Eric King: My Church Is Restoring The True "Hick-Up"

Eric King is back with more blabbering nonsense about the Rosicrucian movement being started by TRUE Church of God members.

A Hick-up missed by most Scholars

What most Christian historians read right over is the fact that God’s true church in 1610 tried to reach out to the world through publications which appeared in Germany, France, and England. New Science back then was known as the “hidden” or occult knowledge. It was sacrilegious and considered magic to investigate the unknown. Man was trying to find out how much he penetrated the Laws of Nature. Man was trying to understand a harmony with “occult” [hidden science] and Christian theology. It was a sort of information age.-

Please understand, we would not call the laws of science today “occult” but we still see that many so called Christian denominations are afraid of what has been and is being discovered in true modern science.-

The “macrocosmus” has become Macro-physics and the “microcosmus” Micro-physics. Today the true Church of God studies both and does not leave everybody else in the dark like the Roman Catholic Church does.-

The Roman Catholic Church had a fake and twisted view of scientific facts. The Church of God, on the other hand, was not afraid to understand the true Laws of Nature. True Christians understood the laws of physics to be the Laws of God and still do.-

So many Christian superstations still existed that it was very difficult for God’s true church to be open with their studies of these things. When I say “God’s true Church” I mean just that, the Church of God which today exists in this ministry COGSR. In 1614 there was a so called “manifesto” printed anonymously known as the “Fama Fraternitatis”. It was posted anonymously for a couple of reasons. One was the fact that the mixing of Science and Christianity was a big “no no”. The person who wrote and published this manifesto was trying to stir the minds of men and women to think about this issue precisely and carefully.-

Those busy Jesuits, they get blamed for everything!

Remember, the Roman Catholic Church controlled the Bible in their Latin mass and they also controlled science in that only the Jesuits could study science. The common person was told to stay away from what they called ‘magic’ and or the ‘occult’. The true Church of God in boldness challenged the Roman Papacy and the Jesuits with their newly published manifestos. Sadly we see this same animosity towards God’s true Church because of superstitious programming still found in the Harlot’s daughter churches, fallen apostate Christendom.

Did you know that the founder of the Rosicrucian's was a True Church of God member?

The manifesto known as the Fama claimed that a sacred brotherhood [fraternity] known as the “Brotherhood of the Rosy Cross” existed and that this secret Order was now trying to enlist scientists who were Christians. The manifesto gave an emblematic story of a mythical person named Christian Rosencreutz who was the said master of the brotherhood.-

Another manifesto appeared in 1615. This one was known as the “Confessio Fraternitatis”. It served the same purpose as the first but stirred even more controversy. One sad thing that occurred through all of this was the fact that most missed the true purpose and point of these so called “manifestos”. What followed was a distortion in the understanding of their purpose and sadly many occult groups and strange superstitious factions claiming to be the true “Brotherhood of the Rosy Cross” appeared. The fact was - it was the Church of God who was having problems with Protestants and Roman Catholics that inspired the writing of the manifestos. Who was the author of these “anonymous” manifestos?-

King feels that he is boldly going forth against the evil Catholic Church and that they are really pissed at him. It is amazing to see the power these various cult leaders of Armstrong have on the Catholics.

The author of the original manifestos came forth some time later and admitted to writing them. His name was Johann Valentin Andreae. His family was full of Lutheran pastors. His uncle James was known through Germany as “the second Luther”. This history has been hidden from Christians and has most certainly been distorted by the superstitious morons of today and times past. Johann Andreae was a protestant who protested the Protestant’s. It was bold for the true Church of God members to go both against the Roman Catholics and the Protestants. In the 1970’s when Mr. H.W. Armstrong did the same thing he was called a heretic. I too have been given this title by both Protestants and Roman Catholics. No problem. God’s true people are simply “Christian” and nothing else so it doesn’t matter.-

Now Johann Valentin Andreae never meant for the manifestos to take off in the direction that they did. In 1615 he wrote the emblematic and allegorical story called the “The Chemical Nuptilas”. This story has a lot of early reformation conflicts explained allegorically in it. It is a very interesting story which basically talks about the process of religious and political change in society. Some have concluded that the story allegorically ties into the reign of Queen Elizabeth the 1st of Bohemia and other contemporary movements.-

Andreae wrote this to show that the whole idea of a Rosy Cross Brotherhood as described in the first two manifestos was to picture and capture a thought movement. It was expressive of a movement of thought and not a literal story. The stories in the manifestos and in the “Nuptilas” did however contain truth if one was enlightened enough to see it.-

Did you know that St. George of England (the dragon slayer) was a TRUE Church of GOD member?

