Living Church God seems to have one trial after another lately. It's latest issue is with two of its Feast sites. One has been cancelled due to the hurricane and the second is scrambling to find another venue in Haiti because of the horrendous damage.
Gone are the days of COG's boldly proclaiming from their pulpits how God directed a hurricane away from Caribbean, Latin America and Coastal U.S. Feast sites. Now God just lets the hurricanes slam ashore and mess up hotels and sites fully booked. Gone are the days of celebrating hurricanes turning around and destroying Cuba and other islands just so COG faithful can have eight days of millennial bliss as they overindulge on food and alcohol while the unwashed "gentiles" suffer God's wrath elsewhere.
God's protection seems to be slipping away.
From an LCG source:
It looks like God has stricken one of the feast sites of the purest, cleanest, holiest, most godly, sole Philadelphian remnant of the one-and-only true church of God.
For the 1st time in the history of ACOG splits, a feast site is cancelled all together AFTER hundreds of members have put down their deposits and made their travel plans.
Today, LCG announced that they have cancelled their feast site in Hilton Head, SC.
According to LCG, God is now (suddenly) "placing His name" in Charlotte.
Was LCG's festival planner Lil' Jimmy Meredith not listening to God when he signed the SC contract? Or did God "place His name" there but then suddenly decide to change His mind? It's obvious to many of us that God has nothing to do with LCG but it's hard not to wonder how they will spin this since they believe the are the "one-and-only church of God".
LCG has a booklet called, "Who Controls the Weather?" If one follows the reasoning outlined in that booklet, it seems pretty obvious that God is punishing LCG.
One thing is for sure, lying Rod Meredith will figure out some way to sell it to his congregants that will have little to do with reality or repentance.
Now LCG members get to have the feast in the very same town where 90% of them live and work anyway, Charlotte, NC. How exciting!
Lil' Jimmy is working out the details now and will soon let the membership know the name of the place God is placing His name in Charlotte (my guess is it will be where they have their Christmas party every year). Until then, we will all be waiting with baited breath!
This was posted on lcg.org:
Dear brethren,
Hilton Head Location moving to Charlotte... We continue to pray for the thousands of people who were affected by Hurricane Matthew. Lives and homes were lost and much damage occurred in Haiti, other islands, and up and down the East Coast of the USA. There is also flooding and various damage in Hilton Head, which was one of our planned sites for the Feast of Tabernacles this year. Due to the hurricane, the resort we had planned to use is not available.
We are planning on moving the location to Charlotte with Mr. Richard Ames being here the first half and Mr. Gerald Weston will be here the second half. Several additional ministers will also serve at this site. We are still trying to nail down the exact venue, but trust that God will provide the right location.
If you had reservations with the Hilton Head Beach and Tennis Resort, your refund is in progress. However, it could be 5 to 7 days before it is credited to your account. If you made plans offsite or through other means such as VRBO or HOMEAWAY, then of course we encourage you to quickly request cancellation due to these unforeseen circumstances.
Activity ticket refunds will be issued as soon as possible; however, regrettably you may not receive it before the Feast begins. Festival Advisors, your immediate attention is requested to help those without internet access.
We are working on an orderly plan to quickly re-distribute members to various Feast sites where space is available. Accordingly, we are asking all those registered to Hilton Head to RE-REGISTER to one of the following sites:
USA FEAST SITES WITH SPACE AVAILABLE:
Panama City, FL
Osage Beach, MO
Traverse City, MI
Mount Snow, VT
San Diego, CA
Please re-register at one of the above sites, as soon as possible.
Again, we all are very disappointed by this most unfortunate reality, and the hurried situation this puts all of us in to make new plans for the Feast. The Festival Office and Festival Coordinators will do everything we can to make the transition as smooth as possible. Remember, brethren, God is in charge, and He has promised that “all things work for good to those that love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28).
