Eric King: True Christians are Becoming “New Beings” Through the Practice of Mocha

"True Christians are becoming “new beings” 

through the practice of mocha."

MOCA (pronounced, mocha) is the acronym for “Mind Of Christ Action”. True Christians are becoming “new beings” through the practice of mocha. “When anyone is joined to Christ, he is a New Being; the old is gone, the new has come.” [1 Corinthians 5:17] Fallen apostate churches and denominations are not teaching this truth. As we grow in Christ we begin to confront every situation with new insight.

Somewhere an asylum is missing an inmate.....

Herman Hoeh the True Successor of Herbert Armstrong?

Did you know that Herman Hoeh was a supposed "successor" to Herbert Armstrong?  There is an email making the rounds right now trumpeting a web site  that is dedicated to Herman Hoeh which makes that claim. It has been up for several years now so I am surprised they are just now finding out about it.  There were many that had hoped Hoeh's name was in the running to be HWA's successor.  Just like Ellis LaRavia's name, Hoeh's name was no where to be seen.

Hoeh has been loved and ridiculed over the decades.  Ridiculed for some of his flawed "history" and beloved as a supposed stalwart in the faith.

He caused a lot of angst in the WCG when he went along with the doctrinal changes the church was setting down in the 1990's.  He never spoke out against them and many report that he thought they were sorely needed.

Many think by that point that Hoeh's own theology had advanced far beyond the COG mindset.  He took absolutely no interest in any of the hundreds of splinter groups nor their leaders. Many of those groups were lead by men he had went all through college with and served with in the church for decades.  He knew their dark side and had no interest in following them.

The Los Angeles Thai Temple where Hoeh spent untold hours 

with his Buddhist friends 

and learned about their spirituality.

He easily embraced the Buddhist community and they looked with favor upon him as an enlightened man.  One thing about Hoeh, he was always at peace with his understanding of spirituality and how others found peace.  He was at peace with breaking bread with his Buddhist friends.  There is even a library in Thailand named after him.

The site is sponsored by Christian Commandment Keepers that is run by Mark Kaplan.  Kaplan was instrumental in trying to keep the law in force in the church during the doctrinal changes.

Their doctrinal statement is quit telling.  The law is spoken of but nothing about being a follower of Jesus.

Statement of Beliefs

• Recognize the Bible as the source of doctrine.
• Accept the authority of the Hebrew-speaking community to preserve the Old Testament, including the Sacred Calendar, and the Greek-speaking community to preserve the New Testament.
• Celebrate God’s plan for humanity as emphasized by observance of the seventh day Sabbath and the annual Holy Days of the Bible.

Gavin Rumney has this up on his blog about them:  Journal charts UCG split

One other item I can't help but mention. A group that calls itself the Church of Christian Commandment Keepers has created a website called - wait for it - hermanhoeh.info. Herman is described there as "a spiritual successor to Herbert W. Armstrong," and I guess we're expected to believe that this little band are now Herman's spiritual successors. Sadly there are no downloads of the famous Compendium of World History, just a collection of Her-manic sermons.

Just think, if Hoeh had been the successor to HWA we might all be Buddhists by now.....certainly a more peaceful thought than the 700 some bickering and splinter COG's out there today.

Other articles about Herman Hoeh:

The Enigma of Herman Hoeh

The Closet Buddhist

Herman Hoeh Memorial Announcement

Living Church of God Going To Learn About Creationism From "So-Called Christians"

Another fun day with the Living Church of God!  They are off to see the Creation Museum in Kentucky!  I am soooooooooooooooo jealous!

They will get to learn about dragons and how they were actually dinosaurs that were still alive in human times.

They will get to learn about "Lucy"  "...the poster girl of human evolution..." and learn the true biblical source behind her.  They will also get to look inside "Lucy's" body.  Woo!

