Rod Meredith is back with is latest co-worker letter where he lets qll of his members know that they don't have a clue as to what he writes. Rod is disappointed that after spending 63 years of spouting utter nonsense that no one pays any attention to him any more. Perhaps the reason is that some many now consider him a hypocrite and a liar. Rod needs to pay more attention to what he wrote in the second paragraph on how Jesus calls him a hypocrite because he does not know to discern the end times.
“It’s happening! It’s happening right now before our very eyes. Most people do not even have a clue. But many of you subscribers to Tomorrow’s World do understand. For all around us, we see the ‘signs’ that the end of this lawless age of mankind is very near.”
In Jesus’ day, He reproached the religious leaders of His time for their ignorance of the “signs” all around them. They understood the signs of the weather, but not the meaning of the prophetic happenings all around them. So the real Jesus Christ of the Bible reprimanded these religious leaders with these words: “Hypocrites! You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times” (Matthew 16:1-3).
For sixty three years now every single thing that Rod Meredith has prophesied has failed to come to pass. One lie after another. One end time concentration camp story after another. Famine, disease and pestilence should have killed us all of by now. Concentration camps and the invading Germanic hoards should have been occupying the Pasadena campus instead of the heathen charismatics.“My friends, all around us we see the prophetic events unfolding which I have been preaching and writing about for about 63 years.”
“We constantly explain how you can escape the coming Great Tribulation and how all of us can have a tremendous part in warning our fellow human beings and helping them also escape the coming Holocaust.”
Meredith was one of the major proponents in the early 70's that we would be fleeing to Petra in 1972 and the man no COG member seems to know would be retuning in 1975. We have all seen how well THAT story has worked out. Never one to be silenced, Meredith has been spouting on decades later about how wicked and evil everyone is around a him.
His own members are starting to grumble at all of his failures. The want and demand that something happen soon, but it never does. Meredith just goes on with more egg on his face. However, Meredith recently had to address the grumbling LCG members and lectured them on how "the lord delays his coming."
The grumblers are the aging members who have had to sit and listen to this nonsense for decades. The new members could care less. Meredith needs to see death and destruction litter the ground around him, then he will know his god is true. Meredith is going to die before anything he has ever dreamed of comes to pass.
Never fear though, because his god feels that the LCG is not ready and the members have been slacking off too much, more time has been granted.
Brethren, this same passage of scripture also tells us to “watch” for certain events to occur: “So you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near—at the doors! Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place” (vv. 33–34). Many of these prophesied events have not yet happened. Certainly, it appears that they may be coming very close. But the reality is that they have not yet happened. Mr. Herbert Armstrong, Ted, Herman Hoeh and I all “hoped” that Christ would come very soon. We prayed. We worked hard to do the Work. But our Father in heaven—in His infinite wisdom and mercy—has allowed human beings on this earth to have several more decades of time than we expected to do their own thing, and write the lessons of human suffering. But finally, He will intervene when humanity truly is on the verge of cosmocide and many thinking people finally realize that “all is lost” without God’s intervention in human affairs.
However, we older members in God’s Church should not give up at the last minute. And we should encourage our young people to see the “Big Picture.” After all, we have been able to go ahead with our lives for these decades.
Meredith's predictions have been an absolute failure just like Herbert's, Hoeh, Martin, Dorothy and Kuhn. Meredith is very deceptive in his writing below. He makes it look like he has had recent conversation with these men which therefore means that we still might have 20-30 years left from this date before anything happens. That 20-30 years was tied in to the 1975 failed prophecy and is itself another failed prediction.“At least a few thousand of you older brethren who are reading this letter have had to be patient through the trials and tests of life, of human issues in the Church, and with the realization that Christ has not come back as quickly as we had hoped.”
Now it looks like Meredith has to eat some bitter crow. He is letting the younger members know that they will have time to get married, have careers, have kids and accomplish a lot in life before his end times comes.“Because I have been one of the pioneer students of Ambassador College and of the ministry of this Work under Herbert W. Armstrong, I have been able to know and converse for many hours with nearly all of the leading men who studied prophecy in detail in the early years. I have also read some articles and books on prophecy and biblical chronology by outsiders. Every one of the leading men that I talked to in this Work—including Dr. Herman Hoeh, Dr. Ernest Martin, Dr. Charles Dorothy, Dr. Robert Kuhn and others—have acknowledged that they came to realize during their study of biblical chronology that we could ‘easily’ be 20 or 30 years off in either direction! Therefore, it should be easy to realize that Christ may not come until about 2030AD!