There is talk that some members of the true Church of God helped to form the “Knights of St. George” which latter became the “Knights of the Garter” to protect true Israel and her secrets. This cannot be proved but some of the Knights explained in Johann Valentin Andreae’s book, “The Chemical Nuptilas” describe Knights dressed in the same garb as the Knights of the Garter. Andreae says their real name is, “The Knights of the Golden Fleece and of the Golden Stone”.-

It is said that St. George of England is neither a Roman Catholic saint, nor a Protestant saint but instead a true saint of the original Church of God. The story of Saint George killing the dragon is allegorical of the Church of God “killing” ignorance and the Devil himself. COGSR to this day still tells this story in the picture of St. George killing the dragon.-
The real purpose of the so called “Rosicrucian Enlightenment” was concerned with spiritual illumination as well as with the advancement of intellectual knowledge. To only have intellectual knowledge is to fall short of the Revelation of God.-

Orange Bob Spends Millions On A New Set Design!

After getting mocked and ridiculed for many months now over his crooked bookcases, cluttered shelves, door knobs by his head, and a doorway as the backdrop for his mind-boggling Internet ministry, the Chief Overseer and worlds greatest and most accurate prophet, has went out and dropped some money on a new set.

Bob went out this past week and dropped a couple million on a new set.  He bought a projector screen and ha sit as his backdrop now.  The only problem is that even with the screen he has no "set sense."  Why have the screen most of the way down your backside and then leave a small gap so we can stare of the clutter still on your bookshelves?

Dear Bob......PLEASE have your wife give you some make-up tips!  Orange Bob is not appealing to look at.  Get rid of the spray tan, dude, seriously!

James Malm Year End Financial Woes Cause Him To Get Ticked Off At Those Who Support Church Social Clubs Instead of Him

James Malm is having some year end financial woes.  He needs you money.  Letters are being lost because of the damnable Christmas cards clogging up the mail this time of year.  He is more important that keeping contact with loved ones spread abroad.

This site is teaching a passionate zeal for sound doctrine, revealing and restoring that which was lost, and proclaiming the true gospel of  warning and repentance and the immanency of the times.  Right now we are in real need of your prayers and financial support.  

The mails often get bogged down in December and we are now approaching the time where mail sent in, may not make it by the end of the year.  Please help out by sending your tax exempt contributions as soon as you can to make sure that you will be able to deduct them for tax purposes for the 2013 tax year.

Ask yourselves if it is right to support social club church’s which tolerate and promote error; or whether it is better to support those  proclaiming the whole word of God, and who dare to obey Christ and sanctify his word in truth and faithful obedience, and who dare to:

Isaiah 28    Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.

Tim Kitchen: You Are Going To Be FORCED To Bow Down at HWA's Feet And Worship Him

It still amazes me to find Armstrongites out there that worship the feet of Herbert Armstrong and who place him on a level that is higher than Jesus.  Even worse, it amazes me to find a person who claims we will be FORCED to worship at HWA's feet.

One family, the Kitchen's, have a reputation of bowing down and worshiping HWA as none other in the Church of God ever have.  No theological decision or discussion can be made without blabbering on and on about HWA.

Tim has tried to take his message to the Ambassador Auditorium Facebook page.  He basically has been laughed out of the group.  He posted a farewell letter to the members of the group the other day and here are some of the pathetic highlights.

In this End-Time, almost 1900 years (i9 time cycles) after this Gospel was first preached by Jesus Christ and His Chosen Apostles, it was preached again by an Apostle that Christ raised up and opened his mind and began to teach His (Christ's) Truth! That man that Jesus Christ raised up and taught, and sent out to this world whit that same Gospel that had not been preached or taught for 1900 years was Herbert W. Armstrong! No one else preached or taught that same Gospel that was taught by Christ and the 1st century Apostle. Mr. Armstrong preached and taught that very same Gospel to the world as a witness to all nations (Matt 24:14) . That very same Gospel had not been preached or taught to the world for 1900 years, and no other person has even remotely fulfilled that commission (Prophesy really) before, or since! The Matt 24:14 commission (Prophesy really) was not given to anyone else, it was not even given to God's Church (WCG Under Mr. Armstrong) but, was given to Mr. Armstrong personally as he was God's Chosen Apostle (Apostle means: "One sent forth with a message).

Armstrongites such as the Kitchen, are historically and theologically ignorant.  They have no concept of church history other than what they have read in a COG publication.  They have never studied scripture, the development of the Bible, the use of metaphors and allegory, or anything else that a typical seminary student studies.  Yet, they place their theological understanding  as higher and mor highly developed than the seminarians.

In order to elevate HWA onto a higher plain next to Jesus Christ.  Kitchen says that the gospel message was NOT the commission of the church, but of HWA himself.  Only HE was commissioned to take the Gospel to all the world.  Like Jesus Christ, HWA was the sole mouthpiece for God.

It is not the Church's responsibility to try to fulfill this commission "Again" as it was already fulfilled (Completed, finished, over) by God's Chosen Apostle Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong! And Mr. Armstrong declared it fulfilled himself!