They will get to see an exhibit about "biblical authority."  Since the COG says no one outside the church knows about proper biblical authority, will the LCGer's actually learn something new or will they be told to take it all with a grain of salt?

They will learn the truth about Adam and sin.  Will LCG correct them that it should involve the Two Tree's and leave a sermon tape laying around?

They will get to see where the Ark is being built as well as soon coming attractions like The Tower of Babel, a first century walled village and other cool stuff.

This is all just so fabulous that I almost could become an LCG member!

Cincinnati “Creation Weekend” Planned! 

The Ohio congregations are planning a “Creation Weekend” in Cincinnati over Memorial Day weekend, May 23-26. The event will include special Bible Studies, workshops, and activities related to creation, science, and the Bible, as well as a group trip to the world famous, Bible-based Creation Museum in Northern Kentucky. We are planning fellowship and educational activities that will be fun for all ages, from pre-teens and teens to adults and “seasoned citizens”! In an age when biblical teachings concerning man’s origins and the creation of the earth and the universe are mocked and ridiculed, we believe that it is all the more important to fortify ourselves and our children with the truth, and this weekend will be dedicated to doing just that.

I can picture it now.  After they all go through the museum they will all get together and make fun of the dumb Christians and brag about how they have the REAL understanding of the mystery of creation.

Oh, did I just mock them? 

God Punishes California With Rain!

Screen capture of CA rain at 4:30 a.m. 2/28/14

This morning (4:30 a.m.) almost the entire state of California is covered with rain and snow.  This storm is supposed to be the biggest and hardest to hit in 3 years.  Armstrongists will soon be declaring that the rain is punishment from God if there are landslides in burn areas or flooding.  It's a no win situation.  Their god can never be placated. 

Bob Thiel Disgusted Over "Son of God" Movie Poster and Edits It So His Delicate Followers Will Not Be Offended

Poor Bob. There is no other person on this planet that understands God as he does.  Bob knows his god's mind and knows that his god would be sorely offended at a movie poster, so much so that he had to edit it so that his followers would likewise not be offended.  As we all know COG people get offended at EVERYTHING!

Prophet Thiel writes:

The above movie is to be released 2/28/2014 in the USA.  From what I have seen related to its promotion, I do not believe this film truly portrays Jesus and His ministry.  Yes, it may give some quotes and portray some events correctly, but it does not portray Him correctly (He did not look like how the actor portrays Him, which is why I cut that part of the promotional poster out), and I doubt it will properly portray His message.

This is how he edited the poster:

Bob then lists the things that he says the movie will not portray about the Jesus Christ he claims to know

But I do not believe it will properly answer questions such as:

Who was Jesus? Why did He come to earth? What message did He bring? Did Jesus teach and keep the Ten Commandments? Why is the kingdom of God mystery? Why did Jesus speak in parables? Is there evidence outside the Bible that He existed? What did Josephus, Tactitus, and Suetonius write? How will Jesus return? Could the Beast be a ‘false christ’?

 Bobs list above proves to everyone that he does not know the man himself!

Living Church of God Says God Is Punishing the United States With Snow But Had 129 Visitors in Texas! Woo Hoo!

LCG's angry god is at it again.  This time their god is using snow storms to punish the country.  Using that logic it is also plain to see that LCG is also being punished and has to suffer along with everyone else.  They had to shut their offices down because of five inches of snow. Five inches of snow shuts them down?  Five inches?????? In the Western States kids go to school in 2-3 feet of snow and LCG can't work in 5 inches????  LCG has become soft.  God's work apparently is not as important as they let on.

Extreme weather continues to make news with rains and flooding in southern England, snow and ice blanketing eastern portions of the United States and soaring temperatures in Australia—countries once blessed by God that are turning more and more away from Him and His ways!  Mr. Meredith spoke this past Sabbath in Houston, Texas and on Sunday; he and Pastor Rick Stafford saw 129 visitors attend their Tomorrow's World Presentation in Houston.  This coming Sabbath, Mr. Meredith will speak to the congregation in Austin, Texas where he will also be visiting with family.  Here in Charlotte, we have about 5-6 inches of snow that closed the office for several days.  I will be in Phoenix this coming weekend for the Sabbath and a conference on Sunday.

