NO. 295: RETROSPECT AND PROSPECT

by Epiphany Bible Students


No. 295

My dear Brethren: Grace and peace through our Beloved Master!

The year just past has experienced many very unusual events; and science has been quite prominent in some of these things. As instance, a small boy in Michigan stood in the way of a mowing machine, and had both his feet cut off about the ankles. The doc­tors went to work, and in six hours had both those feet back an the boy’s legs. Even though they learned very shortly that the blood was not circulating to those feet, and they had to remove them again to prevent their decay, it was quite an achievement for the doctors to perform the operation they did.

A few years back we had lunch with a top rate doctor in New York City, at which time he told us he had known for a number of years that his heart was not working properly. So he eventually went to a prominent heart specialist, who operated upon him; found that the Great Aorta (the great trunk artery that carries blood from the heart to be distri­buted by branch arteries through the body) had become so distended that it was the size of a football right after it left the heart. It was as thin as tissue paper, and a miracle, he said, that it had not burst – which would have killed him. However, the specialist removed the distended part, put a plastic tube in its place; and he was then (when talk­ing to us) feeling better than he had in years. He then remarked that even ten years ago they would not have had the skill for such an operation, but they have it now – a glowing tribute to the medical science.

IN FINANCE AND POLITICS

The advance in medical science has been paced by an equal decline in politics and fi­nance.  Inasmuch as we intend to devote a large part of this paper to RELIGION, we shall not detail many interesting items concerning Finance and Politics. Many pages could be devoted to the rank corruption in Politics; the same being pretty much true in the Finan­cial sector. The year past saw many persons of wealth rushing to purchase gold, silver and precious stones as a hedge against the worthless paper that has been issued by the United States and other countries. Just a few months ago a financier paid about $900,000 for one diamond; said he would prefer that to the worthless paper of which he had so much. Likewise, the political sector has exposed rank corruption in many places, which we shall not now detail. Rather we shall confine ourselves to:

RELIGION

The year 1979 has revealed more corruption in religion than we have ever seen in our lifetime. It seems that some of the worst crooks have decided that religion is a safer and more profitable racket than robbing banks or burglarizing profitable businesses. So we shall begin this year’s paper with the subject:

Prophets And Profits – It has just recently been revealed (Sept. 1979) that the “Prophet” Jones who caused the wholesale decimation of over 900 persons in Guyana, has about seven million dollars in a couple of banks in Panama. He was going to be sure to look out for himself if anything bad should occur up here. Now some of the relative survivors are quarreling about that money – they want some of it.

The Roman Catholic Church – During the Pope’s visit to America last Fall one news­paper had the following in its news item: “PRIEST RESPONSIBLE FOR RISE, FALL OF ORDER – ­This is from the rise and fall of Priest Michael Zembrzuski: He was a poor Polish priest who in 1951 boarded the Queen Mary in Cherbourg, France: and two weeks later stepped off the gangplank in New York City with $36 in his pocket......... In fifteen years he had climbed from obscure poverty to rub elbows with governors, presidents and popes – from saying Mass in drafty barns to building a multi-million-dollar shrine; from exile at the hands of Nazis and Communists to respect as one of America’s most vehement anti-Reds. He had also become one of the country’s most financially aggressive clergymen.

“It wasn’t long after his arrival that Zembrzuski’s furiously nationalistic speeches so mesmerized church supper crowds... throughout the country that sparked an impressive fund-raising campaign. He soon had seed money for his first settlement of Pauline priests. Zembrzuski’s spellbinding rhetoric had netted him $40,000 in eighteen months.....

“He was optimistic. Contributions were rising at the heady clip of about 200 per­cent a year. The Paulines were attracting a cash flow of almost a million a year, and a net income of more than $200,000. But it wasn’t enough. A professional religious fund-raiser named James Healy, now at Fort Myers, Fla., steered Zembrzuski into the re­ligious bonding market. Healy put him in contact with the First National Bank of Minne­apolis and with the underwriting firm of Keenan and Clarey in that city, both of them ex­perts in religious securities. The two quickly put together a hefty bonding package which would guarantee Zembrzuski $4.3 million over a four-year period.