Anyone that is trying to "Finish the Matt 24:14 commission is either deceived into falsely thinking that it was the church's commission and not Mr. Armstrong's commission, or has denied and rejected God's Chosen Apostle and Elijah, and, thus, rejected the God that sent him and worked through him, "Jesus Christ"!

Because the ministers in all the splinter group no longer follow HWA's teachings (according to Kitchen) they are all apostates who will be FORCED by Jesus Christ to bow down and worship at the feet of HWA.  How SICK can these morons get? Bowing down to HWA?

According to Kitchen, Herbert Armstrong was soooooooooooooo saintly that evil could not be found in him.
  

Notice: Levi (Mr. Armstrong) walked with God and Christ found no evil in this man( a Stern warning to those that accuse him of these crimes as Jesus Christ will not take these false accusations lightly!) but, rather, Jesus Christ finds fault with the ministers under this end-time Levi...

Herbert Armstrong was such a perfect man that God actually established the final convent with HWA.  Forget the New Covenant and Grace that was finalized with Jesus Christ, the one established with HWA was FAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR more important!

(it is the ministers under Mr. Armstrong that corrupted that Covenant that Jesus Christ made with Mr.Armstrong!, and, that covenant was all the Truths Restored that combined make up that Covenant between Jesus Christ and Mr. Armstrong, as "all Things" were restored through Mr. Armstrong and all those Truths comprise (make up) THAT COVENANT, AND THAT COVENANT "IS" (MAKES UP) THE NEW TESTAMENT MARRIAGE COVENANT WITH JESUS CHRIST! SO SAID MR.ARMSTRONG HIMSELF!

Anyone who does not follow Herbert Armstrong's teachings is breaking the Covenant of HWA.  Forget Jesus Christ, it's all about Herb!  Reject Herb and you will not be married to Jesus Christ!

DO WE SEE HOW IMPORTANT IT IS THAT WE DO NOT TRY TO ALTER IT IN ANYWAY? IT IS NOT OF MAN Mr. Armstrong) BUT IT IS OF GOD!!! IT IS THE MARRIAGE CONTRACT WITH JESUS CHRIST, AND, WE (AS THE BRIDE OF CHRIST) WILL NOT DICTATE THE TERMS OF THE MARRIAGE CONTRACT WIT JESUS CHRIST! IF WE TRY, WE WON'T BE PART OF THE MARRIAGE WITH JESUS CHRIST!

ANYONE TRYING TO TEACH YOU ANYTHING DIFFERENT (ANOTHER GOSPEL) THAT CHRIST SENT AND DELIVERED TGHROUGH HERBERT W. ARMSTRONG IS A FALSE GOSPEL AND FALSE TEACHER AS WE HAVE BEEN WARNED BY CHRIST HIMSELF THAT IN THIS END-TIME MANT FALSE APOSTLES, PROPHETS AND TEACHERS WILL COME IN AND DECEIVE THE ENTIRE WORLD, SO, MUCH IF IT BE POSSIBLE (IF YOU LET YOUR GUARD DOWN, AND QUIT HOLDING FAST (REV 3;11, i tHES 5:19-22) TO THAT RESTORED TRUTH, ANY PART OF THE TERMS OF THE MARRIAGE COVENANT (CONTRACT0 BETWEEN CHRIST AND HID BRIDE) THEN WE WILL NOT BE WALKING IN THE LIGHT OF cHRIST'S TRUTH, AND, ONCE YOU DO THAT, YOU REJECT THAT ARRIAGE COVENANT/CONTRACT AND YOU WILL NOT BE MARRIED TO JESUS CHRIST, BUT, WILL HAVE REJECTED HIM AND HIS TERMS OF MARRIAGE!! THIS IS THAT SERIOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is the kind of crap that has driven hundreds of thousands away from the COG over the decades.  This legalistic mumbo-jumbo offers no hope because of a god that is incredibly PISSED and is going to take great delight in blotting most of humanity off the face of the earth.

WE ARE LIFTING UP HERBERT W ARMSTRONG!

Sheryl Meredith Dies

The latest just came through about Sheryl Meredith.

Mrs. Rod Meredith (Sheryl) died this morning in Charlotte. Funeral plans are presently for Wednesday.

Living Church of God's official announcement:

Subject: Important Announcement

We are very sad to announce that Mrs. Sheryl Meredith, wife of Dr. Roderick C. Meredith passed away the morning of November 29, 2013 after a long and courageous fight with cancer.  She was at home, surrounded by loving family members.  We will see her again when Christ returns, may that time be soon!

Our thoughts and prayers are with the Meredith family, and our hearts go out to them in this great loss.

Funeral arrangements are planned for Wednesday, December 4 at 2:30 PM at Forest Lawn.  More details will be forthcoming.

Lest We Forget...

