Monday, April 1, 2013

Rod Meredith Says Members Who Do Not Send in Extra Money are NOT Part of God's "Team"


The financial downward spiral with Living Church of God's income is having a serious impact on how the LCG spreads its message.  It recently lost several of it's largest television stations due to income decline.  Those stations were immediately picked up by Dave Pack who has been gloating ever since on how his ministry is now more important and bigger than Meredith's.

Like any Church of God leader out here, it is the members fault that the income has dropped.  It is never taken into consideration that people stop sending in money because of the buffoons in charge and that members are disgusted by their lack of good stewardship.

Meredith has sent out a letter to the faithful using the new Pope as his "fear factor." and that other Christian ministers do not speak out continually on sex matters.

Meredith says:
"... the professing “Christian” ministers of the mainstream churches have virtually no fear or profound respect for the God of the Bible! They seem not to care about what His inspired Word says about abortion, same-sex marriage, young people just “living together” or anything else!"
Could it be that LCG members are getting sick and tired of the incessant topic of sex in ALL of Meredith's letters, booklets, TV programs, videos, blog entries and more?

Meredith continues:

My friends, this is the Work of Almighty God at the end of an age. We really do “tell it like it is.” And we really do understand biblical prophecy and are constantly proclaiming the truth about what lies just ahead for your very life. The God who gives us life and breath proclaims in His inspired Word: “If a trumpet is blown in a city, will not the people be afraid? If there is calamity in a city, will not the Lord have done it? Surely the Lord God does nothing, unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets. A lion has roared! Who will not fear? The Lord God has spoken! Who can but prophesy?” (Amos 3:6-8).

I'm sorry, but Dave Pack is already doing this.  Oh wait!  Gerald Flurry says he is too!  Don't forget Weinland and Webber, they too are the only ones who have the "balls" to preach the truth.

Then Meredith continues trying to reinforce to his followers that if they fail to send in money then they are NOT part of "the team."  Their failure to support the mighty work of Rod allows the marrying gays, fornicating teens and  abortionists to have free reign.  Meredith wants his followers to know that the LCG is not as successful as Dave Pack with millions of dollars flowing.  LCG is a little work, struggling to get by as the ministry barely has enough to feed their families or pay for their recent shipping trips.

So, if you dear brethren and co-workers are part of the “team”—if you really are genuine “co-workers with Christ”—then along with our faithful team here in Charlotte and around the world, you will feel especially at this time the urgent need to zealously do your part in helping us warn our peoples of what lies just ahead and how they ought to be preparing to serve with Christ in Tomorrow’s World! We are not a big church or huge organization, with tens of millions of dollars pouring in to help us get out this vital message. So your faithful tithes and offerings—even every little “widow’s mite”—are vital to keep this Work going and growing.

Meredith  then begs for your money.  The work is in serious need and needs your EXTRA support now!  So, Dear Brethren, in addition to your tithe, tithe of the tithe, your third tithe and already excessive offerings, you MUST start sending in every single bit of extra money you can!  While no one at LCG HQ or the ministry has voluntarily taken a wage reduction, the members are expected to continue to lower their standard of living while the church leaders do not.

"...if you grasp the fact that our American and British-descended peoples really are “stumbling to the slaughter”—then, as true Christians and servants of God, you and I must take action. Even with you who have voluntarily elected to become “co-workers with Christ” in this crusade to get out His message, I very seldom desire to “get strong” unless circumstances warrant this. But, now, I tell you most sincerely, this Work of God really does need your extra-generous help and support right now."

 Meredith ends with this:

We have recently had to drop one or two of our better television outlets for financial reasons. We are already “tightening” our belts in a number of ways. As one who has tried to give my life in Christ’s service for nearly 61 years—full-time—I ask you to join me and other servants in going “above and beyond” in supporting God’s Work at this critical time. Please do not let me down. Please do not let God down. We look forward prayerfully for your loyal response soon.    
                    
With Christian love,

Roderick C. Meredith
Brethren, it was only "one or two stations" no biggie.  He makes the current drop in stations to sound less than significant.  He also should have the brains to know that the has already told the members in previous letters that it was MORE than two stations they had to cut.

Yes brethren, for 61 years I have been obsessed with sex and the invading German armies.  If I have not been able to scare the shit out of you by now then I have been a failure. Please send me more money so I can be more forceful in the few years we have left.

37 comments:

Velvet said...

