Friday, June 3, 2016

Dennis offers a balance...Mr. Karl Beyersdorfer Born---Lived---Died



Mr. Karl Beyersdorfer
Born---Lived---Died


The Philistines overtook Saul and his sons; and the Philistines killed Jonathan and Abinadab and Malchi-shua the sons of Saul. 3The battle went heavily against Saul, and the archers hit him; and he was badly wounded by the archers. 4Then Saul said to his armor bearer, "Draw your sword and pierce me through with it, otherwise these uncircumcised will come and pierce me through and make sport of me." But his armor bearer would not, for he was greatly afraid. So Saul took his sword and fell on it.
I Samuel 31:3

(If The Living Church of God won't honor one of its own because they judge him unworthy of their praise, I will)

To Paraphrase Roderick C Meredith...

It is with great sadness that I have to report the death of Mr. Karl Beyersdorfer—one of the earliest ministers to come with this Work way back (when I started yet another version of the Church under me). He was ordained (as a young man back in the 1960's which is good enough, ) in the Church of God and continued his faithful service (as best he could  being conflicted, tired of the drama, controversey , change and foolishness) until the day of his death. Mr. Beyersdorfer was always completely loyal to (himself, perhaps standing far too often on the outside while sitting on the inside which can lead to self conflict and depression.  
Mr. Beyersdorfer, for better or worse, went along , as do we all far too often, to get along as best he could while struggling with depression which was his anger turned inward not feeling he had the right to express it, or the cost of doing so would be too high in the Living Church of God. He was only a man just like all others.) and feed the flock in the idealism and naivete' of his his youth as best he could as did we all. 
As a pioneer minister in the (World Wide Church of  God) Global Church of God—now Living Church of God—he helped build this Work with all ( the crazy places he was transferred to with little or no say about it.) He was a faithful human being as best he knew how under (leadership that was far less than ideal). He was a brave man.   So he set an example of faith and courage (just as good and sometimes better , and sometimes worse than any man).

Sadly, in time the battle went hard against him and the archers wounded him grievously in ways and  for reasons only he would have known and emotions only he would have felt.  Sadly, Karl felt no hope in sharing his heart, mind and soul with his peers and certainly not with the Presiding Evangelist or his Board of the Brain Dead .  
Karl lived his life the best he could as at any one time in all our lives, IS the best one can do even if less than perfect or we'd do something else.  Karl understood that the "shoulds" and "musts" of religion don't always match and can conflict with our "can'ts " and "won'ts" often and with power we might not understand ourselves.
Suicide is a taboo subject in most churches.  Meanings and judgments are assigned to such events that make their long term solution to relatively short term problems even harder on surviving family.  When on commits suicide they fail to realize in the emotions and despair of the moment that they will be transferring all their inner pain and turmoil from themselves to their friends and family.  They also fail to realize that it won't solve the problems they feel, the despair they experience and the depression or anxiety they suffer through.  They won't feel anything.    
Let us take heart in the words of the Apostle Paul in Romans 7:
 15I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. 16And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. 17As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. 18For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature.c For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. 20Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.
21So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; 23but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. 24What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? 25Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!

The Apostle Paul  conveniently did not share with us just what exactly it was specifically he did that he hated and he could not do what he thought he should, but we can appreciate his candid humanity on how life really works even among the righteous or at least with those who can admit it.  Admitting shortcomings and conflict of mind and heart to one's peers or pastor can be fatal to many of one's actual intentions and hopes. 

Let us take heart in knowing that in some way , Jesus himself , in despair, sweating blood and left to his fear and despair by sleeping disciples, chose to take his own life in the form of suicide by Romans or "cop" as we might say today.  When Jesus overturned the tables of the money changers, whose presence was actually required to turn filthy Roman coin into Temple coin with which to properly purchase Temple sacrifices, he sealed his fate.  And while John says Jesus did this at the beginning of his ministry, other Gospel writers moved it to the end of the story as a good reason for Jesus to put the final touches on his sure suicide by Romans. Jesus is said to have died for our sins. Karl died , in part, to illustrate the sins and shortcomings of the Church.  Karl endured many more decades of cognitive dissonance under the Armstrongs, Tkaches and Merediths than Jesus did with the religionists of his day  in his mere one year or three year ministry depending on which Gospel one read. We all put up with a lot...way too much because we still thought it was the church in spite of the near yearly scandals.   Fifty years endeavoring to figure out the Bible and those who believe they know what it all means and how it all is , is an amazing and sincere example of patience and endurance under fire. Well done Karl.

