The Master

There is a new movie coming out that deals with a con man starting a cult similar to Scientology.  It has been getting rave reviews.  Given our history of being involved in another man made cult this might be a great movie to check out.

“The Master” is a dangerous movie. I can’t remember a time in recent memory when I worried about what characters might do when they entered a scene. But when Joaquin Phoenix comes into a frame or scene at any time in “The Master,” you’re really concerned he’s going to hit or kill somebody, or do something utterly wild and unpredictable. His character, Freddie, is an alcoholic and a sociopath. Freddie has just been discharged from the Navy at the end of World War II. He’s a sexual deviant, who we learn later was abused by an aunt. Freddie is also a loner, a drifter whose temper is so bad he can’t hold a job. And then he meets Lancaster Dodd, and his life changes completely.

Dodd is played by Philip Seymour Hoffman. He comes with a family–wife Amy Adams, a daughter and son in law, and a son. What is Dodd? He says he’s a writer and a nuclear scientist, among other things. But he’s also already come up with his own religion, a cult called The Cause. His own son says later that Dodd is just making it up as he goes along. But his wife is sold and is his collaborator. The son in law sees opportunity in it as well. And soon The Cause picks up a couple of wealthy female patrons, played by Patty McCormack (star of “The Bad Seed” in the 1960s) and the much missed Laura Dern. (I wish she were in more movies. She’s spot on.)

There’s so much going on in “The Master,” you almost need two hours and 17 minutes to dissect it. It’s a gritty, edgy, uncomfortable film marked by Freddie’s deviancy and Dodd’s avuncular unease. Phoenix and Hoffman are completely riveting, never once hit a false note, and keep the action moving. Amy Adams peels back a new side of her very interesting, onion like sensibility. She seems to always have new tricks to show us. Knowing that Hoffman and Phoenix are show stoppers, Amy works along the edges until she sees her moment. She’s absolutely terrific.

The Cause is not Scientology per se. But it mimics it. The courses are called “Applications.” There are kind of EEG machines. There’s a violence to the Cause, mostly instigated by Freddie, that has been associated with Scientology. I was reminded of a lot of things– including Oprah tearing up every time a new New Age guru stops by with a book of aphoristic gobbledygook. Dodd knows he’s making it up as he goes along. Wait for the scene when Dern meekly questions something in his book. He’s contradicted an earlier stand. Dodd–Hoffman–loses it, and we get a glimpse into his Machiavellian mind.

But the sham that is The Cause is unveiled–at least for the audience. When Hoffman/Dodd finally reveals his big discovery–what will change everyone’s lives–you just shake your head. It’s as mundane as the stuff that comprises other cults’ revelations. The emperor has no clothes.

The review ends with this:

It’s not an easy movie, it’s not “The Artist” or “The King’s Speech” in that it’s happily embraceable. “The Master” is very sophisticated, mature filmmaking. I’m glad they’re releasing it on Septmber 14th. It’s going to take at least two months for every one to digest it and discuss it before the cacaphony of awards season starts.  “The Master” is a Masterpiece of Filmmaking

The Name of Elijah To Come Is Daniel Dawson! Woo Hoo!

Here is another crackpot Armstrongite that believes he is Elijah.  Reading his blog they look like pleasant people, but are just more in a line of COGers that believe they now need to be Jewish.

     So, two forces or supermen will be in the forefront before the day of the Lord: the son of man, Elijah the prophet (Ez 2:3-5; Mal 4:5), and the man of sin, prince of Tyre the false prophet (2 Thes 2:3-4):

-         The Man of the sin, the False prophet: will represent Satan, the devil (2 Thes 2:8-11 ;Rev 13:11-17)

-         The Son of man, Elijah the prophet: will represent God (Ez 2:3-5; Mal 4:5; Matth 17:11).

         Daniel, the son of man named by God, who will talk to the man of sin at this endtime, cannot be Daniel the prophet of the Old Testament, who died long time ago, and is still waiting in the grave, the resurrection of the saints (Dan 12:9,13 ;Heb 11:39-40).

         Daniel, the son of man who is Elijah, is also the descendant or son of David; his name, then, is literally: “Daniel-Son of David” or “Daniel Dawson”, as God has called him before his birth (Isa 49:1; 45:3-4).