Living Church of God: Charlemagnes Bones May Be What Unites Europe!

From those fun folks at Living Church of God.  They things they dredge up to make their "prophecy" beliefs seem real area astonishing. 

There are news stories out about how they "pretty sure" that the bones in the Aachen Cathedral in Germany are those of Charlemagne.  The Aachen Cathedral also has the throne of Charlemagne in it. They are fascinating stories to read.

Then you move into Church of God land and the story takes on a whole new meaning.

In Church of God land when you put two and two together you will see that because the cathedral is in Germany and since we all know that the Germans will rise up and destroy the United States, England, Australia, New Zealand, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, and Canada, we then then know that these bones and his throne will be used by the beast power Germany to unite Europe.

Given the recent display of the “supposed” bones of Peter in Rome (Reuters, November 24, 2013), and Catholic Europe’s proclivity to venerate relics, the bones of the Holy Roman Emperor Charlemagne could be displayed to generate support for a United Europe and to foster the emergence of the long-prophesied King of the North (Daniel 11:40)! This leader is known as the Beast (Revelation 13:1-8). The Bones of Charlemagne

COG Bullshit Meter Is Bouncing Away Over Latest COG Split

Below is a quote from the Preaching the Gospel blog concerning the split of the Church of God Father's Call which split from David Hulme's personality cult in December 2013.

Since when has the majority of ministers in the Church of God "glorified" God's name?  They cant even talk about the guy they claim to follow let alone discuss what he accomplished.  Its all about  the law and British Israelism.  The rest of humanity be damned as long as the U.S., England and Canada are preached to.  Its no wonder that ever single one of the COG's are now "do nothing" churches.  None of them have any impact despite imitating HWA per-1986.

But if those who are on fire for the gospel separate and form a new group, or go with Living Church of God which is already preaching the gospel effectively, they will start to preach the gospel, not to please men and hold on to their tithes, but to glorify God's name and to show their love and compassion for the American, Canadian, and British peoples. And then, if they start their own group, they will start small, because all things must start small, but they will not remain small. The work of preaching the gospel may grow and grow as it never did with Mr. Hulme and as it never will with those COGFC leaders who made the decision in the beginning of the year to postpone preaching the gospel indefinitely. And if they go with LCG, they will be joining a work that is already preaching the gospel more effectively than any other major Church of God organization.

Are Bob Rodzaj and Peter Nathan "Hirelings of the Most Shamelss Kind?"

Qualities that the Church of God discarded decades ago.

Do any of the ministers in the Church of God have any integrity?  For the last twenty some years were have seen hundreds and hundreds of them jump ship from one group to another.  Very few seem to be able to stop and take stock of what is going on and  say, "What the hell am I doing?  I am a better man than this. This is bullshit" and walk away from it all.  They just jump from one group to the next expecting there to be money and open arms waiting for them.  Integrity never seems to follow them.


A reader here writes:

Bob Rodzaj has given outstanding sermons outlining the kind of loving government the Church needs to practice... and now he is going into the autocratic LCG, where Meredith's cruelty and arbitrary nepotistic rule go far beyond any excesses David Hulme has ever been accused of.

Peter Nathan just last month was telling COGaic brethren that there isn't any existing Church of God group practicing proper government. And now he is supporting LCG's form of government, which again makes Hulme's rule look benevolent by comparison. Just ask the COGaic members who came to COGaic from Global and Living.

Either these ministers have been deceived by Rod Meredith and his henchmen, or else they are hirelings of the most shameless kind.

A warning to these men: Meredith's pattern is to flatter new recruits by promising them great access or freedom or authority, or simply by making them feel like they are his special trusted advisors. But once you are in, just another slave on the payroll, the view changes from inside the prison. If you have any common sense left, please step away before you are trapped!

