Rod Meredith and the Living Church of God redesigned their Tomorrow's World magazine recently. In it Rod is declaring that LCG is BOLDLY shouting the word of God to the world. Bob Thiel, the non-ordained self-appointed prophet claims LCG is too afraid to do that. Is Rod attempting to prove him wrong?
It contains the usual COG material on end times malarkey and Catholic bashing. Then as usual, with all Living Church of God publications, it has to resort to sex.
This time the focus is on all these huge erect penises in cities around the world. You know, that huge pointy phallus in Washington DC that was almost circumcised during the earthquake a year or so ago.
Davy Crockett writes:
According to Davey the entire world is filled with these erect bulbous shafts with hoards of people gathered around them worshiping them.May-June 2013What do Mecca, Jerusalem and Vatican City share with London, Paris, New York City, and Washington, D.C.? In these cities, and in others around the globe, sometimes in the most incongruous locations,we often find great obelisks. Some are actual relics from ancient Egypt—where the design originated—while others are modern interpretations of this ancient theme.
Davy and the Living Church of God seem to be under the impression that people gather around these erect phallus's worshiping them. They ride up the shafts and then peer out slits to the world below them. When they do this they are worshiping the penis.
Where else is this obelisk design or something very similar to it, often found? Think of the many Protestant church buildings with their soaring steeples, or the minaret towering above a Muslim mosque. Many great Roman cathedrals prominently display these ancient architectural features.
So what does LCG's all powerful masculine He-man God say about these pagan edifices?
Ancient Egyptians worshiped many gods,including a sun god—and the obelisk was an important symbol in that worship. The Egyptians, like many other ancient pagan peoples, ascribed mysterious power to symbols, particularly those picturing fertility, abundant crops or healing. These customs spread to other cultures and remain widespread, even in our present day, where the obelisk and other similar spires have become a familiar icon not only of professing Christianity, but also of secret societies such as the Freemasons.
These are natural reactions, but what does God say about the matter? Interestingly, if we look into the Bible, we find that the way we worship and honor God the Father makes a great deal of difference to Him. A quick search for the phrase “sacred pillars” in the New King James Version Bible reveals at least 15 references, each associated with instructions to remove or destroy those symbols of pagan worship .
The basis for this instruction is found in the Second Commandment, “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them” (Exodus 20:4–5). Further,in His instruction to the nation of Israel, God said, “When you come into the land which the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominations of those nations” (Deuteronomy 18:9).
Somehow Davy uses this to justify the LCG tradition the LCG using rented halls for church services. Somehow we went from erect phallic symbols to meeting in Masonic Lodges. Oh wait, I get the picture!The principle is clear. God chooses how He is to be worshiped, and He does not find it acceptable when His people take it upon themselves to use the methods, practices or symbols of false, pagan religions in an effort to worship Him. In fact, not only does He reject such worship; He considers it an abomination. Again and again, throughout Scripture, God instructs His people to remove these symbols of paganism (Deuteronomy 7:5). In the worship of God, there is no room for pagan tradition.
Some may say, “But these are beautiful traditions!” Yes, perhaps they are beautiful to mankind. But Jesus Christ let the people of His day know—very plainly—that in the true worship of the true God, “tradition” cannot be substituted for truth. “He answered and said to them, ‘Why do you also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition?’” (Matthew 15:3).
Why does every single thing that the LCG puts out have to resort to sex? This sick obsession is discredits the church immensely.It can certainly be enjoyable to worship God in a building of beauty and quality. But He does not require the use of fine buildings. Rather, He insists on being worshiped in spirit and truth (John 4:24). True worship in modest surroundings, even in rented halls, does please Him, in a way that the finest man-made traditions taken from pagan worship never will. We should never forget this in our worship of the one true God.
The next thing we will see in the LCG publication is an article on the sexual implication of lighthouses and how people gather around worshiping them.
Weird...
ReplyDeleteI thought that only Mr. Dave PACK-age had a disguised penis while wearing his skin tight shorts.
Joe Moeller
Cody, WY
Its not only DP that likes tight shorts. Some of Gerald Flurry's men like to flaunt themselves around kids at Summer Camp in their bike shorts.
ReplyDeleteLOL, It's pretty clear that in the days of old these "Sacred Pillars" were being literally worshipped. I have yet to see ANYBODY surround a sacred pillar, or a steeple, or any edifice, and fall down, and bow to the "Sacred Pillar" and worship it. This was about worship, not a "tallywacker"! (I am not fond of the medical word.)
ReplyDeleteNo one worships these things in an idolatrous manner, nor do they, to me, even resemble a Johnson. The fact they see a Johnson when they look at a national monument - which is not the shape of a Johnson - is disturbing.
Hehe, his name is ROD.
ReplyDeleteWhat a perv...those of you who had the distinct displeasure of attending any of his classes in Pasdena know exactly what I mean. The old Meredith creepy leer isn't something you can unsee.