Do I, personally, think it will be that long? No! But I have “hoped” that it would be sooner for many decades. So I want you to realize—as you plan your life, and as you young people plan your lives—that there may be enough time for you to have a career, and to marry, have children and accomplish a number of wonderful things before our Savior returns as King of kings.
Meredith then exhibits once again how little he knows about the Jesus dude he claims to follow. Apparently the things Jesus did for salvation history (that the majority of Christians believe) are meaningless drivel and LCG members need to get busy doing SOMETHING to ensure their salvation is assured.
“We must never be involved in ‘murmuring’ and ‘disputing’ and complaining about the fact that Almighty God is giving human beings more time to write the lessons of human suffering and for His own children to ‘work out’ our own salvation before Christ returns.”
Work, work, work and no time for play.
61 comments:
"...and for His own children to ‘work out’ our own salvation before Christ returns.”
A funny thing for RCM to say since it is now LCG's stance that salvation is dependent on loyalty and unquestioning obedience to LCG ministry. I was once told by a prominent LCG minister that it was impossible to escape the tribulation "without God's ministry".
Apparently Meredith and his gastapo want it both ways. They want to play the part of "Intercesdor" to force members (through fear) into submission but now we have to work out our own salvation?
Which is it?
Yes Rod! You still have time to work out your salvation and avoid your reservation in the Lake of Fire IF you repent of all your lies and ask forgiveness of all those who's lives you ruined with your hard, unforgiving, self-serving heart!
Act now! Time is short!
What's the point in staying in Living if nothing Meredith says is going to happen in your life time?
Do you really want to be surrounded by cult members?
Even a cursory survey of New Testament statements made by the Apostle Paul and others about "soon", "the hour NOW is," "the day is FAR spent", "of things which must SHORTLY come to pass" and "behold I come quickly"....we would have to admit one could place any of the NT names in the place of RCM in these observations of his past 63 years. Paul was just sure he was right about "WE who are alive" and "WE shall be changed" and others resurrected. He came up with this to answer the growing discontent in the early church with the delays and now the deaths of early members who were not supposed to die before Jesus returned.
In time, someone (Not any real disciple Peter) wrote in "Peter" that the real answer was the fault of those who questioned and asked "where is the promise of his coming" etc. They were scorned by "Peter" for not understanding that God was giving them more time and that time itself was different to God than to men. A day with God is as a thousand years and a thousand years as a day. From this dumb statement other ridiculous ideas have sprung which all get the Deity and church mouthpieces off the hook for obvious statements that did not come to pass.
The Apostle Paul had to suck it up after all his blovating , telling others that being single like himself was the best, or to postpone relationships and who knows what else that oppressed others and kept them from living real lives, and say in effect, "oh well...I fought good fight, I finished MY course, I kept "the faith" (really his own) therefore there is laid up for ME a crown of righteousness that I shall get....oh...and ok, also those that love his appearing ...didn't mean to talk about ME so much. Bye bye now." So it will be said by Rod and others when the time comes. They also will say to carry on "the work" or rather their replacements will tell you that those were his last words which only they were privileged to hear...trust me.
The fact is that all the NT statements about soon were meant for those hopeful folk and soon meant soon. 2000 years later is not a subset of soon. If a day is as a thousand years etc then nothing should ever be speculated about again as that simply means "we don't know, can't know and will never know when any Jesus is coming back."
I would suggest that every minister, member, Apostle, Watcher, Johua and blowhard who thinks they know how it all is get used to the idea that they will die...everyone of them before something that may have already proved to be just a hopeful human construct ever happens.
The "just around the corner," "It won't be long now" and "Three to five years, ten at the most, 25 years tops before the Kingdom comes" mentality and teachings have done more to put real living and life on hold than anything one could imagine.
There is a lot of money and security for those who motivate others with these kinds of non truths and realities, but they all die just the same or if they have not yet ...will relatively soon.
Hopefully the really wise will really understand. Guard your affections. They determine the rest of your life. Never postpone joy...
Reading Rod's words almost make me shudder. I grew up under that language in the '50s, and, as Dennis correctly points out, put my life on hold because of the constant "three to five years, ten at the most, 25 years tops" rhetoric.
This is just awful. What are people so afraid of? How many years of this insanity are they willing to endure before they walk away?
