In its ongoing quest to control every aspect of its members lives, the Living Church of God now is telling members how to drive their vehicles. How Would Jesus Drive?
Yes I know there are lots of idiots on the road, particularly here in Los Angeles where half the population cant read English, but still I wonder why LCG has to invade members lives so much?
Did you know that driving 70 on the freeway is a BIG RESPONSIBILITY? Its not to be taken lightly! Just like your salvation, it is NOT to be taken lightly. How many times have we heard this attached to a myriad of reasons used by ministers to control us?
Dylan King asks:Being behind the wheel of a hundred or more steel horses that can travel at speeds above 70 miles per hour is a big responsibility. If taken lightly, one mistake at the wheel could cost you your life!
According to King, since Jesus suffered for us we should not commit any sin while driving.If Jesus Christ walked the earth today and found Himself behind the wheel of a car, truck or SUV; what kind of driver would He be? How should today’s Christians conduct themselves on the road?
God inspired the Apostle Peter to encourage us to follow Christ’s example of perfect character. “For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps: Who committed no sin, nor was deceit found in His mouth” (1 Peter 2:21).
Because Jesus was a Jew and kept the Jewish law we too should keep the law of the land because we are required to submit to government authorities.
Because King and other COG members fail to practice the fruits of the spirit - accidents WILL happen!Jesus Christ never broke God’s law. In fact, He even made it a point to obey the legitimate laws of the secular government that ruled over the places where He lived and taught. And He taught us to do the same. The Bible makes it clear that Christians should submit to the governing authorities who reign over us, and warns that if we do not we will bring judgment on ourselves (Romans 13:1-3).
Real Christians (only those in LCG or Thiels's group) must constantly "drive" with God because you must FEAR God.I have felt that judgment personally, when a careless moment behind the wheel led to the destruction of my vehicle (but, thankfully only minor injuries). If I had been more careful to utilize fruits of the spirit such as longsuffering (patience), kindness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22) while driving, I may have avoided that particular wreck.
Of course this all leads to having people request a booklet on keeping the 10 Commandments because Big Daddy Spanky needs to tell you everything you need to do.Christians should strive to walk with God daily—and, if we are behind the wheel of a vehicle, we should strive to drive with God, having the fear of God. We can make a huge difference on the road by obeying traffic laws that were created for our own safety, and by being courteous to other drivers. As we start our engines, let us remember the eternal words of Jesus Christ, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Mark 12:31).
I do have to hand it to LCG though, this is the first time they have talked about Jesus in a while.Request a free copy of our booklet, The Ten Commandments. In it, Dr. Roderick C. Meredith explains plainly from the Bible how God’s laws living in us through the Holy Spirit can give us the spiritual guidance to truly love our neighbors as ourselves.
Well at least they say that Jesus would be driving his own car and NOT being chauffeured around in a limosine like HWA was.
ReplyDeleteIm looking forward to more LCG articles on this very important area of driving habits and Jesus...
* Would Jesus Text and drive?
* Would Jesus wear his seat belt, even though he is immortal?
* Would Jesus have a Red Car and would he have custom rims and use "armor all" on his tires?
* Since Jesus is God, and he knows all things, would he ever use his "high beams"?
* What would be the deductible that Jesus would have on his insurance policy, since he owns all of Heaven and Earth anyway?
* Would Jesus drive alone with Mary Magdalene without an escort?
* If Jesus was stopped at an inland border check manned by the border patrol and asked if he was a United States citizen, how would he answer and how would he be able to proceed?
Inquiring minds demand official LCG rulings!
Jesus would use public transportation.
ReplyDeleteShortly before the 1988 FOT, Tkach Senior told us all to drive the speed limit. So there I was, obediently trundling along the freeway, towards the Feast site, the slowest car on the road (which while legal is not safe). All of a sudden a car came roaring by in the passing lane. It was being driven by the site director. Am I allowed to name names? It was Donat Picard, director of the Sherbrooke Quebec Canada site. Where did he end up?
ReplyDeleteLCG should practice what they preach...how about getting building permits for the work that they have done on their building. They built a wall that was totally out of code. And the offices that they built were built without permits. They also use church members for some of the work, but don't pay them what they would anyone else.. so sad
ReplyDeleteI'm certain that these WWJD-driving skills people are well intentioned, and it is certainly good to be safe. But, once again, the typical Armstrong obsessive-compulsive thingie raises its ugly head.
