Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Lot's of Barley, But Still No Jesus



There have always been fringe groups in Armstrongism that take things to the extreme.  Whether it be intense law keeping or pretending to be Jews. As more and more COG's seem to be watering down Sabbath keeping (as they should) these fringe groups intrench themselves deeper into legalistic mumbo-jumbo that has no relevance.

With the ongoing dissolution of Armstrongism over the last several decades these fringe groups seek to be more Jewish than most Jews are. Apostle Malm is one of those people and has gathered a small group of equally legalistic devotees that pay the law more diligence than they do Jesus Christ.

Apostle Malm bases many of his beliefs around a small group of COG members in Israel who spend countless hours traveling all around Israel seeking to be the first to see the new moon or to find a miniscule piece of barley that is growing in a field. Thousands of miles are driven. Numerous trails are climbed up hills and mountains to be the first to declare that the new moon festival can be started.

One of these small fringe groups has a web site up where they log their travels around Israel looking for barley grain and new moon sightings.  You can read countless entries in their blog/site with no mention of Jesus anywhere.  Legalistic mumbo-jumbo - yes, Jesus - no.

Like any good Armstrongite they apparently know all there is to know about doing this.  Even the real Jews don't know as much as these people.

Today we visited all the areas around the Old City and the Mount of Olives. We expected to find the barley in the flowering stage, and we were not disappointed. Of course, the barley and oats that were growing adjacent to the walls and very stony surfaces had prematurely died. Often, you can see plants in such areas that have just barely cleared the boot with the head and then the plant dies. Remember, color alone does not determine aviv. Unfortunately, many folks who live in this day and age do not have an awareness of such things and can be misinformed. This is why we have endeavored in the past reports over the years to elaborate on such things. They are all there on the website for anyone who has an interest to view them.

All the biblical aspects of the start of the year have been present during our inspections. The least prepared was the barley itself. However, by Wavesheaf Day, there will be abundant fields ready to harvest by biblical standards. That is one of the most important reasons why, as inspectors, we need to understand the growth and maturing process with its timing for barley. It is not a whimsical thing, but a clearly defined science. In the upcoming summary to this year’s inspections, we are going to put together a very detailed report on the entire process.

We put on 350 km and enjoyed the drive through this beautiful agricultural treasure in Israel. We travel to the same locations to inspect the volunteer barley year after year. It has taken many years of relentless driving to find these locations.

All this time wasted looking for gran and no time used to even examine the smallest aspect of what Jesus was trying to get across.  Apparently law and legalism trumps and continues to reign supreme in Armstrongism.

You can read of thier exploits here:  Abib Report 2012

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

"Of course, the barley and oats that were growing adjacent to the walls and very stony surfaces had prematurely died."

Round up will do that. :)

I wonder if these folk know just how Canaanite Pagan all this is. LOL Israelites did not evolve in a vacuum of the peoples they found themselves surrounded by.

M.T.Barleycorn

Andrew said...

Malm and those who view things his way and accept the authority he pawns himself off as, they are a very neurotic bunch of people. They must believe their god to be a very neurotic god, who is trying to engineer a very neurotic kingdom, and only the most neurotic can qualify to enter therein. I sent in my RSVP card saying I'm terribly sorry but I have already made other plans so I cannot be at the neurotic wedding supper.

I myself was born with a mild tendency toward perfectionism, and so I admit that I can sometimes take things further than I need to. I was also born into Armstrongism. I don't think I need to elaborate on the many ways in which this can be a bad mix. I can tell you that perfectionism is a strategy for coping with too much anxiety, fear, stress, and a pessimistic outlook. One the one hand, it leads to high personal standards. On the other hand, I have to consciously counteract it at times because it can also interfere with efficiency and productivity. Given that the tendency exists, this is the healthiest thing I can do with it.

2Tim 1:7 says, "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind."

I know this is only one verse in Malm's bible, but it flies in the face of everything Malm stands for. He champions a spirit of fear, anxiety, and pessimism, while power, love, and a sound mind can take the hindmost. Beyond this, just look at the imperfect world that we live in. (That someone like Malm, who still believes in god, would claim that god created as the "perfect" place for us.) How can anyone strive for "perfect" anything in such a place? The only form of perfection that could be said to exist in this entire universe is perfect balance, as decay continually feeds into rebirth. I guarantee that you will never see the Apostle pontificate on any of this. Malm does a disservice to many by strenuously equating neurotic tendencies with "righteousness," "faithfulness," "zeal." He pushes, not only himself, but other people as well, in unhealthy directions.

This is why I dislike James Malm so much.

Anonymous said...

Not a "grain" of truth to it.

Anonymous said...

Apostle Malk---Taking Jesus With a Grain of Barley

M.T.Bushels

Anonymous said...

Malm

M.T.Spellcheck

Steve said...

I like Malk better. What's he got, about 5 followers?

Anonymous said...

So, I am curious about what the significance of this whole barley thing is. Are they saying that before you can declare the start of the new year, there has to be barley on it's way such that it will be ready to harvest by Pentecost for a wavesheaf offering? Otherwise...what? No new year? What if there were freak weather conditions causing the barley harvest to be late. This does not stop the moon, it does not stop the earth travelling around the sun. What if the barley harvest were to fail altogether. Are they saying that a whole year should be skipped, and we should just keep adding a dozen more Adars to the year we already have? This seems like a completely irrelevant thing today, which would make no difference to anything no matter what the "finding" happened to be.

Anonymous said...

Truly seedy concepts about Jesus and barley Christian at all. Corny concept actually to be taken with a grain of salt. Stalkers of Jesus with barley a kernel of truth in it. I say shuck them and their pollinated views.

M.T.Bushels

Anonymous said...

Apparently, 'M.T. Bushels' is only ready for the Malk, and not the Meat.

In fact, "When the Pope comes", I doubt many will be ready for Malm's coatless newd meat.

Norm