The real kicker is the mind-boggling notion that God is up there holding back his timetable so that we humans can suffer from our own ineptitude for a few more years, or decades, or whatever. After all, it can't possibly be that Rod, and HWA before him, and all the other splinter gangs out there, were just plain wrong. No, let's come up with this truly bizarre explanation that, despite all the signs that "we've been right," God must have decided to postpone everything. "How could we have known?" they can plea. They're in the same category as Dave "I'm not going to tell you, but you'll know when you see it" Pack.
I almost pains me to think that people still sit at their kitchen tables poring over bills and sweating the details of life before taking a deep breath, pulling out their checkbooks, and writing their tithe checks to these guys -- mostly because they're afraid not to.
What a shame. What a waste.
(P.S. Did Rod actually invoke Ted's name and say he worked hard to "do the Work?" If memory serves, Ted was more interested in doing the workers.)
In 1969, a one hit wonder group Zager and Evans had a song called "In the Year 2525"
One of the verses was...
In the year 7510
If God's a-coming, He oughta make it by then
Maybe He'll look around Himself and say
"Guess it's time for the Judgement Day"
Im going to go with that prediction, and I think that the Zager and Evans credentials for making it are as good as RCM, HWA, Thiel, Pack, Flurry or any of the other menagerie of megalomaniacs.
Well, how about 2215? If you kick Ussher, and go to the Jewish (keeper of the oracles) geneologies, that's about when year 6,000 will kick in. Also, how about acknowledging that these Germanic hordes they've warned us about were present in the founding of the USA (in fact, theirs is the most prevalent DNA amongst the general population even today) just as much as the Samaritanized English colonists?
Seriously, people, this holocaust they have used as their boogie man has allowed them to take control over our lives, and to introduce their own manufactured holocaust which they falsely call "the Church of God" into the lives of members for decades now.
Of course aging members have become concerned. They have watched weather cycles, economic cycles, health issues, and international geopolitics give cause for concern, and then be dealt with, or mitigated, as they have been by mankind throughout history. Despite furious ember fanning, these have failed to escalate to a confluence leading to worst case prophetic scenarios.
Basically, this is a religious system which has exploited and used the fearful. If you can get somewhat paranoid people to constantly need to fight what has become a part of their imagination, you can leverage them to part with great sums of money, and to surrender any rational control of their lives, so that they will eagerly participate in your solution.
The sad part is that they are still holding some of our relatives hostage.
BB
Only in the COG's does "this generation " not mean "that generation" "You" meant them.
Work out our own salvation? Wait, I thought all we had to do was obey LCG ministry!
Fortunately, there will be plenty of room in the Lake of Fire for Armstrongist leaders.
Finally. We'll have an eternity of peace away from them.
I resent any creepy religious philosophy that fervently looks forward to worldwide destruction so that they can say told you so. The nicest thing I can say about LCG is that they're too ineffectual to do anything more than sit on the sidelines and cheer for doomsday instead of actively working to speed it along.
Isn't it about time for John to come along and give us a series of cherry-picked Bible verses interspersed with his discerning commentary in which he asserts that only he knows how it's all really going to go down, and conclude with a smug "Time will tell"?
A fine prophecy, that. Guaranteed to come true. In fact, it already has. Over and over and over again, whenever anyone has said, "Hang on to your hats, the end of the world is almost upon us," time has told. And what it has always told is, "Nope, not yet, sorry."
Wikipedia lists a number of such prophesies under the title "List of dates predicted for apocalyptic events." Check it out.
What I do on those rare occasions I feel the need to wallow in prophecy is to watch again a performance of Samuel Beckett's "Waiting for Godot," or reread it. In the title character's name Beckett hid a sly reference to Jesus. "Godot" can be analyzed as English "god" with the French nicknaming suffix "-ot" added. If he had made the name all English, Beckett could have written "Goddie" or "Godson" or "God Junior." The play is about two clowns killing time while they wait for someone who has promised to show up. No spoilers here; go watch a good production or read the text for yourself. It's a hoot for anybody with a history in COGdom and a wry sense of irony.
Retired Prof said...
"...Isn't it about time for John to come along and give us a series of cherry-picked Bible verses interspersed with his discerning commentary in which he asserts that only he knows how it's all really going to go down, and conclude with a smug "Time will tell"?..."
What is there to say? Rod Meredith has so often "shot himself in the foot" and simply exposed himself and has proved that his prophecies have been like sharing with us his version of "junk food," rather than some "strong meat," with no nourishment worthwhile for anybody. Isn't 63 years enough time for people to grasp that by now?
Apparently not, and for those people it must be: MORE time will tell...