         Jesus, another descendant of David, was also called: Jesus-Son of David ( Dawson ) – (Matth 15:22; 20:30-31; Mark 10:47-48; Luke 1:32; 18:38-39).

         So, the name of Elijah to come is DANIEL DAWSON (Judge of God-Son of David)!Sabbath Fellowship

Dawson is part of a small Messianic group that meets in peoples homes in Washington State.  Given the number of "elijah's" that have come to the forefront in Armstrongism over the last 70 some years, I wonder which number Dawson is?  780? 70? 200?

Homer Kizer: Unrepentant Firstborn Will Be Slaughtered On Passover (Again)

Homer Kizer, another failed Armstrongite false prophet, is overcome with with giddiness that there will be another slaughter of the firstborn on Passover which will begin the tribulation.  If you are the firstborn in your family and have not confessed our sins to Jesus you will be slaughtered on Passover. Of course, like all failed Armstrongite false prophet's,  he gives himself an easy out:

Time is the arbiter of whether the claim that another Passover slaughter of firstborns will occur, will begin the Tribulation is true. There is no other arbiter from inside time. Popularity, following, acquired physical facilities mean nothing. Either what I write will happen, or it won't. If it doesn't, then I will rightfully disappear into the flotsam of history. If it does, then you are without excuse, and your salvation depends upon you believing Christ Jesus. If you are a firstborn, physically or spiritually, and if you do not cover your sins with the blood of the Lamb of God as Jesus gave the example and as Paul taught saints at Corinth, you will die suddenly. If you are a spiritually circumcised son of Abraham and if you have not covered your sins, you will die out of covenant with God. You will, if born again, go into the lake of fire. For there will be a second Passover slaughter of spiritual Egyptians and of Israelites who left their houses before midnight, the conclusion of the sixth hour of darkness.

A Malmite Says: "I’m waiting for “Elijah” to come along who will “hack to pieces” the priests of baal..."

More appalling comments from one of Malm's acolytes:

James, you mentioned that the time may be ripe for the two witnesses. I’m waiting for “Elijah” to come along who will “hack to pieces” (as the KJV says) the priests of baal only this time verbally so to speak. Nothing short of this is going to have an impact, in my opinion.As the old saying goes the best defense is an offense.Thanks for your work!

This person is not looking for a verbal smack down.  They want to see these so call "priests of Baal" killed so that the "truth" can go forward.  They want their god to strike these men down, who ever they may be.  Oh wait!  It's coming from an Armstrongite, so we KNOW who they are talking about.  It's the great whore of Babylon, the Catholic Church.

Eat Some Bacon and the Holy Ghost is Toast!

Oh, and you'll stink, too!

The apostle is having a snit fest today about the sacred and profane.  Can you imagine sharing a cave in Petra with this guy?  You wont even be able to blow your nose without being told it is a sin.

God commands us not to consume or even to touch the unclean thing.  This is an object lesson and a TEST. Will we obey God, or will we do what we or some man decides is right?

We may consume or use ONLY the dead bodies of creatures that have been sanctified by the word of God.
1 Ti 4:4   For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving: ⁵ For [if] it is sanctified by the Word of God and prayer.  Anything that is contrary to the word of God [adultery, murder, consuming the unclean thing, observing Sunday or any other day instead of God's commanded Sabbath (sunset Fri to sunset Sat) etc etc]  is sin.

I remember dingy comments like this years ago when part of WCG as a child.  Hush Puppy shoes were sometimes made with pig skin and it was considered a sin to wear them.

We spend a lot of time avoiding pork, other unclean creatures, furs, and the skins of unclean creatures, and that is good; yet we have failed to learn the spiritual lesson of this physical command. The New Covenant is a spiritual Covenant involving the presence of the Holy Spirit of Almighty God.
One major lesson of the clean and the unclean is that God will not tolerate even the slightest presence of sin.

The apostle is not allowing any of his women to wear mink or chinchilla furs or for that matter any fur!  Maybe this is another reason his wife left him after he threw out all her furs and unclean leather shoes.

We are not to consume or even to touch the dead body of any unclean creature.  That includes skins and furs.