Karl had and lived his own story, as do we all.  No two stories are alike no can or should they be.  No two people view their life events, successes and failures in quite the same way.  Some environments offer hope and safety in times of trouble and some offer more trouble in times of trouble for sharing and caring. Karl lived his life in a toxic religious  environment full of hope for the future dictated by men who actually knew little or nothing about it. And so it still is today.

Our deepest condolences and non-judgement of a life well lived to the family and friends of Mr. Karl Beyersdorfer.  

The battle went hard against him and for not being there to love, console and offer compassionate encouragement , and perhaps even physical help, we are all deeply sorry.  Like many who suffer in silence, we simply did not know you needed it to get through the fears and disappointments we all suffer in this life .  We are also so very sorry to the family that "The Living Church of God" does not, in the reality of such events,  have the love of Christ they so often speak about with fine words and scripture. 

Note:  Please do not make all or any donations to The Living Church of God. Karl would probably be displeased. And with regards to eternity...Karl is just fine.


And please take a moment to remind LCG they should be absolutely ashamed of themselves and successfully have served as a terrible example in not honoring one of their own no matter how they passed from this life.




29 comments:

Anonymous said...

Dennis, I believe the family and friends of Mr. Karl Beyersdorfer can find some more solace in what you wrote.

DBP

Glenn said...

Amen.

Gerald Bronkar said...

Thank you for your post Dennis! Incredibly honest.
Karl and I were Freshmen at AC in 1962. He was a friend.
gb

Gerald Bronkar said...

Thank you for your post Dennis! Incredibly honest.
Karl and I were Freshmen at AC in 1962. He was a friend.
gb

Anonymous said...

Thank you Dennis, as a 20+ years member of the PCG, I've seen the ministry complete erase any memory of suicide victims in the Church. I will never judge someone if they choose this path because there is a tremendous unbearable struggle we each face.
Your kind words are touching. Thank you!

Byker Bob said...

Dennis, you really ought to make yourself available for alternative funerals, at least for the cases in which we know in advance that the COGlodyte ministers will be less than compassionate. Years ago my brothers and I made a pact that if one of us died we would never allow the remains to fall into the hands of Armstrongite family members, or to allow one of their ministers to preside over the funeral service.

I wonder if Dixon would accept your ad for the Journal.

BB

James said...

Excellent once again Mr. Diehl!

The erasure of the memories of past leaders is akin to what the Soviets did when they discredited a member of the communist party. First they give you a bullet, then they edit out all photos of the unforgiven person, all all ifnormation that you ever existed.

The PCG and the LCG, hell throw all those heretical groups into the mix, and call them what they are. A gulag for prisoners.

Anonymous said...

Dennis is rudely presumptuous to speak on behalf of this poor deceased man who cannot submit his own comment.

Lake of Fire Church of God said...

Standing ovations to Dennis Diehl, and for the life of the late Karl Beyersdorfer!!!!!

Well said Dennis. Simply the Plain Truth!

Richard

DennisCDiehl said...

Anon3:05
If not us then who?

Lisa w said...

amen,well said...

Lake of Fire Church of God said...

More personally, I have been troubled all week by Mr. Beyersdorfer’s untimely death and I don’t know or understand why. As I posted a week ago on the Banned by HWA site, I heard Mr. Beyersdorfer give a sermon when my family and I were visiting the Midwest. Upon further reflection, I also recall hearing him give a sermonette during a Feast of Tabernacles. I had a branch of my family in the Church in the Midwest and Mr. Beyersdorfer’s name was familiar to me. I attended the WCG from 1968 to 1976. Long after I left the Church, my family remained and I would hear about WCG matters at family gatherings although I was somewhat estranged from my family who remained in the Church.

My mother remained in Armstrongism until her death in 2009. She left WCG in the mid-1990s when the Church splintered, and she followed the idiot Rod Meredith first to Global and then Living Church of God. Perhaps it was from my mother that I again heard the name Karl Beyersdorfer because I was knew he was with LCG when I read Banned by HWA’s post regarding his suicide. I felt bad all week perhaps because I saw LCG ignore his death, and therefore ignore his life.

Here is a man who came to God’s Ambassador College in the 1960s and was sent out to the field to be a minister. And by all reports, he was not one of the bad ones produced by AC. He appears to have been a loyal company man doing what the company required of him yet kept his integrity and dignity. And how is he treated after a life time of service to the Armstrong Churches of God? His death is ignored by his Splinter Church which means his life was ignored by his Splinter Church. His life was considered meaningless by LCG.

