Talking to the Queen About British Israelism

Armstrongism is not unique it it's absurd fascination with British Israelism.  The Revival churches in England are also into it.  Check out a great little video:

Revival Churches Discussion Forum

Melvin Rhodes Names More Ministers Kicked Out of UCG

Dear Fellow Elder of the United Church of God:

 It is with heaviness of heart that I must write to you. There are recent developments within the United Church of God, an International Association, (UCGIA) of which you need to be aware.
As of this date, besides the information that has already been reported to you via the Ministerial Journal, the following men have resigned from the General Conference of Elders:

Paul Carter
Pablo Dimakis
Ken Giese
Eduardo Hernandez
Jon Pinelli

 Additionally, the Council of Elders met in executive session on Tuesday evening, November 30, 2010. One of the agenda items was to discuss the UCGIA elders in the Latin American region. Each one of the elders (still listed as a member of the General Conference of Elders) was contacted and asked if he desired to remain with UCGIA or if he planned to go with another organization. As a result of each one’s response, the UCGIA ministerial credentials of the men listed below were removed (and thus they are no longer members of the General Conference of Elders). They are as follows:

Alfredo Arboleas
Eleodoro Avila
Alberto Gonzalez
Jaime Guiñez
Adan Langarica
Luis Mundo
Fermin Nain
Jaime Ortiz
Manuel Quijano

 The door always remains open to reconciliation should any of these men desire to talk with the Council of Elders and/or administration.

 I want to assure you that the Council of Elders, in coordination with the administration, is committed to serving all those who desire to meet with congregations of UCGIA around the world. The Council is also fully committed to preaching the gospel of the coming Kingdom of God to all the world. We hope and pray that His Kingdom will come soon.

 Respectfully and in Jesus Christ’s service,

Melvin Rhodes
Chairman

Melvin Rhodes Strikes Back At Grumbling Ministers

Dear fellow ministers,

Some of you have no doubt received a document titled “Petition for Resolution to GCE” addressed to the General Conference of Elders (GCE), and apparently authored by and being circulated by four non-salaried elders. You personally may not have received this petition if it was considered by the sponsors that you would be unlikely to support its aim—which is to put the majority of the current Council of Elders on trial.

The resolution associated with the petition seeks to create a “GCE Review Committee” to, in effect, conduct an open investigation to identify and determine if any actions by the Council of Elders or the Administration against anyone in the United Church of God since January 1, 2010, have “in fact” been done “contrary to the published requirements and procedures” of UCGIA or “contrary to Scriptural guidelines.”
No specific improper actions or “aggrieved parties” are identified.

The resolution contains no way of giving those who may be accused access to any sort of due process and there is no mechanism for protecting the privacy of anyone involved. In fact, on completion of the “investigation” (very little time is allowed) the Committee’s “findings” or “recommendations” are to be made public—no doubt spread far and wide via the Internet.

The proposed makeup of the Review Committee is obviously designed to be composed primarily of men who are known to be critical of the present Council and Administration. One could easily envision the proposed Review Committee’s investigation becoming more like an inquisition.

The Council stated, by resolution on November 30, that this petition is legally flawed and has decided, with the backing of the opinion of UCG’s general legal counsel, that the associated resolution is clearly contrary to, conflicts with, and is inconsistent with our governing documents and existing grievance procedures. Such procedures are already in place under the authority of the governing documents. Legal counsel advises that it would require an amendment to the Constitution and/or Bylaws before the proposed committee could be created and become operational.

The proposed resolution is fatally flawed and members of the GCE should not support it.

Consequently, in a separate communication, the Council has advised the sponsors that their petition should be withdrawn since it would be improper to allow the associated resolution to be balloted upon by the GCE.

It remains the case that Council members can be removed through the balloting process at the annual general meeting of the GCE if elders are dissatisfied with their service.     

Sincerely,
Melvin Rhodes—Chairman, Council of Elders

 

Thiel Says UCG Members Should Naturally Come to LCG Because God Is Only Working With LCG

Chiropractor Bob has a hilarious article up today about UCG members who are splitting off of the mother Church in Cincinnati.

First he pretends to extend an ecumenical hand to the 'true believers' in UCG:

Number one, and this really is not an option but more of a spiritual imperative, is that those in UCG should pray, study, and perhaps fast about the situation there.

If after doing so, UCG members really believe that the Jesus Christ is pleased with UCG and would not condemn it as part of Laodicea, then they should support it and remain there.

