From a reader:
I heard that Meredith is so pissed off about this letter that he is going to mark them AGAIN next Sabbath. How funny! How many times can he do the same thing before he realizes it makes him look like an even bigger idiot?!
Meredith, "How dare you tell your side of things? I double super mark you! When I'm a spirit being I will zap you with a bolt of lightening!"
The behavior of McNair and Meredith is frightfully demonic.
I hope the light being shinned on the ungodly actions of LCG leadership will wake people up.
Meredith want them to think that he has the power but it is the members who have all the power. If they stand up against this type of blatant abuse instead of doing nothing maybe things could change.
I believe everything in this letter. Not because I know the victims but because I know how Meredith has ALWAYS operated and because of his worldwide reputation as a big fat LIAR.
My heart goes out to these people. I can't imagine writing "dozens of letters" and wanting to be with the people you perceive to be your "family and friends" but being left out in the cold "to die". I'm sure that they will look back on this in a year and be glad they are no longer subject to this type of unchristian rule.
Fly free little birds...
30 comments:
Well, if he does, we won't need to wonder any more what it would be like if some of our favorite TV comedies had been about the ACOGs! It will be like being disfellowshipped by Roscoe P. Coltraine and Boss Hogg, Lenny and Squiggy, or Beavis and Butthead.
What is not generally realized by sincere, observant members is that the splinters are not intended to be taken seriously as if they were real churches. They are meant to be pure satire! Where else could you find such cutting edge comedy? Unfortunately, some not only don't get the joke, they see the so-called leaders as being the gatekeepers for the place of safety when the Germans get a race change and become Assyrian, or for the kingdom, as if Jesus and the real apostles wouldn't have something to say about that!
It is probably time for a little activism. My suggestion would be that this sabbath all of the oppressed members should stage a "disfellowship-in". As a herd, do something, or do a series of things that are only sinful because the ACOGs have their own petty little rules prohibiting them. The goal is to get as many people disfellowshipped as possible so that the very word no longer has meaning.
Dress down for services. Levis, T-shirts, flip flops. Pay your tithes in coin rather than writing a check or having your ATM card debited. Cultivate a non-approved hair style (lots to choose from there!). Take your laptop or ipad to church and watch a Dr. Charles Stanley sermon on Christian love while Uncle Roddy, Winnie the Pooh, NCIS Jim, or Buffy Jr. are speaking.
(or their tape is being played). Bring some beer and potato chips to enjoy during services. Why there must be hundreds of activities which are biblically OK, but only wrong for members because of arbitrary ACOG rules.
Worst case? If LCG don't realize they are being had, and if this doesn't make them lighten up, the worst thing that can happen is that next week you will once again get to be with friends or family members you haven't seen for a long time at your new splinter's services!
BB
I decided today to triple mark Meredith. I think he's being divisive to humanity. Plus, he's a bit of a poopy head. I'm forbidding everyone one I know to interact with him. I'll be sending out the news far and wide this evening! Wait, I just had a new inspiration...he's QUADRUPLE MARKED! Yeah, that's the ticket.
I feel left out! I want to be honored by being disfellowshipped too!
Rod- Please announce my disfellowshipment and marking this Sabbath too! Make my day!
To be Announced Only If Necessary
(It is necessary)
In accordance with the biblical
commands, the doctrine and long-standing practices of the church, (based somewhat on I Corinthians 5:5, where Paul admonishes us to "hand the sexually immoral man over to Satan so that the sinful nature may be destroyed and his spirit saved on the day of the Lord." we are sometimes required to notify you that certain people have been disfellowshipped. It is our unpleasant duty at this time to notify you that Roderick Meredith, David Hulme, Gerald Flurry and all their Myrmidon minions, some of them listed to the right, have been disfellowshipped. These former members, who have signified below, do not, and you should not, bear any ill will toward these so-called, self-styled, self-ordained church leaders. (They have basically ordained one another, and that is so appropriate since they all descend from the incestuous and corrupt founder, Herbert W. Armstrong.)
Total incompetent.
I wish I could say that I was disfellowshiped and marked before it was cool, but I can't. I never was disfellowshiped or marked.
