In early 1961, I was 25 years old and living in St. Louis, Missouri, when God called me into His Church. At that time, I was a spiritual mess—a failure. My life was so off course, I’m sure I wouldn’t have lasted to age 40! I really needed somebody to give me direction.

My mother had been called into the truth in 1957, and from that time until 1961, she tried endlessly to convert me. I rebelled against that and persecuted her for what she was doing. Whenever Herbert Armstrong came on the radio, she would turn up the volume so I could hear him, and that upset me. I was antagonistic against him and his message—that is, until my life had finally become so miserable and hopeless that I would do anything to change it, even if it meant getting interested in “Mom’s religion.”

God had brought me to the point where I just wanted help. I was desperate, and maybe that was good for me. When God called me, I took advantage of His help. I was thankful He reached out to help me.

I didn’t know how to rear children. My parents didn’t know. My mom was too easy; my dad was too hard. So where was I to learn how to train my children? There is only one way we are going to learn how to make life work, and that is to have our heavenly Father show us.

When I came into the Church, I began to think of Mr. Armstrong as a father. My own father was lacking in many ways—he didn’t know how to teach me; no one had taught him. But I saw that Mr. Armstrong was very stable. Following him helped me stabilize my life and become stronger. I was thrilled to find a way of life that could solve my problems.

I noticed how Mr. Armstrong was always there keeping the Church going, keeping the truth alive. I had proved deeply, without doubt, that he was God’s man. He was the only person who gave me what it took to make my life meaningful and happy. He taught me how to love God, and I had never experienced anything like that before.

If you get the help you need from God, you will have a real impact on God’s Work and Church. God makes us promises, and He will keep every single one of them. But He does require that we do our part.

Sometimes you have experiences where you know God has performed a miracle. You never want to forget those miracles! There are times when we simply must have a miracle, and we get it. We get it every single time we really need it. An event like that is stirring and moving when you look back and think about it.

For me, one of those miracles was God sending me to Ambassador College. To this day I still thank God for that. I don’t thank Him enough, but I do thank Him.

This was really fulfilling to me. Here I was going out to where God’s end-time Elijah was! Can you imagine how much Elisha appreciated being with the original Elijah? Scriptures show that he considered it quite an honor (e.g. 2 Kings 2).

It certainly was an honor for me to go to Ambassador College. Being able to attend classes there was one of the great blessings of my life—to learn God’s wonderful revelation and truth from men who really were teaching the right thing in those days! And I got to hear personally from Mr. Armstrong, God’s Elijah.

If you truly love God’s law, you will love God’s government and the men who implement that law. I tried to follow the ministers’ examples as best I could, and it helped me tremendously.

Every time a minister corrected me, I benefited from it. That correction helped me build more godly ambition. Isn’t that just like a Father? He always wants to give to His sons and show you in every way possible how much He loves you. I marvel when I think about all the work and attention He has had to invest in my life to bring me to where I am today. And He still is very much on the job, because I depend on Him totally and solely—God help me if I fail to do that. I need God’s correction, and I want it. If I don’t get it, I am finished. If I don’t receive God’s correction, I will cause nothing but trouble for God’s people.

Oh, how I love the law, Jeremiah wrote. It makes me wiser than all my teachers! (Psalm 119:97, 99). That has certainly been true in my life and the life of many others. The men who instructed me at college taught me so much of God’s truth—what happened to them? Ninety-nine percent of God’s ministers have fallen away! As Jeremiah said, if you stick with God, you will know more than your teachers.

After those men began to depart from the truth, I came to appreciate Mr. Armstrong’s leadership even more deeply! I began to see the value of that man to God’s Church. When he died, the Church was left essentially headless. It was the most terrible emotional and spiritual experience I have ever gone through.

The Laodiceans began talking about “the evils of one-man rule.” Those words are straight from the mind of the devil! What about the blessings of one-man rule when that man follows God? I don’t care what any carnal-minded rebel says—I know that Mr. Armstrong’s rule was wonderful. It almost drove me crazy after he died, when we no longer had that wonderful gift. I have to say my experience with one-man rule was absolutely splendid! I exalt the office, not the man. Mr. Armstrong was a wonderful blessing all my adult life. I know; I experienced it.

Herbert W. Armstrong was a wonderful father figure to me, like the Apostle Paul was in his day (1 Corinthians 4:15). Mr. Armstrong turned my heart to God the Father (Malachi 4:5-6). Study his life, follow his example, and he will do the same for you.