November 28, 1949
Dear Co-Workers:
Please read this at once. It’s very important, It’s URGENT!
Somehow, I must make all our co-workers realize WHAT A TERRIBLE THING IS HAPPENING! My heart is heavy as lead. A colossal tragedy is happening. HOW can I make all you co-workers realize it?
My recent letter of November 11th didn’t make enough of our co-workers realize the situation. Unless this letter succeeds, it will be too late. I MUST, somehow, arouse ALL our co-workers. It’s a matter of final desperation now.
Would you see the only LIGHT OF THE WORLD extinguished? Read this carefully! The only light of the word is the TRUTH of God, and the true work of God proclaiming that truth in boldness and with power! Satan knows this. He hates this work of God causing that true light to shine in his darkened world! Satan is angry. He is furious. He strikes repeatedly at this work of God. He never lets up, but keeps attacking with increasing persistence. Consequently this work is brought into one crisis after another.
Unless this letter somehow can make ALL our co-workers REALIZE how urgently serious the situation has become, this true work of God will be put out at this true LIGHT shining forth over three nations extinguished the voice you’ve been hearing over the air proclaiming the very Gospel of Christ, which HE proclaimed, STILLED the 
PLAIN TRUTH stopped from publication – Ambassador College, where men called of God, Spirit-filled, consecrated, are being fitted for this precious work of God will be CLOSED DOWN!
That would be the greatest tragedy that could happen! But this precious and powerful work CANNOT SURVIVE ANOTHER MONTH- not even another week – unless somehow with the help of God I can at last AROUSE our co-workers – ALL of you – to be willing RIGHT NOW to make a real financial sacrifice for your Saviour who gave His LIFE for you – for the Christ who loves you so much He DIED for you – and to love HIM enough to come to the aid of His work immediately!
Again I have received a telegram from our largest station XEG the most powerful station in 
the Western hemisphere, where God has permitted us to have for His work THE MOST LISTENED-TO TIME EVERY NIGHT the most valuable radio time that we could purchase and we are about to be thrown off the air permanently unless we send large payments immediately.
I’m simply at my wit’s end! I’ve done my best. All my staff have done their best. I’ve tried to make our family of co-workers of which you are one – realize the SERIOUSNESS of the 
situation. Some of our co-workers have been doing MORE than their part, at great sacrifice, standing loyally with me – GOD BLESS THEM! – and they have kept this great work alive to now. But MOST of you co-workers have been growing more and more careless, perhaps putting you own interests, desires, and pleasures AHEAD OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD. This has caused the precious work of God to go farther and farther behind. NOW WE’VE REACHED THE LIMIT! To go any farther behind will mean the END OF THIS ENTIRE WORK!
And here we are at the MOST DIFFICULT MONTH OF THE YEAR! Once again the Christmas shopping season is on us – when people customarily, supposing they are following the wise men in giving gifts to Christ, FORGET ALL ABOUT CHRIST and His precious work – when they take the money they might send for His work other months, and spend it TRADING GIFTS BACK AND FORTH AMONG THEIR FRIENDS! Of course those who know the truth know this trading of Christmas presents is PAGAN, not Christian – started by that ancient Queen of Babylon, the original “Queen of heaven” condemned in God’s Word. Yet if you still follow the custom don’t you think CHRIST ought to head your list, with the biggest, most generous gift of all, for HIS work?
I thought we faced the most serious crisis in the history of the work just a year ago. BUT IT LOOMS UP AS EVEN MORE SERIOUS, NOW!
We have simply got to have a great overwhelming response once again – another MIRACLE – to save this precious glorious work!
So once again, LISTEN CAREFULLY, please! Always it is the small FEW of our co-workers who really love their Lord and Saviour, whose hearts He has softened and 
made willing, who must come to he rescue with EXTRA LARGE, GENEROUS offerings, according to your means. I know that for some $35 or $50 is a very generous gift for their Saviour and His work. Yet many can give that much or more, if your hearts are willing. Some can, if willing to let it go into the Lord’s work, send $200, or $500 or more. Not very many probably can send one, or two, or five thousand dollars and it is, I know MUCH HARDER to make yourself willing to part with such a sum, and give it over to your Saviour who gave HIMSELF for you, and let it be used in His work yes, maybe you need to go into a room and lock the door and PRAY ABOUT IT but in past emergencies some few have done this, and saved the work and the very fact that so few CAN, or are willing, makes it a thousand times more necessary for YOU, if you can, to do it! God has abundantly blessed all who have made such sacrifice for Him, and He will you. Very soon, now, WORLD WAR III will strike very soon, now YOUR MONEY WILL BE WORTH NOTHING TO YOU! But now, just THINK what great good it can do EVERY DOLLAR PLACED IN THIS WORK CARRIES THE PRECIOUS GOSPEL, as near as we can estimate, TO TWO THOUSAND PRECIOUS SOULS! Think of the vast number of people WHO WILL NOT BE WARNED who may never hear God’s precious Message in time if you hold back that money now!
Paul Storr, 1808
$20,000-30,000
Sold for $52,900.00
EVERY ONE OF YOU CAN send in at the very least the “widow’s mites” remember even she gave TWO and if EVERY ONE of you will be sure to send in two dollars or more, in a GREAT DOWNPOUR OF WIDOW’S MITES, this work will be saved, brought completely out of debt this coming month, and start the new year out of reproach and in good financial condition, AS GOD’S WORK OUGHT TO BE – and must be, if it is to continue! But EVERY ONE must do it!