ReplyDeleteIt is far better advice to tell someone to blend with surrounding traffic, soas not to draw attention to yourself. In my state, if you are anal about driving the speed limit, you are going to be a hazard to other drivers, and might even cause accidents, or get rear ended.
This is yet another opportunity for aspiring teachers to attribute their own personal tastes and habits to Jesus, and to then enforce it under the possible penalty of losing God's protection, or even going through the tribulation!
This "red" thing some religious people have a thing against is just unbelievable! I do not even own a non-red vehicle! My Impala, my antique Ford, and my Harley are all red! If people see you coming, it prevents accidents! My guitars are all red! Even my couches are red! And, I drink Budweiser (in moderation!) and the cans for that are red and white. My flag is for certain red, white, and blue.
Know what? It's funny. Even when cultic zombies actually end up with a couple odd tidbits of good advice, somehow it's human nature to want to reject it and them, just on the principle of the thing, soas not to allow them that control!
BB
I think we need to get back to riding donkeys, that way we won't have to worry about stupid stuff such as drinking and driving, etc. That way, if you get drunk you don't hurt nobody else you just fall off your ass on your ass. I'd call mine...
ReplyDelete"Big Daddy Spanky" ROTFLMAO!
Connie said:
ReplyDelete"Im looking forward to more LCG articles on this very important area of driving habits and Jesus...
Most importantly, would Jesus drive a hybrid or electric car? Or would he tiptoe toward climate catastrophe by driving a Hummer? Or does Jesus even believe in climate change?
What else? Oh yes.
Since driving is a privilege, not a right (at least in the US), does Jesus have a driver's license, and who issued it?
Ditto for plates and vehicle registration.
If Jesus drove a car on planet earth, would this count as his oft-heralded, long-awaited "second coming"? (Revelation 19:11 Now I saw as heaven opened, and behold, an Oxford White Ford Mustang Shelby GT350. And He who sat in it was called Faithful and True...) [I guess Jesus does NOT believe in climate change!]
Would Jesus drink of the fruit of the vine and drive?
I can relate to the comment about the 1988 Feast.
ReplyDeleteCall me a legalist, but I've always tried to adhere to the speed limit. So when I started attending WCG, I figured fellow "law-loving" believers would do the same.
Instead, I heard several make excuses about why they don't. And when a group of cars drove in tandem to the Feast, I stood out as odd because I lagged behind the others (in the days when 55 mph was the law nationwide).
Moral of the story: some (not all) people in COG's say they love God's law - but look for ways to dodge man's law, even when it's not a sin issue.
In 1973 I was assigned to direct traffic after services at Jekyll Island. I was stationed at the exit from the parking lot onto the main road. Everyone, both feastgoers and locals, calmly obeyed my directions to halt or proceed, everyone that is except some of those coming from the ministerial parking lot. Several of them nearly caused accidents when they entered the road against my directions. They seemed to consider my upraised hand to be some form of greeting or acknowledgement of their status. One older local elder from my church area terrified me as he, waving and smiling, drove onto the road while I was frantically trying to signal him to stop. Fortunately the oncoming traffic was able to stop in time.
ReplyDeleteAnon 8:37: Dude, you are cracking me up! WCG ministers weren't about setting the example in matters of obedience to the law! They were about exemplifying the meaning of the word "entitlement!" You are lucky the minister who almost ran you over and caused an accident didn't ask you to wash and detail his car!
ReplyDeleteBB
BB,
ReplyDeleteThis is Anon 8:37. I was 20 years old at the time and had been attending services for a year and a half. They probably figured I was expendable which is why they told me to stand in the middle of a two-lane road, the main road on the island, and direct traffic. Obviously whoever assigned me to this duty forgot to tell me that I was supposed to immediately stop traffic in both directions whenever I saw a ministerial feast sticker coming my way.
When people make the mistake of letting me figure things out on my own, I do what makes sense to me so my goal was to minimize average wait time for everyone with a slight bias toward letting the locals pass quickly so that they might think well of us. I didn't see that ministers should get, or would expect, special treatment, although by the end of that feast I had figured that out.
By the way, over 90% of the ministers were very cooperative; there were just a few who thought they were Moses parting the Red Sea.