Tony Alamo
Ep 265 How To Have God's Life Living In You Part 163
A Communion Sermon and Newspaper Crusade with Susan Alamo
Tony Alamo devotes program 265, part 163 of his teaching series, to a tribute broadcast built around a lengthy pre-recorded Communion sermon by his late wife, Susie Alamo, framed by his own prayers, a report on the ministry's costly newspaper crusade, and listener testimonies.
Opening Prayer and a Tribute to Susie
Tony Alamo opens the broadcast introducing himself as World Pastor Tony Alamo, naming the program number 265, part 163 of his series How to Have God's Life Living in You. He tells listeners this week's broadcast centers on a message from his late wife, Susie, who passed away on April 8, 1982, saying she could say more in a few minutes than he could in a week. He notes strong listener testimonies have arrived along with music for the hour. Alamo leads an opening prayer asking the Lord to anoint the service inwardly and outwardly, to open the hearts and souls of everyone in radio land to the warnings of the end times, and to let anyone hearing the message for the first time enter the kingdom of heaven "just under the wire." He asks that the church be strengthened, closing in Jesus' name, and a woman in the studio answers with an audible amen.
A Recorded Hymn and the Two Witnesses
Following the prayer, Alamo introduces a recording of himself singing "I'll Walk with God," a song he first admired watching Mario Lanza perform it in the film "The Student Prince" before he was saved, arranged for the church's own musicians by Joe Leahy. Returning to speak, Alamo connects the song to Enoch, who walked with God and did not die, explaining his belief that Enoch and his wife are the two witnesses of the last days. He says the Lord has told him the end is close and instructed him to spread his personal testimony everywhere, comparing his own conversion to that of the Apostle Paul. He discloses the ministry typically spends $120,000 to $130,000 a week on gospel outreach but spent $224,000 this particular week, insisting the expense is justified because nothing matters more than winning souls before the plagues of the last days arrive.
Persecution, Waco, and Prison Injustice
Alamo tells listeners that character assassination and persecution are proof of true faith, citing Jesus' warning that anyone living godly in Christ will suffer for it. He denies rumors that the ministry kept tunnels, hypnotized members, or stockpiled guns, saying not even a toy cap gun is allowed on the property, and recalls a former FBI contact who told him agents once discussed raiding the ministry the way they raided Waco, calling it a "turkey shoot." He mentions a book just sent to him, which a congregation member identifies as "Journey Toward Justice," about a man who served eleven or twelve years in prison, and uses it to argue there is no justice in secular courts. Turning to doctrine, he cites the eleventh chapter of Revelation on measuring people by the word of God, arguing the church must exclude unrepentant sinners, including homosexuals, rather than accommodate them the way he says television preachers do.
A Global Radio Reach and an Oklahoma Testimony
Alamo describes the ministry's international radio reach on AM, FM and shortwave, saying listeners in Africa and India rely on shortwave to find American ministries and that the newspaper campaign is now drawing more mail from within the United States than from overseas. To illustrate the cost of the outreach, he says a single full-page ad in a Tokyo newspaper, which could reach thirty million readers with his testimony tract, runs about $240,000, and that the ministry hopes to place ads in USA Today after the holidays. He frames the spending as mercy that will be rewarded a hundredfold and says souls of every background, Buddhist, Japanese, Chinese, Latino, Norwegian, even self-described skinheads, deserve the same chance to hear the gospel. A congregation member then reads a testimonial from Bill and Katie Warwick of Edmond, Oklahoma, whose son William was saved immediately after reading the ministry's "Difficult Mountain" literature reprinted in an Oklahoma newspaper.
Susie Alamo's Communion Sermon
Alamo introduces the heart of the program, a pre-recorded sermon by his late wife, Susan "Susie" Alamo, delivered on a Communion Sunday. She warns against modernism and denominational church-joining without genuine rebirth, insisting there is no forgiveness without the shedding of Christ's blood and recounting the mockery and thirst of the crucifixion in vivid detail. She tells the congregation not to take communion elements unless they are certain they are born again, instructing ushers to serve the bread and cup while she calls anyone unsaved to step forward to the altar instead. Reading from the first chapter of Proverbs, she argues that only the original King James Bible should be trusted, urging listeners to burn any modern translation that softens the word "fear" into "reverence." She warns that souls who ignore God's calling in youth may find, at the moment of death, that repentance has come too late, closing with an altar call as Tony sings "There's Room at the Cross for You."
A Closing Prayer and How to Reach the Ministry
After Susie's message ends, Tony Alamo returns to lead listeners in a spoken salvation prayer, asking the Lord for mercy, confessing belief that Jesus is the Son of God who died, rose, and forgives sin, and assuring anyone who prays along that they can have peace and confidence their soul is saved. He tells listeners already saved but "lukewarm" to repeat the prayer and rededicate themselves, reminding them the broadcast is a message of Bible prophecy from the Lord. He then turns to his co-host, whom he addresses as Sharon, to close the program by giving the ways to request a free copy of program 265: alamoministries.com, a Texarkana, Texas post office box, and a phone and fax number for Tony Alamo Christian Ministries. Alamo signs off the broadcast performing the hymn "Onward, Christian Soldiers," ending the hour as he began it, with music.