Things are not looking well for the Living Church God Satan seems to be on a rampage against the LCG. The big bad meanie has gotten them kicked off the air on the two largest stations there. They are also close to probably losing the number one station too. There is a reason for this. Since the big bad meanie Satan is the "prince of the power of the air" he is busy removing LCG from the airwaves.
The “prince of the power of the air” is striking directly at the major center of our media efforts in God’s Work today—our television program! We would be stupid not to realize this.
Meredith then goes on to add this morbid wish because LCG is being hit with some bad health issues:
This kind of logic reminds me of the "prosperity gospel" preachers. The more you give the more you will be blessed financially. The more you pray and fast the better the chances you will be healed of horrible diseases. Both are faulty thinking.Therefore, as a Church—the Body of Christ—let us cry out to our Father and ask Him to intervene more than ever to heal His own people, to apply the stripes of Jesus Christ to our bodies and to make us well.
From the Presiding Evangelist
Dear Brethren and Friends,
Thank you for the enthusiastic response so many of you have shown
for the coming Church fast! As Passover approaches, we certainly do need to
draw very close to God, examine ourselves and be sure that we are truly
in the very center of God’s will—as best we can. Even since my last message to
you indicating that we have some serious problems and weaknesses here at
Headquarters, I have received word from Mr. Gerald Weston that—like at
Headquarters—Satan appears to be striking directly at the television area in
Canada. Because we do not have enough “Canadian content,” we are being put off
of our third best station there. Also, because of “doctrinal differences,” we
are being put off of our second best station in Canada. Then, on top of that,
our overwhelmingly major station in Canada, VISION Network, is in
danger because of certain governmental regulations that are being changed.
The “prince of the power of the air” is striking directly at the
major center of our media efforts in God’s Work today—our television program!
We would be stupid not to realize this. All kinds of other “excuses” can be
factored in. But in the end, it is obvious to me that Satan is directly
involved—as it is to a number of others who know all the circumstances. So we
need to seek God our Father in heaven and ask Him to intervene,
to “fight our battles” and to help us do everything we can do to get
these things straightened out so that Christ’s message may go out with
increasing power on television, on the Internet, in publishing, and in every
other way. We will deeply appreciate your fervent prayers, dear
brethren, that God will intervene and help us do everything we can do and should
do so that He can bless us and deliver us in all these situations.
Additionally, we have just heard that Mrs. Dan Hall has come down
with a very serious degree of cancer. She certainly needs our earnest
prayers as well as do many others who have serious illnesses at this
time.
Therefore, as a Church—the Body of Christ—let us cry out to our
Father and ask Him to intervene more than ever to heal His own people,
to apply the stripes of Jesus Christ to our bodies and to make us well. As a
family, we need to love one another, support one another and pray together for
all these things. Please do cry out that God will deliver us from all these
trials and—more than ever—bless us in healings, in our financial income
and media production, and in every other way that we may glorify His name. This
coming day of fasting is certainly a powerful “tool” to make all of this
possible. Let us draw truly close to God with all of our hearts and seek
God at this time in a special way for His help and for His intervention. Thank
you, dear brethren, for your help and your support.
With Christian love,
Roderick C. Meredith
How long will it be before Thiel makes this about LCG not recognizing him being a prophet?
ReplyDeletePoor Satan. Who wants to be the ultimate embodiment of evil when the very being who is supposed to oppose you does nothing to stop you? Booooooring. I guess Satan, like all evil creatures, cannot understand The Big Plan of God.
ReplyDeletePaul Ray
it's Canada, eh...
ReplyDeleteone must be careful about the content of any show broadcast there...so LCG must have been watering down the message in order to be on their stations anyway.
if God wants The Gospel to go out over Canadian airwaves, it will happen.
if He wants it to go out via another medium, tv will cease to be an option.
one must be careful about the content of any show broadcast there...so LCG must have been watering down the message in order to be on their stations anyway. Of course they have. Too bad, but that's the way it is. What's disgusting, however, is Meredith's hypocrisy. He claims he is "crying aloud" and "sparing not" and then compromises his message. He has even said, repeatedly, "We cannot speak out as much as we would like on television on issues like abortion and homosexuality." Nothing wrong with facing that reality, just don't claim you're "sparing not" when you aren't.
ReplyDeleteI see very similar stories from many other cults, such as the JWs. If they all believe they are targeted by Satan and only at most one of them can be the real church since they all say theirs is the only true church then we have a conundrum. The common sense solution to this conundrum is none of them is the real church; they are all cults. Pure and simple.
ReplyDeleteOK, so my comments on CTS and Miracle are on the post above this one; and VisionTV is in regulatory limbo with the CRTC, but that is not going to affect the programming at all, just access to the channel on basic cable.
ReplyDeleteCTS has gone downhill as far as programming is concerned, and AFAIK they are losing money and content hand over fist, but the Miracle Channel is likely what booted TW off the air due to "doctrinal differences" (Vision and CTS both run disclaimers.) The Miracle Channel, as I stated on the post above this one, with one exception that I can think of off the top of my head (Joe Amaral), features the dregs of the scum of this world's religions, so it's not exactly a feather in Spanky's cap to say he was on this channel anyway.
