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[The text below represents an edited transcript of this Tomorrow’s World program.]

Nuclear War and Beyond

When elephants clash, smaller animals do well to get out of the way, but who can hide when planet earth is left in rubble? The Cuban missile crisis of 1962 nearly brought the world to the unthinkable, a nuclear exchange between the United States and the Soviet Union—in popular parlance, Armageddon. Although it was understood during those thirteen tense days of October that it was a close call, what we know today is enough to send chills through the spine of the most calloused individual.

Now, decades later, we know the truth about just how close we came to the end of the world as we know it. On today’s Tomorrow’s World program, I’ll reveal to many of you for the first time, just how close we came, and it was a whole lot closer than we knew at the time. In addition, we’ll see that there have been far more Cold War nuclear near misses than are generally known. And I’ll be offering a free resource, Armageddon and Beyond, that shows a nuclear holocaust is not fiction, but also, that there is good news for our future. I’ll be right back with shocking details, so don’t go away!

The Truth About the Cold War Now Understood

Welcome to Tomorrow’s World where we hold out a real hope for a better world. But we also don’t shy away from reality, and the facts are, that there are far more dangers than many realize.

The Cuban Missile Crisis is ancient history to most people alive today. After all, October 1962 was nearly six decades ago, and anyone under the age of 70 probably only has vague memories of it, if any at all. That frightening time is ancient history to younger generations, when two superpowers with weapons of massive destructive power came to the brink of war. Even for those of us who lived through those perilous days, and are old enough to remember, details have faded, and even we did not know the whole story.

We might also add that the subject of history has been de-emphasized in public education in the West and replaced by Social Studies. That substitution for history seemed innocuous enough when I was in school in the late 50’s and early 60’s, but the replacement of history by social studies continues to evolve. In fact, it was a clever sleight of hand. Words have meaning and social studies is not the same as history! Today’s secondary schools and universities, and even primary schools, pump leftist propaganda into young minds in an attempt to transform society and re-write history.

So how can we blame younger generations for lacking understanding of events for which they were never taught and have no context? Even their parents may not know. If they learn anything about the Cuban Missile Crisis it is likely that the Soviet Union and Cuba were victims of Western imperialism. This does not imply that all are in the dark. Not all schools are alike. Some have strong courses in both ancient and modern history; and many very bright young people study on their own and are well-informed. But sadly, this is far from the norm.

Following World War 2, feature films in theaters (at least in the United States) were often preceded by cartoons and newsreels. I still remember how Fidel Castro and his Cuban revolutionaries were praised in these newsreels, but following his successful overthrow of the Batista regime, to the dismay of America and its Western allies, Castro declared his allegiance to communism and the Soviet Union. A potential enemy only 90 miles away created a problem for the United States and Canada. And what affected America would have consequences for the rest of the world.

The reality of the problem became apparent when Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev secretly moved more than 41,000 troops into Cuba between July and October 1962. But more troubling was the discovery that Khrushchev had also ordered medium and intermediate range missiles, capable of carrying nuclear weapons that could reach Atlanta, Dallas, Detroit, New York, and Toronto. That was a bridge too far for the North American alliance, and was a direct challenge to John F. Kennedy, the young American president.

Kennedy consulted with top military brass and advisors and chose what history shows was the wise response—to quarantine Cuba. That was a word used to avoid the word blockade—which would amount to a declaration of war. Most of this was known to anyone keeping up with the news at the time, but there was far more going on under the surface that we would have to wait decades to learn, after formerly “Top Secret” documents came to light. Only then would we know how close a call it was. Even today, most people are completely unaware of what has been revealed.

As the crisis unfolded, the Soviet Union sent four submarines to the waters around Cuba. One of them, submarine B-59, was intercepted by the American navy on October 27. It was surrounded and small depth charges like hand grenades, not designed to destroy a sub, but to give a warning, were dropped to force it to the surface. Those on the receiving end of these charges had a very different view from that which was intended. But what the United States did not know at the time was that B-59 was carrying two nuclear tipped torpedoes, each of which carried about two-thirds the explosive power of the Hiroshima A-bomb, enough to take out much of the nearby U.S. fleet.

Conditions aboard the diesel-powered submarine were already uncomfortable, with temperatures hovering around 100 degrees F, (that’s about 38 Celsius). And carbon dioxide build-up contributed to foggy thinking. Further, being below the surface and out of communication with Moscow for so long, those aboard B-59 had no idea what was going on above them. Officers wondered, “Had war begun between the superpowers already?” This was a real possibility. What happened next is bone chilling in retrospect. According to AtomicHeritage.org:

“Vadim Orlov, an intelligence officer aboard the submarine, recalled how the American ships “surrounded us and started to tighten the circle, practicing attacks and dropping depth charges. They exploded right next to the hull. It felt like you were sitting in a metal barrel, which somebody is constantly blasting with a sledgehammer.” ... Orlov remembered Captain Valentin Savitsky shouting, “We’re going to blast them now! We will die, but we will sink them all—we will not disgrace our Navy!” Political officer Ivan Semonovich Maslennikov agreed that they should launch the torpedo” (“Nuclear Close Calls: The Cuban Missile Crisis,” Atomic Heritage Foundation, June 15, 2018).

Had they launched that torpedo, our world would be vastly different than it is today. How different? That’s the rest of the story that has been kept secret.

Armageddon at the Door?

It was October 27, 1962 during the two-week standoff between the two superpowers when the Soviets moved medium and intermediate range missiles into Cuba. A Soviet submarine had been detected trying to get through the American quarantine of Cuba, and the captain of Sub B-59 and a second high ranking official were ready to launch a nuclear tipped torpedo into the U.S. naval fleet. What prevented them? Before the break I said I would reveal the rest of the story. But first, I want to explain what the results would have been if they followed through with that decision.

What is generally unknown, and only revealed with the release of top secret documents decades later, was the planned American response, had that torpedo been launched. The American public and their counterparts in their Western allies in Canada, Britain, Australia, New Zealand, France, and Germany, were deliberately kept in the dark during those years about America’s overwhelming superiority in nuclear weapons and the means to deliver them. We learn from AtomicHeritage.org, that:

Soviet bombers at the time ‘could deliver about 270 nuclear weapons to U.S. territory.’ By contrast, the United States had thousands of warheads that it could deliver via 1,576 Strategic Air Command bombers as well as 183 Atlas and Titan intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), 144 Polaris missiles via nine nuclear submarines, and ten newly-built Minuteman ICBMs” (“Nuclear Close Calls: The Cuban Missile Crisis,” Atomic Heritage Foundation, June 15, 2018).

President Kennedy’s predecessor, Dwight Eisenhower understood war only too well and tried during his presidency to hold the line on the proliferation of nuclear weapons. Nevertheless, the U.S. nuclear arsenal grew massively during his eight years as the leader of the free world. He also believed that there could never be a limited nuclear exchange. Once one bomb went off, it would quickly escalate. Therefore, Eisenhower commissioned his generals to put together a “Single Integrated Operational Plan” (SIOP). This would ultimately reflect the doctrinal thinking of the Air Force’s Strategic Air Command (SAC), as created under the leadership of General Curtis LeMay and his successor General Thomas Powell.

“General Curtis LeMay’s SAC had one war plan, as a naval officer described it in 1954: to leave the Soviet Union ‘a smoking, radioactive ruin in two hours’” (Ike’s Bluff, Thomas, p. 397).

Few Americans, much less others, knew anything about the kind of response a nuclear attack by the Soviet Union, no matter how limited, would bring from the United States. As explained in Evan Thomas’ book, Ike’s Bluff: President Eisenhower’s Secret Battle to Save the World, an overwhelming retaliation would descend upon:

“...the Soviet Union, Red China and the Soviet satellite states in a single cataclysmic blow if the United States were attacked. Under the SIOP, the United States would shoot the works, firing off its entire strategic arsenal of 3,500 weapons. The plan was an exercise in ‘overkill,’ said [George] Kistiakowsky. It would, the science adviser said, ‘kill four or five times over somebody who is already dead.’ Coming back from the briefing for his noon nap, Eisenhower told his naval aide, Captain Pete Aurand, that the SIOP “frightens the devil out of me”” (Ike’s Bluff, Thomas, p. 394).

