The Church Behind Tomorrow’s World

Many readers wonder: Who is behind this Tomorrow’s World magazine? Who is behind the weekly episodes of the Tomorrow’s World television program, as well as the free study guides we offer, including our 24-lesson Bible Study Course? Who is behind the live Tomorrow’s World Presentations conducted for our subscribers?

The most obvious answer is found in what we say at the end of each episode of our television series: We are sponsored by the Living Church of God. But that brings up another question: Who or what is the Living Church of God?

In this article, we will give you a definitive answer to this question—explaining who we are, what our mission is, and what we believe.

True Christianity and the Living Church of God

Simply put, we in the Living Church of God are a remnant of first-century Christianity. But what does this mean? Jesus said not only that He would build His Church, but also that the gates of the grave would not prevail against it (Matthew 16:18). Yet the record of your Bible’s New Testament, along with that of secular history, shows that the mainstream “Christian” church veered off in a radically different direction than the Church founded by Jesus Christ, His Apostles, and first-century believers.

Jesus used end-time Bible prophecy to warn us about false Christianity. He clearly stated in the Olivet Prophecy that false Christianity is, in fact, the first sign to watch for regarding His second coming and the end of the age. We must not take this warning lightly: “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: ‘Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name [claiming to represent Him], saying, “I am [that is, Jesus is] the Christ,” and will deceive many’” (Matthew 24:3–5).

Yes, there would be many who would admit that Jesus is the Christ and claim His authority—but who would do this to deceive not just the few, but the many. Does history bear this out? It absolutely does.

Highly respected historian Jesse Lyman Hurlbut, in The Story of the Christian Church, showed 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 (1970. p. 33).

Note that Hurlbut mentions that these changes occurred following the death of the Apostle Paul. Paganism effectively choked out true worship! Is this not what Paul himself warned would happen? Scripture records this 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 a church increasingly different from that of Christ and His 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” (The Story of the Christian Church, p. 79).

Many historians agree that today’s mainstream “Christianity” bears little resemblance to the original Church of God founded by Jesus Christ. Prolific writer and highly respected historian Will Durant made this insightful comment for anyone with eyes to see and ears to hear:

Christianity did not destroy paganism; it adopted it. The Greek mind, dying, came to a transmigrated life in the theology and liturgy of the Church; the Greek language, having reigned for centuries over philosophy, became the vehicle of Christian literature and ritual; the Greek mysteries passed down into the impressive mystery of the Mass. Other pagan cultures contributed to the syncretist result.… Christianity was the last great creation of the ancient pagan world… [and] became the last and greatest of the mystery religions (The Story of Civilization, vol. 3, 1944, pp. 595, 600).

History records two paths for those who have called themselves Christian. The first path has led to the popular and diverse forms of mainstream “Christianity”—Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Protestant. And there is indeed great diversity among these. The second path, however, has led to something minuscule in comparison: the small, persecuted Church that would not die.

Worshipping in Spirit and Truth

The Christianity of Christ and His Apostles is different from what most people think. Mainstream Christianity is rife with nonbiblical Greek philosophy and pagan doctrines. The Church that Jesus built is not, and it has been persecuted for rejecting nonbiblical doctrines and following what Christ truly taught rather than what people mistakenly think He taught. But the mainstream churches catered to the masses and absorbed popular pagan forms of worship.

From sun-worship came a rejection of the seventh-day Sabbath, which God established at creation. Sun-worshipping Roman Emperor Constantine, in AD 321, commanded a different day for rest, as shown in Eerdmans’ 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)” (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.”

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, we must understand what Jesus and His Apostles taught in order to discover who the real heretics are.

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 (WCG), under the pastorship of the late Herbert W. Armstrong. His wife, Loma, came in contact with a member of the Church of God (Seventh Day)—which, by the way, is not associated with Seventh-day Adventists. That was in the mid-1920s. She became convinced that the biblical Sabbath was Saturday, not Sunday.

This did not please her husband, who at first viewed this as fanaticism. However, she would not budge unless he could show her from the Bible that she was in error. So, Mr. Armstrong began an in-depth search of Scripture to prove her wrong—which, at the time, he thought would be simple enough. After all, so many Sunday-keeping churches could not be wrong, could they? But the result of his study 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 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, it grew to become a modern, full-color magazine with a monthly circulation of 8.4 million copies—reaching virtually every country on earth. And it was given away free of charge. Today, the Living Church of God continues to follow Christ’s instruction to His disciples in Matthew 10:8: “Freely you have received, freely give.”

In 1952, Mr. Armstrong ordained five men to the office of evangelist, and among them was a young man from Joplin, Missouri—Roderick C. Meredith. Dr. Meredith had been serving as an evangelist for nearly 35 years when Mr. Armstrong died in January 1986. Fewer than five years after Mr. Armstrong’s death, Dr. Meredith could see that WCG’s new leader was taking the Church in a radically unbiblical direction. By December 1992, it became abundantly clear that WCG had irreversibly changed or rejected all the major doctrines that Herbert W. Armstrong had restored under the leadership of Jesus Christ.

So, at age 62, Dr. Meredith had to make a choice: Either retire comfortably, or set out to revive the Work, restoring the biblical doctrines of original Christianity. He chose the latter, starting the Global Church of God and later the Living Church of God. Dr. Meredith immediately followed Christ’s instruction: “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15). He began to preach the Gospel by going on weekly radio, writing booklets, and starting a bimonthly magazine. The revived Church started with an informal meeting of just 19 members in his home in December 1992, but thousands of Church of God members soon joined with him in rejecting the apostasy and doing the Work.