The hair or wool sheared from LIVING animals may be used, as the operative concept is DEATH, with the dead unclean creature picturing the person who dies in wickedness remaining polluted by sin.
The clean creature picture the righteous godly person and the unclean pictures the person who is spiritually unclean before God through rebellion and compromise with the law and commandments of God.  The dead bodies of the clean animals picture those persons clean from sin, through their faithfulness to God and awaiting their resurrection to eternal life as Christ the Lamb of God was resurrected to eternal life; the dead bodies of the unclean picture persons who are polluted by sin.

Get thee behind me Starbucks!  I rebuke you McDonald's!  In the name of Jesus, I command you Baskin and Robbins BE GONE!  Damn, no more treats on that long drive home after a mind numbingly boring church service.

To tolerate sin without rebuking it is to tolerate spiritual uncleanness among us! To compromise with the Sabbath and pay others to work for us in restaurants is to not only tolerate sin, it encourages the sin of polluting the Sabbath and it is active participation in other men’s sins.

Did you know  that when you have that pork hotdog you automatically start to stink and smell like a sewer?

When we eat we internalize what we eat, and when we touch filth we become polluted with that filth.
If you put your hand in sewage; would you not then wash it to cleanse it?
The lesson is the same, and God used certain animals to teach us about eating and internalizing evil. He used the very touching of the unclean dead body to teach us that dipping our hand in the wickedness of spiritual sewage will make us unclean and detestable to God.
If we have been exposed and touched evil we are contaminated with that evil and need to be cleansed; just like a person handling sewage begins to stink of that sewage. And if we actually eat the physical unclean thing which is representative of internalizing spiritual sewage; how much more do we stink of sin before our God?

That BLT sandwich you had today is going to cause the Holy Ghost to high tail it out of you!  Swoosh!  Did you feel it just leave?

Lets get this clear: Almighty God will NOT tolerate anyone who compromises with HIS commandments or who breaks his laws; they will be rejected from being his Spiritual Temple!
Let’s make this even clearer: Almighty God will NOT dwell in a filthy sinful environment!
God’s spirit will NOT remain in a willfully sinful person! And we become willfully sinful the minute we begin to make excuses for sin; when we say that we are only weak flesh and that he will forgive, and then use that as an excuse to avoid any serious effort to overcome.
If we justify working on Sabbath [sunset Friday to sunset Saturday] by saying that God is love and he would not want us to lose our jobs: WE ARE SINNERS and God’s spirit will leave us if we do not quickly and sincerely REPENT!

Is Your Salvation At Risk If You Use Gel Caps?

I should have known it would only be a matter of time before the apostle would stick his nose into members medicine cabinets.  The medicine cabinets of COG members are always in the leaderships domain as are kitchens.

Beware you heathens that use gel caps or take Condriton. Your salvation is at risk if you dare consume these things!

The Malm writes:

Gel caps and geletine based capsuls are not acceptable unelss they are agar or beef hide based. You can internet and email such questions to the manufacturer.

Discuss the matter with your physician or pharmacist, most medications are chemically produced and it is the caps that are the problem.

There are some things like Condriton that are made from shellfish which should be totally avoided. Beware of iron suppliments that are made from hemoglobin. Also clearly unclean things like shark oil.

List of common medications. http://www.savealife.org/kosher.htm

Remember that acceptabe medications are widely available, to the billion or so Muslims and jews demanding acceptable medication.

Apparently insulin is also can be a sin.

Re unclean pharmaceuticals, I think that some thyroid medications are made from pigs. Anyone on this kind of med might like to ask for an alternative to the “porcine” derived thryoid medication.

Years ago I opted for synthetic insuline for this reason. James

Abomination of Desolation To Be Set Up In 2-3 Weeks

Guess which one of our favorite legalistic Armstrongite crackpots said this:

Right now we are almost ending Aug and are at a critical time for these signs to appear or not.

In the following few weeks one of  three events will happen:

1)   Pope Benedict dies and is replaced, with the abomination being set up in the Papacy.