“LBJ was in Doylestown on Oct. 16, 1966, to dedicate the beautiful new, still-unfin­ished Roman Catholic shrine that Zembrzuski’s Pauline Fathers had rushed to build in honor of the Polish millennium – 1,000 years of Polish Catholicism. (The press carried a picture of President Lyndon B. Johnson and Lady Bird and his daughter Linda Bird at this dedication—JJH)

“After all, with little more than a dream and 175 acres, he had already been able to secure $4.3 million. He learned that churches were considered such sound financial investments that just any bank would accept his unaudited statements without question, and would lend him huge sums of money based upon little more than a promise and his Roman collar. He also discovered that a priest with high public profile, one who rubbed shoulders with popes and presidents could attract massive funding if he had a concept to sell – like a national shrine.

“One ambitious plan involved the purchase of an entire island off Florida’s Gulf Coast as the seat for a Southern shrine that would not be afflicted with winter weather. Another involved purchase of a $2.5 million estate near Tarpon Springs, Fla.

“By 1969 Zembrzuski was in serious trouble – had secured the last of the $4.3 mil­lion bonding loans. His income had risen steadily to more than a million a year... He had illegally withdrawn $500,000 from the ‘perpetual care’ fund, borrowed another $120,000 from cemetery operating expenses... He borrowed $425,000 from North Miami General... Most of the money was loaned at 10 percent interest...

“Then the Vatican began an investigation... The vicar general, they determined, was not only dictatorial and tyrannical, but conducted his own life in such heady style that his subordinates were scandalized... Zembrzuski, the visitors wrote, enter­tained lavishly, spending huge sums on himself and his friends. He supported a woman generously with monastery funds. He ignored both church law and civil law.

“Investigators found lack of religious life in Zembrzuski. His snarled finances lead to $4.3 million default. When the First National of Minneapolis discovered his complicated investment entanglements in 1972, Zembrzuski was hopelessly ensnarled. The bank learned Zembrzuski had also borrowed $190,000 from the Bishop of Greensburgh. The bankers were apparently unaware the monk had received an additional $425,000 from finan­cial adviser Lawn and the North Miami General Hospital, where Lawn had a hand in fiscal policy. And even the Vatican investigators were apparently in the dark – and still are about $586,000 loan to Zembrzuski that the GNS probe turned up. It was from McCloskey & Co., the Philadelphia Construction Company that built the shrine.

“Zembrzuski had one last hope. He went to John Cardinal Krol, the first Polish Car­dinal – the titular head of the Roman Catholic Church in America. He only needed one final hope – $1.5 million to pay off the first bond principal – and he would be out of the woods. Zembrzuski told GNC, ‘I waited three days and then I got this letter from Monsignor Nace, Krol’s financial vicar. It said, ‘Sorry, we cannot lend you the money.’ “Everyone has turned their backs on me, says Zembrzuski today.”

MORE OF THE SAME – Following is a brief resume of the speculations of Catholic Layman Michele Sindona, Italian financier now hopelessly ‘missing.’ Sindona is a Catholic lay­man – not of the clergy; which, of course, mitigates somewhat the scandal now publicized about him. The entire press reports would be much too, lengthy, so we simply quote brief excerpts to give our readers a fair idea of the enormity of the scandal: “(New York, Saturday August 11, 1979) – Nothing was heard today regarding Michele Sindona, the miss­ing Italian financier, despite a threat that he was going to be killed at dawn... The 56-year–old man disappeared ten days ago – after leaving his $500,000 apartment in the Pierre Hotel. It was there he was last seen. At the time he was awaiting trial on 99 fraud charges in connection with the collapse of the Franklin National Bank – the nation’s largest bank failure.

