done.

It made me realize how much I owe to all you fine and dedicated ministers and your wives for your dedication, loyalty, unfailing and unselfish service, ministering with me and for me to all the precious flock our wonderful God has given us to shepherd and lead into His glorious KINGDOM!

You are used, too, in bringing into the flock many new ones God is calling and giving us to go with us into eternal life in His Kingdom. Some of you also do evangelistic work in your area, sharing in proclaiming the Gospel to your part of the world.

It is the highest mission there is. Someday soon we shall come to really KNOW this!

Johnny Carson may GET his millions per year entertaining people, cracking jokes. Mike Wallace may GET his almost a million a year “exposing” imaginary and imputed wrongdoing of his selected victims, “exposing” them before national television’s greatest audience. Oil multi-millionaires may rake in their immense and fabulous fortunes. They are all among the SUCCESSFUL in this world’s GETTING competition.

But you and I are the unsung, the falsely accused and the persecuted of this world who are patiently and persistently GIVING the precious and wonderful things of GOD to those who shall live with us forever, long after the “successful” of this world have rotted with their accusations – unless, hopefully, they may yet be saved in the Judgment of the Great White Throne. Or, maybe, some of them may be brought in with us along with that great innumerable multitude of all nations revealed in advance in the seventh chapter of Revelation. Just MAYBE we may yet be privileged to serve and minister to some of them when they become poor in this world’s goods and rich as we are in GOD’S ETERNAL AND MATCHLESS BLESSINGS!

I THANK GOD for all of you, and pray earnestly for you every day. I don’t get to tell YOU how I love you and how I feel about you and appreciate and thank GOD for you too often, but I do tell God about it EVERY DAY OR EVERY NIGHT! I pray continually for you and those you minister to – that God will give you special wisdom in counseling with them, preaching before them, fellowshipping with them.

We may not see one another real often, but we can and I know we all DO sense and feel that closeness to one another, and appreciation for one another. Your many flocks are equally in my mind and prayers daily.

Some in this world are getting their reward right now, and it will perish with them. But WE, fellow servants of Christ, are receiving rich rewards now, and the real and BIG and lasting eternal reward is yet to come with the now SOON coming of our Lord Jesus Christ!

Just thought I should pass along to you this word of THANKS and APPRECIATION! And thanks for your prayers, for I know that I, too, am in your PRAYERS DAILY.

Carry on!