Here we are near the close of the greatest year of progress in our history! God has blessed this work this year as NEVER BEFORE! There has been a harvest of HUNDREDS of precious souls – lives completely changed! We now have for the first time called, competent laborers to go out and reap this precious harvest of souls. THINK what just ONE of these precious souls is worth! What is your salvation worth to YOU? This year far more people have been reached by the broadcast than ever before. This year God has blessed us with the greatest growth by far in the mailing list of The PLAIN TRUTH! This year the college has almost doubled in size, and now is beginning already to produce precious fruit for God’s Kingdom, and thousands are beginning to realize WHY God started it!
THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT HUMAN ACTIVITY ON EARTH TODAY! Co-Workers, 
will you let such a glorious and God-blessed work – a work in which GOD’S POWER is working so dynamically for such great results – will YOU let it come to a sudden crash-landing and be killed and silenced when YOU can help save it? How much can YOU give to your Saviour for His precious work just now? Of course you can send in the widow’s two mitesbut HOW MUCH MORE? I am earnestly asking God to LAY IT ON YOUR HEART to be just as generous toward Him just now as your ability makes possible! Will you open wide your heart to Him AND YOUR POCKETBOOK?
God has always delivered His work from every crisis HE WILL THIS TIME, BUT LISTEN! God works thru human children. He never forces any against his will. And so when I find our co-workers, human-like, growing careless in their responsibility toward God, I have to write and tell you, and then PRAY, and ask you to join me in real fervent, earnest, believing PRAYER for God to move on human hearts and stir them up, and wake them up, cause them to put HIS KINGDOM FIRST! PLEASE PRAY! EVERY ONE must respond this time!
Remember the mails are again clogged, and delayed. BE SURE TO SEND YOUR GIFT AIR-MAIL – and RUSH IT! Put this ahead of everything else! I must now commit this supreme emergency into your hands – and God’s! God bless you, I know you won’t fail Christ you Saviour! But please hurry!
THANK YOU, and God bless you!
Herbert W. Armstrong
Brethren, one of the sacrifices you can make is to forego the Winter Solstice Social your church is having and send the money you save to your Apostle! For many of you in the UCG, LCG, CoGWA and perhaps others, the trip you make to the Commercial Christmas Centers to play games, eat, fellowship and especially, drink, could save you thousands of dollars, particularly if you have a large family. Give that money to your Apostle.
You must make the sacrifice.
Some of you will be like the Ancient Israelites complaining and grousing in the wilderness. Brethren, YOU HAVE A BAD ATTITUDE! You must give freely and cheerfully all the money the Apostle extorts from you! Let the Guilt of God flow through you so that you will be convicted that as a sinner, you have to pay off God if you are to have any hope of salvation.
And remember, you had your blowout at the Feast of Tabernacles. That should be enough for you! You should not be GREEDY, to take the luxury fund away from your beloved Apostle!
The needs of MY Work are paramount. If MY Work fails, it will be your fault and my dopamine levels will drop so I feel bad. The only hope to get out of the depression is to spend myself into a manic state again! You must give so I can feel good about myself and everything that is mine!
If you don’t give everything you can spare and then some, I may be silenced and you won’t be able to hear me shout and you and berate you as being evil! If that happens, you might leave me and have peace!
So support my effort to make more noisy brains to confuse more people to come to me as your Apostle so they can join you in the chaotic dysfunctional cult I have created so I can have an ever greater swelling ego!
I had heard of the big AM superstations broadcasting from Mexico through the church, which of course, as the “Radio” Church of God was on the cutting edge of radio technology back in those days. Some of our own local stations went off the air at sunset each evening in deference to the stations which had a clear channel at night. Supposedly, clear channel stations were limited to 50,000 Watts by international law, but the outlaw stations in Mexico were rumored to go as high as 200,000 watts. When I got to AC in Pasadena, XERB was going strong, and Wolfman Jack came in loud and clear even in Squaw Valley during the F/T. ZZ Top had done a song about these stations called “Heard it on the X”, for their Fandango album. There was a Canadian equivalent in CKLW, Windsor, Ontario, and in an early attempt to get a hit record, Bob Seger had written and recorded “Rosalie” about Rosalie Trombley who was CKLW’s program director at the time. She wouldn’t play it.
One of the things about HWA that I thought was so hypocritical was that he would state on the radio broadcasts “We never ask for money.” He also had a disclaimer in the Plain Truth stating “Others have paid your subscription.” This was a fetish with him. But, once you became a member, there was shameless begging, there were constant emergencies, and spiritual threats were often made. These came in the form of frequent member letters, and at the time of the holy day offerings. He was very skilled at laying tremendous guilt trips on the members, and this is part of his ongoing legacy within the various splinter groups, some of whom have actually out-Herbed Herb. I wonder if these so-called spiritual guides realize that incessant demands of this sort rob people of the opportunity to simply give voluntarily from the goodness of their hearts. If I understand scripture correctly, that is what is supposed to produce a blessing in one’s life, not contributing under duress or on command. Where was there space in between Herbie’s incessant demands for even an occasional “love” offering?
BB
Showing how “bad” Christmas is, one of the COGs once pointed out some statistics on the Christmas season. Apparently it is the lowest time for charitable contribution, the highest rate of depression and suicide for certain categories of individuals, the worst time for homeless, etc.
I would really like to see a COG try to make a difference by asking that in this season money be donated to reliable charities and give to the poor, and encourage people to volunteer to work at soup kitchens and with the homeless on Christmas day…
But, as HWA would say, “We deal with the cause, not the effect…” For many, he did deal with the cause – and made it worse.
It’s beggary of the worst kind.