Uh. It is my understanding, that abortion was allowed, if it was for medically necessary reasons, i.e., to save the mother's life, if the woman was in grave danger, and both she and the baby she was carrying were going to die, than the appropriate thing to do was save the mother.

I do not recall, however, if I heard this before or after the changes. I want to say before...? It is also my understanding that the Church's interpretation of "nephesh" and "neshama" indicate that a baby is not considered "alive" (having "the spirit in man") until it takes its first breath.

Like I say, that's my understanding, based on my memory, I haven't run across references to it in the old literature recently, and I am uncertain as to where, exactly I picked it up, this is just something that seems to be filed in my brain under "what the Church teaches."

From the sounds of it, next thing you know, Spanky will be out protesting with the Westboro Baptists!

Anonymous said...

In HWA's day, church members seeking the truth about WCG had to rely on secondhand stories that the ministry could brush off as "gossip" and "causing division." Today, thanks to Facebook, people can see for themselves the character of their church leaders and their families.

If you have any LCG friends on Facebook, you can probably see for yourself that the level of "true belief" (in COG-speak, "conversion") of many of Meredith's LCG employees, as well as much of his membership, is minimal or nonexistent. Judging by their "likes" and their photos and their posts, LCG seems not to be running a very "tight ship", at least not by old WCG standards, and apparently this is OK with Meredith. No doubt this is one reason Dave Pack is able to do so much damage to LCG.

Anonymous said...

I'm afraid this contradicts Mikey's Good News!.

Leonardo said...

Velvet wrote: "It is also my understanding that the Church's interpretation of "nephesh" and "neshama" indicate that a baby is not considered "alive" (having "the spirit in man") until it takes its first breath."


That's an area that the WCG never really fully addressed or had an official doctrinal position on. Some ministers were of the belief that "the human spirit" entered the potential human being at conception, while others felt it didn't enter until the freshly born baby took it's very first breath.

How can you conclusively prove it one way or another? You can't.

Leonardo said...

Anonymous 3:09 wrote: "...the level of "true belief" (in COG-speak, "conversion") of many of Meredith's LCG employees, as well as much of his membership, is minimal or nonexistent. Judging by their "likes" and their photos and their posts, LCG seems not to be running a very "tight ship", at least not by old WCG standards, and apparently this is OK with Meredith."


I can assure you this attitude isn't only existent in the LCG alone - it's in virtually all of the COG splinter groups.

Rod Meredith is not well and rapidly on the decline, and he can't be expected to keep tabs on such things as he would have back in the days of his unbalanced zealotry.

Many of the younger, income-earning members making up these groups have been raised in the COG religion, and it's the only ideology most of them know. They are cozy and familiar with it, like a child is with a beloved teddy bear. It's their family religion that binds the tribe together.

But the gurus just can't expect the same level of stupid gullibility among the membership that they depended on in the early days. Technology just won't allow that to happen anymore.

Leonardo said...

“Like any Church of God leader out here, it is the members fault that the income has dropped. It is never taken into consideration that people stop sending in money because of the buffoons in charge and that members are disgusted by their lack of good stewardship.”


BINGO! Give that man a cupie doll!!

But I’m afraid the little sheppard boy has shouted “Wolf! Wolf!!” just too many times for it to have any real meaning anymore. Any track runner will tell you that you can only endure just so many “final bell laps” before collapsing in a heap of exhaustion.

“Breasts! Breasts!! BREASTS!!! That all you young fellas think about, isn’t it? You just want to get down there and num,num,num,num,num!” Rod Meredith, Principles of Living class, AC, late 1970’s

Some things never change!

Byker Bob said...

One of the very bright spots of the new (non ACOG) church which I attend is the way in which they address the subject of tithes and offerings.

Prior to the baskets being passed, the pastor or worship leader will say something like the following: "If this is your first time visiting ****, enjoy the services. We do not expect you to give, in fact the services are our gift to you. However, if you call **** home, this is an opportunity to give back to God a small portion of the incredible blessings He has poured out upon all of us. In a moment we have an opportunity to trust God with our finances, as we are going to give our tithes and offerings......"

The Armstrong movement used huge steel driving hammers on members with regard to financial matters. What I like about my new church is that a feather, combined with the heart-transforming Spirit of God, is employed, with incredibly positive results, and a much better image of and relationship with God. As the MasterCard ads say, "Absolutely priceless!"

BB

Head Usher said...