“New York police and the FBI said there had been no new developments in the myste­rious case since the telephone threat. It remained uncertain whether the call was a hoax, whether Sindona was in danger or whether he had fled to avoid fraud charges in­volving the Franklin National Bank... He and his wife owned a condominium valued at $600,000 to $800,000... The FBI said it was not sure whether Sindona was kidnapped or whether he merely set sail on a $3 million personal recognizance bond to escape pros­ecution for misapplying $45 million of Franklin National funds, $30 million of it in losses resulting from foreign exchange speculation...

“Sindona has been called ‘mysterious Michele’ because of his secret financial deal­ings, his complex holdings that were once worth $500 million and his reported financial ties to important Italian politicians, the Vatican and even the Mafia. He is eagerly awaited in Italy, where he has been sentenced in absentia to 30 months in jail (written October 16, 1979—JJH) for a $225 million fraud in his Italian banking operations. In those capers he apparently took the Vatican to the cleaners.

“How much the Roman Catholic Church is worth is one of the world’s best kept secrets. (financial pundits estimate their worth at Five Billion. And it is in order here to mention that in his recent visit to the United States Pope John Paul II very strenuous­ly urged the United States to subsidize the poor nations of earth – meaning particularly the miserably poor such as Catholic Mexico, Central and South America – as the Catholic Church continues to sit upon its Five Billion. Of course, the United States is reported the world over as the world’s No. 1 soft touch – the greatest financial sucker in the history of the human race—JJH) However much the Vatican is worth, it’s a lot less than it was when it turned to Sindona in 1969. The Milan magazine Europea estimated that Sindona’s investment policies drained $750 million from church ledgers...

“Even the Vatican officials admit that Sindona’s stewardship – he took money from real estate holdings and speculated with the cash – didn’t do them any favors... The official line is that the church’s brief but disastrous flirtation with Sindona high finance cost it one-third of its bank roll... Sindona offered his services to help the Vatican unload some of its Italian holdings and diversify them into the international mar­ket. The pope bit...

“On July 12 Ambrosoli (the auditor of Sindona’s fiasco—JJH) was shot to death by three men. He had earlier told the magistrate that he had received telephone warnings to ‘take it easy’ in the Sindona inquiry.... One of his banks, Banco Privata Italiano in Milan, went bankrupt amid charges that Sindona had illegally removed more than $200 million of its funds....... Italy is still trying to extradite him for fraud in that one,

“In an unrelated case, former Commerce Secretary Maurice Stans testified that he had rejected a secret $1 million contribution from Sindona to Nixon’s 1972 re-election com­mittee. He said the offer was rejected because Sindona insisted on secrecy.’

In the two cases detailed aforegoing we would not wish to criticize the Church too much for being badly fooled by one of its ‘trusted’ members. Others could be similarly bamboozled. However, it would be most interesting to know if these two high­binders bilked some of the wealthy American Catholic individuals. If such be true, it is very probable that the news won’t become public because of the humiliation it would heap upon such individuals. However, in times past they have been ready marks for such manipulators.

Similar Odium In Another Sector – Following is a news item from a newspaper on October 6, 1979: “PRESIDENT’S PASTOR IS ASKED TO RESIGN... Washington – President Carter’s pastor, the reverend Charles A. Trentham, has been asked to resign by the dea­cons of the First Baptist Church of Washington because of allegations of questionable conduct while giving spiritual counsel. Mrs. Mary Sponseller, vice chairman of the deacons, confirmed Friday that the board voted 27–11 Wednesday night to ask Trentham to leave the pastorate he has served for five years. At least three sources cited the reason as alleged questionable conduct by Trentham while giving spiritual counsel to a woman parishioner. But Trentham is scheduled to be in the pulpit Sunday, and Carter is scheduled to attend the service.

“Mrs. Sponseller said the deacons acted after receiving a committee’s report an the allegations, and that the matter will be presented to the congregation either at a special meeting or at the next regular meeting in November. She said the vote to re­move Trentham dealt with a personal matter, rather than any theological or political issue; and another member of the deacons confirmed that.

