Poor Living Church of God. I have never see a Church of God that has to fight Satan as much as LCG does. Even Minion's right-hand man in Wadsworth never has this much trouble!
Doug Winnail writes another brief note to the membership of LCG stressing the ongoing Satanic battle that LCG is constantly fighting. Every single letter from LCG stresses the constant Satanic attacks.
Of course this battle is a direct result of the Spring Holy Days, days that God apparently cannot defend from the Wily-one who just cannot stand anyone eating matzo's.
As we approach the Holy Days, Satan always seems to become more active in the world and in our personal lives.A couple sentences later he says this:
At this time of year Satan also seems intent on stirring up problems and strife among God’s people wherever he can, so we must be on guard and not lose our focus on what these Holy Days mean for us and for all mankind—that there is a path to salvation that will eventually lead all mankind out of this present evil world.Um...if you are really a Christian who follows
In the next paragraph is a note from LCG Church Administration. They are none too happy that a large number of LCG members are marking LCG emails as SPAM. Things have to be pretty bad when your own members realize communications from Charlotte are not worth reading!
In addition to offering the Co-Worker letter electronically for many years, we have recently added email versions of LCG Member Letters and the Tomorrow’s World magazine. One of our responsibilities, as an organization, is to be a good “digital citizen,” and this includes requirements such as honoring “spam complaint” requests—which we do. One of the unanticipated surprises that we have discovered as a result of launching different digital subscriptions is that the vast majority of “spam complaints” that are submitted about us are from Church members.I can't stop laughing at this! Their own church members consider LCG's email as SPAM!
There is a reason though that LCG does not want this happening. It's all about numbers. The higher the number the more impressive they feel the public will think of them. Its all about outward appearances.
This was surprising, since we don’t send out unsolicited electronic mail, and we always operate on an “opt-in” basis. With that in mind, we would like to request that if you receive an email subscription from us, and no-longer wish to receive it, please utilize the unsubscribe method included at the bottom of any email, rather than simply marking the email as spam. This has two benefits. Firstly, it doesn’t negatively impact our reputation as an emailer. Secondly, when you report us as spam, your email address is black-listed by our system so that we can’t accidentally send you emails again in the future; with systems like MyLCG and festival registration, we need to be able to responsibly send you emails.
LCG brass just might want to consider that LCG members are SICK of hearing Satan constantly being blamed for the troubles in church. Troubles that are the result of corrupt men and leadership.
If you truly are a church of brotherly love then preach it and practice it.
You know, an anthropologist from an alien world dropped into Charlotte to study the LCG would classify the religion as polytheistic. There are two major rival gods, one considered good, the other evil. Then there are multitudes of demigods, called angels and demons.
ReplyDeleteThe evil god and his demons are believed to pose an existential threat. The good god promises to counteract that threat but demands that in return people sacrifice so much time and wealth that they impoverish themselves in terms of both life experience and worldly goods. An anthropologist would not miss the fact that the worshippers' sacrifices enable the priesthood to enjoy both leisure and property.
Accusations of Satan stirring up strife and problems amongst members, is the fox talking to chickens. Members are expected not to stand up for their rights, least this result in 'strife' or 'problems.' That is, a good church member should be a willing door mat to the tares in the church. How conveniently self serving.
ReplyDeleteDear Mr Winnail,
ReplyDeleteYou mentioned Satan creating problems. Please explain who is responsible for hiding trade (as in the parable of the talents) from the church members. Is it Satan and his minions, or is it Doug Winnail and Rod Meredith? Regarding the church 'give way,' can you please explain who does the giving and who does he getting. Your answer would be much appreciated.
Cheers TradingGuy
I have been and will continue to delete all emails that come to me from the LCG that originate in NIGERIA !
ReplyDeleteI recently listened to this 10 minute talk by Dr. Robert Price on Youtube entitled "Where Do We Get Our Ideas About Satan's Powers."