I was only ever suspended. Was I not important enough to be excommunicated properly? What am I, chopped liver? Now that it seems like all the cool people are having this procedure done, I'm feeling left out and a little jealous.
Now I exist in a permanent state of limbo. Suspended animation, if you will...
I could say the suspense is killing me, except, well, quite frankly, it isn't. In fact, it's something I never even think about ordinarily because life is better not lived in crazytown.
But still, wouldn't it be a nice feeling to know you're being thrown into the lake of fire with your credentials in order?
If this actually occurs, it would be an astoundingly petty thing for Meredith and LCG to do.
But you can never rule it out just on that basis.
Well, now that Connie and everyone else posting on this thread seems to have mentioned it, I too feel left out and that I haven’t been properly dis-fellowshipped and publicly marked either. If I am going to be toast and fried like crispy critters in the Lake of Fire, then I too want my credentials in order. I don’t want a loving Father God to stand in the way of my rendezvous with the Lake of Fire destiny just because my paperwork wasn’t in order through complete incompetence like that displayed by the idiot Rod Meredith.
My paperwork should read:
WHEREAS,
Richard grew up in God’s Church and attended with his family for 8 years (1968 – 1976). He was taught God’s truth at Sabbath Services, Bible Studies and studied all lessons of the Ambassador College Bible Correspondence Course.
WHEREAS,
Richard applied to God’s College- Ambassador College- in 1973 and his application was rejected. Therefore, what good is he to God’s Church and God’s work?
WHEREAS,
Richard heard Mr. Herbert Armstrong state on the World of Tomorrow telecast in the early 1980s “that if you don’t see these things come to pass in the next 10 to 15 years, then you will have known that I was a false prophet and the truth was not with me!” Re-stating this quote of God’s Apostle is causing division among God’s people.
WHEREAS,
Richard has observed that the Radio/Worldwide/Living Churches of God have been preaching for 70 years that the Wonderful World of Tomorrow is coming soon in our lifetimes – but that it never comes and people have died as “tithe slaves” waiting for Christ to arrive; and, that the idiot Rod Meredith has been saying it will come in 3 to 5 years for 45+ years.
THEREFORE,
Be it known to all men and women that Mr. Richard of the Lake of Fire Church of God has been publicly dis-fellowshipped and marked for causing division - for using the brain God gave him, and for calling Presiding Evangelist Rod Meredith “an idiot” even though most people know that it is true.
END OF DISFELLOWSHIPMENT AND PUBLIC MARKING PAPERWORK OF MR> RICHARD
Question - Who can sign my paperwork so my credentials are in order when I am thrown into the Lake of Fire? Crispy critters!
I was never officially disfellowshipped, either! I just walked away, and was never even shunned by original WCG. After I left, a department head at AC literally called me to do work on some of their equipment, and while I was doing it, everyone gathered around to ask how I was doing, and to make minor chit-chat. It is hilarious, because I had even written scathing letters which got published by the Pasadena Star News when the college was attempting to obtain the old Vista Del Arroyo Hotel as a gift from the feds, later to protest additional street closures that AC was requesting, and to encourage the investigation of the church finances during the receivership.
Always the activist, I had signed my real name to those letters, too. Nobody had heard of screen names during the days before PC's, and the newspapers verified names, addresses, and phone numbers prior to publishing a letter to the editor. It was one of the only legitimate and respectable ways you could publically hold the Armstrongite authority structure accountable during that era.
In general, activism sometimes temporarily slows them down, or puts an annoying burr in their saddle. But, it will never cause them to re-evaluate their positions or modify their behavior. Were it not that re-education is futile, most certainly British Israelism would have been corrected in the face of mounting evidence following the failure of 1975. But, that would presume that they had properly, truthfully, and ethically dealt with 1975. They have not to this day.
BB
My husband and I resigned from the WCG during Tkach's (Sr.) time in the country we migrated to and after a couple of months, got disfellowshipped and marked announced in all the WCG churches at the country we came from. How crazy was that?