Overkill was considered necessary since it was unlikely that all bombers would get through to deliver their destructive cargos. The incoming newly elected President Kennedy was briefed on SIOP in December 1960, but he may not have fully comprehended it the first time. As Thomas explains:

“Sometime later, after another SIOP run-through, the young president-elect would remark to his secretary of state, Dean Rusk, with a mixture of wonder and disgust, ‘And they call us human beings.’ But Kennedy and the presidents who followed him throughout the Cold War and beyond did not trim back the SIOP. It in fact grew more complex and fantastically apocalyptic” (Ike’s Bluff, Thomas, p. 399).

A Top Secret report was declassified in 2011 regarding SIOP as it existed in 1962. Estimates of those killed by such a massive response were 212,000,000 people in the USSR and communist China, with an additional 4.4 million in Poland and other Eastern European countries who were under the rule of the USSR (“U.S. War Plans Would Kill an Estimated 108 Million Soviets, 104 Million Chinese, and 2.6 Million Poles: More Evidence on SIOP-62 and the Origins of Overkill,” Unredacted.com, November 8, 2011).

Radioactivity would no doubt take multiple millions of lives in the aftermath, perhaps the reason one report estimated a figure as high as 600,000,000. And this does not include millions of casualties inflicted on the free world, and although perhaps a less overwhelming response, anyone who thinks the Soviet planners were any more civilized is naïve.

So what was it that prevented nuclear Armageddon nearly six decades ago?

Nuclear Safety NOT Guaranteed...

As we saw in the previous portions of this program, those aboard Soviet submarine B-59 were in the dark as to the state of the world above them. This was October 27, 1962, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the U.S. Navy was signaling with small depth charges for the Russians to surface. But Soviet Captain Savitsky and political officer Maslennikov, thinking they were under attack and war may have already begun between the superpowers, agreed to launch a nuclear tipped torpedo. What stopped them?

The Soviet Union was as worried as the United States about an accidental nuclear war. Therefore, their protocol required assenting voices from the three top officers aboard the sub. As explained on AtomicHeritage.org:

The last remaining officer, Second Captain Vasili Alexandrovich Arkhipov, dissented. They did not know for sure that the ship was under attack, he argued. Why not surface and then await orders from Moscow? In the end, Arkhipov’s view prevailed. (“Nuclear Close Calls: The Cuban Missile Crisis,” Atomic Heritage Foundation, June 15, 2018).

That is how close we came to Armageddon—a single dissenting voice!

But do you realize this was only one Cold War near miss involving nuclear weapons? We live in a far more dangerous world than most realize. Other classified documents released in recent years fill in details of other near catastrophes. “Broken Arrow” is a military code used for an accidental event that involves nuclear weapons or components thereof. An April 6, 2019 report revealed the United States and Soviet Union have had at least 32 admitted broken arrow incidents. In six of them, weapons were lost and never found, or deliberately left undisturbed. Most of these involved U.S. weapons, but since the Soviet Union is much more secretive about such things, it is almost certain that there were more.

“The first broken arrow occurred on February 14, 1950, when a U.S. Convair B-36… crashed in northern British Columbia after jettisoning a Mark 4 nuclear bomb into the Pacific Ocean. The bomb was never found…” (“‘Broken Arrows’ - The World’s Lost Nuclear Weapons,” Marcia Wendorf, InterestingEngineering.com, April 6, 2019).

Another broken arrow incident took place at an air base in England.

“On July 27, 1956, a U.S. B-47 bomber was on a training exercise when it crashed into a nuclear weapons storage facility at the Lakenheath Air Base in Suffolk, England. The entire crew of the aircraft was killed. Known as an ‘igloo’, the storage facility contained three Mark 6 nuclear bombs, one of whose detonators had been sheared off in the accident. Investigators concluded that it was a miracle that the bomb hadn’t exploded” (ibid.).

But that wasn’t the only miracle. Here is another incident where “luck” was on our side.

“On January 24, 1961, a B-52 carrying two three- or four-megaton nuclear bombs was over Goldsboro, North Carolina when it suffered the structural failure of its right wing. The aircraft broke apart and the two nuclear weapons were released. On one bomb, three of its four arming mechanisms had activated.

In 2013, a Freedom of Information Act request confirmed that only a single switch out of four had prevented the bomb’s detonation. One of the recovery team recalled, ‘Until my death, I will never forget hearing my sergeant say, “Lieutenant, we found the arm/safe switch.” And I said, “Great.” He said, “Not great. It’s on arm.”’” (ibid.).

What if a broken arrow detonates by accident near enemy territory? What if a nation or rouge state uses one of these weapons against a foe? Will it start a chain reaction that could imperil human life?

The Way of Escape From Armageddon

So far on Tomorrow’s World, we’ve looked at a few close calls for mankind. Nuclear disasters are not so remote as we might have thought. But now, let’s look ahead to the future. According to the Bible, and according to Jesus Christ, there is a crisis coming such as the world has never known. As it tells us in Matthew 24:22:

“And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened” (Matthew 24:22).

Will “Armageddon” involve nuclear weapons? Probably, but what other weapons are out there that we don’t know about? The Biblical book of Revelation describes some kind of weapon that will not kill, but for a period of five months will:

“…torment… like the torment of a scorpion when it strikes a man. In those days men will seek death and will not find it; they will desire to die, and death will flee from them” (Revelation 9:5-6).

We cannot deny that there are difficult days ahead, but the fact is that most of us have far greater concerns than fearing an immediate nuclear Armageddon. As with all my generation and those on either side of it, we lived in the shadow of the mushroom cloud. Some of us more than others. My friends and I grew up on Strategic Air Command bases where we understood that in case of war, we were sitting at ground zero, and we had our personal nightmares, but rarely shared them.

It might surprise you, but Bible prophecy was a comfort to me and remains so for many who understand it. During the Cuban Missile Crisis I understood there was nothing to worry about, and despite Soviet sub B-59, that assessment was correct. Yes, it was a tense and critical time when one mistake could have blown the world apart, but according to the Bible, it wasn’t God’s time or place. Now how can I say such a thing?

Some people bring up Jesus statement in Matthew 24:36 that says:

“But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only” (Matthew 24:36).

That is certainly true. We cannot even predict the year, but this passage in no way negates literally dozens of scriptures that show certain events must first take place. In fact, this very scripture that they quote is taken out of context where it shows that we CAN know the approximate time. Notice what it says a few verses earlier.

“Now learn this parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near. So you also, when you see all these things [as given before], know that it is near—at the doors!” (Matthew 24:32-33).

Knowing what is ahead, both the bad news and the good news, gives peace of mind. Without regard for some awful things on the horizon, those who understand Biblical prophecy can have peace and comfort. There IS a way of escape from Armageddon. Even more importantly, there is the realization that although we will all die, eternal life is offered to us, as Jesus promised:

“I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die” (John 11:25-26).

Then He asked the woman that He was speaking to a question that equally applies to you and me:

“Do you believe this?” (John 11:26).

It behooves each of us to know why we were born. Life is precious and precarious—far more resilient than we think at times, but far more fragile in the overall picture. We’re temporary and life is short. There is a God and He gives us the opportunity to live forever. He is evaluating the decisions we make, whether we love Him with all our heart, mind, and being; or whether we follow the crowd and fear man more than God. How amazing it is that so few spend any time searching to prove that God is real, that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him, and what His purpose is for mankind. It seems that most are more interested in what is on television tonight, or whether “my team” will win this weekend.

Now if you want to understand more of what is prophesied for the last days, call, write, or go to our website to order Armageddon and Beyond. Everything we have to offer is, of course, sent free of charge, and we don’t sell your contact information to anyone—we never have, and we never will. To learn more about future events that will affect you and your family, continue to watch Tomorrow’s World, where Richard Ames, Wallace Smith, and I, along with guest presenter Rod McNair, will bring you more information about today’s issues and the glorious hope of tomorrow’s world.

[The text below represents an edited transcript of this Tomorrow’s World program.]