Today, the Church has grown to encompass members all over the world, and a large percentage of these members are brand-new to the truths of original Christianity, having heard the true Gospel for the first time through Tomorrow’s World.

The Work of Jesus Christ is not over. At our “About” 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.” We currently have scores of ministers serving congregations in more than 55 countries around the world. At this moment, you are reading our flagship magazine, which is translated from English into French and Spanish, and we also translate our booklets for distribution in the German, Dutch, Afrikaans, Chinese, Hindi, Portuguese, and Urdu languages, as well as a few others.

Dr. Meredith set up a Council of Elders, made up of seasoned ministers, to advise him. And prior to his death in May 2017, after consultation with the Council, he appointed me as his successor to the office of Presiding Evangelist of the Living Church of God.

If this sounds as though we are a megachurch, that is hardly the case. Most of our congregations are small and close-knit. We are a little flock, as Jesus indicated: “Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom” (Luke 12:32).

However, this is a Work far greater than our numbers would indicate. Many wonder how this is so. The answer is that God has called loyal, dedicated members, coworkers, and donors 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 use our resources to spread the Gospel on television, over the Internet, and in print.

The Christian Doctrine and Way of Life

Do you realize, dear friends, that it is possible to worship Jesus in vain? He tells us so: “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’” (Matthew 15:7–9). And He chided the people for calling Him Lord—meaning master—but disregarding what He said: “But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46).

Original Christianity—that of Christ and His Apostles—is what Tomorrow’s World and the Living Church of God are about. The Living Church of God believes that Jesus of Nazareth came as God in the flesh and that He gave His life in exchange for ours. We believe that He is our Lord—our Master—and our Savior, and that we are redeemed by faith in His shed blood and saved by His life. However, we do not turn God’s grace into license to disobey His law. Jude, one of the half-brothers of Jesus, warns us against that error in his brief epistle:

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).

This is why the Living Church of God observes the seventh-day Sabbath from sunset on Friday to sunset on Saturday—as did Jesus, His original Apostles, the Apostle Paul, and first-century Christians. We also observe the seven biblically ordained annual Holy Days, rather than pagan observances with the name of Christ blasphemously attached to them.

Dear reader, please 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

Our mission was given to us by Jesus Christ, and it’s spelled out on our “About” 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 unusual about our proclamation of the good news of Jesus Christ’s coming Kingdom. You may think, Don’t all churches do that? Sadly, they do not.

The word “gospel” means “good news,” but do you realize that Paul warned the brethren at Corinth against putting up with teachers who taught a different gospel—and, yes, even a false Jesus? “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!” (2 Corinthians 11:4).

A few verses later, Paul refers to these false teachers as 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” (vv. 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, will rule on this troubled planet. As you read through Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, take note of how many times Jesus referred to the Kingdom of God. You’ll notice that Matthew uses the term “Kingdom of Heaven,” while the other writers use “Kingdom of God.” Don’t be confused. Heaven is where God dwells, so the Kingdom of God is Heaven’s—that is, God’s—kingdom. It’s not a kingdom in God or in Heaven. “Of” indicates ownership, not location.

The Living Church of God does not neglect Bible prophecy. Jesus explained to His disciples that unless He returns to stop mankind’s madness, human extinction will occur: “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” (Matthew 24:21–22).

God declares that He will hold us accountable if we neglect to warn our fellow man. Read it for yourself: “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?” (Proverbs 24:11–12).

Dedicated to Feeding the Flock

The Living Church of God rejects paganized “Christianity” and follows the example our Savior set 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. But another part of our mission is to feed the little flock that God is calling. To do so, we have hundreds of congregations around the world, ranging in attendance from fewer than 10 to more than 300. Many are moderate in size, between 50 and 125.

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. “Then He said to them, ‘With fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer’” (Luke 22:15). During our Sabbath and Festival meetings, members bring their Bibles, and many take notes. Our services normally involve the singing of hymns, a short message followed by announcements, and then the main message.

To serve our youth, the Living Church of God holds summer camps in North and South America, Australasia, Africa, Europe, and the Philippines. Last year, a group of our teens, our young adults, and their chaperones enjoyed the opportunity to experience an adventure of a lifetime on a week-long hike in the spectacular Eagle Cap Wilderness in Oregon. This year, we plan to hold a canoe expedition in Voyageurs National Park, Minnesota; preteen camps in Missouri, Texas, and West Virginia; a two-week teen camp in Texas; and a teen camp in Belgium, among others.

Other programs by which we “feed the flock” are weekend retreats for young adults, speech clubs for our men, and a nine-month onsite Living Education program for young-adult members who are interested in college-level training in biblical topics. A few young adults from Living Education are invited each year to work in Thailand for a summer, teaching English to Thai children, getting to know our members there, and touring parts of the country.

Choosing to Live God’s Way

Whether we are conducting Sabbath services, summer camps, weekend retreats, Living Education programs, live presentations for our subscribers, or international projects, our focus is always 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 we also find that many fail to follow through out of fear of the unknown. So, let me tell you emphatically: Nothing this world has to offer can compare to the joys of this way of life. Our members are friendly, and 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-oriented weekend gatherings, and visit other Living Church of God congregations when traveling on business or vacation. Many members travel to other countries to observe the eight days of the Feast of Tabernacles and Last Great Day each year.

If you would like to learn more about keeping the seventh-day Sabbath, God’s annual Festivals, baptism, or attending services with a Living Church of God congregation, just let us know by calling or writing to us using the contact information on page 4 of this magazine, or by visiting us online at LCG.org. We look forward to hearing from you!