God's Government or Man-Made Church Government?
Has God Himself spoken to you in person and told you to "obey" men or women who stand in pulpits and make the claim that they speak for God? If so, have you documented that encounter with God and do you have witnesses that indeed God did appear to you and speak to you? Better yet, do you have a video of that encounter?
Of course God has never appeared to you or so much as spoken one word to you as an individual. Why then should you believe that God has spoken to Rod Meredith, Moses, the "apostle" Paul or any other self-appointed head of any WCG splinter group?
The audacity of WCG splinter group heads, who act and pretend to be appointed by God, is beyond words. In fact no intelligent human being who can think, reason or discern would ever submit their lives to these wolves in sheep's clothing.
Vain and egotistical humans have always pretended that God is on their side. They foment FEAR in the minds of the weak-minded, to gain followers. They threaten eternal damnation, hell-fire, loss of salvation and a life-time of being cursed for non-compliance to rigid rules.
It is not God's government they espouse, it is their own regimentation designed to keep their followers in check, so that their $cash rewards keep coming. It is like government taxation that states "pay or go to jail."
Religion and those who head various church groups are among the most corrupt of human being on planet earth. If you don't think this is true, then read what Jesus Christ stated to the pharisees in Matthew 23. WCG splinter group heads are notorious pharisees, whose only real motive is their own $bank account.
Van Robison
It took me 12 years to come to the realization that the only proof I had was the fact that they said so.
ReplyDeletePastor Dave Havir of the Big Sandy Church of God wrote an article for the latest issue of The Journal entitled "The old class system's roots run deep." I wish everyone in the ACOG culture could read this article. It is an excellent summary of the mechanics behind the notions relative to church governance extant within that culture. The majority of these folks aren't stupid - they've simply fallen into a self-perpetuating philosophical trap. It's easy to see the mistake after one has extracted him/herself from it.
ReplyDeleteNo matter how many times a minister tells his congregation that he has no higher spiritual authority over the lay members the dynamics of organized religion always seems to lead to the lay members viewing the ministry as being the mouth piece of god even though they have absolutely no authority over any of the members. This is the "way" of organized religion.
ReplyDeleteAll organized religions are man made and the leaders are just human like anyone else. Some are sincere and some are not.
The Old Class System's Roots Run Deep by David Havir slams Herbert Armstrong.
ReplyDeleteProbably the reason the ministry of the ACOGs are and were against voting is that they realize deep down that in most cases, had we had the chance, we would have voted them out!
ReplyDeleteAnd, why not? We were captives, entrapped by a false "fear factor" gospel, that had no relationship to spiritual enlightenment. The reason why people seek spiritual enlightenment is rooted in a desire to go beyond the best knowledge that is able to be imparted by fellow man. What passes for spiritual enlightenment in Armstrongism is intimidation. The people who have been the most intimidated by the ministry are the people who are regarded as being the most deeply converted.
Any time there is a human need or desire, the salesmen amongst us will attempt to drop in their version of the total solution to that need. And, it always has a price tag. In the case at hand, if you have tried and failed to have some sort of spiritual experience yourself, the next best thing is to align yourself with someone who allegedly has. The problem is that this is just as convincingly falsifiable as any other sales situation. By the time buyers' remorse sets in, ACOG members are generally too scared to do anything to correct the situation.
BB