Becoming a True Success, God’s Way

Have you ever felt like a failure? Many famous and successful individuals experience disappointments, trials, and failures before they finally advance in life. The famous inventor, Thomas Alva Edison, viewed his disappointing experiments with a positive attitude. He once said: “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”

Many people define success by money, wealth, and material possessions. Some look to the ups and downs of the stock market to find success. Others hope they can find some “get rich quick” scheme as an easy road to riches. Others pride themselves on physical beauty, or on positions of power. Some value popularity as success. But all of these measures of success are temporary. TRUE success in life is defined by LASTING values that society cannot take away.

Many ordinary people who considered themselves under-achievers or lacking potential, have found the way to TRUE success. What was their secret? The Seven Laws of Success. On today’s program, we’ll discuss seven principles for true success.

What is the Highest Goal in Life?

Too many people equate success with monetary wealth. They want to get rich quick. Gambling casinos are very popular, and they can profit billions of dollars each year. Listen to this report on the gambling industry: “Visiting casinos is not the only way to gamble. Another growing segment of the gambling industry is online. The global market size of online gambling was forecasted to reach over 59 billion U.S. dollars in 2020, growing by around 20 billion U.S. dollars in just five years. The largest share of this industry segment is made up of casino gambling and sports betting” (“Gambling Industry in the U.S. - Statistics & Facts,” Statista Research Department, July 24, 2018).

Is gambling the secret way to true success? Of course not. In fact, one of the proverbs in your Bible gives this warning: PROVERBS 23 and verse 4, “Do not overwork to be rich; because of your own understanding, cease! Will you set your eyes on that which is not? For riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away like an eagle toward heaven” (Proverbs 23:4-5).

That’s what happens when you don’t apply the Seven Laws of Success! Just what is true success? And what are the Seven Laws of Success? On today’s program, we’ll answer those questions. And we’ll be offering you an inspiring FREE audio CD, THE SEVEN LAWS OF SUCCESS. This 80-minute CD contains three Tomorrow’s World programs: The Seven Laws of Success, Vital Keys to Happiness, and Peace of Mind Through Prayer. You need this vital information. Be sure to request your free copy!

One of the wealthiest individuals who ever lived was ancient King Solomon of Israel. He was striving to experience “life to the full.” What did he discover? ECCLESIASTES 2 and verse 10, “Whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure, for my heart rejoiced in all my labor; and this was my reward from all my labor. Then I looked on all the works that my hands had done and on the labor in which I had toiled; and indeed all was VANITY and grasping for the wind. There was no profit under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 2:10-11).

Solomon designed and engineered many complex projects including irrigation systems, symphonic orchestras, and choral groups. He held great treasures of silver and gold. He states in ECCLESIASTES 2 and verse 7, “I acquired male and female servants, and had servants born in my house. Yes, I had greater possessions of herds and flocks than all who were in Jerusalem before me. I also gathered for myself silver and gold and the special treasures of kings and of the provinces. I acquired male and female singers, the delights of the sons of men, and musical instruments of all kinds. So I became great and excelled more than all who were before me in Jerusalem. Also my wisdom remained with me” (vv. 7-9).

King Solomon also had 700 wives and 300 concubines. Did they give him lasting happiness? His wives eventually persuaded him to worship false gods, and he paid a dear penalty! With his wisdom that remained, Solomon understood that a lifestyle WITHOUT the security, blessing, and guidance of Almighty God was a striving after wind, worthlessness, and vanity. Are YOU living a life of vanity? Now is the time to start applying the Seven Laws of Success. Perhaps you are applying four or five, but let’s consider all seven!

Many decades ago, the predecessor of this Work, Herbert W. Armstrong, pioneered seven Biblical principles, which he called, “The Seven Laws of Success.” These principles can help you, your family, and your children. What are those seven laws? LAW NUMBER ONE is: Set the Right Goal. Successful people know that to accomplish anything of value, we need to set goals. If you don’t know where you’re going, you’re not going to get there.

Goal-oriented people set long-term and short-term goals. And if the goal is important to them, they will make strong commitments to do all they can to achieve their goals.

We previously saw that ancient King Solomon achieved many goals, but he realized that those goals did not give lasting value and success. He called life’s routines “vanity,” a striving after wind, without lasting value. What will give you lasting happiness and true success? Turn in your Bible to MATTHEW the 6th chapter. Here Jesus tells us that we need not anxiously worry about food and clothing. That if God provides food for the birds of the air, He will much more provide food for His children. Jesus was saying that all of the necessities we anxiously worry about are SECONDARY to the most important goal of all. MATTHEW 6 verse 33. Jesus said, “...seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”

Yes, setting the right goal produces true success if you follow all of the Seven Laws of Success. My friends, our ultimate goal is the Kingdom of God. SUCCESS LAW NUMBER ONE is: Set the Right Goal.

Six More Steps Towards Ultimate Achievement and Fulfillment

It’s good to be committed to our goals, but what will we have achieved at the end of our lifetime IF those goals do not lead to godly character and abundant living now, and later on in the Kingdom of God? We must be sure that our goals contribute to lasting values. SUCCESS LAW NUMBER ONE is: Set the Right Goal. LAW NUMBER TWO is: Educate (or Prepare) Yourself.

What KNOWLEDGE do you need to achieve your goal? What PREPARATIONS must you make? If you’re choosing a career as a craftsman, you will need to work as an apprentice before you can be a journeyman. And many professions require at least a college education, if not an advanced degree. More than ever, we need to increase our knowledge just to keep up with our goals. We should never stop learning. But make sure that the knowledge you are learning is TRUE KNOWLEDGE. In the book of PROVERBS, we are told that TRUE knowledge begins with an awe, reverence, and acknowledgement of God as the SOURCE of wisdom and knowledge. PROVERBS 1 verse 7, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of KNOWLEDGE, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.”

And again in PROVERBS 9:10, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of WISDOM, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” Are you growing in wisdom? Are you growing in the grace and KNOWLEDGE OF JESUS CHRIST, as it states in 2 PETER 3 verse18? Our Savior is the KEY to TRUE CHRISTIAN SUCCESS! To reach your goal, you need to educate yourself and prepare to achieve that goal, whether physically or spiritually. You need GODLY wisdom and knowledge! The SECOND LAW OF SUCCESS is: Educate (or Prepare) Yourself.

The THIRD LAW OF SUCCESS is: Maintain Good Health. How healthy are you? Do you have energy and vigor to work hard and accomplish? Our fast-food, high-fat, high-sugar diet mentality is not the steady diet God intended for humans. A polluted environment may harm our health. And REGULAR EXERCISE is important. The Apostle Paul told the evangelist Timothy, “For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come” (1 Timothy 4:8). Again, the Bible emphasizes the spiritual dimension in our lives. But we ALSO have a responsibility to honor God in our body, as it tells us in 1 Corinthians 6:20. You will be better able to achieve your goals if you strive for physical fitness. THE THIRD LAW OF SUCCESS is: Maintain Good Health.

LAW NUMBER FOUR is: Drive Yourself! Mr. Herbert Armstrong called this an “all-important law.” He wrote, “You will always find that the executive head of any growing, successful organization employs drive! He puts a constant prod on himself. He not only drives himself, he drives those under him, else they might lag, let down and stagnate” (The Seven Laws of Success, 1974, p. 44).

Yes, we need to put a prod on ourselves to move. The book of PROVERBS gives us a graphic illustration. PROVERBS 6 and verse 6, “Go to the ant, you sluggard! Consider her ways and be wise, which, having no captain, overseer or ruler, provides her supplies in the summer, and gathers her food in the harvest. How long will you slumber, O sluggard? When will you rise from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep—so shall your poverty come on you like a prowler, and your need like an armed man” (v. 6-11).

Proper rest is essential, but God warns against being lazy! We all need energy and purpose. We need to discipline ourselves to work effectively. THE FOURTH LAW OF SUCCESS is: Drive Yourself!

THE FIFTH LAW OF SUCCESS is: Apply Resourcefulness. Think of this as “the emergency law.” Perhaps the road ahead to your planned career or goal looks clear and smooth. But life often brings unexpected obstacles. You may suddenly face a financial problem, or health emergency. What will you do?