Can I get out my microviolin? This kind of rhetoric was HWA's bread n butter for 50+ years. Meredith is a one-trick pony. Everything he knows he learned from HWA. He's the original HWA clone. HWA was always speaking out of both sides of his mouth. Every coworker letter talked about how everyone was letting down and not sending in enough cash and it was a nonstop financial emergency. But when it came time to burnish his brass buttons, he only ever talked about 30% growth per year, like clockwork. Can you have it both ways? Sure, if you're a liar. But I have to hand it to HWA, his lies sure were effective. Meredith learned from the best.

Anonymous said...

What more proof does one need to show all COGs are simply business scams more interested in stealing money from gullible people than to save people?

Assistant Deacon said...

"gay marriage"
"Beast"
"cleanse"
"mess in America"
"Christian"
"living together"
"cry aloud"
"tell it like it is"
"team"
"co-workers with Christ"
"widow's mite"
"drawn toward death"
"stumbling to the slaughter"
"co-workers with Christ" (again)
"get strong"
"tightening"
"above and beyond"

Ah, yes, those words and phrases in quotation marks. Unnecessary and distracting, yet unendingly employed by RCM just as as done by HWA before him. What a hoot.

Corky said...

It's amazing how this message has been extremely urgent for 2,000 years - the return of Jesus is imminent, ya know.

NO2RCM said...

If you have any LCG friends on Facebook, you can probably see for yourself that the level of "true belief" (in COG-speak, "conversion") of many of Meredith's LCG employees, as well as much of his membership, is minimal or nonexistent. Judging by their "likes" and their photos and their posts, LCG seems not to be running a very "tight ship", at least not by old WCG standards, and apparently this is OK with Meredith.
No, this is not at all OK with Meredith. He would like to paint himself as enlightened, but the truth is he has no power to stop it. If he did have the power, he would make Pack & Flurry look tolerant. If you dig into Meredith's teachings, you will find that he believes he has the God-given authority to rule over every one in the church and over every aspect of their lives, right down the the family dog. You guys know the hierarchy: Jesus over Rod, Rod over the regional pastors, regional pastors over the local pastors, local pastors over the husbands, husbands over the wives, wives over the children, and children over the family dog. Obedience to Rod is the same as obedience to Jesus Christ. If Jesus doesn't like what Rod is doing, He would remove him. Since Jesus hasn't removed Rod, then He is endorsing Rod and disobedience to Rod is disobedience to Jesus.

Retired Prof said...

The semester I took RCM's Church History class, he was sick with flu or something for a couple of weeks, and a substitute teacher filled in for him. The day Meredith came back, someone in the class stood up and applauded, then others joined in, and pretty soon we were giving him a standing ovation. To avoid calling attention to myself, I stood when everyone else did.

However, I never did understand what we were applauding for. Because I disliked the teacher and disliked the class, I intentionally failed. It was a true disappointment when Meredith gave me a D.

Anonymous said...

No, this is not at all OK with Meredith. He would like to paint himself as enlightened, but the truth is he has no power to stop it.

Rod can't stop his own children, some of them LCG employees, from posting nonsense on Facebook? Weak, weak Rod.

Or is it that only Christ can intervene to stop problems? If so, then why won't Rod admit that LCG's drop in income must be Christ's will, and not LCG members' fault?

Which is more important to Rod? Doing God's will, or spending members' money?

NO2RCM said...

Meredith: "... the professing “Christian” ministers of the mainstream churches have virtually no fear or profound respect for the God of the Bible! They seem not to care about what His inspired Word says about abortion, same-sex marriage, young people just “living together” or anything else!"
Unbelievable. This from a man who says repeatedly, "We cannot speak out as loudly as we would like on TV about issues like abortion and homosexuality."

Meredith: "My friends, this is the Work of Almighty God at the end of an age."
No it isn't. It is the work of Rod. Rod's mission is to preach the gospel to the world as a witness, something that God never told us to do. And we're supposed to believe you when you say it's the end of and age? You've lost all credibility in that area.

Meredith: "And we really do understand biblical prophecy and are constantly proclaiming the truth about what lies just ahead for your very life."
Just ahead? Rod, it is your crying wolf for 60 years and being on an incessant gun lap that has caused the people to become weary and lulled asleep. They will not be ready, and the blame lies at your feet.

Meredith: "Surely the Lord God does nothing, unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets."
Wow! I haven't heard Meredith say this since the 90's when he claimed he was the prophet that God would inform. If you wanted to know about the "soon-coming" tribulation, you'd better come to Global. I guess getting laughed at kind of stung, but he just can't help himself.

