Dear Associates, Students and Friends:

A Special Report to those who financially support ASK

We are on the verge of the greatest explosion in biblical knowledge and influence that the world has ever witnessed. The outcome of this soon-coming religious revival (as the old time religionists used to call it) will develop out of events now happening in the world. They are directly related to the political and religious activities that we see occurring in Kosovo. The NATO intervention in the Balkans is a prelude to this soon-coming revolution in religious interest among all peoples in the world. It will result in the Holy Scriptures (and Christianity in particular) becoming more influential. But this new thrust will not be the reblooming of the established Christian denominations. Indeed, our present day denominations that arose as a result of the Protestant Reformation and the Greek Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches that reach back to Constantine in the fourth century ARE ON THE WAY OUT as far as influence is concerned. A whole new way of looking at the teachings of Christ is just on the horizon. It is dogmatically prophesied to happen in the teachings of the Holy Scriptures. For the full story of how this will come about, send for my Prophetic Report being published next month titled: "The Importance of Kosovo in Prophecy." You will be amazed to learn that the contemporary conflict in the Balkans is setting the stage for the development of this new civilization that is about to make its debut on earth. Remarkably, these prophesied events will occur before the Second Advent. They will affect YOU in a personal way. It will benefit you physically, economically and spiritually if you know (and apply) these warnings of God.

God has called you and me at this crucial time in history to learn what the real biblical teachings are, and we have been given the opportunity of teaching them to the world BEFORE the prophesied events take place. Since you should know that each of you is a divine Son or Daughter of God the Father with Christ Jesus being your Elder Brother (if you are not yet sure of your divine position within the Family of God, then hurriedly send for my new book The Essentials of New Testament Doctrine that explains just who you are). Once you know who you are in God’s hierarchy of divine beings that rule the universe, then you can be about your Father’s business in doing the things for the promotion of the Gospel of Christ that the Father expects of each of us. You have a personal responsibility to do the work of getting out the Gospel to the world. God will reward you for doing your part. If you look at your own life, you should be able to see special times that God has used to bring you step-by-step into a knowledge of His truths. He has a purpose for your life. You are a part of majestic plan of God. You are no accident of nature. You are selected by God. He expects you to work hard (both physically and spiritually, and even with your finances God has allowed you to have) in helping to give the Gospel of Christ to the world.

Indeed, each of us has a job to do. There is no doubt in my mind that God has called me to the field of education so that I can professionally provide to all the brethren in a simple manner all aspects of the theology of the Scriptures and to teach the principles of history and prophecy so that all of us can know the plan of God for ourselves and for all in the world. Many of you have asked me how God called me into the work that I am doing as a service to the people of God. I was thinking of this on my way back from Jerusalem. Here is a brief account.

On the airplane coming back from Jerusalem (where I was during the last part of March and successfully getting the last historical and archaeological information for my forthcoming book on the Temple), I looked down when the aircraft was over Greenland at the spot where I first committed myself to God. It was the spot where I promised God the Father and Christ Jesus that IF they would let me learn what the Gospel of Christ was all about and what the destiny really was for the human race, that I would devote the rest of my life teaching it to all who would ask. Each of you has your own important story to tell of how God called you to the truth (and your story is as vital for you as mine is for me), but for all of you who have asked me to relate my story, here is mine. I could not help but reminisce as I looked down from the airplane on that lonely ice bound area where I began my quest.

Just forty-six years ago (just after my birthday on April 20^th, when I became twenty-one years of age), a profound change took place in my life that made me abandon my profession of being a Meteorologist (a weather forecaster) and to devote myself to biblical study and teaching. Up to then I had specialized in Meteorology in my hometown college in Visalia, California and the Air Force sent me, at government expense, to the University of New Mexico where I completed my meteorological training. And here I was for the past eight months forecasting the weather for the United States Air Force in Sondrestromfjord, Greenland located just north of the Arctic Circle. I enjoyed being a Meteorologist. Not only did the base commander in Greenland and many Air Force pilots give me accolades for my professional forecasting abilities, Major Zimmerman (head of the weather station) finally presented me with a "superior" rating (the highest possible) for my attitude toward work and for my professional abilities as a Meteorologist. With these awards and recommendations I was on my way to a successful career in Meteorology. But this was not to be.

