[The text below represents an edited transcript of the TV version of this Tomorrow’s World program.]
Tomorrow’s World: Church, Mission, and Beliefs
Many viewers wonder: Who is behind these Tomorrow’s World telecasts? The most obvious answer is found in what we say at the end of each program: We are sponsored by the Living Church of God. But that brings up another question: Who or what is the Living Church of God?
On this Tomorrow’s World telecast I’ll be answering this question. I’ll show you who we are, what our mission is, and what we believe.
True Christianity and the Living Church of God
A warm welcome to all of you from all of us here at Tomorrow’s World, where today I’ll be answering the question of who we are—which Church is it that is behind these telecasts, our magazine, and all of our free resources. I’ll also explain the mission of the Living Church of God and what we believe.
Simply put, we are a remnant of first-century Christianity, but what does this mean? Jesus said He would build His Church and the gates of the grave would not prevail against it (Matthew 16:18). Yet, the record of the New Testament and history show that the professing Christian church veered off in a radically different direction than the church started by Jesus, His apostles, and first-century believers.
End-Time Bible Prophecy Warns of False Christianity
He warned us in the Olivet Prophecy that the first sign to watch for regarding His second coming and the end of the age is false Christianity. We must not take this warning lightly. Look this up in your own Bible and consider what it means for you—Matthew 24:3-5.
Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?” And Jesus answered and said to them [here it is]: “Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am [that is, Jesus is] the Christ,’ and will deceive many” (Matthew 24:3-5).
Yes, there would be those who claim His authority, admit that He is the Christ, but would deceive not the few but the many. Does history bear this out? The answer is absolutely!
Highly respected historian, Jesse Lyman Hurlbut in The Story of the Christian Church, gives this title to Chapter 5, “The Age of Shadows.” There he shows how dramatically the church changed over a relatively short period of time.
We name the last generation of the first century, from 68 to 100 ad, “The Age of Shadows,” partly because the gloom of persecution was over the church, but more especially because of all periods in the history, it is the one about which we know the least. We have no longer the clear light of the book of Acts to guide us; and no author of that age has filled the blank in the history... For fifty years after St. Paul’s life a curtain hangs over the church, through which we strive vainly to look; and [take note of this] when at last it rises, about 120 ad with the writings of the earliest church fathers, we find a church in many aspects very different from that in the days of St. Peter and St. Paul (Hurlbut, The Story of the Christian Church, 1970. p. 33).
Paganism Chokes Out True Worship
Note that Hurlbut mentions these changes occurred following the death of the Apostle Paul. Is this not what Paul himself warned would happen? Acts 20, beginning in verse 29, records his warning to the elders at Ephesus.
For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves. Therefore watch, and remember that for three years I did not cease to warn everyone night and day with tears (Acts 20:29-31).
Hurlbut chronicles some of the changes that crept into what became an increasingly very different church from that of Christ and the apostles.
The forms and ceremonies of paganism gradually crept into the worship. Some of the old heathen feasts became church festivals with change of name and of worship. About 405 ad images of saints and martyrs began to appear in the churches, at first as memorials, then in succession revered, adored and worshiped. The adoration of the Virgin Mary was substituted for the worship of Venus and Diana… (Hurlbut, The Story of the Christian Church, 1970 1962. p. 62 p. 79).
Many historians agree that the church of today has little resemblance to that of the original Church of God that Christ founded. Prolific writer and highly respected historian Will Durant makes this insightful comment for anyone with eyes to see and ears to hear.
Christianity did not destroy paganism; it adopted it…. Christianity became the last and greatest of the mystery religions (Will Durant, The Story of Civilization, vol. 3, 1944. pp. 595, 600).
History records two paths for what is broadly called Christian.
The first is the popular and diverse forms of mainstream Christianity—Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Protestant. And there is great diversity among these. The second is miniscule in comparison. It is the small, persecuted Church that would not die.
True Believers Must Worship in Spirit and Truth (John 4:24)
The Christianity of Christ and the apostles is different from what most people think. Mainstream Christianity is rife with nonbiblical Greek philosophy and pagan doctrines. The Church Jesus built is not, and it has been persecuted for rejecting nonbiblical doctrines and following not what people think He taught, but what Jesus truly taught. The mainstream catered to the masses and absorbed popular pagan forms of worship.
From sun worship came a rejection of the seventh-day Sabbath, which was established at creation. Sun-worshipping Roman Emperor Constantine in 321 ad commanded a different day for rest, as shown in Eerdman’s Handbook to the History of Christianity.
When in 321 Constantine made the first day of the week a holiday, he called it the “venerable day of the Sun” [Sunday] (Eerdman’s Handbook to the History of Christianity, 1987. p. 131).
Any who did not go along with this law and other non-biblical doctrines were stripped of privileges and persecuted. However, in Matthew 16:18, Jesus declared:
“I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18).
True Christians Obey and Follow Jesus Christ—Even Facing Death
No, the Church that Christ built never died. We read about it in the writings of those who hated it and tried to stamp it out. That Church—which refused to compromise and introduce pagan doctrines as substitutes for the doctrines of Christ—was considered heretical. Nevertheless, one must compare what Jesus and His apostles taught to discover who the real heretics are.