Even through the trial, let’s thank God for His protection and guidance, as we ask Him to provide the way to keep His wonderful Feast of Tabernacles!An additional notice was put up by Gerald Weston:
Greetings from Charlotte,
This has been a very active week. Many of our ministers in all parts of the world traveled to serve our members for the Feast of Trumpets: Mr. Richard Ames in Missouri, Dr. Douglas Winnail in Tennessee, Mr. Dexter Wakefield in New England, Mr. James Meredith in South Africa, and Carol and I were in Atlanta where we had six ordinations in the three congregations represented there. When we talk about the weather this week, it is not small talk. Hurricane Matthew devastated a number of islands in the Caribbean, including Haiti where the only bridge to our Festival site was knocked out. Dr. Wilner Pierre is now busy scrambling to find a new site. As far as we know all our brethren are okay in the Caribbean, but it is almost a certainty that many have suffered property damage. By the time you read this, Florida will have been affected by Matthew to a greater or lesser degree and many hundreds of thousands will have had their lives disrupted. I would like to mention that Mr. Terrence Kennell, an elder in Florida, died this Thursday. Dr. Meredith is planning to attend the Feast of Tabernacles in San Diego. Your prayers for Dr. Meredith and for all our ministers and members who are traveling during this Festival season are greatly appreciated.—GEW
18 comments:
We where always told that Satan was trying to attack the feast sites whenever a hurricane was headed toward it. Never mind the fact that September is the peak of the hurricane season because that is when the ocean is at its warmest. Then at feast time it is mentioned that God has protected the feast sites in the path of hurricanes and "usually" the weather was fairly calm for the feast. Never mind the fact that the feast is usually in October and there is a decline in tropical storms that month.
"placing His name"
One problem is the result of HWA's interpretation of "where God places His name" meaning where the Mythical True Church chooses to have the FOT. Early RadioCG literature was quite strong about the Feast Sites being the ordained sites and the only places acceptable.
As I said too many times, the COGs never had any proper understanding of the Tabernacle/Temple, Levites, Aaronic priesthood, offerings, etc. The place "where God placed His name" is the Temple in Jerusalem. When I lived in a Jewish community, all the Feast Days ("the High Holy Days") were held in local synagogues, but always claimed, next year, Jerusalem!
Really?
Maybe the ACoGs have always had it wrong. It seems like the first time the church attended a new feast site, there were problems, like bad weather and other things.
Maybe it's like this: God doesn't want Christians to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. After all, it was based, as all feasts of the Old Testament were, on animal sacrifices. They were done away. It is logical that if they were done away, the gatherings which required them would be done away too.
Therefore -- and this is entirely logical -- the problems with new feast sites were God trying to warn the people He didn't want them to keep them. After that, He sort of gave up and left them alone -- if they weren't going to notice His warnings, why should He bother any more?
So if Armstrongism were to continue for more millennia, and humanity expanded to other planets and star systems, would their apostle at that time begin claiming that God supported their little group because Jesus actually said, "On this rocket I shall build my church"?
And imagine the complications of keeping Feasts on sites on another planet -- particularly after a very nasty meteor shower destroys the site!
Sorry, LCG, but God is on vacation now.
I heard He's at an undisclosed resort with a tag on his door which says, "Do Not Disturb (property of Mount Airy Lodge)" and is now testing His #1 Presidential candidate's words by grabbing his most attractive creations "by the *****" behind closed doors. After all, God's a celebrity, and as such, can "do anything to women if you're famous"
No wonder the Armstrong kids loved the FOT, where their hedonistic fantasies frequently came to fruition!
Did you all notice that Pope Spanky is taking his feast time in Southern California, as far away from the suffering plebes as he can get? What fun it will be as they spend the feast in Charlotte. Thousands of dollars to spend and not a thing to do except to tour the church office building and drive by the dorms of the massive Living University. The liquor sales are sure to go out the roof this coming week.
RUMORED---
Displaced LCG Feast Goers at Charlotte HQ will be organizing protests and acts of civil disobedience in reaction to their FOT site being cancelled. Event will be called "Living Church of God Lives Matter" !
I don't see how Jimmy could help, he's on holidays in South Africa.
Yes, best feast yet if you drink enough!
There are several suburban and rural areas, very Millennial in their feeling, within an hour of Charlotte.
Why, then, has LCG chosen CHARLOTTE as the new site? If there had been any thought for the experience of the brethren, for many of whom the Feast is their one real vacation each year, they would have a site somewhere other than in a big inland city. Moving to Charlotte simply proves how lazy the LCG leadership is, since it will be easier to make rushed backup plans locally now, since they obviously didn't use the last year to come up with any better backup plan in case of emergency.
Another scandal is the way LCG is now telling brethren to put the Charlotte feast expenses on their credit cards, since they won't have their Hilton Head deposits back in time. How many brethren applying for assistance over the years have been told to avoid using credit cards?
Any non-brainwashed LCG attendees need to ask themselves: would God be behind a chaotic mess like the switch to the Charlotte feast site? Why didn't God do what Jimmy Meredith told Him to do? Isn't God in charge of the weather? Or is Satan stronger than Rod Meredith's god?
I hope many LCG brethren stay at home and study their Bibles, rather than dutifully go into credit card debt to attend the Feast in Charlotte.
