September 16 1996

ARTICLE TOOLS

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Thank you for Ruth Tucker's article and related sidebars concerning the Worldwide Church of God ["From the Fringe to the Fold," July 15]. Tears came to my eyes as I read what God has done. I grew up in a Sabbath-keeping, dietary-law-following, no-Christmas-or-Easter home after my dad fell under the spell of Armstrong's radio preaching in the midfifties. I can still see stacks of The Plain Truth next to his reading chair and hear that voice coming over the airwaves. In spite of the faults and heresies of the WCG, I praise God for the respect my upbringing gave me for God's Word, which eventually brought me to a knowledge of God's saving grace. This is a classic example of our need to "always pray and not give up." God is indeed a God of wonders! My only regret is that Dad didn't live to see it happen.

Pastor David W. Johnson
Calvary Baptist Church
Riverhead, NY

Ruth Tucker's article did not capture fully the turmoil many WCG members have experienced because of the move towards orthodoxy. I have been a WCG member for 27 years-all of my adult life. I am profoundly grateful that we have finally begun to understand the gospel. But I am like a government official who was acquitted of some serious charges a few years ago. A news reporter asked him for his reaction to the acquittal; he said, "Can someone tell me where to go to get my reputation back?" I am happy we have abandoned cult practices and have found Christ, but can someone tell me where to go to get my life back?

David Anderson
Los Alamos, NM

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Along with Ruth Tucker, I applaud the changes in doctrine toward orthodoxy (although the WCG still observes Jewish festivals of Unleavened Bread, Atonement, and Tabernacles, rejects eternal punishment, and teaches a hybrid postmortem ...