Meredith: "So, if you dear brethren and co-workers are part of the “team”
"Team" - this is a Doug Winnail teaching. A team is something you can get kicked off from, something you have to try out for. "If you want to qualify for this team you'd better send money." This is wrong. The church is a family, with even oddballs accepted, the widows supported, and the weak embraced. Meredith wants everyone to pull their weight or get out.

Meredith: "—if you really are genuine “co-workers with Christ”—then along with our faithful team here in Charlotte and around the world will feel especially at this time the urgent need to zealously do your part in helping us"
This is flat-out manipulation. If you don't send money in, you are not a co-worker with Christ. You are not faithful. You're not zealous. You don't want to help God. I'm surprised he didn't warn people about going to the lake of fire, a la HWA.

Meredith: "warn our peoples of what lies just ahead
Really? Again? "We cannot speak out as loudly as we would like on TV about issues like abortion and homosexuality". Have some faith Rod and cry aloud and spare not. Your un-Biblical work is futile anyway.

Meredith: "help us get out this vital message."
If it is so vital, why don't you cry out on TV? You have a huge venue and you are squandering it with a mission that Jesus never gave us.

Meredith: "So your faithful tithes and offerings—even every little “widow’s mite”—are vital to keep this Work going and growing."
"Yes, give every last penny you have. Nothing is more important than spending your money on my work. Never mind if it isn't Biblically based. I know I have never really explained what the work of God is, and why we're doing it better than anyone else. I just keep repeating the phrase 'the work of God' and you all hypnotically follow along. I love being able to manipulate dumb sheep!

Meredith: "...if you grasp the fact"
If you don't, you're an idiot. More manipulation.

NO2RCM said...

Meredith: "Even with you who have voluntarily elected to become “co-workers with Christ”
Wow. He's even going after the poor saps who aren't even members.

Meredith: "But, now, I tell you most sincerely, this Work of God really does need your extra-generous help and support right now."
Work of God? Prove it from the Bible.

Meredith: "We have recently had to drop one or two of our better television outlets for financial reasons."
Why don't you try to do what Jesus commanded? Why don't you cry aloud spare not and use the TV program to "show Jacob his sins?" How about some simple faith?

Meredith: "As one who has tried to give my life in Christ’s service for nearly 61 years—full-time"
You have tried. And it's not too late to do what the Bible commands. Try to do the Matthew Great Commission and gain disciples for Jesus Christ and don't just throw the TV show out there and expect God to deliver people to your door. Stop twisting the scriptures to support your unbiblical church government. Stop sowing hatred for the brethren in the other groups. Start showing faith in Jesus Christ.

Meredith: "other servants in going “above and beyond” in supporting God’s Work at this critical time."
There it is again! "God's work". No one in LCG even questions whether it is God's work. Propaganda is beautiful

Meredith: "Please do not let me down. Please do not let God down."
"send money or you will be letting God down" Pitiful.

Meredith: "for your loyal response soon.
One last stab at manipulation. Now, you're not loyal.

Meredith: "With Christian love"
Assuming facts not in evidence.

Michael said...

This post has it right - Meredith is obsessed with his ideas of sexual morality.
Some 30 or more years ago, I was baptized by this guy.
I can personally attest, based on the baptism counseling (2 or 3 sessions), that the majority of the topics were on sex. Had I undressed pretty girls in my mind. Had i masturbated, etc. etc. Did i understand how sinful that was, etc.
Then, and only then, was I ready for the big dunk :-)

Lake of Fire Church of God said...

No2HWA said, "The financial downward spiral with Living Church of God's income is having a serious impact on how the LCG spreads its message."

MY COMMENT - I warned Rod Meredith in a letter I wrote 4 years ago to LCG informing him of my mother's death, requesting LCG to remove her name from their mailing lists, and to expect a drop in their income stream as a result. In review of her estate, I was amazed at how much money LCG siphoned off in mother's last years. LCG should have a plague in their HQs in honor of my mother for her many years as a faithful member and donor to WCG/LCG.

Richard

Head Usher said...

Quick! Jesus is coming and 7 billion people are busy masturbating! Help us get out this vital message, before it's too late! LOL

"Please do not let me down. Please do not let God down."
You'll be letting GOD down if you don't send your money to ME!!! HWA was a genius at making up this shit. All RCM has to do is keep cutting and pasting, and that's what he's been doing all these years, and he won't quit till he's pale and cold.