ReplyDeleteI think it's also interesting how the old testament talks about both god and satan. If you pay attention to what the text actually says, satan comes out smelling a lot closer to a rose than god does. Whose word is the bible supposed to be again, god's or satan's?
But it seems that satan is really just Ahriman, the twin brother of Spenta Mainyu, which were lifted from Zoroastrianism during the exile. According to Price, prior to the exile, Judaism picked up a number of beliefs like this which it did not have prior to the exile, but it all of sudden did have afterwards.
if the old testament is their thing,why does the leaders in there need with expensive homes,why don't they just live in a less expensive home like the lay members live?,i mean, didn't some of the old testament prophet's live in caves that would be holding to tradition....lol
ReplyDeleteAnother example of how the more things change, the more they stay the same. Most of the HWA letters I received back in the day went straight into the trash, unopened. I figured I was required to pay my tithes, but that didn't mean I had to waste my time reading HWA's periodic harangues. Fortunately, there was no report structure in place back then to track or deal with unopened member letters.
ReplyDeleteSenior management at LCG would have been much bettter advised just to keep their mouths shut about this spam development. Why would you want to advertise the fact that you have lost control? The membership of LCG is gradually disempowering those who have placed themselves above them. I mean, as if we didn't know this already from the sheer number of defiant members who have joined into the festivities right here.
LMAO!
BB
Connie aka primo investigative reporter, how did you find that court document on the Scarborough/LCG lawsuit? I wanted to see if there is anything new but I'm having a hard time finding information online. Any tips would be appreciated :)
ReplyDeleteHeader:
ReplyDelete"Um...if you are really a Christian who follows Jesus Christ, you would know that keeping days and eating so called "clean" meat does not save you. Keeping the law cannot save anyone."
But it sure does help, see:-
"Isa 66:17 They that sanctify themselves, and purify themselves in the gardens behind one tree in the midst, eating swine's flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse, shall be consumed together, saith the LORD."
cheers
ralph.f
NO2HWA said,"LCG brass just might want to consider that LCG members are SICK of hearing Satan constantly being blamed for the troubles in church".
ReplyDeleteMY COMMENT- LCG brass might want to consider that LCG members after 80+ years of Armstrongism are sick of hearing anything false Apostle, false Church and false prophecy related.
Richard
"LCG brass just might want to consider that LCG members are SICK of hearing Satan constantly being blamed for the troubles in church".
ReplyDeleteI have been in LCG for a long time. At first I read every letter, every magazine article, every Living Church News from cover to cover. I thought everyone else did too and felt obligated. I guess, secretly, I always worried that a minister or someone else would ask me a question about them and that if I didn't know the answer, it would show me to be Laodicean or unsupportive of LCG. After all, you never know when Mr. Ames is going to ask for a show of hands as to how many people had read such and such article during one of his sermons. I didn't want my peers to look at me not raising my hand and question my faith or loyalty.
After the first 5 or so years, I just couldn't take any more. Literally every co-worker letter is EXACTLY the same. RCM reports some minorly positive news (we received 25 requests to meet a minister in Zimbabwe last month) to prove God is blessing LCG, followed with nauseating money grabbing with a healthy dose of shaming and guilting the reader into believing that if they don't give a little bit more, the end time work wont get done or that it will show that their heart isn't really in the work of God.
Every letter is exactly the same. I just throw them in the trash without even opening them now (I have for years).
Same with the Tomorrow's World magazine. I keep them on my coffee table so my LCG friends and visiting ministers see them. It's what you're supposed to do, right? I might flip through it when it first arrives to read the article titles but I can't bring myself to read them any more. They are so monotonous and boring. It's exactly the same small bits of information rearranged, re-worded and re-packaged.
I always wonder, am I the only one smart enough to notice that its all the same? Or does everyone feel that way but nobody says anything?
Honestly, I feel more guilty about all the trees being wastefully used to print this stuff on when I throw it in the trash than I do about not reading it. I no longer care if I can raise my hand when Mr. Ames conducts his surveys.