2)   Pope Benedict is strengthened and empowered to do miracles being set up as the abomination.
 Remember that Benedict does number 666 in the Koine Greek of Revelation.  This would allow him to start at the run, already having his organizational support set up, as he has ordained most of the Cardinals in the RC church based on their loyalty to him and his positions.

3)   Nothing of this nature happens and we have more time to make ourselves ready.

I expect that we will have enough time to know for sure by the Feast of Tabernacles.

I want to make it very clear that it is the biblical signs that are the key; and that the most important thing in the universe is:  Thy Will Be Done!

For these next few weeks it is most important that we are Wide Awake and Watching Closely for these biblical signs, of the abomination being set up and a genuine dialogue on peace and safety in the Middle East.

and this:

Benedict through his Secretary of State Cardinal Bertone has been working hard behind the scenes to set up the New Europe and the Pope is now openly intervening to help facilitate a New Order in Europe.

Benedict is now openly intervening in the European situationn and since he follows the traditions of men and the Catholic church instead of the word of God, and since the name Benedict numbers out to 666 in the Koine Greek of Revelation, it is quite possible that  Pope Benedict may be strengthened and empowered to do miracles, being set up as the abomination in mid September.

and this:

News is fast coming that strongly indicates that Pope Benedict will be empowered to become the abomination in mid Sep!!!

and this:

I have speculated that the tribulation could begin this year saying that there was as much as an 80% possibility.  I said this based on the fact that the days of Daniel 12 fit exactly into the period of the  1,290th day on the sixth day of ULB, and then adding another 45 days to the 1,335th day on the day before Pentecost.

Of course this means nothing unless the biblical signs including the setting up of the abomination at the beginning of the days [mid Sep] are seen.

The keys are God’s declared and revealed signs, NOT our speculations.

It's our buddy Apostle Malm!  No shocker there though.  Same old nonsense.

UCG Members Pray To Be Protected From "...these unsavory elements." i.e. COGWA Members

Here is more from the story about the Zambian cattle rustling episode with UCG  members and COGWA members.  Apparently the prayers of the UCG members to be saved and protected from the unsavory COGWA's inspired a cow to return home three times after a COGWA member supposedly stole it. Three times! There must be some prophetic interpretation as to that number.

We would like to update you about what happened with cattle stolen by leaders of a dissident break-off group in Zambia. Four oxen were stolen. One ox, called "Avilo" walked back to its rightful owner three times. The deacon of the break off group who took the animal finally gave up going after it. 

People have asked, "what's the big deal with just a few cows?"  What many don't realize is that a four year old ox is a very valuable asset worth about two years income or more. The oxen were taken only from members of the United Church of God using the name LifeNets at a critical time of planting.  This was a warning to others who had been given cattle by LifeNets what happens when they stay with the United Church of God. We have asked the rogue director of LifeNets to cease and desist using the name LifeNets per an agreement we came to in 2004. He has refused.  For a while he changed the name LifeNets to "Life Shine" for an unknown reason, but has since changed it back to LifeNets. 

This behavior is deplorable, but we are not surprised at the ethics of an organization that calls theft "growth" and  is seriously challenged by telling the truth. We know that in the end God will not be mocked. We thank all who have prayed for the safety of our people and for protection from these unsavory elements. 

We are greatly saddened that what relationships we have built, what humanitarian work was done and funding we provided has been turned against us because of becoming embroiled in someone else's selfish controversy far way. We are happy to report a thriving church of 400 in Zambia that has survived nobly through God's Spirit and discerning brethren who have  become stronger than ever.  Again, we thank you for your concern and prayers.

McFlurry and Jr. McFlurry Want Your Money!

PCG is out after your money! Members have been instructed how to easily transfer their assets to PCG after their death. A Royal Vision article asked whether Christians should concern themselves with how their possessions will be distributed after they die.  Obviously since you will be fleeing to Petra very soon, why on earth do you need all of your money to buy a new car, or a house?  Why waste it on your grand kids or schooling for your children?  Why leave a legacy to your children and grandchildren?

So what kind of "possessions" is Flurry after? 


•Certificates of deposit (CDs)
•Checking accounts
•Savings accounts
•Money markets
•Mutual funds
•Stock or bond accounts
•Insurance policies
•Cash assets
•Physical possessions

Six Pack and Junior McFlurry need to fund their lavish lifestyles at the expense of the brethren.  

