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Isn't This Servant of
God Dead?
MP3
I received an e-mail today asking, in a rather bitter tone, why we
were carrying on the work of Garner Ted Armstrong, a man who died almost
seventeen years ago. I was incensed.
The Work of God is not about the specific human individuals.. It
is about the work they are doing. Garner Ted Armstrong preached
and spread the gospel message for almost 50 years. His work was
the spreading of that message. That message is valid today, just
as the messages from the ministries of Jesus, Peter, Paul and the other
disciples are valid and fresh today. Garner Ted Armstrong, for all
his God-given gifts, talents and abilities NEVER convinced nor converted
a person in his entire life. Neither did Peter, Paul, Timothy or
James. Neither did Noah or Moses or Elijah. Convincing
someone or converting them is the work of God (John 6:44).
This individual, in his e-mail, strongly suggested we take away from
the web site anything of Garner Ted Armstrong. I replied that
using his reasoning, we should eliminate the letters of Paul, the books
of Moses and the gospel accounts of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
After all, they are quite dead.
Servants of God are just that...servants. God says that He could
even raise up stones to do His will (Matthew 3:9; Luke 3:8). God
is the focus and then His Work. The human servants are merely
conduit. They are only justified IF they are carrying out God's
Work and faithfully preaching His Word.
This same man writing to me condemned the idea that we have posted on
the site, "Garner Ted Speaks Out". How could Garner Ted Armstrong,
he reasoned, be "speaking out" if he is dead? He needs to
understand that it is the message of Garner Ted Armstrong that is
speaking out and not his human body. Every time I read from Romans
or Galatians, Paul is speaking to me just as if he had written those
letters yesterday and sent them to me by Priority Mail.
Servants live and die, but the works God has done in and through them
live forever!!
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