While I'm venting here (this feels almost therapeutic! maybe this is why Catholics confess) I'd like to say that all the sermons in LCG are also repetitive and boring. Especially Mr. Meredith himself. I feel like I could give a RCM sermon with half my brain tied behind my back. Clearly no effort goes in the preparing them. He just wings it with the same old stories, same old rants and raves. They are never uplifting, never inspiring. I feel like I need to do a personal Bible study before I go to church each Sabbath if I am to grow in knowledge because it certainly won't happen as a result of the messages I hear at Sabbath services. If I had a dollar for every time I look at my watch, I'd be rich. I just want it to be over so I can enjoy snacks and fellowship with my friends (sorry, it's become that painful to listen to it over and over again)
I feel like LCG is lulling me to sleep. It's like that teacher in Ferris Bueller's Day off....
Rant over. Thank you for listening. Have a nice day.
Dear Member,
ReplyDeleteI am a chief administrator for the Living Church of God and have millions of dollars to share with you. I am not able to get the money myself, but with your help, I can secure the money and share $10 million with you as your part in assisting with this.
My attorney has set up an account. All you have to do is provide your social security, your bank account, your mother's maiden name and all will be yours.
Sincerely,
Roderick Meredith
Ralph, the swine thing was a purity ritual for the Hebrews. In Acts 15 when the question came up as to how a Gentile could become a Christian James opted for the same answer the Hebrews devised for the Gentiles that wished to become Jews. They are the Noahide laws and apply to Gentiles, which are most humans on the planet compared to the "aren't we special Hebrews".
ReplyDeleteThey are as follows:
Do not deny God.
Do not blaspheme God.
Do not murder.
Do not engage in incest, adultery, pederasty or bestiality, as well as homosexual relations.
Do not steal.
Do not eat of a live animal.
Establish courts/legal system to ensure law and obedience.
Noahide Laws 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 can all be found in Exodus within what is called the Ten Commandments. Laws 6 and 7 can be found within the Dietary and Civil laws found in Deuteronomy.
In Acts chapter 15:13-21, all of the Apostles, including Paul, along with the Council at Jerusalem agreed that in order for anyone to be considered a believer in G-d and follower of the Messiah, they must follow laws 6 and 4 above and added, that they are to
Abstain from food polluted by idols (meaning food used in sacrificial ceremonies to false idols)
Adhere to the dietary requirements by abstaining from meat that comes from strangled animal, in other words, an animal that had not been slaughtered in accordance with the dietary laws found in Deuteronomy.
James then went on to "lay no other burdens on them." Nothing about piggies.
Sadly and of course, Paul went on to even disagree with this in his personal advice to the Corinthians in chapter 8 and 10. "We know the idol is nothing but in all men is not that knowledge..." (Peterl, James and John) He basically told his followers not to worry about eating meat offered to idols either. Paul never told any Gentile Christian what to eat and not eat. He evidently didn't care.
The Peter/Paul confrontation over eating with Gentiles in Galatians was NOT about pork. I believe Peter realized that Paul was not concerned about meat offered to idols as he was instructed by James to inform the Gentiles about, and withdrew himself.
Ralph, I'm in charge of the food for the celebration of a school graduate.(About 150 people will attend.)
ReplyDeleteIn your honor, I've decided to go with hams. I was going to do beef, but then the Holy Spirit told me to go with ham instead, because of you being a jerk.
Anon said: "Clearly no effort goes in the preparing them. He just wings it with the same old stories, same old rants and raves."
ReplyDeleteSame of his "Harmony of the Gospels" classes. In hindsite, no prepartation, no outside reading, no acknowledge of contradictions in the text, (No awareness of it I am sure), no background on authorship, origin or intent. He just showed up, opened up and gave a sermon/lecture the the "fellows and girls". Winging it about explains it all.