Well brethren, let’s put Mr. Beyersdorfer’s life into a proper perspective that only the Armstrong Churches of God can understand – Money:

The WCG at its peak at Mr. Armstrong’s death in 1986, every man, woman & child in attendance in the WCG gave $1,333 per year ($200 Million peak annual income divided by 150,000 members). The local glue that held the Worldwide Church of God together was the local Pastor/Preaching Elder. Like other WCG ministers, Pastor/Preaching Elder rank ministers pastored 2 local churches in a circuit. Mr. Beyersdorfer pastored 2 midsize congregations totaling 750 in attendance. Therefore, at the WCG peak, Mr. Beyersdorfer was responsible for a revenue stream of $1 Million. Consider the initial investment the WCG made in Mr. Beyersdorfer at Ambassador College (investment paid by Student Beyersdorfer), the return on investment lasted a lifetime, and it is reasonable to estimate that Mr. Beyersdorfer lifetime worth to the Armstrong religion (Worldwide Church and Splintered LCG) was about (drum roll please): $25 MILLION in revenue.

The idiot Rod Meredith should be heaping praise on Mr. Beyersdorfer's life right now.

Richard

Anonymous said...

LCG HQ is squirming in embarrassment at the posts on this blog which point out their hypocrisy once again. Their callous actions towards the Beyersdorphers have brought more ridicule and scorn on an already troubled administration. Employees and members both feel that if the church leadership treats a minister with such disdain, they are going to treat the members with even more. The leadership of the church is rotten to the core. A sick, twisted, putrid mess of Satanic influences.

Byker Bob said...

Let's face it, 6:22, they do not know how to act towards people. Apparently, they have no compass for that realm. How is it that we easily notice their huge missteps and gaffs on a daily basis, but they consistently miss all of the cues that are so obvious to anyone with any sense of humanity?

Answer: What drives them is the Herbert W. Armstrong authority doctrine. In their world, a member's job is to simply shut up and take it. Oh, and uh, make sure you don't fall into a bad attitude! That could place you into the bonds of Satan and on the path to TLoF!

BB

Anonymous said...

I can't vouch for the authenticity of the letter below. It was sent to me by an LCG member and in it RCM mentions Mr. Beyersdorfer:

June 2, 2016

Dear Brethren in God’s Church,

Pentecost is almost here! Some of you may not get this letter until after Pentecost, but I hope most of you will—as events in the world and in God’s Church are certainly moving forward swiftly and I need to impart this information to you. I hope that thousands of you will have a wonderful Pentecost season and have the opportunity to meet with hundreds of other brethren and be inspired by the meaning of this season—for it certainly is a very special time—which partly pictures the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, which took place on the day of Pentecost, 31AD! It certainly pictures the power of God’s Spirit—which we should always remember and which that first Pentecost pictured when the Holy Spirit was poured out and many miracles took place in the immediate follow-up.

Yet, this year, God is “testing” our Church in an unusual way. We have been blessed and the Work is going forward. But we have had three or four terrible tragedies all take place in the last week or two. These events should drive us to our knees even more powerfully and cause us to “cry out” for God’s Spirit as never before! First, one of our fine local members in Paris, France, Mrs. Monique Dalle, was one of those who perished in the well-publicized “mysterious” downing of the EgyptAir airplane in the eastern Mediterranean a couple of weeks ago. She had a family and many brethren who miss her terribly. God allowed this, as He does not protect us from every tragedy—as we all know—yet He does protect most of us most of the time which we have also experienced. We are very sorry for her death and the sorrow that her family must feel. Then, we have recently heard about the deaths of three of our fine ministers—Mr. Bruce Tyler in Australia, Mr. Gideon Benitez in the Philippines and Mr. Karl Beyersdorfer here in the USA. All of these men were very dedicated men who gave of themselves to serve God’s people in many places around the world. Mr. Tyler was an outstanding servant of God who served—often in dangerous situations—in many parts of Australasia. He ably built and held together and helped “grow” the churches all over the Australasian region. Mr. Gideon Benitez was a fine and dedicated minister serving many brethren in the Philippines. And Mr. Karl Beyersdorfer—for many years living in my own hometown, Joplin, MO—was noted as “Mr. B” around the whole region and made himself beloved by constantly serving and giving of himself to the people in that area as Christ’s minister.

Continues below:

Anonymous said...