Then he quickly slaps these ex-members up side the head labeling them as Laodician:

“I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot.  16 So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.  17 Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’ — and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked —....

He then quotes a UCG write John Carmack, using his words as an excuse to call UCG Laodician:

Notice that Laodicea was condemned for being “lukewarm”.

It may be of interest to note that UCG member John Carmack wrote the following about UCG this week:

Most of the ways that UCG differs from other groups is that it is less strict.  In all honesty, UCG is less concerned about the physical…

UCG is obviously different in how it governs itself.  Most COG groups have a “one-man” rule…However, what’s more disconcerting is that it seems that some within UCG don’t want to follow the pattern originally set down for governance…

One area of concern, though, is that “born again” is more open to interpretation.  In spite of the view that the doctrine is clarified by the study paper on it, it actually looks more like mud. 

Then Chiropractor Bob lays it on the line:

UCG fits the definition of being lukewarm, and yes has problems with “born-again”, governance, and other doctrines. 

So Bob's rantings all boil down to one simple thing.  He wants UCG members to jump ship and join LCG.

Now I would like to comment that I do not believe that despite its not being perfect from a human perspective, one could do better than to support LCG at this time.  Despite the fact that not all who attend with it are Philadelphian, LCG is the only organization that seems to meet the criteria that Jesus set for the Philadelphia portion of His Church. 

Forgetting the fact that Spanky Meredith has more failed prophecies than even Gerald Waterhouse!  Scripture states specifically that if a minister/prophet makes even one utterance and it fails then they are false prophets.  Spanky has utter hundreds of failed prophecies and predictions.  So far his track record is an abysmal ZERO!

Then Thiel gets to the meat of the matter!  LCG is the TRUE PHILADELPHIAN CHURCH!!!!!!!!!  Oh wait, no shocker there!  God and Jesus dwell specifically in Rod Meredith.  Meredith has admitted he has never committed a major sin.  If Spanky could get away with it he would also be claiming he is the product Immaculate Conception.  There has never been a more perfect man on earth!

Only the Living Church of God meets the two criteria that Jesus set for the Philadelphia portion of His Church. 

If you are in UCG, confused about UCG, or have nothing to do with UCG but wish to support the most faithful church on earth today, please pray, study, fast, and compare what LCG is doing with your own Bible. 

Yep, jump ship and join the church that is lead by WCG's most rebellious minister whom was constantly being corrected by HWA for his hard-assed, legalistic, vengeful mindset.

Yes, follow the man that HWA labelled as UNFIT to run the church after his death.

Follow the man who was put on leave by HWA twice for his rotten attitude.

Yes, follow the man who literally broke up hundreds of marriages with his uber-strict rules about second marriages and divorce.

Follow the man who preached/still preaches hate towards gays.

Follow the man who caused the death of hundreds of church members because he told them to NOT go to doctors.

Yep, follow them man who's spitting and snarling in the pulpit left people with no hope, leading them to kill themselves by suicide.

More importantly,  follow the man who drove Terry Ratzman over the edge causing him to murder an LCG minister and church members!

Yep, that is one spirit lead, love filled, Philadelphian church.

Underground Video of One of Ron Weinland's Women Preachers

Ron Wienland is now ordaining women into the ministry.  Here is a video secretly taped at a recent Weinerdude church service.  Is this The Second Witness preaching?

It's Still All About The Money in UCG Rebellion

This past year a group of COGers set up a fund to assist the ministers and churches in South America that UCG had kicked out due to their rebellion.  Now this same group called "International Ambassador Outreach Mission" is setting up another fund for those ministers around the world who have resigned from United.  Those loyal to UCG will see this a a front to support rebellious angry ministers, those on the other side will see it as a means of supporting the "true and loyal servants of God."  Gotta keep that money flowing in to support their lifestyles. Uh.....where have we seen this before??????  Oh wait!  The formation of UCG in the mid-90's.  Same old broken record.  Paybacks's a bitch!

International Ambassador Outreach is dedicated to the preservation of unity within the body of Christ, and sincerely supports any Godly solution that would heal and preserve the unity of the body within the Church of God.

However, as the crisis in the Church of God has continued to escalate, ministers and members in the United States have now become affected as salaried ministers have been terminated or have resigned due to conscience. Should this trend continue, more full-time ministers of good reputation will be terminated or resign, thus impacting and further fracturing unity within the body of Christ.