Always investigate your options. What resources are available? What agencies or individuals can help? Of course, the first step is to ask for God’s help. Remember when Jesus came walking on the water to His disciples? The Apostle Peter wanted to do the same. So Jesus told Peter here in MATTHEW 14:29, “‘Come.’ And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, ‘Lord, save me!’” (v. 29-30).

Ask God to save you out of your predicament. But be sure to do your part and search out all the resources available. Don’t just give up. Ask for wise counsel. PROVERBS 15:22, “Without counsel, plans go awry, but in the multitude of counselors they are established.” THE FIFTH LAW OF SUCCESS is: Apply Resourcefulness.

THE SIXTH LAW OF SUCCESS is: Persevere Toward Your Goal. Always have perseverance—stick-to-it-iveness, as Herbert Armstrong described it.

During World War II when the future looked gloomy for Great Britain, Prime Minister Winston Churchill spoke on October 29, 1941 at the Harrow School. He inspired his audience to persevere. He said, “...[S]urely from this period of ten months this is the lesson: never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never-in nothing, great or small, large or petty - never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy. We stood all alone a year ago, and to many countries it seemed that our account was closed, we were finished...” (“Never Give In, Never, Never, Never, 1941,” Speech, Harrow School, October 29, 1941).

Yes, we all need to persevere! Those who respond to God’s calling are in a spiritual race to persevere. Hebrews the twelfth chapter encourages us to look forward to our final goal. HEBREWS the twelfth chapter, verse 1, “Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with ENDURANCE the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (v. 1-2).

Apply the SIXTH LAW OF SUCCESS. Run the race with endurance, or “patience” as the King James Version has it, or “perseverance” as the NRSV translates it. Never give up! Run the race of life with perseverance. THE SIXTH LAW OF SUCCESS is: Persevere Toward Your Goal. 

LAW NUMBER SEVEN is the most important principle for achieving success. We’ll discuss it in the next part of our program.

Seek a True Relationship With Your Creator

When you apply the Seven Laws of Success, you need the right motivation and attitude. The world has produced thousands of books on becoming successful, rich, and famous. But the problem, my friends, as we emphasized earlier, is that the world seeks the wrong kind of success. The world defines success as possession, power, and position. The advertising world promotes success as having material possessions: such as expensive autos, fine jewelry, large mansions, and yachts. But electronic toys, buildings, and cars do not produce lasting happiness. 

There are two ways of life: the way of give and the way of get! Your Bible reveals the simple and yet most profound way of living. If you have a Bible, be sure to mark this scripture in ACTS 20 verse 35. Jesus stated, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” Or as the Moffatt translation has it, “To give is happier than to get.”

God’s way of success is to serve, help, care, and give. Whatever positions we may hold in this life, it will never amount to TRUE SUCCESS unless it is one of GODLY SERVICE toward others. Listen! One of the measures of TRUE SUCCESS is the degree of godly service we are willing to give. Emphasis on GIVE. False success relies on the GET principle, the selfish default characteristic of human nature! 

Applying the attitude of service, the laws of success can produce true and LASTING success. That way of life yields happiness, fulfillment and peace of mind. So far, we have briefly discussed six of the Seven Laws of Success.

LAW NUMBER ONE: Set the Right Goal

LAW NUMBER TWO: Educate (or Prepare) Yourself

LAW NUMBER THREE: Maintain Good Health

LAW NUMBER FOUR: Drive Yourself!

LAW NUMBER FIVE; Apply Resourcefulness

And LAW NUMBER SIX: Persevere Toward Your Goal

These six laws are vital and extremely important! But to practice them successfully, you need the vital SEVENTH LAW for true success. THE SEVENTH LAW OF SUCCESS is: Seek God’s Continual Guidance.

You may ask, “How can I have God’s continual guidance?” The simple answer is: you pray to Him, you acknowledge Him! Listen to this wonderful promise in PROVERBS the third chapter, verse 5: “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths” (v. 5-6).

God PROMISES that He will direct your paths and guide you through life to fulfill your human potential and ultimate destiny. But we must PRAY DAILY, and we must ACT on His priceless promises. Another of God’s wonderful promises is found in ISAIAH 55 verse 6, “Seek the LORD while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, and He will have mercy on him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon” (v. 6-7). As you begin to pray, as you begin to change your whole way of life to God’s way of true success, He will forgive you through the Savior of the world, Jesus Christ. God has promised that He will have mercy on you and pardon you, IF you repent and seek Him.

When you come to a crossroads, when you are faced with decisions, PRAY and ask for God’s will to be done in your life. He has promised to GUIDE you, and be WITH you. As Jesus promised us in Hebrews 13 verse 5, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” THE SEVENTH LAW OF SUCCESS is: Seek God’s Continual Guidance.

I encourage you to apply ALL SEVEN laws of success. If you do, you will come to find the true abundant life Jesus promised in JOHN 10 and verse 10, “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”

In the conclusion of our program, we will see some of the amazing benefits of applying all seven laws of success.

True Success Through the Savior of the World

As you apply the Seven Laws of Success, you’ll enjoy God’s blessings and TRUE success. God wants us to live happy, abundant lives. But many make the mistake of setting happiness as an end or a goal in itself. As a result, they become frustrated. Commentator Dennis Prager points out that one “secret” to happiness “...is realizing that happiness is a byproduct of something else. The most obvious sources are those pursuits that give our lives purpose-anything from studying insects to playing baseball. The more passions we have, the more happiness we’re likely to experience.” (“A Simple Truth About Happiness,” Reader’s Digest, June 1998, p. 99). Of course, the greatest happiness comes as a byproduct of having the greatest purpose: seeking God’s Kingdom.

Can YOU really succeed? Can you experience true Christian success? As the Apostle Paul stated in Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” My friends, THE BIBLE reveals the unseen, immutable laws of life. When we’re in harmony with those principles and instructions, we are blessed. In fact from the beginning of the Bible to the end, you will find that obedience to God’s way of life brings blessings, and disobedience to God’s way of life brings curses. The world’s criteria for success: possessions, power, position, and pleasure—only bring pain, suffering, failure, and death. Those whose brand of success is self-indulgence, self-aggrandizement, and self-centeredness, harm themselves AND others.  True success comes only through the Savior of the world who taught us to love our enemies, to lay down our lives for one another, and to live by every word of God. When we do that through the power of the Holy Spirit, we will live a truly happy, productive, and successful life, because we will be helping others into the Kingdom of God. And remember that the Holy Spirit is God’s gift to those who repent and are baptized. 

Jesus told His disciples in Matthew 10 verse 8, “Freely you have received, freely give.” We strive to do that on this program. Be sure to request your inspiring free audio CD on THE SEVEN LAWS OF SUCCESS. The Tomorrow’s World telecast, magazine, Bible Study Course, and all the other free materials we offer, are dedicated to EDUCATING millions to Biblical truth,  so that they may be successful in this life, inherit the kingdom, and experience true success for all eternity.

[The text below represents an edited transcript of this Tomorrow’s World program.]

We Knew Pandemics Pandemics Were Coming

No one ever wants to hear, “I told you so.” So I shouldn’t say it... but I did and I will! In two previous Tomorrow’s World telecasts, I told you what would happen if we, the human race, failed to follow laws written 3,500 years ago.

Some see Covid-19 as a wake-up call, that maybe we are not pleasing our Creator. One thing we know for sure: Our world will never be the same. This crisis is evolving so rapidly that it is impossible to predict where we will be next week, much less a year from now. But I can give you information, as I have done in the past, that is far more sure and timely than your latest newscast. Contrary to the opinions of many theologians, the Bible shows WHY this is happening and gives the solution, so that there is no excuse when it happens again. You’ll never hear what I’m about to give you from the mainstream media.

COVID-19 did not have to happen. Our lives did not have to be disrupted. People did not have to die. Businesses did not have to fail. Economies did not have to descend into recessions and worse. And governments did not have to fall. All this could have been prevented, and I told you so in a 2011 Tomorrow’s World telecast—“Lessons from SARS”, and in a 2014 Tomorrow’s World program—“Ebola Can Be Prevented.” So join me today as I explain the causes of these scourges and reveal the only true solution to pandemics...