Dennis Muses on: McArmstrong's Navy

How Many Times Can a Man Jump Ship and Still Be Considered a Sailor?

Ministers on the USS Armstrong are not the smartest sailors in the Navy from what I can tell.  They probably need to just lighten up a bit and get their own comedy show.  Well actually they already have their own comedy shows but they seem to have a hard time trying to figure out what episode and what cast they want to be in.  It always confused me as a kid when I watched "The Three Stooges" because every once in awhile Curly would not be the original Curly.  There was some other guy that kinda looked like Curly but I knew it wasn't the original.  Then along comes Shemp and really confused me.  Who's Shemp?  Where did he come from and Why is he now one of the "Three Stooges."  As I got older I figured that the original Curly must have had some personal problems and the show had to go on when they manifested on the set, but I don't know.  Anyway...that's another show.

Captain Herbert W Tkachaflurryweinapackstrong

How many ships can a Church of God minister jump and still be considered a sailor?  I don't know.  I was only on two ships in my life.  One I did jump, ok I admit it.  As a kid, the USS Presbyterian did not seem to work for me as I studied how ships should be constructed and how to read the Ship Log and Training Manuals.   I jumped to a much better ship that proved to be the absolute wrong jump to make.  At least I can comfort myself in the fact that in a parallel universe, I jumped to the USS Penn State or USS Cornell and became Dr. Neil Degrasse Tyson Diehl.  I guess I fell off the second one or got so sick on the ride I just realized I was no sailor.  It made me seasick and Captain Bligh concerned me at times.  There were three of them as well . Sailors were always getting hung from yardarms or made to walk planks. Some were severely beaten as a lesson to the other of us sailors.  While I did not have to deal with the Captains all that much, the times I did were not all that inspiring and often wondered how they got the job.  It was the Second Lieutenants that I marveled at at times and often.  It was quite a cruise.  Towards the end of the cruise, you had to take a head count of the crew every week to see who was still there and who had jumped ship.

...it's a bitter trip to  Dave's candy shop. Where obedience pays... on the gloomy shores of Gyrate Bay

One only jumps ship for one of two reasons.  Either one wants to get out of the Navy and off the ship and go home, or they like being a sailor, want to stay in the Navy but just not on that ship.  The pay and perks of sailing are pretty good.  Most of the time you are just doing rather mundane things to keep the ship afloat the purpose of that particular ship functional.  You can always get others to swab decks and the tax payers take care of most of the bills.  Every April, around the Spring Holy Days, they have to send it in.  They have to pull big triggers but the IRS has the right to say these things and the authority to do it.  Captain Dave Pack must have worked for them at one time before jumping many ships and then just building his own ship more to his liking.   I think it's called "The Good Ship Lollygag"  or something like that.  

Working on the USS Philadelphia is no fun.  It's just an experiment anyway and after finding missing sailors and others embedded in the deck like some time warp or something, not to mention it being mysteriously transported from California and then showing up in Oklahoma...well, it's mystery. It may also just be an urban legend or even a hoax.

Why on earth would I jump this ship?

Not many seem to jump the USS United.  It's kind of a cruise ship and just seems to wander around the nicer areas of the sea offering entertainment with the occasional bout of E-Coli when the food inspectors mess up.  It seems to happen more than it should but that's why they call it the USS United.  Lots of sailors seem to jump ship to get on the USS United.  It's just an easier ship to work on evidently and it has many Captains depending .  If you don't like this one, just wait a couple years. 