Because of the aforementioned situation, International Ambassador Outreach is hereby expanding the scope of its mission beyond areas solely outside of the United States, and will now include the support of Church of God ministers and members in transition in the United States of America within its purview. Ministers of good reputation and their families will need financial support to meet basic life needs while working through an unexpected time of transition – and International Ambassador Outreach will seek to assist those needs.

International Ambassador Outreach does not consider itself a Church organization, nor does it ever plan to become a Church. It continues to exist to provide a pathway for God’s people to support the financial needs of congregations around the world, and to financially support those in the ministry that seek to humbly care for members in these congregations.

The generous gifts of many worldwide donors to date have resulted in significant aid being provided to Latin America congregations. All donations made to-date will remain restricted for International areas. However, as of December 5th, 2010 donations made to the General Fund will be deemed usable for any need, including Latin America, other International areas, and the United States. Additionally, future donations made to IAO may also be restricted by the donor towards International areas or any other cause covered by the scope and mission of IAO.

Jesus Divinity/COG Unity /Sabbath - Just Several of the Issues Currently Ripping Apart UCG

Reading UCG members comments on various web sites about the dissolution of UCG in it's current form is very telling about the upheavals going on.

Of course, just like in WCG  during all the changes, many of the UCG members are totally oblivious to the rancorous atmosphere swirling around them. 

Just a sampling:

A growing number of UCG members and ministers do not believe that Jesus was/is God 

Let me be very careful here. I only said that Melvin Rhodes had said that the divinity of Christ is a Roman Catholic dioctrine (sic) like the Trinity. I did NOT say and I do NOT know if that statement means that he does not believe in the pre-existence of Christ. For that information you will have to ask him directly. The doctrine of the divinity of Christ holds that the one who became Jesus Christ was a part of the family of God and was the very Creator who later married Israel and later bacame (sic) flesh to die for humanity.

I know quite a bit about the elder in Calif. who does not believe in the divinity of Christ. I was there at a meeting (unapproved by UCG) where he made the statement that if you sat in a church that believes that Christ is God then you are breaking the first 3 commandments. I reported this to Kilough. He did not approve of this. It all went on too long and that church is still suffering partly from that mess. I don’t think it is real widespread (the belief) but I also have friends who believe it.

Actually it is far more widespread than you think. Mark Bosserman has even quoted to me the Melvin Rhodes comment that the divinity of Christ is a Catholic doctrine, in support of the idea. I cannot say what the Rhodes position might be, but he has commented that the divinity of Christ is right up there with the Trinity as Roman Catholic.

Unity within UCG and with other COG is an issue:

Unity has been achieved in the Roman system which includes the Harlot Daughters of the Catholics. I find their untiy (sic) to be stronger than that amongst the COG’s. It is good to not have unity especially in these end times as there are new truths being revealed daily to the individuals who have a direct relationship with Christ. In this sense would those individuals have been seeking and given that new understanding if they were united under certain old doctrines which do not encourage or allow searching for the new truths being revealed in these Last Days?

Unity has been achieved in the Roman system which includes the Harlot Daughters of the Catholics. I find their untiy to be stronger than that amongst the COG’s. It is good to not have unity especially in these end times as there are new truths being revealed daily to the individuals who have a direct relationship with Christ. In this sense would those individuals have been seeking and given that new understanding if they were united under certain old doctrines which do not encourage or allow searching for the new truths being revealed in these Last Days?

I also feel that UCG is too liberal to pass this resolution. However, even if the DC, as it is presently constituted is allowed to rule, and is overruled by the COE8, even then, I think the cult conditioning is so strong that most people will still believe anything the COE8 say. I daresay that 2/3 of UCG will be led into apostasy this time, even though they resisted last time. Do not ask me how an individual can fail a test after passing it the first time, but the facts on the ground support this conclusion.

Arrogance and Bitterness Directed Towards Chilean Family Who Is Feeling the Wrath of UCG Conservative Legalists 

Not that I ever doubted either the fairness or thoroughness of the Kilough-Franks arbitration that determined (as did their then-pastor Saul Langarica) that the Roig family’s behavior disqualified them from sitting in the assembly of God’s faithful servants until they brought forth fruits of repentance in their lives, but that their subsequent behavior continues to so disqualify them.

And of course we cannot forget UCG's Sabbath and Fasting Papers That Stirred the Pot Up Even More.  One of Their Main Demons is John Elliot.

While I would hope for repentance from those usurpers who are destroying UCG, I think that if by some miracle the dissenting elders prevail, the usurpers must be removed from any and all leadership positions, even from speaking in the congregation.
If a mere member, committed any of these sins, they would be expelled without even a conference.