I have to say anyone who thinks everything that stands tall is a phallic symbol but be sick, and in desperate need of professional help. Seriously.
ReplyDeleteIf any art student drew such an obelisk when assigned to draw a penis, he'd probably receive an F, or Double F on the project.
ReplyDeleteThese guys are just batshit crazy when it comes to these things! They must think God is a sex pervert for designing the banana, cucumber, carrot, parsnip, or peter-pepper!
Nobody around the world associates obelisks with the penis, sex symbols, or pagan worship, except the students of one Herbert W. Armstrong!
I remember how weird everyone in our family, in the neighborhood, and at school thought we were when my parents dragged us into WCG following a family tragedy! In a way, we brought it on ourselves, by sharing these sorts of "new truths". That's before we learned from the church that we shouldn't be sharing the gospel, or even be concerned for the people who would come up in the second rez. (ROF-LMAO!)
BB
Well, I guess all beef hot-dogs should be out of the question for consumption in Armstrongism right? Or turkey-dogs? Or beef sausage links? Or do they not meet the "criteria" for sacred pillars? Why not be a "voice crying out" against hot dogs because of their obvious comparison to male anatomy?!
ReplyDeleteCome on! These things are just food, just like obelisks are just obelisks! There is no way our society compares to those of antiquity. No one worships either. Seriously. It's just as crazy to think that Armstrongism goes bat crazy over anything that looks like a pillar. NO ONE thinks these obelisks and monuments are sacred. They're just that - obelisks and monuments.
Something tells me the first thing these people would do if they had such authority to do so would be to create in their version of government the "World Tomorrow Obelisk, Steeple, Crosses, Bell and Tall Edifice Removal Commission" as a priority. Weird!
To the good people of Charlotte:
ReplyDeleteI propopse that you build an amusement park across the street from Rod Meredith's Living Church of God headquarters. As part of the attractions, please construct an obelisk. Design and construct a rubber ring capable of motion, just before noon every day, and just prior to midnight. At approximately 11:57, strategically placed motors should begin moving the ring up and down the obelisk while Foghat's "Slow Ride" plays on the P.A. system. At precisely 12:00 there should be a forceful eruption of some sort of biodegradable material from the tip of the obelisk. Hopefully, some of this material will occasionally splash on to the LCG buildings and staff.
Hah! Then perhaps Rod will be justified in his complaints about obelisks!
BB
BB, you are just as sick as they are.
ReplyDeleteThis is the most pressing matter Meredith can come up with? He's just as far out there as James Malm. This is garbage. It's either filler or how Rod distracts himself from his own failures at overcoming or living up to christian ideals.
ReplyDeleteI can't help but think this is residual jealousy over the fact that GTA's rod attracted so much more tail than Rod's rod ever did. GTA's dead now, and Rod probably can't raise a flagpole anymore anyway...but the jealousy is still too deeply ingrained...
ReplyDeleteJust about as sensible as that stupid Taliban destroying priceless historical art because they considered a Buddha and idol. If you want to find the highest level of stupidity around, just look for the most rligious person around. Bingo!
ReplyDeleteOh but they would agree with the Taliban. They tore down "pagan" things. That is what all TRUE COG members will be doing in the Kingdom.
ReplyDeletewhy all the infatuation with penises?
ReplyDeletecreation was "good" until God made man, then it became "very good"....and they weren't wearing clothes then.
somewhere along the line, the penis became the most evil disgusting thing ever created....so disgusting, in fact, that we can't even admit to it's existance.
humans are a daft lot.
As one who used to devotedly follow Meredith and his LCG cult J. Davy Crockett III's ridiculous article condemning obelisks I feel renewed shame and embarrassment that I ever associated myself with HWA, Meredith, LCG, Thiel, etc.
ReplyDeleteLike many cult followers I was tricked into following them under false and deceitful premises.
Stop reading Alexander Hislop's The Two Babylons! It is complete nonsense, as Ralph Woodrow in his book, The Babylon Connection?, proved.
From xHWA at http://xhwa.blogspot.com/2008/12/babylon-connection.html
"What it comes down to is that Hislop took ancient myths from around the world, or even artistic renderings of mythical figures, distorted the information to his liking, and then attributed it to Nimrod… oh, and Semiramis… and Cain, Noah, Adam, Satan, and a host of other people. For example, on pages 7 through 9, Woodrow lists FIFTY NINE separate mythological, Biblical, and historical figures that Hislop claims are other names for Nimrod. If taking three pages to list the various identities of Nimrod isn’t fantastical enough for you, Hislop simultaneously attributes those very same identities to other people.
One example is in that Hislop in various pages of his book referred to Semiramis as being Nimrod’s wife, and again his daughter, and again his mother, and again that Nimrod had two mothers, and again nine mothers. And this is history? Woodrow counters with evidence that Semiramis and Nimrod did not even live in the same century together!"