ATTENTION MINISTERS

By Apostle David C Pack

A statement to all MINISTERS: God WILL reunite His people, and soon. Ministers for decades have been “scattering” them—and working “against” Christ (Matt. 12:30). Read what follows Matthew 12:30. Now comes a powerful word of caution to those men who at all fear God and want to remain in His ministry. Those who are known to have tried to thwart the active work of God’s Spirit to reunite His people need to know they have chosen to END THEIR MINISTRY! The government of God’s Church will make diligent inquiry with brethren now under your charge.

Most of you grew liberal in the 1970s—this was “strike one” in God’s sight. But you were forgiven by a loving and merciful God and given another chance. However, mostly the same men grew far moreliberal and heretical in the second “go-around” through the 90s, and all the way to the present—this was a very great “strike two” in God’s sight. But His plan is to forgive you AGAIN, upon repentance. If you fight His Purpose NOW—read “God’s People Back Together—SOON!”, and other recent announcements—the result will be “strike THREE,” and you will be OUT of the ministry by your own choosing. God’s duly appointed government will REMOVE you from office. You are STRONGLY counseled to at least remain NEUTRAL in the face of your headquarters asking or even demanding you to resist what “RCG is teaching”—when God’s Spirit in you should be making clear that what we are announcing is GOD’S teaching. Tell your flock you are “waiting to see,” and if circumstances so require, tell your headquarters that you are going to follow God not them when push comes to shove. Tell them you are “sitting this one out.” Do not trust that your current leaders will be able to save your ministry. They will NOT! Only you can do this.

Now aware of God’s AWESOME PURPOSE, you should in fact desire to “get out front” of what He is doing in order to help the maximum number of people. Other ministers and deacons already have. In any event, if you are not strong enough to do this, do not permit yourself to be coerced or even threatened into a position where you are soon sorry—DESPERATELY sorry!—for your actions, much like Esau found himself when he “was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears” (Heb. 12:16-17). Esau could not turn back the hands of time on what he had done. Some mistakes “go too far.” You are warned not to repeat Esau’s mistake! Time in this age is almost gone. You stand at the crossroads of history, prophecy and DESTINY. Humble yourself in the eyes of God and He will exalt you in the future beyond what you can now imagine. You could soon be serving more of God’s people—meaning larger congregations."

But it not, of course, about winning and the numbers...

We MUST all speak the SAME thing! (and why that's insane)

How much mental, emotional and spiritual energy is spend by the various splinters of WCG , and back in the day, WCG itself, trying through whatever means possible to get everyone "on track", "on board", "of the same mind," "unified," and "all one army we, one in hope and doctrine, one in charity"?

(I hate that song)

Way too much...

I Corinthians 1

¹⁰ Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.

This is just not the way life works when two or three are gathered together.  All speaking the same thing with no differences of opinion, view, experience, perspective or personal needs as their own life story unfolded is simply not possible nor desirable.  Differences or "divisions" is the stuff of life.  Like walking, which is merely a controlled crash, differences of thought are what makes progress and increases knowledge. Differences get us where we are going. In all my life I NEVER knew of a group of humans beings all "perfectly jointed together in the same mind and same judgment."  That is by definition a cult and a form of insanity. 

Every week as a pastor, I was suppose to be the glue that held the differences together. If I failed, it was said the church or "the people" were divided.  I was expecting everyone to all believe the same one thing and do it perfectly because, after all, that's what the scripture said. The above scripture is not a formula for unity, harmony and coherent belief.  It the formula for emotional, intellectual and spiritual disaster in the lives of those who believe that is the goal.  It may be a group goal but rest assured, it is the singular goal of the man in charge who wants everyone else to see, hear, touch, taste and smell the world as he does.  How you do is wrong, inappropriate , divisive  and why "disfellowshipping" or "dis-membering" was invented by clergy in the day.

What the Apostle Paul meant was..."

"Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, (and mine because Christ won't be correcting me on this one) that ye all speak the same thing, (which I believe and teach you) and that there be no divisions among you; (because that won't achieve my goals for you and church growth)but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment (as defined and approved of by me so I can be right and get what I need and want from you.)

I know I pick on Paul a lot, but the boy deserves it at times.  It was Paul who threw a hissy fit and tantrum when people didn't all believe or speak the same things he came up with...

Galatians 1:

⁶ I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: (That other Gospel was the Jewish Christian view held by Peter, James and John). 

⁷ Which is not another; (ok, it's not all that different but it's twisted from mine) but there be some that trouble you, (Jewish Christians like you know who) and would pervert the gospel of Christ.

⁸ But though we, (I) or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we (I) have preached unto you, let him be accursed. (Even though I am also known for saying, when cursed we bless-I Cor. 4:12)

⁹ As we (I) said before, so say I (See I told you it was me telling you),  now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.

¹⁰ For do I  now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ. (Umm..yes you do and didn't you say somewhere...

I Corinthians 9:

¹⁹ Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. ²⁰ To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. ²¹ To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law.²² To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. ²³ I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.