Do I really need to point out that this never happened to the World Tomorrow broadcast? Do these wackos ever stop to ask themselves why?
Not to mention the fact that the Church always got uninterrupted, uncensored, un-disclaimered airtime on secular TV. (Before anyone says it, Six-Pack on WGN doesn't count as being on secular TV.)
I think this is the one that aired last on Vision (I could be wrong); it's worth watching only for the hilarious rant Spanky gives about anointing at the end...ironic in the extreme, when you factor Bob Thiel's "anointing" into the picture.
And why do all these splinter groups insist on calling "church-wide fasts" anyway? They don't have faith that the Day of Atonement is good enough for them (it was good enough for us)? I can't figure it out.....
"one must be careful about the content of any show broadcast there...so LCG must have been watering down the message in order to be on their stations anyway"
ReplyDeleteNope. CTS and Vision both put up great big yellow caution tape-coloured disclaimers beforehand; as far as I can tell, the content remains unchanged. Undoctrinal, mind you, at least from the standpoint of what the Church used to teach, but unchanged.
"if He wants it to go out via another medium, tv will cease to be an option."
ReplyDeleteOh, yes, look how startlingly well the Internet has worked for aaaaaaallll these splinter groups so far. (Note my sarcasm.)
Mind you, it's not working too well for the mothership, either; only a handful of the ministers in the Church even bother with the garbage on the GCI "denominational leadership" website.
Hmm, well at least I have the answer to my question about the splinter groups and their fasts. (This is where I am in my daily Bible reading at the moment, although it was synchronistic that I picked up my NRSVA; I have been making my way through Wycliffe mostly, this year.)
ReplyDeleteThat passage speaks volumes, doesn't it?
There goes Rod Meredith again with his "crying" and "wimping" around. Perhaps all the more reason his stuff should come off of the air!
ReplyDeleteRod cries aloud and spares now with this:
"...Therefore, as a Church—the Body of Christ—let us cry out to our Father and ask Him to intervene more than ever to heal His own people, to apply the stripes of Jesus Christ to our bodies and to make us well..."
Will the Father listen to any of that? Really? Why won't Rod let Isaiah answer that question, because Isaiah says something that Rod disagrees with:
"Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to make your voice to be heard on high." Isaiah 58:4
Rod, et al, what does God say about making your voice(s) to be heard on high??????????
John
"By his stripes, we are healed" from Isa. In the context, isn't he speaking of the Messiah healing us spiritually, from sin, not physical healing? Have you noticed how so many who promote physical healing based on faith that they themselves wear glasses, have teeth filled,etc.? If you remember R. W. Schambach on TV speaking about healing. Well, he had a large scar on his chest from a coronary by pass. I guess God doesn't do heart surgery. And after a healing service some people leave behind crutches, walkers and pill bottles. Where are the prosthetic limbs, glass eyes?
ReplyDeleteJoin Roderick Meredith at the Living Church of God today on his marathon "Fasting for Dollars".
ReplyDelete"Where are the prosthetic limbs, glass eyes?"
ReplyDeleteGod only heals ailments that 1) can actually be less serious than the person makes out, and 2) can be attributed to some other cause. God never, ever, ever heals ailments that can't be faked or attributed to natural causes, like missing limbs and eyes. God must really hate amputees.
Paul Ray
Meredith wrote:
ReplyDeleteThe “prince of the power of the air” is striking directly at the major center of our media efforts in God’s Work today—our television program! We would be stupid not to realize this. All kinds of other “excuses” can be factored in. But in the end, it is obvious to me that Satan is directly involved—as it is to a number of others who know all the circumstances.
Meredith doesn't mention that he, himself, struck directly at his own television program last December by firing his very loyal and Godly television production manager who had become aware of too much internal hypocrisy and scandal within LCG.
Why would Meredith expect God to bless and prosper a television program that even Meredith wanted to curse?
Truth be known, Television , as we know it, will soon be disappearing or be very marginalized.
ReplyDeleteJust like AM radio (or in fact all radio) is being listened to less and less all the time and replace with MP3 or Pandora etc. Same for Newspapers.
Internet, using "On Demand" programming is what people want. This is where the future will be. People watching or listening to what they want, where they want, when they want it.
If I was a church, I would spend 100% of my resources on internet productions and promotion. The dollar for dollar return on investment is the highest there. No need to worry about some network executive not liking your content either. No need to worry about time slots etc. Coverage is everywhere.
No need to worry about postage costs etc. You could even still have a weekly "program" as such to broadcast.
Using TV/radio/print in a short period of time, probably within the next 10 years will be as effective as selling Fuller Brushes door to door.
Most businesses today realize that targeted demographic internet advertising produces the highest rates of return for their products and dollars.
I believe that one of the reasons that you see continued use of the 1960s style WCG evangelism technique, is that this is what older COG people see as "Real" and tangible, and something that they will support financially. This "new fangled" internet thing is not really grasped by the older generation as the MOST POWERFUL communication device ever invented by the older generation.