This is where Crockett gets his absurd ideas about the sinfulness of obelisks. Alas, HWA liked Hyslop's writings and Armstrongism is saturated with this sort of madness.
These LCG members are even more idolatrous phallic worshippers than obelisk curious visitors because they listen and value what ROD (his very name alone means phallus)says. At least obelisk visitors just see the object, but ROD followers are even more idolatrous phallic worshipers because they obey their leader whose name alone means a phallus. What an irony for Rod to declare idolatrous phallic worship for visitors of obelisk and obelisk looking objects forgetting that his very name alone connotes a phallus.
ReplyDelete"Rod" does not only connote a phallus. It literally is a term for a phallus. A rod is a phallus, he is so pathetic to teach about phallic symbolisms forgetting about his very own name.
ReplyDeleteWhere in the NT do we find Jesus or Paul ranting and raving about phallic symbols? There were around in their day.
ReplyDeleteThey need to be more concerned with the Pricks in the world of organized religion (Oxymoronic I know) than Phallic symbols real or imagined.
ReplyDeleteIt's too bad that Meredith has to obsess on this when he should be much more concerned about his own violating The Ninth Commandment.
ReplyDeleteSorry people but some of you are going too far. There is no denying that much of paganism is about sex, and that phallax symbols are real, and in fact probably more Christian preachers should be saying so. Get some balance and objectivity, or you'll be as hysterical as Rod.
ReplyDeleteSome of you people are crude. Grow up.
ReplyDelete"Nobody around the world associates obelisks with the penis, sex symbols, or pagan worship, except the students of one Herbert W. Armstrong!"
ReplyDeleteApparently, you are unfamiliar with the insights of the Spirit-filled Christian, William Tapley.
I suggest those who trouble us over perceived phalli go the whole way and cut themselves off.
ReplyDelete"Sorry people but some of you are going too far. There is no denying that much of paganism is about sex..."
ReplyDeleteThe same is true for religion that's Judeo-Christian, too.
Here's something interesting.
people around the world don't associate Sunday with sun worship either......
ReplyDeleteAmbassador College campus in Pasadena had a row of evergreens cut into two levels. One tall and thin and on either side of the tall ones, two round short ones.
ReplyDeleteIt is obvious what this represented and yet there was an entire walkway lined with them on the campus.
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3172/2988260831_226415508d.jpg
Yet More phallic goodies on the campus:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.flickr.com/photos/markstephen/8266584244/in/photostream/
Also:
http://ww2.cityofpasadena.net/arts/images/publicart/thumbnail/ART2006-00080.jpg
and yet more:
http://www.relaxorium.com/journalpics/ambassador/4.jpg
Of course being a peon I was never there. I just paid for it but I was not of sufficient rank and status to actually attend services in the auditorium or etc.
The Roddomites are missing the point! Before making their remarks, they should determine whether the obelisks were intended to be gay or homosexual obelisks, or straight, heterosexual obelisks!
ReplyDeleteIn other words, do a little more research! Find the architect, and attempt to learn something of his sexuality before offering up a blanket condemnation of an entire category of architecture.
~The Ebonics Rabbit
Crude? Sick? Oh, come now. Nothing has been posted here that is any more graphic or degrading than the 5-15 minute interlude in every Rod Meredith sermon, class, or article to cover the topics of sex, homosexuality, and masturbation.
ReplyDeleteM.T. 'Nads
I am STUNNED at the sheer level of ignoranece being displayed here on this blog! Have you people got nothing better to do than to attack other Christians (in this instance the Living Church of God) who are actually telling you the truth about hidden phallic symbolism within the Christian churches?
ReplyDeleteThis is NOT just the Living Church of Gods interpretation! Read the following quote - (that's if the ignorant 'Christian' rabid rabble on this forum can actually read above that of the level of a 6 year old) -
Hargrave Jennings (1817-1890) a British Freemason, Rosicrucian and author on occultism and esotericism, talks about phallic symbols in his book 'Phallicism, Celestial and Terrestrial, Heathen and Christian:'
"The spires and pinnacles with which our old churches are decorated indeed, all uprights, including all the architectural families, and the varieties of tors, towers, and steeples, the especial mark and glory of Christian building, come from these ancient symbols. They are everywhere indicative of the Phallus, or index-finger denoting the “Fire”, the aspiring fire, against the inclination of gravity, which was the first vitalized idea, or Idol, worshiped magically and philosophically, the enlivening, godlike Power.”
(Hargrave Jennings, Phallicism: Celestial and Terrestrial; Heathen and Christian and its Connection with the Rosicrucian and the Gnostics and its foundation in Buddhism, p. 72, 1884), (Hargrave Jennings, Rosicrucian and Gnostic Meanings Of The Obelisk, Pyramids, And Phallic Monuments, 1884)
http://www.jesusisfreedom.net/secret-worship-to-sun-god-ra-in-churches-and-temples.html