COVID-19 Pandemic Was Predictable

Welcome to Tomorrow’s World, where I’m going to explain an absolute truth that few others have the courage to give. COVID-19 was entirely preventable. It did not have to happen. I explained this publicly regarding SARS, Ebola, and numerous other diseases in 2011 and 2014. Don’t believe me just because I say this. Check it out for yourself! It’s all a matter of record found in two Tomorrow’s World telecasts: “Lessons from SARS,” and “Ebola Can Be Prevented.” Both programs were recorded in Canada and later rerecorded in the United States. You can look them up on our website, TomorrowsWorld.org. Or better yet, I’ll send you a copy of these two programs, along with this program, on a DVD.

Sadly, the very people who should be teaching mankind these things have been negligent in doing so. Worse yet, those professing Christian ministers reject the very knowledge that would save mankind from all this heartache and suffering. They’ve chosen to dismiss this knowledge, spelled out in the very book they claim to represent!

COVID-19 did not arise out of thin air. It had a cause. There is more than one theory as to how it began, and the exact details may not be known at this time, and may never be known. Many believe it accidentally escaped from a biohazard lab in Wuhan, China, where the coronavirus was found in horseshoe bats that were being studied. Others think that it came from a nearby “wet market” where exotic animals are sold for food. This is the official view coming from China at the time of this recording, but since some people are asymptomatic, the first person exposed to the virus may never be known. He or she may not work for the bio-lab and may never have visited the wet market. But whether from the biohazard lab, or the “wet market,” all trails lead back to the horseshoe bat, or some intermediary animal that got it from the bat, such as the suspected pangolin.

Scientists believe SARS, which emerged in 2002, originated in a wet market in or near Hong Kong. Bats are used in traditional Chinese medicine as well as gourmet food in that part of the world. SARS, MERS, Nipah Fever, and Ebola are all traced back to bats, though human infection comes from an intermediary. Scientists know exactly where to look when a new pathogen attacks humanity—the meat market.

That is where they traced SARS. They first thought it originated from a Civet Cat, a creature that is considered a delicacy among the Chinese—that is until SARS, at which time thousands of these animals were killed and are no longer sold legally in China. While there are various speculations about the exact route to humans, the Encyclopedia Britannica on the subject gives this explanation:

“Viruses that infect animals can jump from one species to another, causing a new, usually severe disease in the new host. For example, in 2003 a virus in the Coronaviridae family jumped from an animal reservoir, believed to be horseshoe bats, to humans, causing a highly pathogenic disease in humans called severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). The ability of the SARS coronavirus to jump from horseshoe bats to humans undoubtedly required genetic changes in the virus. The changes are suspected to have occurred in the palm civet, since the SARS virus present in horseshoe bats is unable to infect humans directly” (“Evolution of new virus strains,” Britannica.com, April 21, 2020).

The connection between bats and deadly viruses is clearly known, and SARS is not the only one. While the mortality rate for SARS is scary (10%), the death rate from Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, known as MERS, another coronavirus, is even scarier. The World Health Organization reports that MERS is between 3 and 4 times more deadly. The WHO recognizes the MERS connection between bats, camels, and humans.

“The origins of the virus are not fully understood but, according to the analysis of different virus genomes, it is believed that it may have originated in bats and was transmitted to camels sometime in the distant past” (“Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV),” WHO.int, March 11, 2019).

So far, what I’ve given you may be found in many sources. But few connect the dots between the cause of these pathogens and Biblical laws. In light of the coronavirus ravaging the world, we are offering you a free DVD, “God Answers His Covid-19 Critics.” This DVD does connect these dots. It contains the 2011 program, “Lessons from SARS,” the 2014 program, “Ebola Can Be Prevented” along with today’s program.

All three programs connect the dots between these dangerous pathogens and Biblical commands, demonstrating why these pandemics are totally unnecessary. This DVD, “God Answers His Covid-19 Critics,” can be yours free of charge. Just click the link in the description to order your free DVD. And I’ll be back with new evidence regarding the cause of these terrifying diseases.

The Cause And Effect Of Breaking God’s Health Laws

We take for granted the yearly flu season. Yet, it did not have to be this way. Don’t get me wrong. The flu is here and it won’t go away just yet, but do you realize that the causes of such scourges as SARS, Ebola, MERS, Nipah Virus, COVID-19, Swine Flu, and more common flus, are known? And you don’t have to take my word for it. Listen to the scientists that study these things, but they will not connect the dots that you are hearing on this program! Not even professing Christian ministers have the courage to make the connection between the cause of these viruses and the word of God.

Let’s take a closer look at SARS, as it was a wake-up call for some and scientists have since studied it extensively. SARS is the acronym for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, and it burst onto the scene in November 2002. What made it so dangerous was that it was easily transmitted, it did not stay local, and it was deadly, killing about 10% of all who caught it.

Popular Science published an article during the crisis in which it stated the following:

“‘The fact that both sars and most flu viruses originated in southern china is no surprise,’ says virologist Michael Lai, who believes that the region’s social customs of catching and eating wild game expose people to animal viruses” (“SARS: Where Did It Come From?” PopSci.com, July 2, 2003).

Did you catch that, my friends? Let me quote Michael Lai again:

“The fact that both sars and most flu viruses originated in southern china is no surprise…”

Not only did SARS originate in Southern China, but according to Dr. Lai, “most flu viruses,” let me repeat, “most flu viruses,” do as well. Consider the profound implications of this! The cause of most flu viruses is known and if you stop the cause, you stop the flu! The article goes on to say,

“In theory, SARS leapt from a wild beast to a human when it acquired the molecular “keys” to gain entry to our cells, explains Lai. To do that, it may have first mingled with a human virus brewing inside another species. A pig, for example, can serve as a genetic mixing bowl when co-infected with two viruses, allowing them to swap genes” (“SARS: Where Did It Come From?” PopSci.com, July 2, 2003).

This 2003 Popular Science magazine article is not the only source calling the pig “a genetic mixing bowl.” Here is a clip from my 2011 telecast, “Lessons From SARS”:

Experts believe that a classic way for hybrid viruses to form is when different viruses meet and “marry” inside a single host, swapping genes. Humans and animals, such as pigs, can be efficient “mixing vessels.” Some scientists believe the pandemics of 1958 and 1968 occurred in such a fashion, killing up to two million and one million people worldwide, respectively. (Tan Ee Lyn, “H1N1 and bird flu virus produce dangerous hybrids,” Reuters, May 23, 2011).

What scientists are learning is how animal viruses can be transmitted to humans and vice versa, and domestic pigs seem to be excellent “mixing vessels.” Birds, which are a source of various flu viruses, can transmit the flu to humans, but human to human transmission does not normally occur. But when a virus is transmitted from a bird to a pig, it can mutate in such a way that it is now able to transmit not only from pig to human, but from human to human” (“Lessons from SARS,” TomorrowsWorld.org, June 28, 2016).

This entire program, “Lessons from SARS,” originally produced for the Hong Kong audience, can be yours at no cost. We even pay for the shipping. And we will never sell your name or personal information to others. We never have and we never will. This DVD, “God Answers His Covid-19 Critics,” also contains a second program, “Ebola Can Be Prevented.” This program explains the source of Ebola, and why it will keep coming back until the cause is addressed, and people stop eating the things God said not to. So click the link in the description and order your free copy today, and I’ll be right back to connect the dots between what scientists know and what the Bible says. You won’t see these dots connected in the media so don’t go away.

The Bible Tells Us The Solution To Prevent Pandemics

Today we are looking at the causes of Covid-19 and other contagions that can be stopped, if we STOP doing the things that CAUSE these afflictions. The annual flu may be unpleasant, but not since 1918 have we seen a contagion as serious as the one we currently face. Yet, virtually no one is turning to the source that gives the ultimate solution to the problem. All the so-called experts, and I do not in any way intend to denigrate these dedicated individuals, but no, they have failed to give the answer. Why? Because they do not have the KEY that reveals the way. As I said in my 2014 program,

The plain truth is that mankind would do well to come to grips with the cause of the problem.