There is no way a Rod Meredith, or anybody, is impressing God and how do we know that? Rod would like to glory in his 63 years in what he thinks he has accomplished, but God's thoughts/ways are higher than his.
"That no flesh should glory in his presence." 1 Corinthians 1:29
Boasting also accomplishes nothing:
Ro 1:30 Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, BOAASTERS, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,
James 4:16 But now ye rejoice in your BOASTINGS: all such rejoicing IS EVIL.
Rod has nothing to really boast about, but if that is his "thing," then do it, but who is really listening? Who really cares?....
John
I'm guessingit may yet be 3 to 5, no,more than 15,.... 20...thousand years tops..
of course the apostle Saul believe Christ would Returning during his lifetime; presumptuosness is just a part of human nature;
nevertheless, the Word of God is for the Faithful, not the scoffer; and there is no doubting it;
hence we draw inspiration from Scriptures like the following:
"...and let us run with patience the race that is set before us..." Hebrews 12:1
Galatians 6:9
Hebrews 13:14
James 1:12
Revelation 2:3, 3:10, 14:12
God says it's not for us to know the day or the hour so why do people continue to speculate or care? It's one of the things that annoys me most about ACOGs. This websites memes on people become joyful when they see disaster is sadly entirely accurate.
People need to focus on living their lives in the best possible way they can regardless of time. Anyone of us could get hit by a bus tomorrow and be done. We should live each day as if it is our last chance to redeem ourselves before we are standing (alone) before God being judged.
I totally agree that old-school Armstrongites are obsessed with every hurricane, every case of cancer, every liberal social advance as a "sign". Well guess what people, homosexuality was rampant in Rome a LONG time ago and weather patterns are also repetitive. It hasn't always been 1950 Mayberry on the earth. But most ACOGers are not known to be highly informed or educated so it's pretty easy for them to get sucked into such things.
5 Billion years, tops.
Consult your cosmologist.
Scoffers aren't really scoffers. They just tend to notice what is actually not so before others have to admit it.
"Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you,and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you". Mt 5:11-12.
BLACK OPS MIKEY...
I consulted my "cosmetologist" while I was getting my hair done, and she says that 6 Billion years is much more realistic. ;-)
Boy have you struck a nerve again in Charlotte! Between this and the Morgan Montgomery info you posted you have some big heads in Charlotte not in their happy places right now. You were the topic at church services last week with a lot of people. Bravo!
Annon 11:59 oh that only the things said against RCM were false accusations. Unfortunately for those that follow him as he doesn't follow Christ, there are so many proven factual allegations about Meredith's evil deeds and malicious lying tongue that I'm pretty sure his reward will not be in heaven. But hey, go ahead and rejoice and be exceedingly glad if it makes you feel better.
People having the nerve to call you out on your bullshit is what passes for persecution these days, apparently.
Anon 5:54
Proven? Not to me..so let's have it..back up your allegations..I'm listening
Anonymous 2:23 do you attend the Charlotte congregation?
How do you know? Do you attend the Charlotte congregation?
They should have disbanded following the failure of 1975. Unfortunately, people keep sending monetary substitutes for their tithes to the false prophets as if they were the temple priests!
BB
11:27. The answer is yes.
11:42
why?
Is anyone else amused by the fact that Meredith has someone trolling Banned as evidenced by the defensive remarks above? I think it's great!
There are several (I know this for a fact because I am in contact with them) in the Charlotte LCG that have sadly watched their church decline over the last 5 years or so. It's not like we are happy about it. We agree with the message that LCG has out there and we like the work that LCG is doing but it has become more and more difficult to stomach the TOTAL AND COMPLETE LACK OF THE FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT AND A DEMONSTRATION OF ADHRENCE OF THE SPIRIT OF THE LAW. RCM might get the Holy Days right and keep the Sabbath but he has murder in his heart in the spirit of hate has so clearly demonstrated time and time again. He might keep most of the 10 commandments but he has a track record of lying and God says that if you break one you are guilty of breaking all.
I'm in no way perfect and I am just as guilty (we all fall short) so I'm not being a hypocrite but I'm not the one standing up there saying that I'm 3rd in the universe and that I'm now leading the purest church in history. I don't count myself sealed. Mr. Meredith does.
The problem headquarters is now facing is that they thought by purging out all who dared to question their methods they would have rectified the underlying problem of a growing spirit of mistrust in the ministry that plaques the Charlotte congregation but what they really did is MAKE MORE PEOPLE IN THE CHARLOTTE CONGREGATION MISTRUST THEM through their heavy handed and unforgiving actions.