While at the University of New Mexico I had been introduced to the teachings of the Holy Scriptures by a close personal friend, Howard McLaughlin. All of a sudden the Bible began to take on an importance to me. And just after my twenty-first birthday (when I had a day off from work at the weather station), I decided to walk south toward Lake Ferguson and then up to a mountain ridge out of sight of the base. There, I knelt down and looked into the heavens. All I could see were low stratocumulus clouds moving toward the Greenland ice cap from Davis Strait some 90 miles to the west. To me it was the loneliest spot on earth with nothing in view but the monotonous arctic tundra that dominated the terrain. But it was at that spot that I turned my back on my meteorological career and I redirected myself toward knowing and teaching the Holy Scriptures. I gave God the Father and Christ Jesus that very day a promise IF they would do one thing for me in a personal way in order for me to help all members of the human race to know the truth of the Gospel. I requested of the Father and Christ that they progressively give to me the divine truths of the Scriptures (and not simply what the denominations were teaching). I wanted to know THE REAL TRUTHS OF THE BIBLE, not the watered down teachings of the churches. I promised that IF they would give me the real truths, I would teach them to the world.

Brethren, the Father and Christ answered my prayers for help. From that very moment, my whole attitude toward learning and education changed. And though when I walked down that mountain side the clouds were still there and the wind was howling around my ears as when I went up to that ridge (and I saw no vision or even heard a voice), but for some reason I knew that God and Christ at that special time had not only heard my request but they decided to take me up on my promise. And you know, the very first teaching from the Bible that I began to understand (and I have not backed down from teaching it ever since) was that God had in His plan to save every human being in the whole world (both past, present and future) and that even Satan the Devil and his evil angels would one day be saved when they and humanity repent of their sins. In the next few weeks I saw these truths in the Bible. I could hardly believe that such a thing was possible (because of my former erroneous teaching from my early Baptist and Methodist upbringing), but I began to see that this doctrine was one of the paramount teachings of the Old and New Testaments. I learned this vital teaching on my own (with the help of God and Christ) when I was in Greenland and living in one of the most desolate areas on earth.

Returning to the United States in late 1953, my father introduced me to a man on the radio that he had come to admire for his ability to preach. That man was Herbert W. Armstrong. Here was a man claiming to want the same thing I did. He said he wanted the simple truth of the Gospel without denominational errors. I liked what I heard. I believed Mr. Armstrong would one day accept Universal Reconciliation that I had learned on my own in Greenland. I finally went to Ambassador College, then became one of the founders of the college in England and then went on to become the Chairman of the Department of Theology at the main college in Pasadena, California. I left the organization in January, 1974 when I finally realized that the group was not really interested in learning the real truths of the Gospel (they wanted to keep a watered down Gospel of Law-Keeping with Christian overtones). Though they accepted my research on the redesign of the Old and New Testaments back into their manuscript order, they refused to teach it in any manner. Mr. Armstrong always had more important things to do.

But since I left in early 1974, like a whirlwind, God gave me more knowledge. I discovered when Christ was actually born. This is recorded in my book "The Star that Astonished the World." Then, God allowed me to understand that Christ was crucified and resurrected on the Mount of Olives. See my book "Secrets of Golgotha." And now, one of the most significant research discoveries of my ministry will soon be in your hands. It is the fact that all the Temples of God (including that of Herod in the time of Christ) were located over the Gihon Spring and at least 1000 feet south of the Dome of the Rock. The Jewish "Wailing Wall" is as wrong as a three dollar bill. This new book will be a blockbuster for the truth. It is titled: "The Temples that Jerusalem Forgot." The new knowledge recorded in this book is going to revolutionize the whole understanding of the geography of Jerusalem. It is going to show in the clearest of ways that the prophecies of Christ Jesus about the destruction of the Temple of God and the City of Jerusalem in A.D.70 were precisely accurate and that they were not exaggerations that most scholars believe today. I personally believe that this new book will be a key to all religious leaders in showing that they should NOT have trusted in religious traditions and the opinions of visionaries and those who witness trances, etc. in discovering the location of the former sites of important buildings or geographical areas in the Holy Land. I think it will set the pace in getting people back to appreciating the documentary evidence of the Holy Scriptures and history rather than the false supernatural revelations given to men and women after the publishing of the Bible. It will even help to alleviate political tensions in Jerusalem, and also those in Kosovo.