I recall somewhere it warns us that a double minded man is unstable in all his ways.  The above is a lot of double minded thinking and one can NEVER know what a man actually believes personally with this kind of behavior as a way to "win others to Christ."

So truth for Paul depended when trying to get followers..  When talking to the church he demanded compliance of thought and sameness of belief.  When to those not of the church he was more swoozy, duplicitous and double minded in his approach.  We see that in Acts where Paul was told to apply the Acts 15 judgments to the Church , and he didn't really and to show he wasn't really making light of the law of Moses , when he did.  The reality of James, Peter and John concerning Jesus was not the same reality as that of Paul.  

We saw that in Herbert Armstrong.  HWA could get livid with the church and quote Paul's "all speak the same thing," very loud.  He meant, as did Paul, my same thing.  Outside the Church, HWA was swoozy with the public and he played the "all things to all men" game , which accomplished precisely nothing.  The "strong hand from someplace" approach was silly and cowardly, if you really believed your own in church rhetoric.  Quest magazine no more preached the Gospel of whoever than the Farmer's Almanac and "going to all the world as a witness before the end would come," in the form of short talks, paid for with nothing less than bribes and Steuben gifts was asinine and the source of much in Church resentment.  It was however HWA's reality and he wanted everyone else to share it with him.  It was the beginning of his undoing.  Dave Pack will accomplish exactly the same thing in time with exactly the same results and final judgment on his ministry, falsely so called. 

Back to Galatians and Paul's reality.

¹¹ But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man.

¹² For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ."

Paul was no team player for sure. Paul was for Paul and it is obvious in the texts. Paul's reality was that everyone believe as he did and that included Peter, James and John. You can't read Galatians 1 and 2 and think that all the Apostles all believed, thought and taught the same things.  They did not.  The Book of James is a rebuttal to Paul's views in Romans.  Paul made it very very clear how he felt about Peter, James and John and it wasn't much.  All Paul wanted was their approval to give him credibility amongst those that did count Peter, James and John as more than reputed pillars or men who "seemed to be somewhat."  The Paul of the Damascus Road story in Acts is NOT the Paul of his own writings in Galatians.  In Galatians Paul was called from his mothers womb and never went to Jerusalem when blinded to get healed and see things their way as in Acts.  Acts said he went right to the leaders and Paul says he did not. He says he went to Arabia for whatever reason immediately and only to the boys in Jerusalem later when he had no choice. 

Galatians 2

⁶ But of these who seemed to be somewhat, (whatsoever they were, it maketh no matter to me: God accepteth no man's person:) for they who seemed to be somewhat in conference added nothing to me: 

Mr. All Speak the same thing, is not interested in what Peter, James and John in Jerusalem have to say on anything.  He made that clear in the differences between what he said he'd do in Acts 15 and what he actually taught and did in I Corinthians when he got back home.  How many times have I seen that kind of all speak the same thing!  "Added NOTHING to me"?  Sounds like a Dave Pack who never listened to anyone that didn't already agree with him and if you don't like it, get out. 

⁷ But contrariwise, when they saw that the gospel of the uncircumcision was committed unto me, as the gospel of the circumcision was unto Peter;

⁸ (For he that wrought effectually in Peter to the apostleship of the circumcision, the same was mighty in me toward the Gentiles:)

⁹ And when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, (seemed?) perceived the grace that was given unto me, they gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship; that we should go unto the heathen, and they unto the circumcision.

Aside:  but shortly after this and later in Galatians, Paul withstood Peter and declared his views invalid and weaker than his.  Paul come lately confronted Peter of Disciple fame and declared himself the winner.  Personally I think what Peter found at Paul's table was not unclean foods but rather meat offered to idols which Paul had agreed not to do in Acts 15 but clearly scoffed at the judgment in I Corinthians 8-10.  Peter caught Paul not all speaking the same thing and being in harmony with the Jerusalem Apostles. 

It is impossible to all believe, speak and think the same thing.  It isn't even healthy but groups tend to demand sameness of thought, purpose and intent. I do not dislike Dave Pack because of what he teaches about baptism, the Kingdom of God, life, death, resurrections and the world to come.  I contest the methods and the ego centric presentation along with the bullying of others to do everything from "pull big triggers" to "and woman, you have no say."   People should resent his tone and personality along demanding everyone believe, view, perceive and explain the world through his eyes and filters only.  I resent the control and compliance but that's probably been my nature since I was a kid.  It leads to very bad endings when talking about religious compliance and sameness of thought.  The same is so for the Gerald Flurrys and Ron Weinlands of ministry.  I have far less an issue with a Rod Meredith of LCG or those in the United Church of God.  They aren't so inclined and at least seem to be able to tolerate more than the one man show of a Dave Pack.  

On bigger topics such as that of evolution, cosmology and wonder of it all, it doesn't matter what one believes because that is directly related to how much one has even bothered to consider such things.  If one is held in place, such as by church or a literalist view of the Bible, then so be it.  The mind will only allow so much information in before it panics and has to defend the wall.  That's ok. I do understand that very well.  We all care and don't care about what others think , say or do.  We ultimately only care about what we think, say and do.  And that's ok too.  

