I had to laugh when reading UCG's agenda for their upcoming conference. On the first day this is their topic of discussion:
Does anyone actually expect that they will discuss what happened and the root cause of it? It will be blame game extraordinaire. No one in UCG will take responsibility. They will not acknowledge that the core foundational beliefs of the church are morally and spiritually bankrupt and totally void of Jesus. They will not acknowledge that legalism is killing their church and destroying the lives of their members.
9 a.m. – 10 a.m. • Opening prayer
• What happened and why? (Luker/Rhodes)
10 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. Break
10:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. Q&A: What happened and why, and lessons learned
(Council/Administration/Elders & Wives)
How many Elder's wives will speak up? Will UCG allow these woman to speak? UCG knows the place of women in their leadership, that's why they are being relegated to a side room for tea, crumpet's and cookies because they perceive women have no capabilities on advancing the work of Christ.
2 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. • Opening prayer
• Advancing the work of Christ (Rhodes)
2 p.m. – 3:40 p.m. Women’s-tea fellowship time for those interested
That belief is no more evident in the following quote by uber-legalist Malm on his Dead Light blog.
Malm quotes a letter from Tim McCaulley which has to be one of the most ignorant things I have read lately. If you talk about Jesus you are a Tkach follower? This is just further proof on how spiritually bankrupt Armstrongism is!
Because I had an infected sore on the bottom of my foot, I got a seat in the front row in front of the stage and by coincidence near a major entry way for people looking for seats. This is how i got to meet none other than Leann Luker, wife of the president.
I decided to play dumb and introduce myself and tell where I was from and then ask, “and who might you be?” I have found this an excellent way to allow people to show themselves for who they really are. When she said her name, of course i recognized it and welcomed her to Florida and asked if being the wife of the president of the UCG made her the “first lady” of the UCG. To her credit, she insisted that no it did certainly not do any such thing and that I should regard her as “your sister in the faith”.
As pleasantries continued and we talked about the rather difficult situation that both her and her husband had stepped into, she made the comment that she wasn’t worried because, “you know Tim, it’s all about Jesus”. This immediately set alarm bells off in my head, (because I remembered my own wife saying the same thing as she embraced the heresies of the post-’95 WCG) but all I said was ‘Jesus said He came to reveal the Father” and He also said “I and My Father are one” and then I said, “you sound like Joe Tkach in the late 80′s”.
9 comments:
Throughout the Bible, God uses dispersal as a correctional tool. The Simeonites were dispersed, the builders of the Tower of Babel were confused and dispersed, and David or Israel's enemies were also confused and dispersed. Gamaliel seemed to recognize this principle during the early Christian era.
In terms of trying to assess what might have happened, these folks might want to dig deeper, and reach outside of the typical Armstrong box for answers. Sadly, all sides involved in splinters seem to fall back on the cliches which they learned from HWA.
I admire Mrs. Luker for her comments. Unfortunately, though sincerity is always a good point from which to deal, it is not a reliable indicator of right or wrong.
BB
In regards to Mrs. Luker's comments it is interesting to read all the negative comments that are made on COG boards and blogs about anyone that says Jesus and grace in the same scentence.
The hatred in Armstrongisn of grace shows how spiritually bankrupt the system is!
What happened and why?
That question should be asked about Herbert Armstrong leaving the Church of God Seventh Day.
It's too late, no matter how the question is framed, isn't it?
The core problem is not that UCG is unaware of the personal Jesus factor vs the Kingdom Jesus factor or the Message vs. the Messenger view. The problem is within the text itself. The Gosple of the Gospel Jesus, Peter, James and John is NOT the Gospel taught by Paul. Paul is both for the law and against it depending on what book you read. The Book of James is a rebuttal of Pauls Faith without works diatribe. The more he defends it, the more he confuses it.
The Gosple Jesus would never back the teachings of Paul. The Jerusalem Church was lied to by Paul in Acts 15 about his intentions. He later showed his true colors on those topics.
You cannot wed Paul to the disciples. They were at odds and Paul's gospel truly was his own as was his Jesus. Paul turned the Jesus of the Gospels into the Cosmic Christ who he only met in his head and visions.
Endlessly endeavoring to make the Disciples and Paul "all speak the same thing" is futile. They didn't and don't. Paul bragged about being all things to all men. I think it's obvious you never could nail the boy down as to what he really believed. It truly depended on who he was trying to pull one over on.
The Politics of the NT is IDENTICLE to the Politics of all the COG's and denominations. There is a butt for every seat and people settle out according to personality much more than dedication to the true church and true deity and the true mission of the true Jesus which only one has the key to and the rest are Satans boys.
The Bible itself is the problem. It sends enough conflicting messages for everyone to pick one they like. NEVER in the history of "the Church" was there ever ONE TRUE GROUP. Never! It was a free for all from the beginning and Galatians 1-2 proves it along with James's writings to counter Paul's Romans and sometimes goofy analogies that often broke down and make modern day theologians weep in embarassment.
Paul, not Jesus is the originator of the Church we see today. He wrote most of the NT an managed to rarely if ever quote Jesus or anything about an earthly life recently lived.
Paul was probably nuts :)
Oh, Dennis, you never cease to amaze me. Just when we think we all have our religion figured out and we think we know all about God, then YOU come along and throw a wrench into our little world!
Sorry Steve....I only wanted to Mr. Good Wrenching :)
"The problem is within the text itself."
Dennis, the problem in not with the text, we are the problem.
I'd go with both then. There are problems with the text even though I realize no COG minister training course ever included a decent question about them much less the possibility they existed.
I'd be encouraged if Roderick Meredith ever conducted a Disharmony of the Gospels Class. But they know of no disharmony even when it is staring them right in the face.
Dennis said, "I'd be encouraged if Roderick Meredith ever conducted a Disharmony of the Gospels Class."
MY COMMENT - Now let's not get ridiculous, Dennis. What next? How about a Meredith "come to Jesus" truth admission where he confesses to the brethren that he's been predicting "5 more years" for 50 years now!
Richard
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