Annon 11:42 wants to know why we stay... and to him I answer. It is really hard to leave all of your friends and in many cases family even if you strongly dislike what is happening in the church. We have all seen how LCG people will only be friends with other LCG people. It's not like just making the decision to walk away from Rod Meredith (that would be easy) but rather, it's like having the courage to walk away from everyone you have loved for decades.
To Annon 11:23 There is so much bad stuff of RCM that is beyond the scope of a reply on this blog. I strongly suggest that you spend a few hours (yes, there's that much "proof" out there, it will take you awhile to process)researching the man you are led by.
I did this myself for the first time at the Feast in Florida last year when I became upset by several overtly racist statements Mr. Meredith made during his sermons. I was utterly shocked.
Now, I'm not talking about opinions of bloggers. I'm talking about letters written and policies enforced by Mr. Meredith. I'm talking about direct quotes and factual accounts of ugly things that he has actually done over the past 63 years. It's all out there on the world wide web just waiting for you to discover.
To say I was shocked would be an under-statement. It made me start to question everything. It kept me awake at night for weeks. I had to re-prove why I believe what I believe. That's how earth shattering it was. I still believe the fundamentals of the ACOG (except British Israelism) but I have a completely diminished opinion of Mr. Meredith. It would be impossible not to.
There is so much evidence of poor character, hard-heartedness and dishonesty that it could fill the pages of an entire book.
Connie, does your cosmetologist ever do hair for cosmologists?
Anon at 6:00 AM answered why they stay in LCG: "It is really hard to leave all of your friends".
Words to consider: Matt 10:37 "He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me."
Matt 10:37 is a classic cultic pronouncement. It demands that believers give up their natural human tendencies and adopt the values the leader is foisting on them.
It promotes the kind of thinking I rejected during my two semesters at Ambassador college, though I don't remember being offended by this particular verse. Probably I simply refused to take it seriously, so that it did not offend me much.
I was more distressed that Armstrong and his ministers claimed that human reason is faulty. They expected us to accept, in all its absurdity, [what they claimed was] the TRUTH revealed to Armstrong directly by GOD HIMSELF. The impossibility of British Israelism. The tautological "proofs" that Armstrong's god existed. The notion that the swirling universe is a perfect timepiece. The idea that an omniscient god would be so immature as to go into a snit because his creation hadn't panned out as expected, and drown the whole experiment except for an arkful of individuals to reseed the place. The idea that the cruel practical joke on Abraham and Isaac could have been played by a god filled with love. My silent objection was, "If there is a god, and if he created us with a mind, why the hell does he order us not to use it?
Gerald Flurry obviously sees himself as carrying out the wishes of such a perverse and sadistic god as that. If I could believe in that god, I would refuse to worship it.
In my previous comment I should have written Rod Meredith's name instead of Gerald Flurry's, although from what I read, Flurry is just as bad, and maybe worse. So is Dave Pack, apparently.
Let me clarify something else. I acknowledge the possibility that the universe is ruled by an omnipotent and benevolent creator. It seems clear, though, that Armstrongism has misidentified that entity.
This is ridiculous.. firstly I'm a she and no one sent me trolling so 5:40 you can who licking your chops..sadly looking at something the other day I saw your blog/slander column and I'm taken aback by the treachery of lcg members.I'm not from the USA all the issues you say you have we don't have in our church and its sad to see you causing a stumbling block for people here..I'm out I'm not coming back but I hope someone sees this and knows we aren't all stabbing one another in the back..p.s I'm just new but Ive spent a long time looking into lcg..my only mistake was Bothering to comment in here..good luck your gunna need it..given all I'm seeing online (and I'm not talking about church teachings) while you are all back biting the writing has already appeared on the wall..and you need to wake up.
Anon 6:00 AM said: There are several (I know this for a fact because I am in contact with them) in the Charlotte LCG that have sadly watched their church decline over the last 5 years or so.
Why stay? You can see how it is getting worse, not better. You probably at some point put your hopes in one minister or another to stand up for truth and turn the mess around, but what has happened? Instead of getting better, more people are becoming corrupted. People who were decent 5 or 10 years ago have become liars like RCM, which they need to do in order to get by in the increasingly corrupt LCG. People who 10 years ago were complaining about LCG's corruption have either left or have themselves become corrupt.