Beyond the disgust and outrage that someone under the guise of being a minister of Jesus Christ would utter or write such nonsense, John Elliot and those of his ilk are a cause for sadness and instruction.

John Elliot is not some village idiot or certified imbecile, so how do we explain his contempt and disdain for the law of God?

Mr. Elliot gives the appearance of supporting attendance at family Christmas and Easter gatherings! He argues: “Some non-Church families hold their family’s reunions only in connection with religious holidays.”
Yet according to Paul’s clear instruction in 1 Corinthians 10:14, 18-21, 28 (and throughout the Bible!), we are to refuse to eat any meal that we know to be connected with idolatry – as certainly is the case at any Christmas or Easter dinner!
•Beyond the matter of Christmas and Easter, much could be said regarding Mr. Elliott’s other listed points, many upon which the Church has yet to conform to God’s Word. However, for brevity, may I just comment on Mr. Elliott’s misconception that “Contractors often require that construction work on members’ homes and Church buildings continue on Saturdays”:
Perhaps Mr. Elliott derives his misconception from the fact that when we were at Ambassador College, Mr. Herbert Armstrong claimed (verbally to us as AC students) that during the construction of the Auditorium, the site belonged to the building contractor, that we had no rights — even of access to the construction site, and that the Church had no choice but to let the contractor work on the Sabbath (the contractor did work on the Sabbath).
Yet in actual fact, Mr. Herbert Armstrong gave another student and me a personal tour of the partially constructed Auditorium one Sabbath morning without asking anyone’s permission! Interestingly, God did not let us retain that building, did He?
Further, in my experience of over three decades of buying, selling, remodeling and/or building several homes, I have never had a contractor or a realtor refuse my business due to disallowance of working on God’s Sabbath or Holy Days, and I have always refused to allow them to work for my benefit during holy time.
•In his overstated claims regarding the Church’s duty to “bind and loose,” Mr. Elliott apparently experiences confusion from having failed to search out the actual meaning of the Greek in Matthew 16:19. Brethren who investigate this for themselves will discover that the Greek regarding “binding” here is estai dedemenon, which is singular in the future perfect passive tense; thus, “shall have been bound.” The Greek regarding “loosing” here is estai lelumenon, also singular in the future perfect passive tense; thus, “shall have been loosed.” For both Greek phrases, Mathew 18:18 is the same, except that the verbs are plural. (The newest NASB translates these verses accurately, and emphasizes in a Study note that Christ is delegating, “Not authority to determine, but to announce …”)
•Most alarming to me are Mr. Elliott’s assumptions: (1) that current Church leaders are certain to arrive at “God-inspired judgment[s],” and that (2) “Consequently, [all] opinions which run contrary to [any of] the Church’s Judgments become irrelevant and insubordinate.”
Beyond the fairly recent fact that WCG’s Church leaders failed to arrive at God-inspired judgments, why are we not all Catholics? Frankly, the proto-Catholic “Church fathers” worked very hard to turn their followers away from God’s Sabbath and away from His Holy Days utilizing an approach very similar to Mr. Elliott’s – they repeatedly pounded the hammer of “the authority of Church leaders.” More recently, do I recall correctly that these arguments about judgments for the Arctic Circle, etc., were among those same arguments put forth by Mr. Tkach and his helpers in their efforts to ultimately disconnect God’s people from His Truth?
God, Christ and His apostles, on the other hand, despite being authoritarian, applaud the individual Christian’s evaluation of Church leaders’ teachings and their conduct. (Compare 1 Kings 13; Jeremiah 35 [where God expects righteous people to disobey His prophet!]; Ezekiel 9; Matthew 7:15-23; Acts 5:29; 17:11; 2 Timothy 3; 3 John, etc.)
Although Mr. Elliott acknowledges certain of the pertinent Biblical passages, and he admits that judgments are to be made “under the umbrella of God’s Law”; nevertheless, he appears completely blind to the peril that current decisions may contradict the clear instructions of God’s Word. However sincere his intent, Mr. Elliott sedates unwary sheep at a time when we most urgently need to be Bereans, “examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things [taught by the Church are] so,” willing to do God’s will so that we are able to discern whether teaching[s] are of God or from men (John 7:17), standing firm with Peter and the apostles in our conviction that “we must obey God rather than men.”

The book all UCG members should be reading at this very important time