“Trentham, 60, is twice divorced. His second wife divorced him in 1978 and re­turned to Tennessee. Carter and several members of his family joined Trentham’s church immediately after his inauguration in 1977. Carter’s daughter Amy was bap­tized there a few weeks later.”

A Better Expression From A Different Sector – Here is a partial report from Da­vid Horowitz, news correspondent at the United Nations: (August 10, 1979) “Henry Kis­singer testified before a Congressional Committee on the Salt II. Said he: ‘If present trends continue, we face the chilling prospect of a world sliding gradually out of con­trol, with our relative military power declining, with our economic lifeline vulnerable to blackmail, with hostile forces growing more rapidly than our ability to deal with them and with fewer and fewer nations friendly to us surviving.’”

More From The Same Writer (Sept. 21 1979): “BIBLICAL PROPHECY AND THE 34th UN SESSION: UNITED NATIONS (WUP) – ‘Thine enemies are in an uproar; and they that hate thee have lifted up their head. They hold crafty converse against thy people, and take counsel against thy treasured ones. They have said: Come let us cut them off from be­ing a nation, that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance. For they have consulted together with one consent; against thee do they make a covenant – the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites; Moab and the Hagarites; Gebal and Ammon, and Amalek. Ashur also is joined with them.’

“The above prophecy from Psalm 83 flashed through the mind of your correspondent as he contemplated the conspiratorial situation that will prevail here at the UN during this 34th session of the General Assembly which opened on Tuesday of this week on the eve of the Holy Day Season. For we will witness, in the aftermath of the anti-Israel Havana non-aligned conference, a ganging up of enemies set on ‘cutting off Israel from being a nation,’ as the Psalmist envisaged.

“The Prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Zechariah and the others recorded in the Tarach – each and every one of them embodying the eternal interchanging ‘flame’ of prophecy – have made it crystal-clear that dire fate awaits these enemies of Yah and Is­rael now scheming to eliminate the Jewish State. Whatever will happen in the Sinai in the course of the on-and-off Egyptian-Israeli negotiations will happen. The main issue is Jerusalem , the City of David. It is Zion that will bring about the showdown as blueprinted in Ezekiel 38-39 and Zechariah 14. It will be the concluding chapter in the age-long struggle between the children of Darkness and the children of Light. Yes, Jerusalem is destined to become the ‘crater’ that will once and for all and at last ‘convince’ a skeptical world of nations including all the children of Abraham that the Rock of Israel is a Reality and that Eloha’s mighty ‘Arm’ is executing His word to the letter respecting both His people Israel and the ‘tyranny of the majority’ now rising against them.

“Let us make no mistake about it: The Hebrew Bible does not lie! The Tanach has proved itself through the ages... It constitutes a blueprint of life! It is alive, and the Watchman of Israel, very much on the world scene, is seeing to it that His word as uttered by His Prophets will be fulfilled. So let the nations rage and spew their venom in these UN chambers. A bitter judgment awaits the modern Hamans, Antiochuses and Apions. Let them beware.”

Follows now something from Studies in the Scriptures Vol. 2, p. 77, which is very pertinent to our subject: “That from that time forward (1914) Jerusalem shall no long­er be trodden down of the Gentiles. (This volume was written in 1889 – 25 years before 1914 – and some allowance must be made for minor details—JJH) By that date (1914), or sooner, Israel’s blindness will begin to be turned away; because their ‘blindness in part’ was to continue only until ‘the fullness of the Gentiles be come in’ (Rom. 11:25), or, in other words, until the full number from among the Gentiles, who are to be mem­bers of the body or bride of Christ, would be probationally selected.”