RCM letter continued:

However, in Mr. Beyersdorfer’s case, it was a double tragedy in the sense that he took his own life. Hundreds of brethren in that area know that Mr. Beyersdorfer had had quite a number of serious physical ailments—leading to deep depression at times—and finally, about two years ago, completely of his own volition, asked to be removed as the Pastor. He asked that Mr. Gene Hilgenberg carry on and he would just “assist” him as best he could. He was under a great deal of stress and was sometimes not “himself” according to his wife and many others. He was under medical treatment and at the time he took his life was undoubtedly in one of the “spells” under deep depression.

Brethren, Almighty God our Father understands all this. He is called: “The Father of mercies” (2 Corinthians 1:3). Our Father in heaven knows that all of us have moments of great weakness. We who really understand the Bible are fully aware that God does not judge just according to what we do in some moment of weakness. Although we want all our young people to be fully aware of the awful consequences of suicide, we feel that Mr. Beyersdorfer will eventually be resurrected and be honored for what he did do in the decades of faithful service to God’s people when his physical and mental condition were normal. But we certainly need to pray for Mrs. Beyersdorfer and her whole family in this situation. And she has let me know that she has no problem with me telling you about the nature of his death. It is better that it gets “all out there” now rather than having it come up and be asked of her and others over the months and years to come.

Brethren, all of these recent events should certainly “stir us” and make us realize how short life is and how fragile our own life is. We truly are living at the “time of the end” when more and more terrible things are going to happen. That is one reason why God inspired the prophet Isaiah to write: “The righteous perishes, and no man takes it to heart; merciful men are taken away, while no one considers that the righteous is taken away from evil” (Isaiah 57:1). Certainly, Mr. Beyersdorfer and all those who die in this end-time are being taken away from the “face of evil” as it is properly translated which is certainly coming upon us as never before in human history.

For this is a time when the attacks of Satan the Devil—the “murderer” and the “liar” (John 8:44)—are going to intensify as never before. So we all need to be ready! The next few years will be the prophesied time when Satan comes down to this earth “having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time. Now when the dragon saw that he had been cast to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male Child” (Revelation 12:12-13).

Near the end of his life the Apostle Peter wrote: “Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you” (1 Peter 4:12). So it is certainly not a “strange thing” that God allows tremendous trials to come upon God’s people to “test” all of us, to “make us white” (Daniel 11:35) and to truly prepare us for God’s Kingdom. For we all need to have faith and courage as never before in the days just ahead.

Anonymous said...

I hope all of us realize this and will go to our knees in constant prayer, that we will deeply “drink in” of the Bible as never before, that we will deeply meditate on God’s Word and the meaning of life, and that we will “seek God” in all these ways and in fasting to draw closer to our Creator and our Father.

I urge all of you at this Pentecost time to truly “cry out,” as I have said, and beseech God to pour out His Holy Spirit upon the Church as never before, to inspire us, to empower us with the gifts of His Spirit. May God grant that these events—in the right way—“shake us” and bring us closer to God than we have ever been before. For we cannot and must not take all these terrible events coming on the world for granted. We must use them as events to drive us to our knees and draw us closer to our Creator and to His Son Jesus Christ.

As Pentecost approaches, I urge all of you to go “all out” in seeking God as never before. Nothing is more important, brethren! Let us let God know that we are going “all out” to seek Him, to “serve” Him, and to do everything we can to have an impact on this increasingly sick world and prepare for His Kingdom which will soon come to this earth with power. May God help every one of us respond as true “soldiers” of Jesus Christ in this spiritual “battle” in which we are engaged.

For Satan certainly is striking and will strike with increasing power in the years to come. As the Apostle Paul was inspired to tell us: “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil” (Ephesians 6:10-11). Indeed, the “wiles” of the Devil will try to destroy us and discourage us all. We must not let this happen! Rather as God told Joshua when he had to take over the awesome responsibilities previously given to Moses: “Be strong and of good courage, for to this people you shall divide as an inheritance the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go” (Joshua 1:6-7). So we must “be strong” and of “good courage” as God repeated in verse 9 of this passage and give ourselves to our Creator as never before so that this Work which Jesus Christ is doing through us weak human beings may have a powerful impact on this sick world before the darkness falls. May God be with you and guide you over this Pentecost season! I pray that every one of you will “get the picture” and do your very best—with God’s help—to do your part in this Work and serve this world and our brethren through the power of God’s Holy Spirit.

With Christian love,
Roderick C. Meredith

Anonymous said...