USS Restored and Captain Pack and Crew attack the USS COGdom

(Don't  jump ship...No one would pick you up)

The USS Restored is a ship of a different color....mostly green.  Or at least lots of green is always on order and there is never quite enough of it to finish restoring it.  It's a very small ship and reminds me of the concept of mice that roar.  This is the ship Captain Bligh ended up on after he was set adrift in a small lifeboat when abusing the crew of the USS Worldwide Bounty.  When younger, he was on the USS Global for a time as well as the USS Still Living but he didn't really jump them.  He was thrown off them.  The USS Restored is only about 25 feet long, has a very small crew of conscripted zombies from Haiti and a huge Captain's Quarters and observation deck or at least that is in the offing if space for one can be found.  Captain Bligh still believes he is spoken of in the Naval Training Manual specifically and after the sudden death of three well known Captains and ship sinkings, the surviving crews and lieutenants will climb on board the USS Restored.  The problem is there isn't much for them to do on it and the requirements and credentials as well as swearing on one's mother's grave they were on the wrong ships to begin with are quite high.  It would be a poop deck slug fest if all these crews, helps, painters, gunnery Sargent's and sails men and former Captains showed up at once.  Cardboard extensions have been added to make the USS Restored look bigger at sea but they don't hold up in the salt water and hot air.

"Go ye therefore into all the world and make 'em chuckle"

And no...you're not really the One True Ship

Some ships, like the USS Thiel are so small the don't even have crews.  Just a Captain over not much sailing around and acting bigger than it really is.  Definately a ship of a different color with Captain Thiel at its head for sure.   Captain Thiel keeps saying he is Captain of the one true ship but we all know there are many ships at sea and all do different things for different reasons.  One True Ship?  Meh.....and pffffffft.

"Permission to come on board sir!"

"Why?"

The USS Living takes in a few Ship Jumpers from time to time.  The jump is pretty easy.  No great distances to climb nor railings to get over.  It's not a fast ship and somewhat dead in the water with flooded engine and looks a bit like a toy but it's fun and a new Captain and Crew is waiting to come on board.  

There are a couple of unmaintained lifeboats and dingys hanging off parts of or washed up from the now sunken USS Armstrong but not worth mentioning.  

Crew leaving the USS BoundtoBeSunk

But back to the original question.  How many times can a sailor jump ship and still be considered a good and trustable seaman?   I'd personally find it difficult to believe the sailor when he was on board my ship telling me just how much he loves it and me and won't ever do it again...he promises.  I'm not sure I'd believe him when he called roll call and reminded me I served on the finest and only true ship in the ocean. 

Your view?

BREAKING NEWS: Steve Elliot, Peter Nathan Jump Ship To Join Living Church of God

In late 2013 David Hulme's little group had a major split with a large number of members breaking off to form the Church of God – A Family Community or The Father's Call.  These men all thought they were all unified under Brian Orchard when they had their first church conference around the first of the year.  They at least pretended to put on a unified front.  Brian Orchard admits below that they were not unified. Like all good things in Armstrongism, it did not last.  Power plays are never pretty and those who jump first tend to get burned the fastest

Steve Elliot, Peter Nathan and Ted Budge have now defected to other Church of God's

Letter - February 25, 2014

Dear Brethren,

Many are already aware that Mr. & Mrs. Stephen Elliott and Mr. & Mrs. Bob Rodzaj are joining the Nathans in moving to Living Church of God. Mr. and Mrs. Ted Budge have opted to return to the United Church of God. This is a difficult development and admittedly it disappoints my expectations.

That acknowledged, a change of plans is an opportunity to seek God’s will rather than our own. We prayed and fasted as a group, and here we are. Let’s trust that God will reveal His purpose.

It is apparent that the ministry came away from our January conference with two different mind sets. We thought we were of the one mind as we agreed on a purpose and goals statement but it is now clear that we were processing different meanings to the words and statements released. I don’t believe any of this was intentional – we just did not recognize the different understandings that existed. I am trying with my limited abilities to provide a clear path forward and to reassure those of you who do not want to join other existing organizations. What we set out to do is not dead. But we clearly have much work to do to reconcile ourselves to God and to be unified in our understanding of His will.