I fantacise about giving a sermonette about "Jesus Bar Abbas" (Son of the Father) and "Jesus King of the Jews" who Pilate offered a choice between to the crowd who wisely came up with, "We have no King but Caesar.." Fun stuff.
5:56, with all due respect, why are you still in Living?
ReplyDeleteAs soon as I started to attend church in the 1970s, it became obvious that the sermons and sermonettes were inadequate. They don't describe how the world works, or explain how to apply Gods laws in every day life. So I started reading 'self help' books. The only thing that works is Gods laws, so these books must be magnifying Gods way. The bible has it's place, but the problem is that the bible has only so many pages, and hence cannot mention every situation. You grow in proportion to knowledge, and as 5.56 AM points out, the church is not giving that.
ReplyDeleteThere's a knowledge explosion in the world, and I recommend members tap into it. Jealous, possessive, envious ministers obviously will not agree.
Look how well the ministers are paid for giving out the same (tasteless) material over and over and over. They are probably using notes from 20 or is it 40 years ago.
Did Herbert W. Armstrong make a big deal about pork he was served? No! He happily consumed it. As with fowl, fish, lamb, beef, etc, he just knew that it would be cooked properly due to centuries-old paradigms.
ReplyDeleteHeck, you better watch out for that chicken- it will kill you if not cooked properly!
(In the Kingdom, a chicken's "cluck" is translated as, "I want to kill you if you eat me!")
And, watch out for botulism at church potluck dinners!
Jesus is too preoccupied with making sports teams win and helping people find their car keys and parts for their cars, so He has little time left over to keep people from dying elsewhere.
Heck, after even one NASCAR race, Jesus needs a good long nap, even if there were no deadly or firey crashes.
on May 3, 2016 at 5:56 AM
ReplyDeleteAnonymous wrote...
"I feel like LCG is lulling me to sleep. It's like that teacher in Ferris Bueller's Day off....
Rant over. Thank you for listening. Have a nice day."
1. Please, please get out while the going's good.
2. Anytime and I usually do.
cheers
ralph.f
on May 3, 2016 at 7:01 AM
ReplyDeleteDennisCDiehl wrote:-
". Paul never told any Gentile Christian what to eat and not eat."
Agreed, yet Yehovah did. As in "Lev 11:7 And the swine, though he divide the hoof, and be clovenfooted, yet he cheweth not the cud; he is unclean to you.
Lev 11:8 Of their flesh shall ye not eat, and their carcase shall ye not touch; they are unclean to you."
So, to whom does one pay attention?
also:-
"He evidently didn't care."
I find that difficult to believe.
All of this bearing in mind:- "Gal 3:29 And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise."
cheers
ralph.f
in addition to that:
ReplyDelete"James then went on to "lay no other burdens on them." Nothing about piggies."
Is it really a burden not to eat pork or its derivatives? I don't find it so, lamb beef and salmon and even smoked beef are delectable alternatives. If you want I can give you a delicious new recipe I have found for a lamb marinade, currently soaking up in my fridge.
cheers
ralph.f
to Anon 5:56am
ReplyDeleteWell Said..
I'd add one more dull,droll, but true tidbit..
"Endless Government Sermons"
Good 'ol Rod and his "Good Old Boys" preach a lot of Leadership don't they?!?
His former little Clique (as in Charles B. and others!) did the same too!
"Number WHAT in the Universe under WHO ? ??!?!?!"
Jewish rabbis in the know and realistic about the facts admit that all the restrictions of Judaism were intended to preserve "holiness" which was really intended to keep them elite and separated from all other people. It sure worked when we were in WCG, and my life didn't turn around and get sane until I wised up and abandoned the whole crazy mess. Allen C. Dexter
ReplyDeleteIt IS spam.
ReplyDeleteAnd some of us are tired of the pleas for money and money and then of course, money.
We are sick of the "times are getting worse and worse" and talk about the headlines and etc.