Dennis, who? Why you?
This man is an individual whose pain could have come from thousands of different directions and taken him down a million paths. You cannot credibly speak for him. If I were to ever do my self in, I would not want you to speak for me and my pain anymore than I would want RCM to do so. From the little I've been told, Mr. B's family feels he was coming from a much different place than where you've painted him.

Anonymous said...

June 3, 2016 at 8:00 PM

Hypocrite!
Now, that's credible.

Captain Obvious

DennisCDiehl said...

I don't feel I was speaking FOR Karl near as much as ABOUT him and this experience common in far too many lives which receive no encouragement from the "healthy". I write as I imagine it might be in the bigger picture of depression rooted in change, disappointment and unexpressed anger . Of course I don't know the details of Karl's life any more than I would of Mr. Tyler. Karl is a "type" of an experience as a minister specifically, as was my experience in WCG. I felt NO ONE was going to present any tribute or ever even a perspective on Karl's tragic choices as minister, member and a man. And while I would take issue with RCM's blowing it all off to demons and Satan testing the church, perhaps this attempt to give an perspective on the issue of what causes depression and issues of the heart in these splinters and slivers under clueless leadership, was worth it.

That's the best explanation I can give in this sad matter.

Anonymous said...

I'm must admit, this is a difficult call. I know from personal experience that it's immoral to pass moral judgment, even in the privacy of my own mind, without hearing the accused tell their side of the story. The circus that was Paul's first trial in the book of Acts is a good example of this. How ever, any behaviour that is anti life, such as suicide should be frowned upon for the purpose of deterring others. To me, sympathy (as expressed by some above) should not be expressed, out of respect for the preciousness of human life.

Anonymous said...

My wife and I met the Beyerdorfer's at the 1999 Feast in St. Catherines, Ontario. They were very nice and delightful people. It is sad that Karl put up with so much grief during his long ministry. I really wondered why he remained with the corporate churches so long and didn't separate himself from their shenanigans. He probably would have been much less depressed if he had gone on his own like my wife and I did back in 1997. He is at rest and peace now, awaiting the resurrection of the dead in Christ.

Anonymous said...

Anon said: " How ever, any behaviour that is anti life, such as suicide should be frowned upon for the purpose of deterring others. To me, sympathy (as expressed by some above) should not be expressed, out of respect for the preciousness of human life."

Well, I suppose frowning would be the cure then. If not sympathy, then how about empathy?

Byker Bob said...

There wouldn't be the need for all of this sympathy or empathy if someone had given old Horace Armstrong a life supply of condoms with spermaticidal lubricant. If a time machine is ever invented, someone ought to make that their mission!

BB

Anonymous said...

9.17AM there were 6 teen suicides in Clark County alone last year (with 16 in 2011). The message that needs to be sent, amongst others, is that no, it's not OK. Let the empathy be private, and let the social disapproval be public.

Anonymous said...

"Well, I suppose frowning would be the cure then. If not sympathy, then how about empathy?"
June 4, 2016 at 9:17 AM

Amen!
It has been said that suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem. For the ones that succeed, that was their ONLY choice. With empathy, you can share your options or solutions with them.
Shunning or saying they are posessed by demons will NOT get that information to them which they could then use to change their mind!

"...and let the social disapproval be public."

Now, would you please go emphathize with Rod?

DBP

Anonymous said...

To those who can understand it, sacrificing ones life for others and committing suicide are not one and the same. How sickening it is to even suggest it.

Anonymous said...

Maybe God told him to do it and he was only obeying God. If God can demand that a father murder his son just to test his faith, don't you think a loving God would have already had His answer already if the father said no.

"Kill my son?! No way I love my son more than anything else!"

anonymous63 said...

Anon June 5 2016 @ 4:27 said,
"To those who can understand it, sacrificing ones life for others and committing suicide are not one and the same."

Really?
"Servants, obey your masters, not only the kind and gentle but also the froward."
"wives obey your husbands" Etc.
Those that obey and lay down their life (what they want and need) so as to "help" and "obey" can often be committing slow suicide by not valuing their life and health enough to tell the other to "go fly a kite" when the one obeying has been physically and or mentally pushed into a dangerous health 'zone'. You must be a "minister" or some other overlord, i.e. husband/father etc., as you have never experienced such things.

If you willingly accept death at the commands or hands of another you are choosing to end your life, aren't you? Should we tell those (overlords/husbands/fathers/ministers) that push too hard and too far to take a flying leap so as not to commit suicide? Because we truly would like to live a lovely life but we are told to obey even if those giving the orders are unrighteous, unfeeling, uncaring for others welfare, cruel masters.