Now that you, Anon 6:00 AM, see the truth, it's up to you. If you stay, you WILL become corrupted just like RCM and his close henchmen. You and your family members will commit the same sins that Meredith family members and their minions now commit.
The alternative is to practice Christianity and GET OUT BEFORE YOU ARE RUINED.
A funny thing for RCM to say since it is now LCG's stance that salvation is dependent on loyalty and unquestioning obedience to LCG ministry. I was once told by a prominent LCG minister that it was impossible to escape the tribulation "without God's ministry".
What makes this really funny is that even LCG's own HQ ministers constantly backbite and trash-talk each other. Most LCG HQ ministers have small cliques of friends with whom they trash-talk the other ministers, and because the cliques overlap word gets around about just how dis-unified the ministry truly is. Sometimes I think RCM hates the unity of Spirit-led brethren especially because it is such a contrast to the dis-unity of his LCG ministry.
Apparently everyone here that disagrees with Meredith need to stop and wake up! Cause we are "gunna need it!"
For someone who is new to LCG it is easy to see how "innocent" they claim to be. But really how innocent is that when the Internet is filled with the corruption, lies and blatant unchristian activities of Meredith. Just because one lives outside the boundaries of the U.S. does not mean you are practicing "pure religion" while the U.S. bunch are backstabbing and complaining about Meredith. Herbert Armstrong saw through Meredith's jackbooted personality and deliberately did not make him the leader of the WCG. None of us have a single thing to fear for going against Meredith and his ilk. No ones salvation is at stake. No one is going to the Lake of Fire for bad mouthing Meredith.
The. Only. Basis. For. The. COG. Movement. Is. British. Israelism.
HWA called it the central plank to his belief system. Can't run from that, folks.
Trying to pigeonhole scripture into a bizarre theory promoted by a handful of obscure 19th century zealots leads to exactly what we have today: Multiple splinters trying to out-true one another's true churches, while somehow denying that HWA's central plank is in any way, shape or form their central plank, even though it all traces back to that.
It's ridiculously obvious, yet equally exhausting, trying to hold people to their beliefs even when they won't admit those beliefs are based on such an inaccurate, genetically and theologically debunked theory.
Rod Meredith ~ Phylum: Chordata. Order: Rodentia. Genus: Rattus. Species: Carolinicus
Characteristics: Omnivore, occasionally cannabalistic; Compulsively domineering. Verbose. Territorial; Does not interact well with other members of his species unless he has achieved total domination. Becomes destructive, otherwise. Furtive and sneaky, but capable of facades in which sincerity and empathy appear to be primary elements. Scholarship limited to the theology of Herbert W. Armstrong, always taken at face value. God-conscious, but visualizes Creator as a perennially procrastinating hanging judge, orchestrator of devastating future apocalypse. Teaches and utilizes this view to enforce own leadership, and to extract or leverage financial obligations from followers. Visions of eternal grandeur ( third in charge), and his own purity (no major sins since baptism). Hostile towards freedom of speech, rights to due process, and second opinions. Nepotistic to a fault. Bites may be toxic, causing fever, diarrhea, vomiting, hallucination, and/or death. Seek professional attention immediately following exposure, and avoid future contact.
BB
Thank you BB. You post was not only 100% accurate but hilariously funny at the same time. I especially loved the "hostile toward freedom of speech, rights to due process and second opinions" but the whole thing was spot on!
Hit the nail on the head BB!
as a black man i can tell you that the "cog movement" is certainly more than british israelism; i follow the bible, not the views of hwa, e.g., hwa did indeed obsess with the notion of british israelism, but in his message he selectively emphasized only the aspects of the children of israel that but them in a positive light;
but upon further reading into the Word of God it will be found that God also is very unhappy with these people, an example of which can be found in Isaiah 1:4...
there many other examples in the bible of Gods point of view regarding israel that hwa ignored or never emphasized;
the point is that it is about the Word of God, not the carnal minded opinions of a closet white supremecist, and if one is truly of the Church of God they will look to the Word of God, and filter out any wrong headed sentiments of they who claim to be his priests...
Let me second the comments already posted about your taxonomic description of Meredith, Byker Bob. Excellent material.
9:05, I respect your right to be selective. Understand, however, that HWA tolerated no such selectivity. It was his way or the highway.
If it's about Sabbath-keeping but not about HWA, why attend an offshot of HWA's church? Why not take up with COG 7th Day, who kicked HWA out for insisting on British-Israelism? Seems like that would be more genuine on your part.
"The alternative is to practice Christianity and GET OUT BEFORE YOU ARE RUINED."
