“Mission Impossible” was a successful cbs television series running from 1966-1973 and 1988-1990. The program gained worldwide popularity, catapulting its cast into household names.
The plot featured “an elite covert operations unit [that] carries out highly sensitive missions subject to official denial in the event of failure, death or capture” (IMDb.com).
On March 19, 1985, Herbert W. Armstrong and his chauffeur, Melvin Olinger, met the star of “Mission Impossible,” Peter Graves, while visiting Queen Sirikit of Thailand. “Queen Sirikit was personally greeted at the Los Angeles International Airport by Mr. Armstrong,” reported the Worldwide News (April 1, 1985). “Entering the Church’s white Cadillac limousine, the queen and Mr. Armstrong were driven across West Los Angeles with an official police motorcade escort to the Beverly Wilshire Hotel. About 300 Thai adults and children were on hand to greet the queen and present her flowers and other gifts. As she and Mr. Armstrong stepped from the limousine, television crews and reporters from area media recorded the event.”
Mr. Olinger, an ordained deacon who still serves God’s Church today in Southern California, recalls that special day driving the limousine: “With the queen and Mr. Armstrong in the backseat, my main concern was not making any mistakes, as I had a U.S. Secret Service agent sitting next to me in the front seat giving me very specific security instructions.”
Later that week, distinguished guests, including Peter Graves, joined Mr. Armstrong and Thailand’s queen at a special dinner at the hotel. A limited edition photographic book of Her Majesty’s visit was produced, and a copy was presented to Mr. Olinger. It features pictures of Mr. Armstrong sitting next to the queen at dinner that evening and Peter Graves speaking with her at the head table.
Nine years prior, the internationally recognized ambassador for peace wrote, “And I need, urgently, the help of all our co-workers to get this herculean commission accomplished! I well know it is, truly, ‘Mission Impossible’ accomplished! But our great God continues to bless me with youth, strength, dynamic energy and vitality. And I know, that with your prayers and help back of me, it will be accomplished!” (co-worker letter, Feb. 27, 1976).
“The true gospel is the good news that God sent from heaven by Jesus Christ,” wrote Mr. Armstrong in his 1978 book, The Incredible Human Potential. “That message, when fully understood, reveals a human potential so stupendous it appears at first to be totally beyond belief! It is incredibly wonderful news revealed from the Creator.”
Jesus Christ foretold, “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come” (Matthew 24:14).
The 1985 evening in Beverly Hills was nine months before Mr. Armstrong’s death, yet it was a banner year of global recognition at the highest levels of government that “mission impossible” had been accomplished not by human might or power, but by God’s very spirit (Zechariah 4:5-6).
The success of this mission to declare Jesus’s gospel message to all nations was confidently confirmed by Christ before this world’s self-destruction when He said, “With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26).
As a teenager in God’s Church, it’s vitally important you understand not only how and why God used Mr. Armstrong as His apostle in the Philadelphia era, but what that very gospel message is and why Mr. Flurry, as God’s latter-day apostle, led our fight to print it, resulting in our victory out of the courtroom (1 Corinthians 7:14; Revelation 10:11).
During his Dec. 7, 2013, anniversary sermon in Armstrong Auditorium, Mr. Flurry exhorted Church members to review annually key books written by Mr. Armstrong. One he mentioned was Mystery of the Ages.
“When God commands us to prophesy again to the world about the mystery, that is a direct command to deliverMystery of the Ages!” he wrote in Prophesy Again.
“It is primarily through delivering Mystery of the Ages that we keep the lamp of the Laodicean era burning! That is our job. If the lamp goes out, this world would be in total darkness. Only the Philadelphia Church of God gives light to this world. And Mystery of the Ages is the major oil supply for the lamp” (ibid).
Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to grasp more of that gospel message and your part in prophesying again. For mission research: Click here to watch Mr. Flurry’s Key of David program on Mystery of the Ages. This link will not self-destruct.