Heck, it even gives me, good old Joe Moeller a platform here on Banned. In the old days, when I got ticked off about things, all I could do was yell at the back door here at the ranch, and listen to my own echo. This is much better!
Luv,
Joe Moeller
Cody, WY
Meredith is using the time-tested tactic of creating a common enemy in order to consolidate his own power. Like in 2006, when Charles Bryce wrote a private letter to LCG HQ, and the next thing we hear: "Satan is attacking the church". Whenever things are down, just blame Satan. That's a whole lot easier than self-examination.
ReplyDeleteI agree, these guys need to get with a new battle plan.
ReplyDeleteVery selectively, I watch some programs on TBN. Not the clowns, not the actors, and not the extremists. The very few whose messages nourish me spiritually.
Now, TBN is somewhat effective, but because it is a kind of religious programming ghetto, some become turned off by it. That does not mean that it is devoid of all spiritually redeeming materials, however.
Some of the ministries have MP3 players and similar devices which they send predownloaded with their messages to our military around the world, and others who might request them. Others are on an aggressive campaign to put up dishes in unreachable nations, and to give people the devices needed to listen to their gospel related materials in their own native languages. There are those who translate the Bible into minor languages and largely unknown tribal dialects and then distribute the Bibles to the people who speak those languages and dialects. Some smuggle Bibles into countries where Bibles are illegal.
The ACOGs have made very minor adjustments to HWA's mold, but much of this is superficial, and I suspect, orchestrated just to convince the tithe payers that their moneys are effective. But, the ACOGs mostly watch pathetically on the sidelines as larger and growing groups outperform them. These "worldwide" splinters are no longer any larger than your average megachurch, and most large cities have several megachurches impacting their culture as well as the missions they serve around the world.
BB
"Meredith doesn't mention that he, himself, struck directly at his own television program last December by firing his very loyal and Godly television production manager who had become aware of too much internal hypocrisy and scandal within LCG."
ReplyDeleteCharming. Sorry, Leo, I guess this means you really are running the new AW. :-)
"The ACOGs have made very minor adjustments to HWA's mold."
ReplyDeleteI would disagree with this; some of the things the splinter groups spew out fly directly in the face of what the Church taught, when I was growing up; provable by watching the old World Tomorrow and by reading the original Church literature from the same period.
From what I hear, the Church in Canada (or the Canadian Church, as we referred to it; apparently that was a big no-no) was a very different thing, from the Church in either the US or the UK. So that may colour my responses as well. All I know is, the ministers were on-book with what was written in the literature; and even though there were a few rotten apples, by and large, it was the lay-ministry that was problematic, not the pastors themselves.
The only COG show I'll watch now is "King of the Nerds" on TBS. It takes place in Ambassador Hall. That's good enough for me.
ReplyDeleteTV is so old hat. If you want to be somebody today you have to be on the Jeff Rense show.
ReplyDeletenTV is so old hat. If you want to be somebody today you have to be on the Jeff Rense show.
ReplyDeletePS The captcha is often indceipherable
Someone mentioned Charles Bryce. Haven't heard anything about him for years, but here is the upshot of the 2006 incident, from what I have gathered. In 2005, LCG Florida pastor Ben Faulkner, supported by his congregation, started doing a radio show in his local area. This ran contrary to LCG's rules and Meredith send then-ministerial-services director Bryce to Florida to tell Faulkner to stop or LCG would have to fire him. Faulkner called upon his political allies and they pressured (or blackmailed) Meredith into changing his mind, pulling the rug out from under Bryce in the middle of his mission. Angered, Bryce quit his position, resigned from LCG's council of elders, but remained with LCG as a regional pastor in Texas. Interestingly, when Bryce returned to his Charlotte office from Florida, Doug Winnail was already ensconced in it, having returned from England. For the next 18 months, Bryce continued to chafe, finally goading Meredith into firing and disfellowshipping him in December 2006. Interestingly, Faulker quit LCG not too long after original incident anyway.
ReplyDeleteThe most interesting thing to me is what possible blackmail could anyone have on Meredith that would cause him to cave....
"The most interesting thing to me is what possible blackmail could anyone have on Meredith that would cause him to cave...."
ReplyDeleteMy money is on it being sermon tapes from when Spanky and Waterhouse went on a speaking tour of the Feast sites in the late 1980s. There's one in there where Spanky tells husbands to beat their wives....LCG still preaches corporal punishment, by the way, which the Church itself decreed as forbidden in 1983. (There are Church documents on the Friends of the Sabbath website proving this.)
Either that, or it's proof/evidence of whatever underhanded trickery Spanky used to weasel his way back into Church leadership after he was disfellowshipped. Can't stress that last part enough. Anyone in LCG is not even following a member of the Church, never mind the teachings of the Church itself!
"Anyone in LCG is not even following a member of the Church, never mind the teachings of the Church itself!"
ReplyDeleteEh? What mean you by "the Church"? WCG? The body of Christ? Surely, you don't think that being df-ed from WCG necessarily means that you are not a member of the body of Christ any longer?