NO2RCM wrote:
"You guys know the hierarchy: Jesus over Rod, Rod over the regional pastors, regional pastors over the local pastors, local pastors over the husbands, husbands over the wives, wives over the children, and children over the family dog."

You forgot me out of the chain of command and also my boss, Assistant Deacon. We're important godammit!

Okay, so I'm not an apostle or prophet, like Dave Pack or Bob Thiel, but still, I'm going to get to be a Head Usher for all of eternity, not much more than a drill sergeant really, but at least I'll be able to lord it over all those peon members who weren't ambitious enough to get any title at all! Stupid peons. They deserve the hell I'm going to give them when they get to heaven.

Funny thing is, god's already got trillions of angel helpers, and now, according to Armstrongism, he's supposed to be making a huge wasteful government bureaucracy out of all mankind? For a guy who's supposed to be omnipotent he sure needs a lot of helpers.

Velvet said...

"Some 30 or more years ago, I was baptized by this guy."

Hey, Michael, if you're still a believer, I would seriously consider getting dunked again, if I were in that unfortunate position. I see an extremely low probability of likelihood that your baptism was legit, based on Spanky's attitude problems that have manifested over the years.

If you're not a believer, don't mind me. :-)

Velvet said...

"You forgot me out of the chain of command and also my boss, Assistant Deacon. We're important godammit!"

You do realize that means Retired Prof is over both of you, don't you, Head Usher! ;-)

Michael said...

"if you're still a believer, I would seriously consider getting dunked again"

No, not a believer, Velvet, but thanks for the thought. LOL!
When i left WCG in the late 1980s (before the big splits...) it was not leaving WCG but rather religion itself. I left because the Bible made no reasonable sense, not because of WCG absurdities. Strange, but these latter only became apparent to me in retrospect years later.

Anonymous said...

Michael, you are confusing Christ's teachings with religions of men. All churches today on earth are false one way or another, some much worse than others. The COGs are the worst or almost so. JWs, Mormons and the like are even more bad. The truth is Christ.

Michael said...

No, Anon,
Not confusing anything - I just read the Bible and came to find it absolutely, unequivocally, undeniably ridiculous.... :-)

Anonymous said...

Just remember, brethren, if you do NOT give, if you do NOT give GENEROUSLY, then... the sun will set, it will rise again in the morning, there will be rain and maybe snow from time to time, wind and calm, the economy will continue to do what it is doing, people will go on and live their lives, people will go on and ignore the ACoG churches.

What WILL happen is that some of the ACoG churches may diminish, but then, no one will really pay much attention in the grander scheme of things....

So, brethren, give and give GENEROUSLY, because if you don't not too much will happen!

Leonardo said...

Anonymous 12:46 wrote: "Michael, you are confusing Christ's teachings with religions of men. All churches today on earth are false one way or another, some much worse than others. The COGs are the worst or almost so. JWs, Mormons and the like are even more bad. The truth is Christ."

Yet another drive-by blogger just making another dogmatic claim and assertion I see, though with no evidence or proof whatsoever to back up his claim. Are you the Anon who boasted the other day that evolutionary theory is filled with "hundred of holes" - yet when I asked you to provide us with a clear example of just one or two, you cowardly disappeared and never responded?

Put up or shut up, Anon!

This is a very different more sophisticated world now you're living in. When you make such a foundational claim as "The truth is Christ" - what exactly do you mean by this, and what evidence can you provide for it's validity, other than merely quoting the New Testament?

Anonymous said...

Leonardo said "Put up or shut up, Anon!"

Put up what? I have Christ of the Bible and the promise of eternal life. What do you have?

Leonardo said...

Anonymous wrote: "I have Christ of the Bible and the promise of eternal life. What do you have?

I have a mind that requires tangible, demonstrable, empirical evidence - one that can distinguish fairly well between actual facts and obvious fictions. It's certainly not perfect, but I'd say it's far superior to the empty pie-in-the-sky promises from a source of "knowledge" that includes a talking serpent (Genesis 3), a fully conversant female donkey (Numbers 22), and a man flying up into the heavens (II Kings 2), among many other "miraculous" things completely unknown to documented human experience.

You ask "Put up what?" I answer: provide reasonable evidence that doesn't strain credulity. When I was a boy I used to believe in Santa Claus, until I finally realized there was simply no evidence for him whatsoever other than the fact that kids WANTED to believe in him because it made them feel good.