I just got my paperwork yesterday:
OFFICIAL CERTIFICATE of ETERNAL DAMNATION
The Council of Elders of the One True Church of God, by Virtue of the Authority Vested in it by God's Laws and Upon the Recommendation, and in the Limitless Mercy of Our Lord and Savior, Do Hereby Render the Following Eternally Binding Judgment:
WHEREAS,
1 Corinthians 7:14 For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband: else were your children unclean; but now are they holy.
, according to our records, is the legitimate issue of lawfully wed and , both of whom are graduates of God's Ambassador College and duly baptized by complete immersion, tithe-paying and spirit-led members of God's One True Church in good standing, and therefore was made sanctified and holy, and guided by the Holy Spirit from birth,
WHEREAS,
Acts 2:38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
, according to our records, did complete baptismal counselling by Robin Webber, a legitimate and humble duly ordained servant in the service of God's One True Church, who bears witness to 's repentance, was duly baptized by complete immersion and did have hands with oil laid upon him, thus guaranteeing reciept the Gift of the Indwelling of the Holy Spirit on the 11th day of April, 199X,
WHEREAS,
Romans 8
:14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
:15 For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
:16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God
The Holy Spirit bears witness with the spirit of your humble servants, O Lord, that was, at one time, led by the Spirit of God as a child of God, but,
WHEREAS,
Hebrews 6
:4 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Spirit,
:5 And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come,
:6 If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.
, having tasted of the heavenly gift, having been made a partaker of the Holy Spirit, and yet having fallen away as a son of perdition, has chosen a life of sin against God, crucifies the Son of God afresh, and puts him to an open shame. Propitiation and intercession can never again be made for his soul; his end will be worse than had he never known the way of righteousness, taught, of course, only by God's One True Church,
WHEREAS,
Exodus 32:33 But the Lord said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against me, I will blot out of my book.
, having chosen a life of sin against God and His One True Church, has thus had his name blotted out of the book of life,
THEREFORE,
Revelation 20:15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
, with all the Curses, Suffering, and Torment thereunto appertaining, is hereby and irrevocably condemned by Almighty God, His Merciful Son, Jesus Christ, and His Council of Elders, to be cast with glee and extreme prejudice into the Lake that Burns with Fire and Brimstone For Ever and Ever,
ON this First day of April, in the Two Thousand Fifteenth Year of our Lord. Amen.
Signed,
___________________________________
God's humble servant, Victor Kubik
Signed,
___________________________________
God's humble servant, Robin Webber
Now look everybody, IT WORKS LIKE THIS:
If you really want to be disfellowshipped, and especially if you request it, the ACoGs will obstinately and blatantly refuse to do so, just to cause your grief and frustration.
On the other hand, if you haven't done anything particularly wrong and REALLY REALLY WANT TO STAY, you will likely be disfellowshipped.
And the more they perceive you are likely whine and carry on as if your home is in a tree and to cry rivers that would fill bathtubs, the more likely it will be that they will do the dirty deed.
Not to worry.
Either way you are free.
However, it does appear that if anything they seem to espouse is true, they have been disfellowshipped themselves and have absolutely NO authority to do it to anyone else, they are totally incompetent, and likely they will end up in the lake of fire and be dead for all eternity: We will forget them all and live on happily for all eternity without them as befitting the unrepentant evil wicked as they are.
The best part: We warned them and they not only didn't listen, they mocked us.
Revenge is so cool
Like Byker Bob, I was never disfellowshipped, but then probably wasn't eligible because I was never baptized, either.
I have remained close with my relatives in the church, and nobody has denied them permission to associate with me.
When my mother would come for extended visits, I would drive her to local WCG services, and she would always ask me to join her. I always did, and always listened quietly and respectfully. On one occasion, after we went in, I noticed out of earshot across the room a couple of deacons talking earnestly to her and glancing in my direction. She seemed to be arguing with them. They went away in different directions without ever approaching me.
In her declining years, my mother lived with my sister who remained in the church. As Mom's health deteriorated and she needed assistance at the Feast, my other sister, who had left the church, accompanied them. Why not? She knew how to help out best because she knew the drill.
The lesson? None of this disfellowshipping and marking is necessary. It looks like the ministers are being gratuitously cruel.