Van Robinson On: "Worldwide Church of God Splinter Groups---The Plain Truth"

The plain truth about all splinter groups of the Worldwide Church of God, is that if you are a member of any of them you ARE NOT being persecuted because others speak out.  The real motive of every "pastor" or "elder" of all splinter groups of the WCG is self-importance, even if any of them are sincere in what they do and preach.  Sincerity is not a surety or guarantee of truth and never has been.  Speakers in pulpits may speak with conviction, but conviction does not mean there is a guarantee of truth from the speaker.  In the world of politics, the world is overrun with human beings who have political aspirations and they speak with conviction to convince those who listen to them to cast their vote for them.

Splinter group leaders of the WCG are human beings with great ego.  They present themselves as reps for truth and God.  Many of us have long ago taken an exit from following human "pastors" or "elders", knowing that no man or woman is God in the flesh, even though many seem to think they are.  The "secret" that the common church goer is unaware of is that the man in the pulpit DOES NOT represent God or truth.  The man in the pulpit represents no one other than himself and the simple minded believe this character is God's agent on earth.

The PLAIN TRUTH is that every splinter group of the Worldwide Church of God, is a man-made institution, founded for no purpose other than to gratify the ego of the ruler of the group.


Van Robison

Dennis On: "What Do You Mean? "It's Just a Story""

What Do You Mean? "It's Just a Story"

If I had not....
 

...had a handicapped brother in the 1950's who had a bad habit of lighting the curtains on fire at our house.....then my parents  would not have felt he had to receive better care at a New York State Hospital.

Had he not been sent the NYS Hospital for the handicapped...my parents would not have seen so many parents drop their handicapped children off and never come back....

If my parents had not seen so many parents not come back to see their handicapped children ever, after dropping them off...they would not have started the Sunshine League for parents of handicapped children who did that and needed to go see their handicapped children and keep them in their lives.

If there had been no Sunshine League...my parents would not have met the Rosenthal family who also had a handicapped son who felt they needed to help stopping parents from just abandoning their handicapped kids to the State.

Had the Diehl's not met the Rosenthals, they would not have become such close friends and even vacationed together as adults and kids in the Adirondaks.

Had the Diehl's and the Rosenthal's not vacationed together, Jim Rosenthal and my sister would never have met. 

Had they never met,  Jim would never have asked his mom 15 years later if she knew anyone he could date when he came home from Ranger School in Boise, Idaho.

Had he not asked and the Diehl's not known the Rosenthal's from years earlier, she would not have suggested Diane.  

Having suggested Diane, and Diane saying yes  (she could have said no) they would not have married and moved to Idaho.

Had they not moved to Idaho they may never have heard of the WCG and asked for a visit which ended them up attending WCG in Boise, Idaho.
 

Had they not asked if I wanted to come for a visit and had I not said "you bet," I never would have picked up the Plain Truth during some pretty boring days visiting.

Had I not gone to church and heard a sermon on the size of the universe and realized that I never heard a sermon like  that, I may have forgotten all about it, but I didn't.

If there had been no Vietnam war, no JFK, RFK and MLK blown away,even though we didn't start the fire....I may not have thought of going into the ministry.

Had I chosen Roberts Wesleyan Seminary instead of AC I would have had a different religious experience but I went Pasadena instead and now how that went.

Had I not been able to stop my icy slide down the side of San Jacinto Peak 3000 feet to the desert floor in a stupid move on a freshman field trip....

Or...missed a flight to Boise that was hit by a fighter jet...

Or...choked to death on piece of meet at dinner

Or...killed in a head on in Kentucky that I still can't figure out to this day where that car headlight to headlight went..

Or...a whole bunch of other stuff

I'd have a different story to tell.  Or others would tell a different story about me.

But, none of us are our story because the story could go ten thousand different ways at any point along the way.  A left instead of a right.  A yes instead of a no.  A wave instead of a sneer.  


Someone else making a decision about you when they could have just as easily made it about someone else....is all it would take. 