Just want to point out that practicing christianity is NOT the only alternative. There are thousands of other alternative choices one could make...
it is not about which cog to attend: Revelation 7:9 makes it very clear that Gods firstfruits number in the millions and come from every nation on earth; clearly the cogs have not been able to get their numbers in the millions...
ironically among those millions are only 144000 of the lost tribes of israel, something else the cogs do not teach nor believe because they are more about exclusivity rather than inclusivity, which is arrogance...
in the end it is about the love of God, and the love of your fellow man; the love of God means keeping the Commandments, and the cogs teach that, but they do come up woefully short of the love of man Command, which is why they have the kind of problems they have to this day...
but Revelation 3:10 clearly shows that the Love of God has advantages, and the cogs do emphasize this...
Anon 1:35, Jim Jones emphasized love. Doesn't excuse his abuses. What point are you trying to make? That you're black and you're OK attending church with racists? I don't get it.
the least you can do is repeat what was actually said instead of putting words in ones mouth; i dont know anything about jim jones, but what i do know is the outcome of his organization proves that he was not about love; and no one is excusing any abuses, nor has that even been suggested...
the loving of Christ and Love that Christ had is what True Chistianity is all about, and Christ Said that if you love Him, keep His Commandments;
the keeping of the Commandments is what the cogs have emphasized like no other church; it clearly is better to keep those Commandments even if one is a racist, but, as so many of the cog tragedies have proven, there is hell to pay for not distinguishing themselves from the world 100%, and being a racist is just one way of not coming out of the world 100%...
nevertheless the loving of God by keeping His Commandments and Holy Days is better than embracing the commandments of men...
i value the cogs for their teaching me to distinguish myself from my peers in the world using the Power of Christ: the cogs made me aware of that Power, and i utilize that Power in my day to day life; by it i have been kept from the evil of this world; by it i have been celibate for the last 10yrs since my wife left; by it i love my God and my fellow man...
just because there are elements within the cogs that do not practise what they preach does not mean what they preach is a lie or ineffectual...
The commenter above emphasizes that the cogs "keep the commandments and the holy days" but what is the greatest commandment,? Love one another! By this He will know we are His disciples. Rod Meredith and his henchman may keep the holy days but they DO NOT demonstrate love for anyone other than themselves AND they lie.
I don't know about the other cogs but I don't know how any self respecting black man could remain in lcg. Racism is hatred. Not love. Therefore Meredith is NOT Christ's diciple so why stay in his little group? He literally preaches that whites will rise before blacks and that God made whites more intellectual and blacks more athletic. If that's not enough to offend you and make you leave, I don't know what is.
to the all-lower case celibate black commenter...
I'm guessing what people might be suggesting is that the knowledge you speak of is available outside of the oppressive, errant confines of the COGs. But, if a sabbatarian, Holy Day perspective is what works for you, fair enough. The frightening aspect for me is the notion that those groups have an inside track on "the truth." History suggests otherwise. But, more power to you if you've found a belief system that works for you personally.
the cogs teach the keeping of the Commandments of God, and the Power of Christ in man that is needed to keep those Commandments; no other church teaches this...
the keeping of the Commandments and the Holy Days is demonstrating the love of God...
the racism in the cogs is not my problem, but theirs, and clearly it has stunted their growth, and made them subject to much calamity...
regardless, because of the cogs teaching i have been made aware of many other teachings of Christ, including such things as mankind doing miracles in the time just before Christ Returns...
cog teachings of the Power of Christ in man has also helped me live a life free the cliche problems associated with my own kind, problems that have plagued members of my extended family what have not grown up in the cog as i have...
i dont care about the tares in the cogs, the bible makes it clear that they will be destroyed; i focus on the Doctrine and the fact that it is effectual, and the hope of the fulfillment of Christ's Power in me, and ultimately in all mankind...
The very fact that you acknowledge the extent of the racism negates the possibility that acog's are the ACTUAL Church of God.
And I wasn't talking about loving the 10 commandments but rather the command to love one another. Seeing how those in power at LCG ( I can only speak of LCG) do such a horrible job at demonstrating the fruits of the Spirit, love, mercy and forgiveness should really raise some serious red flags. Is that what the Bride of Christ is going to look like when He returns? I don't think so!
sir, if you are going to make a statement like that you should substantiate it; there may be alternatives; if so, i dont know of any nor am i interested in any; i have made my choice, and that choice is to keep the Sabbath and the Holy Days as an act of love towards Christ because He Said "if you love me keep my Commandments"; what other church teaches this?
and i never said that the cogs have an inside track: fact is they teach the keeping of the Commandments, and the Power of Christ in a human being and such knowledge is freely and readily available in the bible, and always will be...