The following paragraph translates to:  "Please don't be hasty and jump ship too and take your money with you!  How will be be able to pay for our lifestyle if you do?  We are God's most loyal men even through we worked diligently (to get our paychecks) for Joseph Tkach Sr disfellowshipping hundreds and hundreds of WCG members before we had the balls to do anything about it."

Certainly, let’s not vilify anyone for the decisions they prayerfully come to. Please do not feel under pressure to make hasty decisions about your future or feel critical about others having interaction with other COG groups. Loyalty is to Christ, who is head of the Church, and no other. We are instructed to leave all to follow Him.

I do not plan to join any of the existing COG groups in the foreseeable future. The other remaining members of the interim advisory board (Steve Andrews, Cliff Veal, Marshall Stiver and Bill Hutchison) assure me they feel the same way. As such, we intend to continue with the support of our other fine elders. The ministers who are leaving us have decided not to attend the conference this coming Sunday. They felt their presence would not be helpful to us at this time and I respect their decision. Accordingly, we will focus on who we are and where we are going. We will review our goals and purposes as developed during the January conference and from there look at ways we can move forward with some organized effort in shepherding the flock and preaching the gospel.

Please don’t be over burdened by these challenges. God will care for us. In many respects, these outcomes may ultimately facilitate bridges between God’s scattered people. We need to be the people God wants us to be and let Him use us to implement His will.

Warm Regards,
Brian Orchard

Is God Punishing Oklahoma For Allowing The Philadelphia Church of God Cult In Their Midst?

Central Oklahoma, and particularly the region around Edmond has been hit with a series of earthquakes over the last several months.  Gerald Flurry's campus has felt the majority of these quakes.

Since Armstrongism always says that earthquakes are God's way of punishing sinners, it must be quite obvious to all that God is now punishing the Philadelphia Church of God for their despicable actions on how they treat members.

PCG writes:

EDMOND—The latest in a series of small earthquakes rumbled beneath the Philadelphia Church of God headquarters campus at approximately 10:44 this morning. Staff members in buildings all over campus felt the 3.2 tremor, including the television crew and Pastor General Gerald Flurry as he finished taping his first Key of David program in Armstrong Auditorium.

The tremor was the latest of dozens of quakes that have shaken central Logan County, Oklahoma, about four miles north of the headquarters campus location. In a roughly 30-square mile area, the United States Geological Survey recorded 24 quakes within the past week, not including the 10:44 a.m. quake. Twenty occurred on Saturday alone, the largest of which measured 3.5. on the Richter scale.

Oklahoma is not accustomed to seismic activity; for decades, residents felt few or no earthquakes. But since 2007, the number of earthquakes in the state have multiplied, including some that have measured above 3.0. Earthquakes Continue in Central Oklahoma

Eric King: Fallen Angels (Demons) Are The Cause of Air Turbulence That Planes Experience

Eric King now knows the cause of air turbulence when you have that next bumpy plane flight.  Its a bunch of pesky demons deliberately jostling your plane about so you spill you drink!  Bad demons!  Bad! Bad! Bad!  Stop it!

Freak Air Turbulence…could it be Fallen Angels?

19 Feb

1. Heavy turbulence injures 5, sends China flight back to Newark | New …

   ‎New York Post

    

   Heavy turbulence injures 5, sends China flight back to Newark. By Philip Messing. January 17, 2014 | 10:59am. Modal Trigger. Photo: David McNew/Getty …

   
   
   

Dennis Muses: Suffocating Religion and The Churches of God

"In a world that’s f...... up by pollution, chemicals in nearly every household commodity. Matrix food is designed to make you (physically) sick. Matrix TV is designed to make you emotionally sick and Matrix religion is designed to make you spiritually sick."
The Spiritual Anatomy of Cancer
Soren Dreier

The religious environment offered by the vast majority of the Churches of God that have split and peeled off from the World Wide Church of God can hardly be considered healthy environments for personal spiritual growth.  The Churches of God promote religion , which is that which another pours into the head mostly without critical examination as to it's reality, demands one be certain places, at certain times for certain reasons and always remember to give a very certain amount of  one's resources to certain people.  