Jesus told His disciples, “Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in.” Some may conclude that this isn’t true of the Jews, as they were yet trodden down of the Gentiles at 1914. However, we should make a clear distinction here between Jerusalem and the Jews themselves. The pressure on the Jews began to be lifted in 1878 at the Berlin Congress of Nations, when Disraeli (the first Jew ever to be Prime Minister of England) secured for them certain privileges in Palestine that they had not previously enjoyed. And after 1878 the “blindness” that had afflicted them during their “double” of 1845 years – from the year 33 A.D. (when they crucified the Lord of Glory) – began to pass from them. It is an established fact that many Jews – particularly in the United States, and the Rothchilds in Europe – began to amass great fortunes: the prophecy of Isa. 60:15-17 began to see fulfillment: “Whereas thou hast been forsaken and hated (for 1845 years), so that no man went through thee, I will make thee an eternal excellency, a Joy of many generations. Thou shalt also suck the milk of the Gentiles (by accumulating the wealth they once possessed), and shalt suck the breast of kings; and thou shalt know that I the Lord am thy savior and thy redeemer, the mighty one of Jacob..... I will also make thy officers peace, and thine exactors righteousness.”

However, Jesus did not say Jerusalem would no longer be trodden down of the Gen­tiles after 1914, but until 1914; and such we can now clearly see to have been the case. But it was just a very short time after 1914 that Jerusalem itself began to see the Gentile heel lifted from its neck.

The World War broke out in 1914 exactly on time – when the times of the Gentiles ended. In that conflict the Triple Alliance and the Triple Entente were arrayed against each other – the Triple Alliance being Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy, and the Triple Entente England, France and Russia. As the great conflict progressed, oth­er smaller nations were drawn into it, one of which was Turkey, which sided with the Central Powers (the Triple Alliance). In 1917 England sent General Allenby, with a huge force, to take the Bosphorus away from the Turks. However, according to the rec­ord, their losses in men and material were so staggering that they abandoned the effort, although it is now a matter of record that the Turks had only one more day’s ammunition left; they would have surrendered the next day had the English pursued their objective.

But General Allenby – with characteristic English determination – was not one to go back to England with an empty sack. Thus, he turned his attention to Palestine ­then in the hands of the Terrible Turk; and he achieved a decisive victory in taking over the City of Jerusalem on December 9, 1917. Jerusalem was then no longer “trodden down of the Gentiles,” as had been the case since the year 70 AD – when the Ro­man Emperor Titus took over Jerusalem and destroyed the temple – an event we have de­tailed in previous papers. General Allenby achieved quite a triumph when he took Gaza from the Turks in November 1917. He took Megiddo in September 1918; then captured Damascus and Aleppo – which ended the Ottoman power in Syria.

However, this story would not be complete if we failed to give the details of Je­rusalem’s capture on December 9, 1917. The victory at Gaza had disheartened the Turks somewhat, so they were ‘softened up’ for what was to follow at Jerusalem. General Allen­by apparently had some Christianity deeply rooted in his system; the City of Jerusalem was dear to him, as it was also to the Jews and many Christians throughout Christendom. Thus, he did not wish to destroy it; and he assembled practically all the aircraft at his disposal, and sent it over Jerusalem in one massive demonstration.    The sight of that so overawed the Turks that they concluded they would all be dead men if they re­mained; so they forsook the City without a battle; THE CITY OF JERUSALEM REMAINED IN­TACT – a modern-day miracle, set forth in Isa. 31:4,5 as follows:

“Thus hath the Lord spoken, Like as the lion and the young lion roaring on his prey, when a multitude of shepherds is called forth against him, he will not be afraid of their voice, nor abase himself for the noise of them: so shall the Lord of Hosts come down to fight for Mount Zion, and for the hill thereof. As birds flying, so will the Lord of Hosts defend Jerusalem; defending also he will deliver it; and passing over he will preserve it.”

“Ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.” (1 Thes. 5:4) “As birds flying,” the Lord certainly did defend Jerusalem and preserve it; and it should not require a savant to see and understand the force and clarity of this prophecy. Any one who can read the English language will readily see the clear and compelling truth of this Scripture and its fulfillment in 1917 – the airplanes flying over Jerusalem, “as birds flying.”