Seeing how those in power at LCG ( I can only speak of LCG) do such a horrible job at demonstrating the fruits of the Spirit, love, mercy and forgiveness should really raise some serious red flags. Is that what the Bride of Christ is going to look like when He returns?
It will not be an abusive marriage when Christ marries His Bride. Leaders who abuse Christ's Bride will not be allowed to marry Christ.
Those who use the Holy Spirit grow more Christ-like the more they practice their Christianity. The fact that LCG has gone backward in the last few years is proof positive that the Holy Spirit is not working there. In fact, look at what happens to ministers who are sent to LCG HQ. Can you name even one who has become more Christ-like since moving to Charlotte? No! The reverse happens. Decent men begin to work closely with Rod Meredith and become corrupt, just as Matthew 23:15 warns. Corrupt men work closely with Rod Meredith and become even more corrupt.
If you "do the work" and you lie all the time, you won't be in the Kingdom.
If you "do the work" and you use God's tithe to break legitimate laws of the city, state, and nation, you won't be in the Kingdom.
If you "do the work" and you play favorites among the brethren, willingly overlooking the sins of some you promote, while persecuting others for sins that are only imagined, you won't be in the Kingdom.
Revelation 3:1. "And to the angel of the church in Sardis write, "These things says He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars: "I know your works, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead.""
the fact that there are tares in the cog like lcg does not negate their status as a Church of God; the book of Revelation, the writings of the apostle Saul clearly demonstrate the Churches of God have serious issues...
but any religious organization of human beings is going to be deeply flawed, and the recent news reports over the last 25 years has demonstrated this (and i have yet to see any righteous indignation on this page regarding those people):
the 10 Commandments are about loving God, and loving man: keeping the 7th Day is part of loving God; refraining from stealing or commiting adultery is about loving your fellow man...
the thing that sets the cogs apart is that they teach the keeping of the Commandments and the Holy Days, and they preach the Power of God in mankind, and according to Revelation that is better than nothing...
Anon at 5:27 says the cogs "teach the keeping of the Commandments and the Holy Days, and they preach the Power of God in mankind, and according to Revelation that is better than nothing..."
My experience says Revelation (or your interpretation of it; you don't quote chapter and verse) is wrong. Nothing is a hell of a lot better than keeping the holy days and the first four Commandments. As for the last six commandments, I prefer the two commandments of secular, lower-case christianity:
1) Never take up more than one parking space, and
2) Always be kind to drunks.
Of course, just like the fever dreams of Revelation, those two commandments have to be read with discernment. The first implies "Refrain from arrogating to yourself more than your share of the earth's resources." And, applied broadly, the second can mean, "Help people when they mess up, because you may be next."
What is happening in the Worldwide Church of God splinter groups these days is common and tragic.
Roderick C. Meredith has come up with all sorts of doctrinal changes in his Living Church of Fraud that he calls UPGRADES to the Worldwide Church of God's old teachings. Meredith's habit of saying that he is not changing doctrines, while at the same time saying that Herbert W. Armstrong would have wanted him to grow in knowledge and make these changes, helps one to see why HWA did not want Meredith ever to be allowed to run the church after his death.
Gerald R. Flurry has come up with numerous, outrageous heresies and perversions that he calls NEW REVELATION for his Philadelphia Church of Fraud. He said his PCG was “flooded with new revelation,” and thousands of people stayed and wallowed in this sewage and drowned spiritually in it. The fact that people went along with Flurry's truly massive doctrinal changes makes one wonder if they had ever really known anything. Of course, too many PCG members were just there for the sexual immorality anyway.
David C. Pack has now come up with some major new ideas of his own that he claims to have RESTORED to his Restored Church of Fraud. Since Pack recently “restored” the idea that you must obediently hand over everything you have to him and call it “common,” he now thinks that he must be Elijah. Pack quickly deleted his own booklet that had proved that HWA was Elijah, which he had used to attract people in the past. Those who trusted that Pack was sincere and good at standing up for the truth got seriously burned--maybe even fatally burned.
Anyone who does not go along with all the UPGRADES/NEW REVELATION/RESTORATIONS will get expelled from the LCG/PCG/RCG and slandered all over the place by these satanic fraud cults.
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