Most of what passes as rituals and holydays are merely control mechanisms and while the idea of  the membership into the ritual is "free of charge," it proves quit expensive to join.  The church did not make up these controls.  They were instituted in what we see as The Old Testament.  Whenever you have priests, sacrfices, detailed rules on all manner of life and living, it's about control.  Common sense for the good of community rules and laws are necessary and desireable of course, but killing millions of sheep, goats, cattle and birds along with washings and sending it all in to the priests and the temple, not so much.  That's all about control.  Let's face it, the writers of the day believed that if the Egyptians and outsiders did not surrender their culture "in that day" and come to the Feast of Tabernacles, it would not rain until they cried "Uncle", is control plain and simple.  I'd not want to speak to that audience of compliant and hungry rain deprived gentiles who'd probably not be in the mood for the Good News of the Wonderful World Tomorrow where their culture was to be trashed.  Real life doesn't work that way.

The Churches of  God do not promote an overall and abiding spirtual environment  and does not promote the individual either proving all things and holding on to the good things or producing ministers and helps that are actually encouraging helpers of anyone's joy. There are exceptions of course but you know exactly what I mean.  Joy is sadly missing from the equation.  Church of God members will go to great lengths and express great anger over anyone's recognition that they are caught in a joyless cycle of waiting for the end, endless support for the church and "keeping themselves unspotted from the world," which translates into just being weird and uncoperative in the most simple of life's moments.  "By the fruits you shall know them..."   Well....Now we know.

It is no secret, or at least should not be to those who stand back and observe, that the main players and many more minor ones are not the most mentally healthy fish in the sea of Church of God religion.  It is easy, and that should serve as warning sign of one's own religious blindspots, to accept what outside of their enclaves and in the real world would not be tolerated for one minute.  The Gerald and Stephen Flurrys, Dave Packs,  Rod Merediths, and Ron Weinlands of COGdom along with the very minor players such as  EW King,  James Malm, Robert Thiel and a host of others strain at gnats, swallow camels and major in all things minor missing the whole point of the New Testament if one is so inclined to grasp it literally.  They mix their old wine in new wineskins and have no clue they are doing it.  It also makes lousy wine.

These men and their fruits are that of RELIGION, but fall far short of themselves being known for their SPIRITUALITY or teaching it.

Galatians 5:22-23

New International Version (NIV)

²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

2 Corinthians 1:24

²⁴ Not that we lord it over your faith, but we work with you for your joy, because it is by faith you stand firm.

Not exactly the traits and perspectives we find in many Church of God personalities.  The fact that there are even these "personalities" , hiding their quirkiness and ego centric selves behind the masks of religion should be telling enough. What looks like "obedience" and "insight" in religion is often called mental illness in the world and in reality.  Much of what passes in the Old Testament as the inspired behavior of the prophets would be considered serious mental issues today.  Seeing Jesus in visions where only you hear the voice and see the bright lights (depending on the version of the story) is not a  spiritually safe way to find your leader these days. 

I have, and most do who read such things, appreciated the deep message of I Corinthians 13.  Perhaps there is hope for many of the controllers and mentally unstable ministers and gurus in the Churches of God as they age or realize, and they will, that life will end for them just as it ended for their hero apostles.  

The chance that they will live to experience the "in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump, WE shall be changed..." is right at about zero. Being realistic is not scoffing and of course the "not Peter" of 2 Peter puts the blame and misunderstanding of the soon and shortly of Jesus coming clearly on those who were wondering why it never seemed to happen as promised or advertisd. As we saw then and see today, it is NEVER that the minister or guru was or is dead wrong. It is the "timing" and sure enough, God now is revealing those originally wrong about the crystal clear word of God  now find "new and expansive elements," that should cause us all to gyrate right out of the room in awe.  It's a game ministers who are simply dreaming and  wrong play.