Just as we thought -- a double minded man is unstable in all his ways... and this double disfellowshipping shows Meredith is unstable.
Not that we didn't know that already.
Black Ops Mikey said...
“Now look everybody, IT WORKS LIKE THIS:
If you really want to be disfellowshipped, and especially if you request it, the ACoGs will obstinately and blatantly refuse to do so, just to cause your grief and frustration.
On the other hand, if you haven't done anything particularly wrong and REALLY REALLY WANT TO STAY, you will likely be disfellowshipped.”
EXACTLY! LOL!!!
Now, finally, you have said something that I can agree with.
You could add that if you actually refuse to do something wrong they will kick you out for sure and they will be really indignant about it all.
Retired Prof said...
“The lesson? None of this disfellowshipping and marking is necessary. It looks like the ministers are being gratuitously cruel.”
BINGO!!!
Retired Prof said...
“The lesson? None of this disfellowshipping and marking is necessary. It looks like the ministers are being gratuitously cruel.”
If this is how they treat other people, I'd hate to see what they would do to little kittens.
The very definition of insanity.
Didn't it work the first time, Rod?
"The very definition of insanity. Didn't it work the first time, Rod?"
Kind of like exorcism. A catholic exorcist will typically have to re-perform the rite of exorcism over a hundred times on any particular person.
I think exorcism is interesting because it provides a direct test of religious claims.
The catholic church since 2005 has a renewed interest in possession and exorcism, which it says are on the rise due to the decline of christianity and the proliferation of "gateways" such as Wicca or mind-altering drugs. Pope Palpatine Emeritus, Joseph Ratzinger, is quoted as having said, "As faith diminishes, superstition increases."
And yet, when a person is "diagnosed" as being possessed by a life form that is itself the product of superstition and entirely profiled by stereotype, that's "faith."
Having completed the "diagnosis," the exorcist can get down to work with the "cure," the literal litanies of the byzantine rite of exorcism. Only problem is, it rarely, if ever, cures anyone of whatever it might be that ails them.
"Superstitious" people like myself might hazard to wonder why, if anyone ever does become possessed by mythical creatures, the power of Christ does not seem to compel them. Reading it, it's clearly from the time of Malleus Malificarum. If the churches don't put stock in the equally scriptural "witches" anymore, I don't see why they should put it in possession. According to Ratzinger, it seems only some scriptures are "superstition."
Some catholics speculate exorcism doesn't live up to its theoretical potential because exorcists aren't using the right rite. The rite has undergone numerous small and large revisions since 1890, but before that had not changed since 1614, so some claim that the old one worked, and that in "fixing" it, they broke it. Some claim the Vatican II overhaul from 1998/2000 is significantly weakened. Others claim exorcisms have to be done in Latin to work. Sedevacantists claim that the catholic church got off the track at some point in the 20th century, and after that, all popes have been heretic popes, and everything the Vatican has done since is invalid in heaven. And the silliness goes on.
Personally, I very much doubt it matters what mumbo jumbo you mutter over an ill person, regardless of what the "diagnosis" might be. If the pen is mightier than the sword, it clearly is mightier in a mundane way, not in the way of magical spells and incantations. If anyone ever is possessed by mythical evil creatures, one can ask Jesus to evict them, but as with other forms of prayer, Jesus is rarely sympathetic to human arguments, surprisingly, even when it clearly aligns with the goals that everyone says Jesus is trying to accomplish.
Armstrongism, like catholicism, professes a belief not just in excommunication, but also in demonic possession and exorcism, though the latter takes more of a backseat in Armstrongism. Nevertheless, the Dark Ages are still alive and well in the 21st century. If at first you don't succeed, try, try again?
Exorcism?
Just hang in there.
Sam and Dean Winchester will get to you eventually, but remember, they have troubles of their own....
(another instance that shows that it's all fantasy, magic and superstition.)
How could any of us ever forget that the one thing that was always guaranteed to raise the hackles of the Armstrong ministry was church members and their teenagers imitating the hairstyles, customs, and culture of the Type L haplogroup! That was all considered Satanic, probably because of something they "learned" from Alexander Hislop.