On the other hand, since there really isn't that much to do for eight days in Charlotte, maybe Banned could prepare an online "Tour of the Executives' Homes"? With photos and street addresses, let brethren see in person the houses their tithes and offerings are supporting. Rod Meredith and one son in a 4,000-square foot mini-mansion. Weston and Ames in houses fit for evangelists. Winnail in a surprisingly modest condo, even if it's nicer than what most brethren can afford. Cesielka, Germano, McNair and the lot of them. Let's have a "Tour of the LCG Stars' Homes" that the LCG feastgoers can follow online, or carry out in person!
Years ago, there was a feast in Daytona Beach. Unlike previous years, people were told they had to pay sizable deposits to one of two intermediaries. As luck would have it, this two, obviously godly people decided to take all this money and depart for the Caribbean, leaving 1000's of people with a lot less money to use.
The church got the Chamber of Commerce involved and they were "supposed" to get other housing, getting the local establishments help with lower prices, when what actually happened, many prices were given that even exceeded the rates posted on the doors of the rooms.
In true, servant leadership fashion, of which they opened up the church treasury to help with the lost funds (NOT), they decided to ask the people on the first day to give an extra special offering for all those who needed help. Baskets were overflowing (from the people, not a dime from the church) and they then told those in need to come after church to a room set apart and needs would be met.
Instead, people went in individually, to a setup that had 2 ministers on a raised platform sitting behind a table, and basically interrogated people and handing paltry sums of money out. Many people, who had sent so much money in, actually had to go home for lack of funds.
The twist in the story was several days later, a minister got up and made this proclamation, "God has met everyone's needs and on top of that, we have a large amount left over we will make as a special offering to the church, in showing our appreciation to God for his blessings".
I think this was a Waterloo moment for me, when I saw in action, a heartless, selfish entity that could claim greatness and generosity and yet never spent any of the money people had sent in for years and years.
In some ways this was even worse than all the special treatments the ministry got at the feast, as you then saw these were some of the most unthankful and self-centered people, who claimed they had God on their side. That feast they proved otherwise.
Well, Gee Whiz, Beav! Does this mean that the F/T is going to be held in the pagan Masonic hall that we've heard so much about? What a wonderful way to portray the Millennium!
If the LCG feast is at the masonic temple in charlotte, maybe we can burn offerings to the Rod of God on that alter that's behind the curtain...
That way Rod Meredith will know how loyal we are to him and maybe we can get some of his special favoritism.
Haiti is devastated and the main thing worth mentioning is that the bridge to the feast site is washed out. And what us with the tossed in line about an elders death? Not a scrap of compassion anywhere. Here is a suggestion. Take your sorry selves down to the place where "God placed his name" and spend the feast helping others.
Hey! The Feast is not a vacation! Not even close!
You people take your bad attitudes and stuff it -- it's time to buckle down and realize that there's only one reason to keep the Feast of Tabernacles and it's not to have a vacation.
If you really enjoy the Feast as a vacation, you're not doing it right!
How many LCG members who live in Charlotte will rent a hotel room in Charlotte?
It's not the Feast if you just put up a bunch of branches in your backyard or your living room.
I assume Rod and Jim Meredith will be opening their empty bedrooms to Feastgoers, won't they? Same for the other traveling ministers. The call has already gone out for ordinary members to open their homes, even if they will be staying in Charlotte. So we can be sure the ministers will do what the members have been asked to do. Am I right? Or are they a bunch of "do as I say, not as I do" hypocrites?
I thought that hurricanes were supposed to punish homosexuals, fornicators, Sunday keepers, people who don't tithe, and those who (gasp!) watch NFL football games!
But, here we have the mother of all conundrums: A hurricane named after one of GTA's sons, preventing the LCG from keeping the Feast of Tabernacles in some non-Jerusalem areas where it was discerned that God had placed His name. This is a marked departure! "Satan" had always been restrained from attacking the ACOGs where they worshipped, with a few notable exceptions like Wisconsin, a place which has always had a special allure to me personally, because as you all know, rodents just love cheese! Oh, wait just a ding dang moment here. The incident in Wisconsin happened to LCG as well!
Any body sense any missed messages here?
When Jesus return the whole world will keep the feast of tabernacle and the rest of the holy days.William Butler.west Mifflin.pa
When Jesus returns there is no point in any of the holy days as the salvation plan of history will be completed. There will be no need to celebrate a feast celebrating the millennium when the millennium is an actuality. Stop swallowing the lies of Armstrong!
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