But the idea that one man can scream compliance of thought, sameness of heart, belief all the same and the goals and methods of the one, who thinks he knows the mind of God perfectly, is unrealistic and insane.  Getting disfellowshipped, as I said, is all the church could come up with in the New Testament and turned over to Satan for destruction of the flesh..blah blah, which shows just how unrealistic church thinking can be. 

As I noted, I always disliked this hymn, even as a child, because of it's attitude towards truth and others.  It always sounded like "kill em all and let God sort them out if they get in our way," to me.   It became even worse a hymn when sung throughout most of my time with WCG. Written originally for children to sing as they marched in support between each others villages and towns on Whit-Monday (as opposed to "Black Friday" I suppose), it certainly is not a formula for allowing others to think for themselves. There were times at the feast I sang it with tears in my eyes,but I'm an emotional kind of guy depending. Some particularly embarassing verses when sung in the COGs are...

Onward, Christian soldiers, marching as to war,
With the cross of Jesus going on before.
Christ, the royal Master, leads against the foe;
Forward into battle see His banners go!

Refrain

(Everything was always a battle and confrontation.  Sadly and of course, we in the Living Church of God or whatever the new one is, don't believe in crosses.)

Onward, Christian soldiers, marching as to war,
With the cross of Jesus going on before.

Like a mighty army moves the church of God;
Brothers, we are treading where the saints have trod.
We are not divided, all one body we,
One in hope and doctrine, one in charity.

Refrain

Crowns and thrones may perish, kingdoms rise and wane,
But the church of Jesus constant will remain.
Gates of hell can never gainst that church prevail;
We have Christ’s own promise, and that cannot fail.

Refrain

Onward then, ye people, join our happy throng,
Blend with ours your voices in the triumph song.
Glory, laud and honor unto Christ the King,
This through countless ages men and angels sing

So we go full circle. This admonition and demand directed towards the church never was so in history.  There never was "The One True Church."  From inception, the Church was divided because it consited of human beings, too many of which were not willing to all speak the same thing.  They only wanted  others to all speak their same thing and be perfectly joined to their mindset and views .  This was a Paul in the New Testament, who never met any living breathing Jesus and those splinter guys today who also never did. 

I Corinthians 1
¹⁰ Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.

                                                                   Join our happy throng!

The goal is to get everyone to join our happy throng!  That "happy"thing is a dead giveaway that something is wrong or about to go wrong. It is impossible to all speak the same thing and have no divisions of thought.  That's creepy.  Growing in grace and knowledge, as encouraged elsewhere, is IMPOSSIBLE in the same mind, same judgment , same views, same opinion and same belief environment.  It's creepy, dangerous and an explosion waiting to go off.   And it's intellectually dishonest to say the least. 

Mr. E.W.King Clears Up The Misunderstanding of Earth ‘Eras’ and Paleolithic Man

God's greatest gift to the church, after Bob Thiel, of course, is Eric King.  King knows everything about everything.

Mr. E.W.King clears up the misunderstanding of earth ‘eras’ and humans. COGSR ministries is dedicated to bringing you the whole truth and nothing but the Truth. Please read and share:

What is “Paleolithic Man”? This phrase for man comes from what is known as the Paleolithic Age, Era, or Period. It is referred to as an age of prehistoric human history. It tells of a time when the human mind was in its earliest development. Actually this period starts from prehuman existence with certain ape-like creatures that God created who began to learn how to use their hands or limbs by making tools. We see other animals doing this today such as the raccoons and the ocean seals. We find animals learning how to do this as early as 2.6 million years ago. Please do not misunderstand me, I am not claiming that these creatures were human beings, they were not. They were animal species which have now gone extinct.-

About 7,000,000 years ago God decided to create some very interesting beings. He created Sahelanthropus Ttchadensis. We have given this species the nickname “Toumai”. These creatures were the first to look like modern man in many ways but still fell short. These creatures exited for some time and developed a form of communication amongst them selves. God was taking pleasure in all of His great acts of creation. God loves to create!-

When we get to about 4,400,000 years ago (before modern man) we find the creatures known as Australopithecus Afarensis. These were some of the first human-like creatures to spend more time on the ground and outside of sheltered areas. One from this species is popularly known as “Lucy”. She walked upright and began to use her hands to do other things than just walk. After her came Homo Habilis and some others.-

