Herbert Armstrong's Tangled Web of Corrupt Leaders

Saturday, August 13, 2016

The One Thing Church of God Leaders Have Never Learned

10 comments:

  1. Humility is a core character trait for a Christian. No matter how "good" or "honest" one may be, no matter how well-developed one's "character" may be, all of that pales as filthy rags in comparison to what Jesus Christ has done for us.

    The ACOGs seem unable to accommodate humility as a desirable character trait. Instead, people are asked to evaluate how much they have "overcome." This may lead to smug feelings of self-righteousness, or to esteem-sapping feelings of failure.

    For many, the emphasis on "overcoming" leads to the elaborate construction of a "false face" which is presented to fellow ACOG members. That false face feels nothing but joy every Sabbath. That false face is glad to hear the same message week after week from the ministers. That false face is happy to employ the Nuremberg Defense to Christian life: "Don't blame me for the problems and abuses; I was just following orders."

    That false face, and the alienation from self that it brings, is one reason why the Terry Ratzmanns and Karl Beyersdorfers and Phillip Apartians lose all hope and resort to suicide. To advance in Armstrongism is necessarily to advance in dishonesty. Sociopaths do very well in such an environment; normals either become more sociopathic or they fall victim to depression and worse.

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  2. Don't forget, False Face declares "Best Feast Ever!" too. lol. One of the lessons I learned I learned is how unnatural and with WCG, how unreal or surreal pastoring could be . It is a rather unfair position to put a genuine human being in as it forces one , because of impossible standards and expectations (Become ye therefore perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect" and I don't care what "perfect" means or doesnt') to wear masks like it or not.

    http://ezinearticles.com/?Everyone-Wears-Masks---Your-Pastor-and-Priest,-Your-Mom,-Dad,-Family,-and-YOU!&id=168861

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  3. Don't forget, False Face declares "Best Feast Ever!" too

    Was there any kind of scriptural logic for the "Best Feast Ever!" nonsense? I know that when I was in WCG, I got a lot of frowns from people when I answered their question by saying, "I had a great Feast this year, not that it tops the wonderful Feast I spent 5 years ago in Hawaii or the one I spent 10 years ago in Pasadena." It wasn't enough to have "a great Feast." If it wasn't the "best Feast ever" I was somehow suspect. Why?

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  4. Great find Gary. Meredith certainly would have to slither off when facing the truth as portrayed by Devito. As we can plainly see, RM has no character. He has no regrets. He has no humility. I doubt if we could call him a human being. Its like he's a devil...

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    1. I don't know about Meredith as I've never had any dealings with him but I've had my moments dealing with some when I've realised through trial and error that some are more of darkness than light. I would go as far to say I reckon some of them absolutely HATE the concept of humility. They revolt at the mere mention of the word as if it was a blasphemy.

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  5. 6.12 AM people are also expected to fake reality by having 'genuine outgoing concern' for others. 'Outgoing concern' is not enough, it must be 'genuine' (ie super fake reality) outgoing concern. This is the losers talking to the winners. In the real world, one must earn concern. But the churches are all about creating a Disneyland for the tares, so the faking isn't going away.

    Cheers TradingGuy

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  6. I might watch the movie. It looks like the young guy is playing the game of 'rescue' on his client.

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  7. When something isn't working, and everything is enforced, there is no choice but to present the false face. The idea was that you must fake it til it works, and unfortunately (or fortunately?) it never did.

    BB

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  8. 12.19PM I have also learnt through trial and error that the opposite of humility, being arrogance, means 'I have all rights and I own you.' Evil people always relate to others with this mindset. The only exception is when wearing their Pharisaic mask. Ironically these arrogant people frequently beat others down with accusations of arrogance, of all things.

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