We are not our story even though if the story is stressful enough, we have to medicate our "selves" to live with it.  If we seek counseling , what we really are doing is working through our story.  We council in how the story went.  How it hurt us or made us this way or that.  We try to understand the story or rewrite the story or maybe fix it.  But all that is within the story and we all have one.  

So what do we do with our stories?  I so have to watch out starting my story these days with, "I used to be a pastor."  You see, we all identify our selves by our story and giving up that story for a new one is not easy.  Actually most never do.  Most of us hunker down in our story and repeat it over and over as if somehow some magical change would come to make the story go away.  We are all capable of getting stuck in the muck of the anger, disappointment, fear, skepticism and resentment our story brought to us in living color.  

The mind has a wonderful trip it plays on our true self to keep the story going or at least to keep the rancor and bitching alive and well.  It builds us a pain body that hibernates mostly but then needs to come out and feed so that we never forget we have a story to tell and usually how bad it all was.  

Indulge me a bit on Eckhart Tolle's view of the pain body.  I find this rather hard to argue with.  From a comment by Barbara Clark...

"Our pain-bodies are the energy of our past hurts: the bumps, bruises and scars of life that we never really dealt with fully in the moment. The result is that we carry that pain in an energy field within us.

We all experience pain in our lives and pain-bodies are both individualistic and collective. Whether that pain is from individual circumstances or part of a collective pain because of our identity with a particular group in history that has suffered, negative things do happen to people.

Some people and groups have heavy pain-bodies and it is precisely these people who have a better chance to awaken spiritually than people with lighter pain-bodies.

Most people probably do not want to recognize that there is something within them that seeks negativity, pain and drama. But the reality is that for many, negativity is an addiction. Pain-bodies feed on negative emotion.

Nowhere are our pain-bodies more obvious than in our relationships. Often each partner will re-enact their drama frequently. The pain-body knows exactly which buttons to push in your partner, and it feeds on this drama in personal relationships.

So how do you recognize your pain-body? Becoming aware of your pain-body is the first step in diffusing it. However, it is not often easy to see the pain-body in ourselves, so it is often much easier to see the pain-body in another.

How do you strive to continually diffuse your pain-body? Author Tolle suggests that we must constantly strive to be present. Instead of being “caught up in the mental movie making” of our thoughts and emotions from the past or concerns for the future, he says that we can learn to not add to our pain-bodies by becoming as present as possible in all situations.

It doesn’t matter if these negative thoughts and emotions are from years ago or just minutes ago: continually practicing being present diminishes our pain-bodies because in doing so, “our very Presence then becomes our identity.”

Pain-bodies will fight hard to stay alive, so you may be thinking how could you let go of past hurts or collective suffering? Some may argue that we have to remember; that it is part of our collective identity as women or minorities, for example. Alternatively, individual pain-bodies may heavily identify with traumatic things that happened in our childhood. While there is nothing wrong with remembering, there is a difference if we define ourselves by our suffering. This is the pain-body feeding upon itself and in doing so, the energy of all that suffering becomes our identity. So the challenge is to move away from defining ourselves by our past and we do this by becoming present."

Consider this: “Nothing ever happened in the past that can prevent you from being present now: and if the past cannot prevent you from being present now, what power does it have?”-  The New Earth-page 141

I don't know why I had to have the story I did with WCG, but I know it was just one of thousands of possibilities.  I can't change the story that has already unfolded but I can change the one that opens up from now on.  

"Comedian" Bill Hicks said it well.

"The world is like a ride in an amusement park. And when you choose to go on it, you think it's real because that's how powerful our minds are. And the ride goes up and down and round and round. It has thrills and chills and it's very brightly colored and it's very loud and it's fun, for a while. Some people have been on the ride for a long time and they begin to question, is this real, or is this just a ride? And other people have remembered, and they come back to us, they say, "Hey - don't worry, don't be afraid, ever, because, this is just a ride."  And we kill those people.

I'm just sayin......

 

Dennis C. Diehl
DenniscDiehl@aol.com

God Gave The U.S. A Chance To Repent 7 Years Ago And It Did Not!

Armstrongism's magical god certainly is getting a work out lately.