The Church of God Is a Little Flock Doing a Big Work
The modern roots of Tomorrow’s World and the Living Church of God are found in the Worldwide Church of God under the pastorship of the late Herbert W. Armstrong. His wife, Loma, came in contact with a member from the Church of God Seventh Day (by the way, not associated with the Seventh Day Adventists). That was in the mid-1920s. She became convinced that the biblical Sabbath was Saturday, not Sunday. Now, this did not please Mr. Armstrong, who viewed this as fanaticism. However, she would not budge unless he could show her from the Bible that she was in error. He began an in-depth search of the scriptures to prove her wrong, which at the time he thought would be simple enough. After all, all these churches could not be wrong. But the end result was that, as I personally heard him say:
It is a humbling thing to admit that your wife is right and you are wrong—especially when it is over the most important argument you ever had.
In 1933 Mr. Armstrong was offered a 6:00 a.m. time slot on the tiny 100-watt KORE radio station in Eugene, Oregon. His audience grew and he began publishing—if you could call it that—a mimeographed magazine called The Plain Truth. From that humble beginning, the work grew to where The Plain Truth was a modern full-color magazine, with a monthly circulation of 8.4 million copies—covering virtually every country on earth. And it was given away free of charge.
The Living Church of God continues to follow Christ’s instruction in Matthew 10:8, where He told His disciples:
Freely you have received, freely give (Matthew 10:8).
In 1952, Mr. Armstrong ordained five men to the rank of evangelist, and among them was Roderick C. Meredith. Mr. Armstrong died in January 1986, and in less than five years, his appointed successor took the Worldwide Church of God in a radically different direction.
By December 1992, it became abundantly clear to Dr. Meredith that the Worldwide Church had irreversibly changed or rejected all the major doctrines that Herbert W. Armstrong restored under the leadership of Jesus Christ. And at age 62, Dr. Meredith had to make a choice: Either retire comfortably as that organization tried to get him to do—or set out and revive the Work and restore the Biblical doctrines of original Christianity. He chose the latter and started the Global Church of God—later changed to Living Church of God. Dr. Meredith immediately followed Christ’s instructions found in Mark 16:15.
And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.”
He began to preach the Gospel by going on weekly radio, writing booklets, and starting a bi-monthly magazine. He began with an informal meeting of only 19 members in his home in December 1992, but many Church of God members began to reject the apostasy and joined with him in doing the Work.
Today the Church has grown to encompass members all over the world, and a large percentage are brand-new to the truths of original Christianity—having heard the true gospel for the first time at Tomorrow’s World.
The Work of Jesus Christ is not over. From our “About Us” page at TomorrowsWorld.org, we read the following:
Tomorrow’s World is sponsored by the Living Church of God, with active congregations in North and South America, the Caribbean, Europe, Asia, Africa and Australasia, with more than 239 ministers serving over 401 congregations around the globe.
Our flagship magazine, Tomorrow’s World, is translated from English into French and Spanish, and we print booklets for distribution in the German, Dutch, Afrikaans, Chinese, Hindi, Portuguese, Urdu and a few other languages.
Dr. Meredith set up a Council of Elders, which is made up of seasoned ministers to advise him. And prior to his death in May 2017, after consultation with the Council of Elders, he appointed me as his successor and as Presiding Evangelist of the Living Church of God.
While this may all sound as though we are a megachurch, that is hardly the case. Most of our congregations are small and close-knit. We’re a little flock as Jesus mentioned in Luke 12:32, where He said:
Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.
However, our dedicated members and coworkers are doing a Work far greater than our numbers would indicate. Many wonder how this is so.
The answer is that we have loyal members and coworkers who make it possible. Also, we do not build church buildings as a general practice. Instead, we rent halls to hold our services—choosing rather to spread the Gospel on television, over the Internet and social media, and in print.
Do you realize, dear friends, that you can worship Jesus in vain? That’s what He tells us in Matthew 15:7-9.
Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying: “These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.”
And in Luke 6:46, He chided the people for calling Him Lord—meaning master—but disregarding what He said.
But why do you call Me “Lord, Lord,” and do not do the things which I say?
Christian Doctrine and the Way of Life
Original Christianity—that of Christ and the apostles—is what Tomorrow’s World and the Living Church of God are about.
The Living Church of God believes:
- Jesus of Nazareth came as God in the flesh.
- He gave His life in exchange for ours.
- He is our Lord (our Master) and Savior.
- We are saved by faith in His shed blood.
However, we do not turn God’s grace into license to disobey His law. Jude, the half-brother of Jesus, warns us against that error in verses 3 and 4:
Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ (Jude 3-4).
Keeping the Sabbath and Holy Days in the Bible
This is why the Living Church of God observes the seventh-day Sabbath from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset—as did Jesus, His original apostles, the apostle Paul, and first-century Christians. We also observe the seven biblically ordained annual festivals, rather than pagan observances with the name of Christ blasphemously attached to them.