Israel Since 1948 – From Christian Committee Bulletin: “The Israeli government has supported research to provide the technology for new procedures in growing, handling and marketing both new and previously grown crops. It has also provided loans and or­ganizational assistance to cooperatives for agricultural production and marketing. Cit­rus (orange and grapefruit), avocados, bananas and strawberries are the chief fruits exported. Oranges represent the greatest monetary value of all agricultural exports. Citrus fruits are grown on the better lands near the coast with newer plantings in the Jordan valley. Production is limited by suitable land and water supply, but Israel’s farmers have done wonders in transforming their arid, long overgrazed and rocky or swampy lands into the top producing lands of today.

“New technology developed by Hebrew University under the leadership of Professor Avroham Halevy and Dr. Shimon Mayak has enabled farmers to grow flowers, strawberries and off-season vegetables commercially in greenhouses. This has developed into a boom­ing industry. Approximately 2500 acres of such houses are now in production, 500 of which produce roses for cut flowers.”

Jehovah’s Witnesses – Diametrically opposed to much of the foregoing is the pres­ent teaching of this sect – although some sixty years ago they were in wholehearted sym­pathy with the Jews and Jerusalem – as seen in the book “Comfort For The Jews” by J. F. Rutherford published over fifty years ago. J. F. Rutherford was often referred to as a “Friend of the Jews.” Now they are predicting annihilation for the Jews because they do not join them – although this same prediction by them applies also to all Gen­tiles who likewise refuse union with them. In their August 1, 1979 Watchtower they have this to say: “All over the world those who want to do God’s will are being brought together into one international society of people, which will be the foundation of God’s incoming ‘new earth.’” In other sections of their literature they tell us that all who do not come into their “international society” before Armageddon will experience eternal annihilation in that holocaust. Of course, their founder, Pastor Russell, taught just the reverse of this, but that does not bother them. He gave a comforting message to the world: he did not tell them if they didn’t join his organization they would be annihilated in the Time of Trouble – not the message that the Witnesses now give to the Armageddon- scared people who join them for fear. He adhered closely to the words and methods of his Great Captain in John 4:23: “The Father seeketh such to worship him as worship him in spirit and in truth.” Rather, he gave a message of com­fort to the distressed human race, encouraging them to live moral and righteous lives. Thus they would be blessed in this life, and better prepared to walk up the Highway of Holiness (Isa. 35:8) during the Kingdom reign. “Seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the Lord’s anger.” (Zeph. 2:3) But the Witnesses teach that no one but those who join them will “be hid”; although they now modify their teaching, saying that some of their faithful will not live through Armageddon, but all must join them to get life in the Kingdom.

However, we are assured by our Lord that “An hour comes in which ALL those in the tombs will hear his voice, and will come forth; those having done good things, to a Resurrection of Life; and those having done evil things, to a Resurrection of Judgment.” (John 5:28,29, Dia. – Judgment is mistranslated “damnation” in the King James version.) Also in Acts 24:15, “There will be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and the unjust.” The Just are those who have had their trial and judgment during this evil world – and the Unjust are the residue of mankind who will receive their judgment in the Kingdom when all shall “know me from the least unto the greatest.” (Jer. 31:34) “When thy judgments (instructions) are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.” (Isa, 26:9)

The Witnesses not only set aside these clear Scriptures, but they also set aside God’s promises to fleshly Israel, claiming that these promises belong to their “great crowd” who will be the ruling power of the Kingdom. They relegate all Jews who do not join them to annihilation in Armageddon, along with the rest of mankind who do not join them. Here is what their founder says in Reprint 5323, col. 2, Oct. 1913: “How true the statement that those who have cursed, or injured, Israel have brought injury upon themselves! As we scan the whole field of the world, we find that every nation which has dealt harshly with Israel has received severe chastisement or blight. On the contrary, Great Britain and the United States, nations which have blessed the Jew, have in turn received great blessings.”