From Facebook:

We all know God works in cycles, the #7 cycle being the one we all know! God gave New Orleans a major warning to repent 7 years ago when hurricane Katrina caused over a Billion dollars in damage. Apparently New Orleans and AMERICA has not repented. Hurricane Isaac will sweep into New Orleans 7 years to the day. WILL AMERICA AND EACH ONE OF US REPENT THIS TIME??

I wonder who Armstrongism's god is actually pissed at.  The folk in New Orleans, or the COG evangelists and ministers committing adultery, who steal tithe money for their own use, who utter false prophesies, who are arrogant and narcissistic, who stalk members and threaten them?  The list could go on and on.  Maybe this is a wake up call for the COG to open their eyes?

Samuel Martin on the Feminine Voice In Scripture

Samuel Martin (son of Earnest Martin, WCG) has a series of posts on his blog about the feminine voice that is found in a lot of scripture.  This is sure to gall many diehard Armstrongite leaders because God only works through men, at least in their eyes.

Samuel writes:

Yes, these books are known in ancient times by the Hebrew name, Megillot (meaning festival scrolls because they were read on specific festivals in the Hebrew calendar) and they appear in this order in the Hebrew Bible. We’ll have much more to say about this in future posts because I believe these books are full of feminine voices.

However, a major feminine voice appears in the book of Proverbs, which merits investigation. This text, in fact, is so obvious and presents us with an urgent blinking light telling us to pay attention, I think. So, of late, I’ve given Proverbs a fresh look and I am indeed glad that I did.

Before we get into that though, let’s look at this obvious text with a specific feminine voice. It is found in Proverbs 31 and I think it provides a type of a key of understanding.

No, it is not the “perfect woman” text per se that I want to draw your attention to. No! It is who the author of it is! The source of that section of Scripture is a woman! The evidence cannot be clearer.

“The words of King Lemuel. An oracle that his mother taught him:” (Proverbs 31:1 ESV)

Much more research is needed on this issue because not only did Lemuel’s mother teach her son some exceedingly beautiful and inspiring teachings, she did it in such a way that the English reader might not catch.

----

Now, if we take a look at this abecedarian poem in Proverbs 31 through Mediterranean eyes a bit, what we may see here is a glimpse of a song/poem that a mother made up for her son (which is exactly what the text of Proverbs 31;1 says) with the idea that it would help him remember the qualities of a woman that she hoped him to find.

And who better to know the desirable qualities of a woman than a woman herself? A mother knows and cares more than anyone else about the type of woman that their sons marry! This is especially the case in a patriarchal society where daughters would leave the home and join the families of their husbands whereas wives would enter the home from outside of the immediate family and become a part of a new family.

The investment and interest that a mother has over who her future daughter in law is in such a society is of prime importance because it is her son who will be caring for her in her old age as she will probably outlive her husband. So, this is no small point for the future harmony of households in ancient and even modern times.

Now, this is just a taste of where I am going with this, but in the next post I will do, we are going to look at Proverbs 1-9 anew.

Feminine Voices In Proverbs?

The Church of God Trojan Horse

Silenced has an excellent post today on the desire of the Churches of God to live on the "fringe" while trying to maintain an air of respectability.  Silenced looks at UCG's recent attempt to try and be hip and cool with a series of videos trying to make God cool.  UCG is trying to imitate the successful  series of videos and books by Rob Bell called NOOMA over the last few years.  UCG cannot even come close.

Silenced is correct in calling UCG's video's "Trojan Horses" as they try to infiltrate mainstream Christianity.  Their videos may look harmless on the surface, but it's the deadly message inside the horse that is going to cause problems.

Living on that lonely edge has deterred growth, the COG withering on a vine of its own planting as it continues to promote a closed culture of control and unorthodoxy for its own sake. COG attempts to distinguish itself from the packs of other doomsday followings haven’t made the church stronger or more recognizable, nor has it added power to its message or microphone. Instead, the COG is left to dwell in obscurity even while trying to pour more money into its media projects. What most COG groups don’t seem to understand is that growth problems aren’t rooted in a lack of money and resources, things it constantly tries to hustle from its members for bigger and better toys. Rather, its message isn’t gaining popularity or recognition because it continues to embrace HWA’s legacy of rejecting the mainstream in a world it’s trying to warn.