COGSR has discovered that our universe was created 13.7 billion years ago. We learned that our galaxy is called the Milky Way Galaxy and was formed roughly 13.2 billion years ago. We learned that our solar system (4.6 billion years old) and our planet was formed and created by our Almighty God and that it was originally created to be inhabited around 6 billion years ago. We learned that God created IB’s [angelic beings] to inhabit and take care of our planet as “care-takers”. We learned that these angels failed and rebelled against God during what we call the Permian Period and the angelic war ended with what we call the KT extinction event at 65 million years ago. The angels had traveled to heaven and tried to war against God [Jude 6]. As a result they were cast back to our planet which caused great devastation and the destruction of the dinosaurs. When the IB’s hit the Earth they caused four great craters.-

We learned that after this event God continued to create through additional periods. At the end of the KT extinction event God proceeded to create again. We can start this new phase of creation with strength around 47,000,000 years ago. This brings us up to the last ice age which ended roughly 10,000 years ago. We understand that the first 4000 years of this time helped melt the ice and prepare the way for the Garden of Eden and the creation of the most recent and last human couple, Adam and Eve.-

When we reach what is known as the Pleistocene era around 10,000 BP we begin to see the groups of the first humans [who come from one of the Nine first Mothers], before the creation of Adam and Eve starting to make homes and use dwelling places such as caves to hide from the changing weather and wild animals. We find cave art painted on the walls of some of these caves. These early humans were beginning to learn how to live in a “fallen world” [Corrupted by the angelic Rebellion]. This era of development is what some call the Paleolithic era.

You can read the rest of his bullshit here:   Paleolithic Man and your Bible

Something Just to Think About...

I can't say I ever heard much in WCG, nor did I ever speak much if at all on the Birth Narratives of Jesus when pastoring.  I think it was subconsciously avoided due to the over reaction the church had to all things Christmas.  I gave one sermon on both accounts twice in two different places towards the end of my ministerial career explaining why the Birth Narratives were added to the Gospels of Matthew and Luke and how they simply cannot be harmonized and that was not the point anyway.  The conflicts over why there would be genealogies of Jesus in both books giving rather human roots to Jesus but then the birth stories which made genealogies moot as God was Jesus father are endless.  Apologetics goes into overdrive when discussing the Birth Narratives of Jesus.  My view, as you should know by now, is that the Narratives are not harmonious and it obvious that neither writer read the other's story before writing their own.  They were added to the Gospels accounts and are not eyewitness accounts of anything.  While not trying to sound too harsh or pointed, there were never really any Wise men, shepherds watching flocks, angelic choirs, roaming stars, flights to Egypt, the slaughter of the innocents or quiet trips back to Nazareth after 40 days.  These stories are mined totally from the Old Testament Scriptures, as was the writing style of the times, to give Jesus a spectacular birth fit for the Son of God.  The Caesars had them so why not Jesus...

http://www.amazon.com/The-Birth-Messiah-Commentary-Narratives/dp/0300140088/ref=sr_1_1/182-5872804-7772346?ie=UTF8&qid=1385570235&sr=8-1&keywords=birth+of+the+messiah+brown

If one is genuinely interested in the background of the Birth Narratives, one of the definitive works on the topic is by Raymond Brown in his classic, The Birth of the Messiah.  It is a heavy hitter and he admits to having to his own caution not to offend the Magesterium of the Church and get himself bounced.  Father Brown removes any doubt as to the intent and mistakes made my the authors of the Birth Narratives that would not be tolerated today.  He even takes Ernest Martin, of WCG fame , to task for his unfortunate literalism which lead Ernest Martin to all sorts of calculations about the Star of Bethlehem etc.

The Birth Narratives of Jesus as found in Matthew and Luke are fascinating.  I would like to point out one aspect of the genealogies which lead from Abraham to Mary.  I would like to point out that in this genealogy are four WOMEN, which of itself is rather unheard of in genealogies of this type.  But what is more interesting is that the four are not the women one would expect.  There are no Sarahs, Leahs or Rachels.  No Deborahs or even Eves, though she might make the cut on this one.  The four women included are all fallen women with questionable backgrounds.  They were as included in the text....

Matthew 1:

"The Genealogy of Jesus the Messiah An account of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Aram, and Aram the father of Aminadab, and Aminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon, and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of King David. And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah, and Solomon the father of Rehoboam, and Rehoboam the father of Abijah, and Abijah the father of Asaph, and Asaph the father of Jehoshaphat, and Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, and Joram the father of Uzziah, and Uzziah the father of Jotham, and Jotham the father of Ahaz, and Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, and Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, and Manasseh the father of Amos, and Amos the father of Josiah, and Josiah the father of Jechoniah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon. And after the deportation to Babylon: Jechoniah was the father of Salathiel, and Salathiel the father of Zerubbabel, and Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, and Abiud the father of Eliakim, and Eliakim the father of Azor, and Azor the father of Zadok, and Zadok the father of Achim, and Achim the father of Eliud, and Eliud the father of Eleazar, and Eleazar the father of Matthan, and Matthan the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called the Messiah."

To refamiarize yourself...