In the Oct. 1, 1979 Watchtower, p. 32, they advertise in large headlines – “MANY NOW LIVING WILL NEVER DIE” – quite a contrast to their announcement and prediction for 1925. They advertised then “MILLIONS NOW LIVING WILL NEVER DIE.” They gave no intima­tion that the “millions” would have to join them to “never die.” So many hoped this would be true, because all would like to “never die.” Their organization numbered less than 100,000 then, so the “millions” would necessarily include more outside their organization than in it. But they emphasize that the “many” are only those who are members of their “great crowd” – all others to be annihilated in Armageddon. All know that their 1925 prediction proved to be a hoax, just as their present prediction will prove to be a hoax when many more than their followers will be living after Armageddon.

Much more could be said on the above subjects, but for now we want to express our thanks and appreciation for the cards received over the Holiday Season: we are espe­cially grateful for the expressions of good wishes, love and prayers, which we heartily reciprocate; and we wish them the Lord’s rich blessings in the New Year – the “Bless­ing of the Lord, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it.” (Prov. 10:22) Also, we wish for all our readers a blessed New Year, with strength sufficient for all your needs.

“O bless your God, ye people, and make the voice of His praise to be heard, which holdeth our soul in life, and suffereth not our feet to be moved.” (Psa. 66:8,9)

Sincerely your brother, John J. Hoefle, Pilgrim

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ANNOUNCEMENT OF GENERAL INTEREST

The correct time for the Memorial in this year 1980 is any time after 6 p.m. Saturday, March 29. More about this in our March paper.

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Dear Brother and Sister Hoefle:

Many many thanks for your splendid papers. We recognize your special qualities in bringing to light the darker hidden meanings of Truth, this being just one of the identification marks of God’s special Servant. We feel also you have been blessed with a wonderful wife, and no doubt your spiritual development is shared by Sister Hoefle as a faithful and loyal helper in Christ.

So keep right on to the end of the road with courage. I am sure your reward will come. I salute you for your sacrifice of service to the Lord. Please accept my con­tribution to God’s work to be used in any way you think pleasing to God – and please forgive this short letter.

Yours in Christ ------- (ENGLAND)

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Dear Friends:

As you may surmise when you see the date of my check, I started earlier to thank you for your publications and your letter, but ran into difficulty in putting my thoughts on paper. After laying your letter aside, some scheduled carpentry work was done in my apartment, and there was much “pulling out, cleaning up, and putting back” to be done.

In the meantime, two more papers have arrived, and after reading them I am even more appreciative of my meager knowledge of God’s plan. I am especially appreciative when I watch the news on TV and see the pathetic expressions and the silent suffering in the eyes of those poor people in Cambodia – or anywhere else in the world. How wonderful to know that God is preparing a world free of such ills!

You asked if I hear from Sister -------. No, I do not. I only met her twice... I am so glad to know that Brother Hoefle is improving and gaining strength... I hope this will continue.

Again, my most sincere thanks for your kind interest in me. I believe, from the letters you quote in your papers, that you have the same thoughtful interest in many throughout the world. Please know that you have my good wishes for health and strength to continue your good work.

Sincerely ------- (PENNSYLVANIA)

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Dear Brother:

Thank you for your letter with enclosure. You will find $--- for the books. I shall appreciate your forwarding them to me in your good time.

Thank you for your attention to this request, and for the courtesy of your letter mentioned above. In the most holy faith ------- (CALIFORNIA)

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Dear Brother Hoefle: Greetings of Love and every good wish!

I was very glad to get your letter, and to know that even though things might not be smooth as we would like it, yet not too bad. But we all are going down hill, and every illness seems to leave us that much moreso. But, thank God, He watches over and gives us His Grace and strength in every time of need – as our days demand.

The gift enclosed in your letter is highly appreciated. It was a great help and came in a good time. Thank you very much! We never cease to pray for you, for your health and strength to carry on the work the Lord gives you to do, as well as for all the Bible House. God bless and keep you!...

Yours by His Grace ------- (JAMAICA)

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Epiphany Bible Students Ass’n

Mount Dora, Florida – 32757

Could you please send me a list of all your books and publications, published by your association.

Thank you! ------- (CANADA)