We are sick of fear porn religion that fails to ever speak of the mighty things done by Christ and the glorious return.
They focus on the tribulation and "will you "Make it" into the kingdom, as if you can get there under your own steam.
This is soul killer stuff. It robs you of any assurance and fills you with dread and self doubt because you can never measure up.
Sermons are not about how to grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ but about tragedy and doom and esoteric nonsense that does not lift up but drags down.
Where are these men helpers of our joy? They are robbers of joy.
Scriptures used are only those that bolster the party line and things that do not line up are scraped.
We are sick of a self appointed royal priesthood ministry that has no connection to the levitical system of the past and no connection to the people in the congregation.
What do they do all day? They don't visit. They don't visit the sick, anoint, socialize, preach, do bible studies with us or organize much needed social times for fellowship. They seem to begrudge us fellowship.
Every get
They lord it over the brethren every chance they get.
The ministry is over paid, over privileged. I got sick of paying for the ministry to live in big homes while we struggle to pay bills.
I am sick of them taking the nice rooms at the feast and sitting separately like sacred cows in a barn.
We are tired of droning, endless hour and a half sermons where the same thing is said over and over again ad nauseum.
What happened to spokesmen;s club? Many men are awful speakers. And, face it, they talk for far too long. People are off in lala land by half an hour. That's just the fact.
But if the emails were uplifting it would be different. But since the days of HWA letters to the congregation have a desperation about them as if they are running around at HQ head in hands, hair on fire over life and money.
No, it is spam and people are waking up.
Ralph..I completely understand your perspective. You are of the Jewish Christian approach . The COG's just don't understand that Paul is not of that persuasion and was much more loose of practice all to bring more gentiles into the church. Eventually, the Pauline, Gentile Christian Church won out over the Jewish or Jameson Church. It is not Peter, James, John and Paul. It is Peter, James, John OR Paul. I have nothing against good alternative meats however the idea that Pork is bad compared to beef or whatever is simply not true. It is actually better for one than beef, less fat and actually tastes much better in my view. I grew up with it all until WCG . I tend towards fish and chicken myself but find pork better than beef personally.
ReplyDeleteI don't claim to be either Jewish or Gentile Christian and after viewing the findings of the Hubbel Telescope, am pretty sure pork and shrimp is not a big issue on the mind of any real Deity.
The other burdens James did not lay on Gentiles was much more than just meats.
Here is an excellent and balanced article on "God Fearers" and Gentile proselytes etc in the day and the whole point of the Acts 15 dispute which Paul even did not do to what he is said to have agreed with , which he didn't.
http://www.auburn.edu/~allenkc/chrnoach1.html
PS ...Having Talapia for dinner :)
ReplyDeletePPS
ReplyDelete"Acts 15: 21For Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him (Moses), being read in the synagogues every Sabbath day."
In the COG's this seems to mean "And the Gentiles can get of of the other rules , like Sabbath , Holy Days, Meats and Tithing every Sabbath they attend the local Jewish Christian church who will update them on the rules of Moses too."
It does not mean this. This is the answer to the FEAR by those who felt the Law of Moses was necessary for Gentiles that at this rate then, Moses and Judaism would disappear if disregarded by gentiles. The answer to the FEAR of this loss was .."No..Judaism will be preached every Sabbath and is not going to go away so not to worry." It was not where the Gentiles would get caught up on all they missed in James decree.
Thanks for the article, Dennis. It says fairly clearly what took me several years to piece together.
ReplyDeleteI believe you are right that Acts 15:21 is the key verse that the COGs twist to claim that James supported imposing the entire Law of Moses on the Gentiles (or at least their cherry-picked laws).
Again, thanks for the article and all your postings.
Thanks anon 6:16. I will always be somewhat fascinated with theology, biblical contradictions, history, origins, authorship and politic I suppose. I want to know where I went wrong years ago and what it was my "teachers" did not know and would not teach if they did.
ReplyDelete