Tamar -Daughter-in-Law of Judah

Tamar-  Tamar was accused of prostitution on account of her pregnancy. Upon hearing this news, Judah ordered that she be burned to death. Tamar sent the staff, seal, and cord to Judah with a message declaring that the owner of these items was the man who had made her pregnant. Upon recognizing his security deposit, Judah released Tamar from her sentence and accordingly she was able to give birth to twins, Perez and Zerah. Perez is said to be the ancestor of King David. The Genesis narrative also makes a note that Judah did not have further sexual relations with Tamar. (Genesis 38:24-30)

Rahab, the Harlot who helped the boys out 

Rahab, (/ˈreɪ.hæb/;^[1] Hebrew: רָחָב, Modern Raẖav Tiberian Rāḥāḇ ; "broad," "large"; Greek: Ῥαάβ) was, according to theBook of Joshua, a woman who lived in Jericho in the Promised Land and assisted the Israelites in capturing the city. Nearly all English translations of Joshua describe her as a harlot or prostitute.^[2]

Ruth the pretty relative of incestuous ancestors

Ruth the Moabitess,  (a Gentile through whom no heir to the Messiah could come.) the great-grandmother of David, and, according to the Gospel of Matthew, an ancestress of Jesus.  The Moabites were descended from the incestuous relations between Abraham's nephew Lot and his oldest daughter after the destruction of Sodom (Gen. 19:33-38)

Bath-Sheba because she was taking a bath.  If she was taking a shower, she'd be "Shower-Sheba."  (Radio Preacher truth I heard here in town.  I added the shower part.)

Bathsheba (Hebrew: בת שבע‎, Bat Sheva, "daughter of the oath") (Arabic: بثشبع‎, "ابنة القسم") was the wife of Uriah the Hittite and later of David, king of the United Kingdom of Israel and Judah. She is most known for the Bible story in which King David took her to sleep with him.  (But they were not really sleeping:)

Why fallen women?  Because it was not uncommon for the early Church to have to defend Jesus birth as not illegitimate and Jesus a bastard is why.  In John 8 we have an argument that goes wildly out of control between Jesus and the Pharisees over who really can claim God as their Father.  It ends up Jesus telling them their father is the Devil and they are all liars.  The Pharisees respond with stones. So much for turn the other cheek.  Just before this knockdown, we have the story inserted many years later and not in any originals showing that texts were indeed edited along the way to fit agendas, of Jesus and the woman taken in adultery.  Jesus basically reminds the men they all have done it too in one way or the other and they slink away.  All is forgiven.  Was the author responding to his misunderstanding of the charge in John 8:41 that unlike Jesus, the Pharisees were not born of Fornication?  Maybe....   The spin off doctrines of trying to keep Mary a Virgin and thus herself clean and Jesus perfect have been many.  One embellishment of a story leads to the need for many more to explain how the last one could be. 

Including the four fallen women in the genealogy was some one's attempt  to send the message that no matter, even if Jesus had a questionable birth and circumstances were dicey at best (no one really knows anything about Jesus actual birth date or circumstances), God can work through fallen women to accomplish his goals so get off Mary and Jesus back!  The inclusion of the women was an admission that few would buy the "Dad, Joseph...I have something to tell you.  I am pregnant but not to worry.  It is by the Holy Spirit and the baby will be the Messiah because God begot him in me.  I am really still a virgin."   "Oh ok...great!" was probably not going to be any real response by the men in Mary's life.  Joseph is a bit player in the play and comes and goes from the scene quickly.  

I recall a several brilliant questions from a teen to me once which left me only with, "Wow..great questions!"  I was asked how old Mary was when she had Jesus.  Tradition says below the age of 16 and maybe as young as 12.  He asked if that wasn't a crime?  Prolly!    He then asked me who was Mary's husband when she had Jesus?  Well we might say Joseph but he was not the father of Jesus .  It was God according to the story.  He then asked me why that would not be considered fornication on God's part since God may have been the father but not the husband...  See what I mean about one story leading to another to explain the last one!  He finally asked me a third question about the text that says Mary was with child "by the Holy Spirit."  Ummm...Mr. Diehl, who's child was this?  God's or the Holy Spirit's?  The problem gets bigger if you imagine the HS as a third person of the one mysterious thing.  Another topic where one answer produces the need for more stories.  I liked that kid!  He's probably an Episcopal Priest somewhere now!  He would probably understand this...and be ok with it too.

...but that's another story  :)

At any rate, tis the season to hear the story over and over and I know if you were in WCG or are in the Splinters, you not only won't hear much of the story but you certainly won't hear the why and how of them and the fascinating politics going on behind the scenes which required them to be inserted in the text.  Let's face it, if the geneologies lead from God or Abraham or Adam and Eve back to Jesus, without miraculous stories, then why do we need them?  The fact is that the geneologies were probably much older in the text than the come later Birth Narratives suited for another time.  Rather than remove them, because they were already so popular, they just let it be complete with all the conflict doing so would bring theologians and thinking Christians for the next 2000 years.