Dear viewers, think about this. Why are the days that Jesus and His apostles kept rejected by mainstream Christianity? And why is the most sacred day of mainstream Christianity named after a fertility goddess and celebrated with fertility symbols, such as eggs and rabbits? Does that really make any sense?
The Church’s Mission: Preach the True Gospel of the Kingdom of God
Our mission was given to us by Jesus Christ, and it’s spelled out on our “About Us” page at TomorrowsWorld.org.
Tomorrow’s World proclaims to the world the good news of Jesus Christ’s coming Kingdom (Matthew 24:14; Mark 16:15), and blows a bold “warning trumpet” of God’s impending judgment, calling for repentance and spiritual change (Matthew 24:21; Isaiah 58:1; Ezekiel 33).
You may wonder what is different about proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ’s coming Kingdom. Don’t all churches do that? Sadly, the answer is, no.
The word “gospel” means good news, but do you realize that Paul warned the church of God at Corinth for putting up with teachers who taught a different gospel, and yes, even a false Jesus? Here it is in 2 Corinthians 11:4.
For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted—you may well put up with it!
A few verses later he called these false teachers, ministers of Satan.
For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his [that is, Satan’s] ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works (2 Corinthians 11:13-15).
The Living Church of God teaches the very same message Jesus proclaimed during His three-and-a-half-year ministry—a coming kingdom, or government, to rule on this troubled planet. Read through Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. You’ll be shocked at how many times Jesus referred to the Kingdom of God.
Now, Matthew uses the term “Kingdom of Heaven,” whereas the other writers use “Kingdom of God.” Heaven is where God dwells, so it is heaven’s—that is, God’s—kingdom. It’s not a kingdom IN God or IN heaven. “Of” indicates ownership, not location.
Teaching How to Understand Bible Prophecy
The Living Church of God does not neglect Bible prophecy, including Jesus’ Olivet Prophecy, the book of Revelation, and other passages scattered throughout the New Testament. Jesus explained to His disciples that unless He returns to stop mankind’s madness, human extinction would occur—Matthew 24:21-22:
For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened.
God declares He will hold us accountable if we neglect to warn our fellow man. Read it for yourself in Proverbs 24:11-12.
Deliver those who are drawn toward death, and hold back those stumbling to the slaughter. If you say, “Surely we did not know this,” does not He who weighs the hearts consider it? He who keeps your soul, does He not know it? And will He not render to each man according to his deeds?
Rejecting Pagan Traditions and False Christianity as Blasphemy
The Living Church of God rejects paganized Christianity and follows the example of our Savior when He walked the earth. The mission of the Living Church of God is to proclaim the true gospel of Jesus Christ and to warn the world of what will surely happen unless we change course.
The Church’s Mission Part 2: Feed the Flock
However, another part of our mission is to feed the flock, the little flock that God is calling. To do so we have more than 400 congregations around the world, ranging in size from less than 10 to over 300. Many are moderate in size between 50 and 125.
What to Expect at Sabbath Services and Christian Holy Days
In addition to meeting every Sabbath (that is, Saturday), we meet on the annual festivals as spelled out in both the Old and the New Testaments. We observe the Passover, as Jesus did with His disciples on the night in which He was betrayed. Notice in Luke 22:15.
Then He said to them, “With fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.”
Members bring their Bibles and many take notes during our Sabbath and festival meetings. Our services normally involve the singing of hymns, a shorter message followed by announcements, and then the main message.
Living Church of God Youth Programs, Summer Camps, and Activities
To serve our youth, the Living Church of God holds summer camps in North and South America, Australasia, Africa, Europe, and the Philippines.
Even as I am recording this program, 37 teens, young adults, and chaperones are experiencing an adventure of a lifetime on a week-long hike in the spectacular Eagle Cap Wilderness in Oregon.
We also have a preteen camp in Missouri this week, a two-week teen camp in Texas in July, a teen camp in Belgium, and others taking place this summer in the Northern hemisphere.
More programs to “feed the flock” are weekend retreats for young adults, Spokesman Club meetings for our men, and a year-long onsite Living Education program for highly motivated young adults. A few young adults are chosen to work a summer in Thailand, teaching English to Thai children, getting to know our members there, and touring parts of the country.
Choosing to Live God’s Way
But whether it is a Sabbath service, summer camps, weekend retreats, Living Education, or international projects, the focus is on restoring the way of life taught by Jesus Christ and His first-century followers.
We find that many people ask about our services, but fail to follow through out of fear of the unknown. So let me say emphatically, I would not give up this way of life for anything. Our members are friendly. We are truly one great family. We are not isolated members who only know those in our own local congregations. We often combine congregations on feast days, hold family weekends and visit other Living Church of God congregations when traveling on business or vacation. Members travel to other countries to observe the eight-day Feast of Tabernacles and Last Great Day each year.
And if you would like to learn more about keeping the seventh-day Sabbath, the annual festivals of God, about baptism or attending with a Living Church of God congregation, just let us know.
I hope you profited from this video.
If you found it helpful and want to learn more, be sure to get your free booklet, titled Restoring Original Christianity by clicking the link.
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Thanks for watching! See you next time.