In short, the cult’s message just isn’t inherently appealing to most and it hasn’t figured out a way to package fringe beliefs in more publicly-palatable packaging. COG tactics are outmoded and obsolete in the digital age, its words don’t resonate with the current generation and it simply comes across as insane.

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 Take UCG’s recent series of short clips, including the infamous Sand and Drive. These were attempts to flirt with mainstream Christian imagery and messages as a Trojan horse for its more unorthodox teachings.

Read their excellent entry here:  Packaging the Fringe

E W King: Hurricane Issac Punishment From God

Here we go again, another hurricane and Armstrongism's magical god comes to blowing in to punish heathen America for its sins. 

I remember years ago sitting in Jekyll Island as the tent was bouncing from the wind of an approaching hurricane with groups of men  holding each tent poles to try and stop the tent from blowing away.  Never mind the fact that the ministry of the Church was more concerned about holding a service than they were with the safety of the members.  Of course the story line then was that Satan was using the hurricane to destroy God's true church.  So the minister prayed, the hurricane turned around and went and killed hundreds in Cuba.  The Feast site rejoiced.  It did not matter that their "prayers" magically sent the hurricane to Cuba where it killed and destroyed property.  That apparently was OK in order for the TRUE Christians to be spared.

Every natural disaster that hits the US brings out the lunatics and spiritual deviates as they blame tornadoes, hurricanes and earthquakes on gays, abortionists, atheists, etc.  It's always "the other" that cause these things.

I am sure right now every single splinter cult leader is broadcasting out news that Satan is trying to keep the True Church from keeping the Feast in Florida, Mississippi and Alabama this year.  I don't even need to check their web sites because I know they are doing it.  History proves that.

So in typical grand Armstrongite style, E W King trumpets out today that the hurricane that bypassed Florida and that is pounding New Orleans and Gulf Coast is because a Mormon is running for president.

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

The Romney Storm...it's happening!

The Romney Storm

Many of you have read my “Prophecy Forecasts”. In early April of this year I posted a list of possible events. I have warned [as I did last year] that God may send violent storms to warn this nation not to vote for a president who follows a false prophet. Read my April forecast and look what has happened!

Now I have waited to see if Mr. Romney would postpone the Republican Convention due to the respect of those in New Orleans. Did he? NO, he did not. While the Republicans are having a party [at the same time] the hurricane will hit. Wow! This is a forecast of just what is ahead under Mr. Romney’s presidency [if elected]. The Real Worldwide Church of God-Really Real

Jeff Neil: Have You Had Your Music Bath Today?

Jeff Neil, another crazy splinter cult leader who calls himself the "WCG Preceptor," wants to encourage all of you reprobates out there to take regular music baths. Worldwide Web Church of God

Good music is to the soul as a good bath is to the body. We should try to take a good music bath regularly. Here are three very beautiful pieces of instrumental music:

Theme From a Summer Place with Percy Faith's Orchestra

Maria Elena by Los Indios Tabajaras

Stranger on the Shore with Acker Bilk

Regarding giants among us:

The Biblical book of Genesis Ch. 6 verse 4 records: "There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown." The skeletons of many giants have been discovered over the years, ranging in size from 8.5 feet to 36 feet tall!

Regarding Jesus and long hair

For many years sincere Christians worldwide have held the belief that Christ did not have long hair. The reason for that was the biblical statement found in 1 Cor. 11:14 “Does not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame to him?” Well, new research has discovered that Christ may actually have worn his hair a lot longer than we may have thought!

Our modern idea of ‘short hair’ and that of Our Lord’s days are vastly different. Back then hair to the collar or shoulder was not considered ‘long’, but in fact short; a man’s hair was only considered ‘long’ when it passed the centre of his back down to his buttocks. On this information, Christ did not have long hair at all… In fact our modern haircuts of shaved heads and near shaved heads would have been considered a shame in those days by the Christians, as only the pagan religions had shaved heads in their priesthoods (eg: Ancient Egypt and Babylon).

Absalom, the son of David the King of Israel, used to poll/cut his hair only once per year, and only then because it was heavy on him because he had very thick hair. The average man therefore, would have cut his hair even less often than Absalom. (II Samuel 14:25-26).