BB
You know some people who attend LCG might try to remember whose name they carry... And avoid bring shame and dishonor to a minister who had gone to sleep. His name and his character speaks for itself. But you are being a silly little girl and you know he would abhor what you are doing.
Pope Ratzinger's comment, "As faith diminishes, superstition increases" can be accurately paraphrased two ways. Take your pick.
1) As faith (in some things) diminishes, faith (in some others) increases.
2) As superstition (about some things) diminishes, superstition (about some others) increases.
This process, whichever way you prefer to describe it, is not the only one. In my experience a different substitution leads to better outcomes:
As skepticism increases, irrational beliefs diminish.
Well, OK, the exorcism of Meredith did work twice: Once for the WCG and once for Global.
I'm afraid though that in the case of Living, it won't be that simple and his kind will not come out but by prayer and fasting -- quite of lot of it, and by the right people.
I'm thinking that the best defense against these despots who love to go around confronting and disfellowshipping people would be to serve them some nice gourmet coffee, and brownies or cookies from one of the medical herb dispensaries which have become so popular these days.
~Miguel de la Rodente
Patrick used to work with the leading LCG men so he most likely knows some damning secrets. It's my guess that Meredith is scared he will share what he knows (we could only hope) so he's trying to ruin his name and credibility through on-going assaults (like double marking) so people would question anything he might reveal about the shady things that occur at LCG headquarters.
"You know some people who attend LCG might try to remember whose name they carry... And avoid bring shame and dishonor to a minister who had gone to sleep. His name and his character speaks for itself. But you are being a silly little girl and you know he would abhor what you are doing."
Okay, "uncle." I give up. Whose name do people who attend LCG carry? Who would abhor what who is doing?
I suppose it's possible there are some ACOG ministers, either living or dead, who have not brought shame and dishonor upon themselves. I would say Dennis is one example. If the average ministers bears a load of shame and dishonor, it's not anyone else's fault, is it? A person's name and character speaks for itself.
One of the techniques the managers of the Armstrong corporate entities abuse is something that I call "setting God up to be the strawman."
As an example, let's say your pastor general announces that he doesn't want the congregations to be singing the old "Protestant" hymns from the Purple Hymnal. From now on, only the hymns that "God inspired Mr. Dwight Armstrong to write" will be sung. Here is the rub. What happens in your mind when you ponder that, and realize that the so-called "Protestant" hymns were the ones you always looked forward to singing because they were up tempo and inspiring? And that the Dwight Armstrong hymns, by comparison, plodded on, and were very depressing? Well, it leaves you wondering if your mind is set against something that God supposedly inspired and endorsed.
They did this with everything: God's Church, God's College, God's ministers, God's (picked and chosen) Laws, God's (misinterpreted) tithes, God's childrearing principles. What kid raised in the church didn't wonder if his parents who practiced the childrearing principles were converted, or if there even was such a thing as the Holy Spirit? The thing is, Armstrongism got us attributing all of the most unpleasant cultic aspects of our beliefs directly to God, leaving us to feel guilty, to see our innate sense of fairness and justice as being in rebellion against God, and to feel as if our very salvation was in jeopardy from moment to moment.
God's this, God's that, and God's the other thing were repeated and internalized so much, that eventually, we were impervious to the continuing process of "proving all things." And, that is exactly where "they" wanted us. This is what so many of the people in the ACOGs are fighting within themselves as they watch activities unfold that never should be!
BB
God's college? God's college?
You're kidding, right.
Herbert Armstrong called Ambassador College, "Satan's College".
One of the few things he got right, if Satan exists.
At least we can think straight about this one without having God set up as a "strawman".
No, we can let modern Christian Theologians do that for us....
Just to I update this story, Meredith didn't double mark the Scarborough's. It's possible that this blog story played a key role In that decision because the double marking was rumored even by ministry. It would have made RCM seem even more hateful than he already does.
However, Meredith did have it announced via his head SS henchman, Rod McNair, that "LCG isn't going to reply to the Scarborough letter and it's the churche's instruction that neither should the members".
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