The preventative solution to the scourge of Ebola is right education and changed habits. It will shock many, but the cause, as well as the solution, is revealed in the Bible, recorded some 3,500 years ago. And, if mankind followed its simple instructions, Ebola, SARS, and many other diseases would be no more than footnotes in history. These diseases ARE TOTALLY preventable. Scientists and health care professionals, national leaders, and philanthropic foundations have failed miserably in educating people with the only true and sure solution to these problems” (“Ebola Can Be Prevented,” TomorrowsWorld.org, August 11, 2015).

Simply put, the solution is found in the Bible, where the God of creation revealed that some animals are food for man, and others are not. Some creatures are labeled “unclean” and they are just that—unclean, unfit for human consumption. Note this short list of the creatures most often associated with these outbreaks:

Bats

Swine (pigs)

Civet cats

Camels

Primates, such as monkeys and chimpanzees

Note that every single one of these creatures is listed in the Bible as prohibited for man to consume. Regarding the current crisis, an insect-eating mammal known as a Pangolin is being investigated as the intermediary between bats and humans.

“Pangolins and other wild species, including a variety of species of bat, are often sold in wet markets, says Professor Andrew Cunningham of the Zoological Society London, providing opportunities for viruses to move from one species to another. “Wet markets, therefore, create ideal conditions for the spillover of pathogens from one species to another, including to people” (Coronavirus: The race to find the source in wildlife,” BBC.com, February 25, 2020).

Bats show up time and again as reservoirs for coronaviruses such as SARS. The horseshoe bat is also implicated in COVID-19, whether the virus came out of a wet market or a biohazard lab. Camels, on the other hand, seem to be the immediate source for the coronavirus causing MERS, although many scientists believe it traveled from a bat to the camel, and then to humans. Fruit bats and primates (such as monkeys and chimpanzees) are associated with the Hemorrhagic [fevers] of Ebola and Marburg.

But there is another creature very often implicated in these transmissions—swine, otherwise called hogs or pigs. Note this BBC report on another dangerous virus:

“Nipah virus, which emerged in Malaysia in 1998 and 99, we believe has fruit bats as the reservoir, but it had to go into pigs before it could infect humans” (“Bats a ‘likely source’ of Sars,” News.BBC.co.uk, September 29, 2005).

So how did that transfer take place? Bloomberg News provides the answer.

“One early clue of bats’ role came from a 1998 outbreak of brain-infecting Nipah virus in Malaysia that killed more than 100 people. It turned out that fruit bats with the virus were feeding on mango trees overhanging a pig enclosure, according to the EcoHealth Alliance. The bats dropped fruit into the pens and infected the pigs; the pigs then passed the pathogen onto people” (“Coronavirus Outbreak Likely Began With Bats, an Omen for Next Epidemic,” Bloomberg.com, February 3, 2020).

Swine are central to numerous flu viruses, from the more recent 2009 swine flu epidemic to the more famous 1918 so-called Spanish Flu. Regarding swine flu, Medical News Today says the following:

“Swine flu can affect both pigs and humans. It is a respiratory disease that results from an influenza A virus.

The influenza A variant subtype H1N1 is commonly the cause of swine flu in humans. It has similar genetic features to the H1N1 subtype of influenza virus that causes influenza in pigs.

Since 2009, the H1N1 virus has become one of the common viruses that circulate each flu season. Many people now have some immunity to the virus. [And] As a result, experts are now less concerned about this type of swine flu than they were in 2009” (“Everything you need to know about swine flu,” MedicalNewsToday.com, March 11, 2020).

The most famous pandemic of the 20^th Century was the so-called Spanish flu of 1918. It claimed an estimated 50 to 100 million lives around the world. Considering the enormous death toll, one must ask, “Does having bacon for breakfast, or an Easter ham, justify the horrible agonizing deaths of 50 to 100 million people AND the tears of many millions of family members?” When we connect the dots, whether it’s bats, pigs, civets, camels, pangolins, or primates, these are ALL listed in the Bible as unfit for human consumption—God says NOT to eat them!

Now, if you would like a DVD of this program, along with “Lessons from SARS” and “Ebola Can Be Prevented,” just click the link in the description and order it now for free. You may be wondering how this is free. And the answer is, it has been paid forward by the members of the “Living Church of God” and co-workers behind this Work. Also, remember to subscribe to our channel and click the notification bell so you don’t miss another Tomorrow’s World video. And when I come back, we’ll connect the dots between two more pathogens involving Biblically unclean animals.

How Different The World Would Be If We Listened To Who Created Us!

Today, on Tomorrow’s World, I’m telling you something that you won’t hear from mainstream media or most Christian ministers. Yes, you may read of the connection between certain animals and various deadly diseases, but who’s connecting the dots between these animals and biblical laws that have been here for thousands of years? As long as we reject that knowledge, new pathogens WILL continue to afflict us, and old ones will return. This is why Ebola continues to come back again and again. This is why I told you in 2014 that Ebola would return, and it did, causing a greater loss of life! As I explained in, “Ebola Can Be Prevented”:

“What is known is that fruit bats and various so called bushmeat animals can be infected with the virus. This is fact. What is not known for sure is where the Ebola virus begins, but one particular source is highly suspect, and that is the fruit bat, which is a part of the diet of some Central and West Africans.

Note this headline and subhead from the journal, Nature:

Fruit bats as reservoirs of Ebola virus: Bat species eaten by people in central Africa show evidence of symptomless Ebola infection (Nature Publishing Group, Vol. 438, 1 December 2005).

The article explains that these fruit bats are carriers of the virus, but they are asymptomatic, meaning the virus is not a problem for them. They are, in effect, carriers of the virus that causes Ebola. So while it remains to be seen whether they are the original source, what is clearly known is that these fruit bats are A source of the virus and when handled as a food source they can transmit the virus to man and it then spreads from person to person by way of bodily fluids. Since people in Central and West Africa eat these bats, along with “bush meats” that are affected by the virus, Ebola breaks out from time to time” .

The 2011 thriller “Contagion” is making a comeback as many seek ways to entertain themselves during their lockdown caused by this new contagion. The movie begins with Beth Emhoff returning from a business trip in Hong Kong. She has a stopover in Chicago before arriving at her home and family in Minneapolis. Two days later she collapses and is taken to hospital, where she dies. Her husband Mitch returns home from hospital only to find that his son has died of what appears to be the same malady. So begins the movie “Contagion,” which shows the disease spreading from one person to another and blossoms into a full-blown crisis—not only with people dying, but also with social unrest.

I saw this movie on a long flight returning to Toronto from Hong Kong in 2012, where we stayed in Kowloon, that’s just across the harbor from Hong Kong Island. Oh, and by the way, if you happen to watch “Contagion,” watch it all the way to the end where it shows the beginning of the virus. And then, my friends, connect the dots!

Hong Kong and the surrounding areas learned a lot from SARS. Elevator buttons are sanitized in some locations, as often as every half hour, but no one learned the big lesson—stopping the contagion before it gets started. The typical diet in that part of the world is full of exotic creatures. Once in Guangzhou I bumped into an alligator in a restaurant, and I saw snake wine peddled on a river boat near Guilin.

Now, let me leave you with this sobering message, from the American Society for Microbiology:

“Coronaviruses are well known to undergo genetic recombination, which may lead to new genotypes and outbreaks. The presence of a large reservoir of SARS-CoV-like viruses in horseshoe bats, together with the culture of eating exotic mammals in southern China, is a time bomb (“Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus as an Agent of Emerging and Reemerging Infection,” Clinical Microbiology Reviews, iss. 20, vol. 4, October 2007).

That, my friends, was written October 2007! But if people read the Bible this would not be a surprise. Write this down: Leviticus chapter 11, and look it up in a Bible and see what God instructed 3,500 years ago. How different our world would be, right now, if we only listened to the loving God who created us!

Be sure to come back next week at this same time when Richard Ames, Wallace Smith, Rod McNair and I, connect the dots between the Bible and the world in which we now live.

Is Easter The Most Important Christian Holiday?