You claim to "have Christ." So what? A Muslim claims to have Allah and Mohammed. A Buddhist claims to have Buddha. A Hindu claims to have Krishna. How in the world can your claim to "have Christ" be even remotely considered to constitute legitimate evidence or proof of anything?

Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence to substantiate them, especially claims that are quickly followed up by the threat of eternal torture and punishment if they are not blindly accepted as true. You believe because your religion demands belief on pain of future suffering.

So I ask you what makes you any different from multitudes of other believers who believe different things just as passionately as you do, yet follow the same essential methodology: blind belief in what an ancient holy book says?

Velvet said...

"Christ of the Bible"

As opposed to, say, the Lamb of God Who was slain before the foundations of the earth were laid? The Logos, the Word, the second member of the Godhead Who was, is, and will be, long before (and long after) the Bible was ever written down?

Leonardo said...

Sorry, Velvet, but you're going to have to explain that one with a little more lucidness than you were able to muster above. I mean, after all, you're not the one and only Plasma Dude - who was under the delusion that he could convey the most profound and complex thoughts in "pithy" and "incisive" six-word sentences!

I'm afraid you're not so gifted! ;)

Leonardo said...

But first, let's see if Anonymous 4:46 will respond with any further words of clarity and insight in response to my question.

These astoundingly muddled and inarticulate religious fanatics are just too entirely predictable - it's the same basic vague bromides over and over and over and over and over and over and over again...without ever really saying anything even half-way intelligible. Can't the Almighty Creator God of the Universe inspire His supposed servants to witness with greater clarity than this? I guess not.

RSK said...

"Don't let God down"??

Tell your God to get a job and quit being such a mooching bum, Spanky!

Velvet said...

"Sorry, Velvet, but you're going to have to explain that one with a little more lucidness"

I was being sarcastic. The main point of my quip was that Anon's "Christ of the Bible" is both utterly ridiculous, and far too small. And if Anon believe in a threefer God, then his "Christ of the Bible" is WAY too small!

Anonymous said...

Could it be that demonically influenced folks do indeed break into peoples facebooks ??

blinded by the light said...

Very interesting read and comments, took me back to my days as a refugee of Worldwide growing up in 60's and 70's. Always in the "gun lap, the final phase" of "the work." Always being terrified of coming home to discover I had been left behind from the "place of safety." It took me 50 years to muster the courage to question it, and honestly admit the irreconcilable controversies, hypocrisies, deceptions and manipulative sheep control. And now all these Nazi-like aging men want desperately to be HWA, along with all the perks and backward bows the sheeple can provide. Not a single one of them learned a thing from the colossal failure of WWCG. And not a single one of them wants to be Christ, who poured out His life as a servant to the weak, the poor, the sick, the lonely, the sinners... those poor souls can't get close to the spiritual authorities today, after all, they might get finger print smudges on the limo. No, if I learned just two things in my whole life, I would say that first be wary of any man who works to manipulate you emotionally through fear or promise into supporting him or his agenda; and secondly, for whatever the "work of God is," it is NOT fund-raising. As one more humble theologian put it, "If you think you are doing the work of God and the means are not there, you are in the wrong place. It's your work, not God's." And as Gemalial put it, if it is the work of God you cannot stop it, and if it is not the work of God it will come to nothing. Time is the great equalizer and reveals all things... what is truth and of substance, and what comes to nothing. Thanks for the opportunity to share this.

Anonymous said...

I had one conversation with Meredith in 1976. I was an AC Pasadena Junior and I was called over to his office. I think at the time he had some kind of authority over the ministry, but I'm not sure. Well, he sat there and for about 30 minutes defended his manhood -- for some reason wanted to assure me he wasn't gay. He talked about how he used to be able to lift 200 lbs over his head, etc. To this day, I have no idea why I was there. I was never told. Initially I thought I was in trouble -- and I'm sure that in some way I was being checked out by him. But I guess I passed the test. The bottom line is that this guy was weird -- and yes, obsessed with sex -- always was and always will be. Sure. He is probably the closest to a complete Armstrongite that you can find. Utterly and completely sold out to it. THAT is why he is weird.

Former WCG Member said...

I remember attending the Feast of Tabernacles in the mid-to-late 60's & early 70's, and every time Rod Meredith spoke, sooner or later he got onto the subject of "queers," as he called them. Whatever the subject of his sermon, before it was over, it turned into a rant against queers. It was definitely strange, and made a person wonder...