My recent book The Essentials of New Testament Doctrine, however, is the one I have wanted to produce for the past twenty years. Now it is a reality. Most of you by now, if you ordered the book, will have received it. I worked hard day and night to finish that book while Ramona kept the office going with her 60+ hours a week (since Ramona took over the work of the office, she now does the work of two office workers who helped to replace an office manager's work). Ramona does this without drawing a dime in salary so that we can continue to share with our ever increasing number of associates who are not able to contribute. I can certainly brag about Ramona when it comes to her work, but that is not the object in mentioning her volunteer work for ASK. The reason for telling you this is the let you know that both of us are working much above and beyond what most people would call normal working hours to provide a service to you and the rest of the people with the Gospel. What I expect of each of you (who are equal members with Ramona and me in the very Family of God) is no more than what we do here at the office. I do feel it is reasonable to ask you to help us with your financial support so that we can do the job of getting the published material about the teachings of God to all in the world who ask. It is only right that each of you should contribute regularly with your thanksgiving offering of gratitude to God for all the benefits that God has given to you and your family. Remember, God loves a cheerful giver.

Now you will notice that I have designated this Communicator as being a "Special Report to those who financially support ASK." This is because last month I offered this most important of books (The Essentials of New Testament Doctrine). To make sure that we would make ends meet for last month when our printing costs soared because of paying for the new book, I requested that besides your regular monthly contribution (which we are most grateful to receive) that you would also send $19.95 for the new book, plus $3.20 for postage and handling. Besides that, and in order to pay off the printing costs of the book, I said I would personally autograph a book for an extra contribution of another $25. I did not feel embarrassed to appeal for funds to teach the Gospel.

Thankfully, about a third of you wonderful contributors heeded my request and my appeal, and some of you even gave more than that. But the rest who normally contribute (and we thank you for what you do give) wanted the book but without sending the extra $19.95 above the normal monthly contribution. On the other hand, others sent the $19.95 out of their ordinary contribution and then even crossed out the $3.20 postage and handling, while others, much to my dismay, simply said send the book without sending the slightest contribution of any kind. And, some even ordered the book without including any contribution, but still wanted my autograph! I could hardly believe such requests. My special financial appeal fell on many deaf ears. As a brother in Christ I was simply asking for funds to keep the Gospel going out from ASK. Brethren, let us be fair with God. Let us be fair with ASK. Let us be fair with one another. Let’s face it, there can be no ASK (or any work of God supported by God’s own people) unless God's people give funds to keep it functioning. Frankly, we are glad to send the book free (and this includes our other publications) if a person simply states on the card that he or she is indeed indigent, or that he or she is in prison and cannot send money, etc. But it was utterly surprising to me that I got the response I did. Still, in spite of the disappointments that I have mentioned above, I instructed Ramona to send the book to all who asked for it (I did not autograph a free book to those who did not indicate they were indigent.)

Now, in the past twenty-five years of doing the work of God since I left Ambassador College and the Worldwide Church of God, every book or booklet I have ever written and published (including my first one titled "The Tithing Dilemma" which teaches that God’s people do not have to tithe to a church or minister, and that first booklet has saved many people thousands of dollars), within a month of publishing, the printing costs were always met by God’s people by their donations to keep the work going. But this last month was very different. Even when I turned out what I consider to be one of my finest works, only about a half of the extra funds that I asked for to pay the cost of printing has come in (that is, the full $19.95 for the book, $3.20 postage and handling, or the extra $25 for a personal autograph). This downturn in funds is happening when we are on the verge of the greatest breakthroughs in getting out the Gospel that this world has ever seen. I am at a loss to understand this. Now, it is not my nature to scold (I always let God do that to His children), but I do feel it is right to ask you who ordered the book to be fair with ASK and at least pay for the full amount for it plus postage and handling. That way we can at least pay for the printing costs in producing the new book. Thank you for hearing me out. I am writing this letter to you as your brother in Christ. God’s blessings on all. Until next month,

Ernest L. Martin