Easter… It’s the holiest day of the year for hundreds of millions of people. In the northern Hemisphere, traditions focus on the coming of Spring. Winter is over. Fields and farms are alive with color. Trees and flowers burst with new life. And Easter traditions are observed around the world. The “Woman’s Day” website brings out some of the more unusual examples, like young boys dousing young girls with water, in Poland and Hungary. According to the website, this playful tradition has roots in ancient fertility rites. Other Easter traditions are also linked to Spring-time fertility rituals, meant to ensure good crops. In Florence, Italy, for example, they blow up carts with explosives. And in the Greek island of Corfu, they drop clay pots out of second story windows.

If that sounds strange though, how about American traditions, like an Easter bunny that lays eggs?

And what does this all have to do with Jesus’ resurrection?

You see, many well-meaning people practice these rather odd traditions, but also view Easter as a time to honor Jesus Christ. After all, the Bible DOES say Jesus died in the Spring. And after dying and being laid in a grave, He miraculously revived. He was resurrected!

But did His disciples celebrate EASTER to honor His resurrection? That’s an important question to ask. And that’s what we’ll attempt to answer on today’s program.

So join me on Tomorrow's World, as we ask, and answer, the question: “Did Jesus’ disciples celebrate Easter?”

Easter Is A Religious Lie

Easter traditions are kept all over the world. In the Northern Hemisphere, most of them center around the new life of Spring. Winter’s over, and trees and flowers burst with blossoms. But even down-under, when March and April bring autumn, Easter is observed, but with a little twist. Instead of eating chocolate rabbits, Australian children eat chocolates formed in a shape of a mouse-like creature called a “bilby.” When it comes to Easter, it seems there’s something for everyone.

For many who attend church, Easter is the holiest day of the year. And what could be more important than celebrating Jesus’ resurrection?

Many sincere, well-meaning people seek to do just that. But is Easter biblical? Is the word “Easter” even found in the Bible? The answer is, the word “Easter” IS found in one place in the King James Bible. If you have a King James Bible, take a look at Acts 12:4. It tells the story of James being imprisoned and then executed by King Herod. Then, Herod arrested Peter as well. And notice what it says next:

“And when he had apprehended him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to keep him; intending after Easter to bring him forth to the people.” (Acts 12:4) (KJV)

But look under the surface. The word “Easter” isn’t intended there at all. Theologian Adam Clarke explains this in his commentary on the verse. He says:

“Perhaps there never was a more unhappy, not to say absurd, translation than that in our text [KJV]…. The term Easter, inserted here by our translators, they borrowed from the ancient Anglo-Saxon service-books….” (Adam Clarke’s Commentary, Vol. 5, p. 774).

He then explains that the goddess Easter, or Ishtar:

“…was celebrated by our pagan forefathers on the month of April…. Every view we can take of this subject shows the gross impropriety of retaining a name every way exceptionable, and palpably absurd.” (Adam Clarke’s Commentary, Vol. 5, p. 775).

So, the one place where the word “Easter” is found in the Bible, is a mistranslation. Does that surprise you? The Greek word translated “Easter” in Acts 12:4 was actually the word “pascha,” or what we say in English, “Passover.” So, Acts 12:4 should have read: “...Intending after Passover to bring him out to the people….”

What was Passover? Passover was a festival being kept by the Jews. It involved eating a meal of a sacrificial lamb, slain just for that purpose. It was in the Springtime. Many Jews still keep Passover today, in one form or another.

So, the word Easter is not found in the Bible. And the one place it seems to be, is a mistranslation. If this is so, why do so many observe it?

As stated already, many people sincerely believe they honor the resurrection of Jesus by observing Easter. And yes, the resurrection IS found in the Bible. All four Gospel writers testified to it. And we in this Work have a profound feeling and AWE for what Jesus did in dying for our sins. We believe that through His shed blood, through faith IN Him, we can ALSO attain to the resurrection. That’s the wonderful hope of every Christian.

But back to the original question: Did the disciples of Jesus celebrate Easter? IF they did, we should follow their example. If they did not, we must ask the question, “Why not?”

And we’ll get to that in a moment. But first, let me offer you our free study guide, Easter: The Untold Story. In it, Mr. Gerald Weston examines the significance of the name, “Easter.” He looks at the ancient practice of worshipping the Queen of Heaven. And he asks the question, could we be worshipping Jesus Christ in vain? This issue strikes at the very heart of what it is to be a Christian. If you’ve not read this booklet, you need to order it today. Request your free copy of “Easter: The Untold Story.”

Just click the link in the description and order it now.

Three Reasons Why Passover And NOT Easter Is The True Christian Holy Day

In the first part of our program, we asked the question, “Is the word ‘Easter’ found in the Bible?” And the answer is, only in a mis-translation of the King James Bible. Now let’s look at the examples of Jesus and His disciples. Did THEY celebrate Easter? Let’s find out what they did, and what they taught. We’ll break it down into three points. The first point is:

#1: AS CHRISTIANS, WE MUST FOLLOW THE EXAMPLES OF JESUS AND HIS DISCIPLES

This point may seem simple, but don’t overlook the obvious. Too often, people base their beliefs too much on tradition and not enough on Scripture. We think many of you DO read your Bible faithfully. You WANT to be like the Bereans of Acts 17:11, who “searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so.”

During His ministry, Jesus called many disciples. He commanded them, “Follow Me,” as in Mark 2:14. This wasn’t just an invitation to walk with Him to the next village. It wasn’t just a sentimental feeling. In a very real sense, He was saying, “Look at what I’m doing and follow My example.”

He repeated this many times. In Matthew 10:38 Jesus said, “...he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.” You see, following Christ’s example and teaching is what is expected to be a disciple.

After the death and resurrection of Jesus, the apostles followed the same pattern. They urged the brethren to follow their example in practice and doctrine. Notice what Paul told the Philippians:

“Brethren, join in following my example, and note those who so walk, as you have us for a pattern” (Philippians 3:17).

Notice what Paul also told the young evangelist, Timothy:

“But you have carefully followed my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith…” (2 Timothy 3:10).

Did Paul mean that his brethren should just BLINDLY follow him? No. In 1 Corinthians 11:1, he said “Follow me, as I follow Christ.”

Paul wasn’t perfect. Nor were the other apostles. The New Testament is very honest about their mistakes. And yet, Christ worked THROUGH them, so they could TEACH by word and example. Paul said, “don’t just blindly do everything I do or say… look at my example, and if it measures up to Christ, then follow it.”

This is a consistent theme in the entire New Testament. This is what should guide our life: Following the example of Jesus and the apostles. That’s WHY the New Testament has been preserved, so we can know what they did. Luke wrote in Acts 16:4:

“And as they [Paul and Silas, that is] went through the cities, they delivered to them the decrees to keep, which were determined by the apostles and elders at Jerusalem. So the churches were strengthened in the faith, and increased in number daily.” (cts 16:4–5).

The brethren in the first century followed the teachings of Christ and the apostles. As Christians today, we must live by the same rule.

Peter echoed a similar theme in his second letter to the brethren. He said this:

“Beloved, I now write to you this second epistle (in both of which I stir up your pure minds by way of reminder), that you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior….” (2 Peter 3:1–2)

Did Peter just make up commandments for them to follow? No--he taught them what He had learned from Jesus. And he lived it in his personal example.

John also taught this. In 1 John 1:2 he wrote:

“...the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us—that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us….” (1 John 1:2–3)

John and the other apostles were passing along what they saw Jesus do, and what they heard Jesus teach.

Why is this important? Because many traditions of modern Christianity simply go AGAINST the example of Jesus and His disciples. Mr. Gerald Weston brings this out in the free booklet Easter: The Untold Story. We are offering this publication today. This booklet will help you see that some of the basic teachings of mainstream Christianity are NOT found in the Bible. Take for example, chapter four. It’s entitled: “Three Days and Three Nights.” Was Jesus in the grave a full three days and three nights? Or just parts of three days and three nights? Can you really know? And does it matter?