 IF the Apostle Paul actually wrote this, somewhere along the way, towards the end of his life when he recognized how wrong he was about Jesus soon return, how many lives he may have disrupted with his advice to married and singles and how much stress he laid on his version of the Church over that which was not going to shortly come to pass in reality, he may have had this epiphany.  At least it sounds like a man who, while possibly sincere in the telling of his story, even if mistaken in many of his conclusions, realized that love is all there really  is and everything else is an illusion.

1 Corinthians 13

New International Version (NIV)

13 If I speak in the tongues^[a] of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. ² If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. ³ If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast,^[b] but do not have love, I gain nothing.

Paul wakes up to his own offensive behaviors and mistaken views?

⁴ Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.⁵ It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

⁸ Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.⁹ For we know in part and we prophesy in part, ¹⁰ but when completeness comes,what is in part disappears. ¹¹ When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. ¹² For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

¹³ And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

That's quite a turn around for the author.  The Church of God Gurus have not yet come to this conclusion with their vain boastings, envy of each others stuff, proud braggings about "fruits", self seeking, dishonoring of others beliefs and choices and rejoicings over when others fall.  A few like to think they can even predict the fall of others based on their vain and ridiculous musings about themselves as they see themselves spoken of in the Bible, which has to be about as close to mental illness as one can get in ministry.

Whether it is the narcissistic personality disorder  rising to the "top" and running the show, a sociopath or someone sincere but totally off the track of reality in ministry, there are dangerous Church of God types who are train wreck waiting to happen yet again.  In the Church of God is so true that "if it is one thing we have learned from history, it is that we have learned nothing from history," and that as Winston Churchill said, "History is one damn thing after the next."   It seems so in many of these high profile leader institutions. 

For example,  little if anything Dave Pack of Restored Church of God says is actually true.  In a business setting he would have been fired for being so wrong about his product appeal and advertising approach.  In religion, he gets a pass...for now.  Dave is not spoken of in the Bible.  His Church is not spoken of in the Bible. He lied years ago when he demanded monies in ways that should have gotten the attention of a State Attorney General or someone at least because, once again, time was short.  He doesn't really believe time is short or he, like HWA was, would not be busy building his mini and quite fake religious institution which is a good word for it.   

Whatever he comes up with shortly as an awesome and over arching run up to the Spring Holy Days, will be more religious bullshit and not contain one bit of true spirituality any member can real-ize.  If he is smart, he will shut up about this failed topic and appeal to 2 Peter and blame everything on scoffers who don't understand that God does not see "soon" , "shortly" and "the hour now is", like humans might think of it.  Of course 2 Peter is one of the great and first apologetics to arrive on the scene of the fire set by the Apostle Paul over everything ending shortly in Jesus return so just do what he says.  The real Peter was long gone when that new truth was revealed in perfect Greek.

As noted in times past, in the Churches of God, you don't actually get to grow in grace and knowledge.  You get to be religious but not spiritual.  Grace has too much law behind it and law, not enough grace. In my last church here in Greenville, the previous pastor, now Evangelist I hear, kicked out lots of folk for lots of reasons that merely needed a more gracious and forgiving approach.  Boy did the elders and deacons get upset when many returned when he was gone.  And they solved their "problems" without the church before doing so.  Grace tends to turn into lawlessness and law into a graceless existence in Church.  Paul learned this the hard way when his teachings ran amok in I Corinthians and he had to start bouncing the grace filled lawbreakers.  Indeed...Paul was hard to be understood was the apologetic for him not thinking his views through clearly or the implications for others.  

Concerning the ministry and members of the more arrogant, proof texting and silly minded ministers who take themselves way to seriously making the Bible mean what it never meant...

"Too Soon Old and Too Late Schmart"

Let's hope not...Time is short