Wednesday, June 12, 2019

"Walking the walk" In The Church of God

True and honest worship of God is in the daily lives of your reflection of the One who lives and loves in you. How do you bring God glory? How do you bring God praise? You live as He lives. You walk as He walked.

In the Churches of God what they will tell you is that walking as He walked - “walking the walk”, you might say – involves a rigid and legalistic ritual life of days, seasons, times, and years. And though observing such things can have a benefit, it falls fall short of what walking the walk genuinely requires an honest and God-fearing Christian.

Being a Christian is a 24 hour a day, seven day a week experience. It is observing this world and the things of this world through the mind of Jesus Christ. It is being and becoming a breathing, living, and responsive reflection of who Christ is. It is showing the grace of God in everyday life.

It is laughing with the widow, helping the lame, grieving with the lonely, uplifting the heavy-hearted. It is laughter with the joyful and crying with the hurt. It is worship in attitude and worship in action, clothed and radiant with thanksgiving and praise of Jesus Christ who came from and was sent by God the Father.

It is reflecting and radiating the entire spectrum of love from wavelength to wavelength – being mindful and observant to prayerfully never miss an opportunity to show the hungry and spiritually starving who Jesus Christ is. Regardless of the date, the moment, or the occasion, you reflect Christ. You show Christ. You live Christ. You breathe Christ.

Here's what Christianity is not. Christianity is not avoiding your relatives and family because the only time you can see them is on Christmas. Christianity is not refusing to open the door to talk to little children on October 31st. Christianity is not refusing to go to a son's or daughter's or family member's birthday party. Christianity is not believing you are more than a Christian than another because you go to Church on Saturday and they go to Church on Sunday. Christianity is not skipping a funeral or a wedding because it's more important to be at a church service than to show love to your family. Christianity is not spending every moment trying to convince people you are a prophet, or a minister, or a pastor, or endlessly typing on your keyboard thinking you know more about every subject on this great earth than anyone else does about religion or Christianity. This isn't living Christianity, this is making a farce out of Christianity and making one's self look like a blind, arrogant and conceited idiot. And more than this - Christianity is not thanking God that one is more of a Christian than anyone else - or condemning other Christians as "falsely so-called" because they aren't submitting to one person's religious dogmas. Herbert Armstrong and his doctrines did far more to damage the essential elements of real Christianity than one can ever imagine, and the rotten fruit's stench keeps on coming from certain ones to this day who wallow in the muck of putrid vomit that supposedly passes as "Christianity".  

Days and seasons and times of years do not act as an on and off switch to reflecting and radiating the very Christ who lives in you. There is never an excuse to say that you are “called” and others are “not called”. The very nature of humility is the shedding of pompous arrogance, prideful self-centered thoughts and actions. Those who call themselves ministers and servants of God will not be exalting who they are or their title or their position. They will not need to say who they are or what they do. Christ will be what others will see when they minister – no one else, not themselves. There will never have to be a convincing argument needed. People will know. People will acknowledge, people will see that the living Christ is the one working, and no title or position or rank, whether it's minister or pastor, or evangelist or prophet, or apostle or bishop will need to be said. Those who resort to the need of proving to others who they think that they are simply showing others what they are not and never have been, and never have been called to be, for their actions out their inner selves filly displayed for all to see and for the entirety of the Church to rebuke and chasten, and run from.

The Church is the people of God. It is a spiritual organism that transcends physical time and physical space. It is a people who have Jesus Christ living in and through them. It is a people who don't only say Christ but live Christ in every action. To restrict these actions to a calendar day is the strongest quenching of God's spirit in action. The Sabbath Rest is an outpouring from God inwards to you and outwards to others – the Kingdom of God at hand and in action. The Sabbath rest is in Him, and in You, and for all. Days – and seasons – have benefit – but are inferior and physical. Life in Christ and living in Christ is beyond the calendar – and intrinsically spiritual. And God's Rest – His Sabbath Rest – is a spiritual life of love, humility, grace, respect, truth, compassion, kindness, joy, and peace from the very God who gave His Son for all. This is the freedom of Christ in action. For those who live this way, there is only grace and freedom through Him. And this is why Paul stated that you are not under Law – but under Grace. For those who live Christ – sin shall not be your master, only overflowing and outgoing love in Him through the Spirit of God.

Submitted by SHT

Monday, June 10, 2019

LCG: Are you THANKFUL Because You Are Better Christians Than Others?



We should all know by now that Living Church of God members are FAR more special than anyone else in the world.  Those trained under Herbert Armstrong and Rod Meredith are privileged to have the inside track of hidden knowledge that somehow no one else was able to discover for 1,900 years. And, if you are in the Living Church of God you are even more special!

Though they may be special, apparently, some LCG members are not as "called" as they think they are.  They are becoming lax and lukewarm in understanding. Plus, if you do not fully believe the Living Church of God's version of the old covenant holy day demands, then you are unconverted. Satan has BLINDED your eyes!  Dang it, they pesky dude gets blamed for EVERYTHING that goes wrong in the LCG.

Doug Winnail

Thankful for the Truth? The Sabbath and the Holy Days are good times to reflect on an important question: How thankful are you for the Truth? It is easy to take the Truth for granted if you are a long-time member, or if you have grown up in the Church. Yet, Jesus said that no one can come to a real understanding of the Truth unless they are called and their minds are opened to see the big picture (John 6:4465). God calls us through the power of His Holy Spirit—which is described as “the Spirit of truth” (John 14:16–17) and which “will guide you into all truth” (John 16:13) if we are willing to be “led by the Spirit” (Galatians 5:16–18). The capacity to understand the plan of God as pictured by the Holy Days, the purpose of life, and the true way of life is a gift imparted by the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38) that God is making available to only a few at this time (1 Corinthians 1:26–28). These precious truths are a mystery to most people (1 Corinthians 2:6–12) because Satan—“the god of this age”—has blinded their eyes (2 Corinthians 4:3–4). Jesus said it is an incredible privilege to be given an understanding of God’s Truth (Matthew 13:10–17). The Apostle Paul said that to be called out of darkness into the light of the Truth is something to be extremely thankful for (Ephesians 5:8–20). Let’s never forget to be thankful for the opportunity to understand God’s precious Truth.
Have a profitable Sabbath and Holy Day,
Douglas S. Winnail