In a simple and straightforward way, this booklet will lay it out for you. Use it side by side with your own Bible. Don’t take our word for it. Prove it for yourself. Again, this is a free publication… it’s already paid for. The generous co-workers of this Work have “paid-it-forward”, for you. They want you to have this booklet. So, give us a call or go online and order yours now.

The Disciples Kept the Passover… Not Easter

Welcome back. In the last segment, we saw that Christians must follow the example of Jesus and His disciples. That should be our guide. With that foundation, let’s go on to the next point. Number 2...

#2 THERE IS NO RECORD OF JESUS’ DISCIPLES CELEBRATING EASTER

Dr. Samuele Bachiocchi is a noted church-history expert who wrote the book From Sabbath to Sunday. On page 84, he said this:

“…[T]hough the resurrection is frequently mentioned both in the New Testament and in the early patristic literature, no suggestion is given that primitive Christians commemorated the event by a weekly or yearly Sunday service” (From Sabbath to Sunday, Samuele Bachiocchi, p. 84).

You can search the New Testament from one end to the other, and you won’t find the disciples celebrating Easter. In 1986, a book called The Apostasy of the Lost Century was written by a man named S. Gusten Olsen. Notice what he said:

“When Polycarp was writing his Epistle, Sunday was still a working day…. Not even the association of the resurrection with the symbolism of the sun seems very prominent until the middle of the second century” (The Apostasy of the Lost Century, S. Gusten Olsen, p. 100).

Did you catch that? Mr. Olsen said the idea of the rising sun being symbolic of Jesus’ resurrection--think, sunrise service--was not part of the thinking of the early disciples. The tradition of the rising sun representing Christ’s resurrection didn’t take shape until the 2nd century. Is this because Jesus’ disciples didn’t CARE about the resurrection? Nothing could be further from the truth! When Jesus appeared to His disciples from the grave “...they still did not believe for joy, and marveled...” (Luke 24:41). They were amazed--and grateful! When Thomas, who saw Him later, realized what had happened, how did HE respond? John 20:28 records, “...Thomas answered and said to Him, ‘My Lord and my God!’”

The disciples had a DEEP respect and sense of awe for the miracle of the resurrection. But NOWHERE do we have a record of their keeping a service to commemorate it. Even if they HAD celebrated it, it would NOT have been Sunday morning. We find this passage in John 20:1.

“Now the first day of the week Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb” (John 20:1).

Verse 2 says: “Then she ran and came to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and said to them, ‘They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him’” (John 20:2).

Did you catch that? Mary was at the tomb before sunrise. It was STILL dark and Jesus was already gone. Jesus did NOT rise from the grave at sunrise, as so many assume.

Did the early disciples talk about the resurrection? Yes--many times! Paul, in his defense before the Sanhedrin, said, “Concerning the hope and resurrection of the dead I am being judged…” (Acts 23:6) He wrote a whole chapter ABOUT the resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15. And in 1 Peter 1:3, notice what the Apostle Peter said:

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead…. In this you greatly rejoice.” (1 Peter 1:3, 6).

The apostles were witnesses of Jesus’ resurrection. And they were to tell the whole WORLD about it. But nowhere in the New Testament is there a record of an Easter service. It’s just not there.

On the contrary, the disciples WERE keeping a different feast day to honor Jesus Christ. What was that different feast day? That brings us to our final point in this program. Number 3:

#3: JESUS’ DISCIPLES KEPT THE CHRISTIAN PASSOVER TO COMMEMORATE HIS DEATH.

As we saw earlier, Jesus kept the Passover with His disciples. But during His last Passover just before His death, He assigned new symbolic meaning to the bread and wine. Notice how Mark describes it:

“And as they were eating [the Passover], Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them and said, ‘Take, eat; this is My body.’ Then He took the cup, and when He had given thanks He gave it to them, and they all drank from it. And He said to them, ‘This is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many’” (Mark 14:22–24).

Jesus used this ancient feast day to institute new symbols about His own coming sacrifice. He explained, “By taking these symbols, you are entering the new covenant.” He was explaining how they could come under His shed blood, and be forgiven of their sins!

The Apostle John also noted that same last Passover, but with other details. He recorded that Jesus washed the feet of His disciples. Notice what Jesus said, in John 13:15.

“For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you…. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them” (John 13:15, 17).

That is a direct command to follow in His steps. Jesus commanded His people to take bread and wine, as symbols of His broken body and shed blood. And He commanded them to wash each others’ feet as an outward expression of humility and Christian brotherhood. He instituted the Christian Passover.

This is very different from what most modern Christians observe today. But there it is, right in the Bible. And He said we would be blessed if we followed His example.

What about the apostles? Do they tell us to observe the Christian Passover? Yes. Paul wrote about it in 1 Corinthians 11, verse 23:

“For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, ‘Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me’” (1 Corinthians 11:23–24).

Jesus instituted new Passover symbols, and Paul was teaching exactly the same thing. He goes on to say:

“In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me’” (1 Corinthians 11:25).

Paul was following the example of Christ. And Paul taught his brethren to follow Jesus’ example, as well. In this light, it’s interesting to note what Philip Schaff, the 19th-century early-church historian, said about the Christian Passover. He said this:

“The Christians of Asia Minor, following the Jewish chronology, and appealing to the authority of the apostles John and Philip, celebrated the Christian Passover… [This observance] was probably the oldest and in accordance with the Synoptic tradition of the last Passover of our Lord, which it commemorated.” (History of the Christian Church, Vol. II, Philip Schaff, p. 201–202).

In other words, this was the earliest observance of the Church. Jesus and His disciples kept the Christian Passover, in commemoration of Jesus’ suffering and death. Even after His resurrection, there was no hint of a sunrise service kept by the apostles. Notice what else Mr. Schaff wrote:

“The Christian Passover naturally grew out of the Jewish Passover… It is certainly the oldest and most important annual festival of the church, and can be traced back to the first century, or at all events to the middle of the second, when it was universally observed, though with a difference as to the day….” (History of the Christian Church, Vol. II, Philip Schaff, p. 198).

Did you notice that? The “Christian Passover is the oldest and most important annual festival of the church.” That’s quite a statement. And yet, how many modern Christians keep the Christian Passover?

On today’s program, we’ve seen that faithful Christians must follow the example of Jesus and His disciples. We saw there is NO RECORD of Jesus’ disciples ever celebrating Easter. Instead, we saw that they observed the Christian Passover. If you are a disciple of Christ, shouldn’t you be observing the Christian Passover today?

There’s so much more to this story. We’ve only scratched the surface. But you can study it in depth, yourself. To do that, you need our free study guide, Easter: The Untold Story. In this booklet you’ll find a wealth of information. Chapter 5 discusses the significance of Passover. Chapter 6 explains the timing of the events of the days right after Christ’s death. And chapter 7 asks the question: “What happened on Sunday?”

This booklet is absolutely free. The truth is too precious to put a price tag on it. And that’s why we don’t ask for money. Jesus said, “Freely you have received--freely give.” So call the number on the screen or, order on our website. Either way, check up on what I’m saying. You won’t regret it.

Keeping The Passover In Word And Deed

In today’s program we saw the Bible requires Christians to follow the example of Jesus and His disciples. We also discovered neither Jesus nor His disciples kept Easter. On the other hand, they taught and practiced the Christian Passover, with new covenant symbols.

When Christians observe the Christian Passover, they partake of bread and wine, in commemoration of Jesus’ death. They are expressing faith in His sacrifice to cover their sins. If you’d like to learn more about the Christian Passover and its significance in your life, just let us know. We have representatives who can get in touch with you, if you ask. The Living Church of God has ministers all over the globe, committed and dedicated to teaching God’s truth and working with those who respond to God’s call.

And don’t forget to order your free literature. It’s entitled Easter: The Untold Story. Learn how mainstream Christianity transformed the original Christian Passover to a day honoring a pagan fertility goddess. You may be shocked.

And thank you for watching. Join us each week as Gerald Weston, Richard Ames, Wallace Smith and I bring you the teachings of Jesus Christ, and the prophecies of Tomorrow’s World. Jesus Christ is coming soon, to set up His Kingdom, and stop the misery of this troubled and confused world. May God speed that day.