Has the Church of God ever been unified? Decades and decades before the upheavals of the 1990's scores of groups had already broken off of the Worldwide Church of God. Not a month went by without some minister or member declaring themselves God's new and improved leader and took a few people with them. Church members have been gullible dupes over the years to one fraudulent man (and a couple of women) after another. Each one always more enlightened and godly than the previous.
Then, Herbert Armstrong had to go and die. Damn! What a mess. Even though he declared that he had reached all of the world with his message, one self-appointed prophet after another have had hissy-fit 's and left the church huffing and snorting. Thousands of gullible members bought into their outright lies and followed them. Then, once reality sat in, church members quickly saw that the same perverse habits they had left behind were still occupying the minds of their new enlightened leaders. Corruption abounded and the lies became more outrageous. More families, marriages, and lives were ripped apart by deviant church leaders.
One of the groups that actually might have had a good chance in righting the wrongs was the United Church of God. It, however, got off on a wrong foot as its leaders plotted and schemed while still in the employ of the Worldwide Church of God on how to start their new and improved church. Membership lists and addresses were stolen in order to send out letters letting the faithful know that the truth was being carryied on in the new and improved Church of God, called United. United's goal was just that, unite the church members in one cohesive body to do an amazing work that HWA had already said he had completed.
Things rolled along well, till stories broke of church elders and members sexually assaulting women. Then there was the horrendous mess with the church member who embezzled hundred's of thousand's of dollars from the bank she worked at and with which she built a meeting hall for UCG. Once the government discovered what the church member had done she was arrested and bank regulators and the court confiscated UCG's church building and sold it. Corruption continued on unabated for years as one thing after another happened. Then, Jim Franks and 3/4 of the minister threw their own hissy-fit and started their own new most unified Church of God EVER (COGWA). More families, marriages, and friendships were shattered so that another group of selfish men could set themselves up as the final moral authority for the church.
A reader of UCG's magazines would never know the sordid past of the 20-year-old church. What one reads about today is the mess that Vic Kubik wrote about in his latest Letter from the President. A letter on how unified the UCG is today...um, someone needs to speak to Kubik about that!
As the Church of God and Christianity as a whole approaches Pentecost, Kubik is using the day as a reason to keep the UCG unified.
Kubik writes:
As we approach the day of Pentecost, let’s rededicate ourselves to our wonderful purpose, let’s all do our part to be a truly unified Body, a united Church for those whom God is calling.Remind you, this is the very same man who plotted and schemed to disunify the Worldwide Church of God so he and his buddies could keep their salaries flowing in.
On that original day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit descended upon those in the room, forever ending the idea that revelation and truth came down from human leaders lording themselves over the members. Members were enlightened. Their minds understood things in new and glorious ways and they were empowered to go forth with that message, each according to their own abilities, yet unified (of one accord) in their mission to free the captives and restore wholeness to broken and downtrodden people overwhelmed by the rules.
Kubik continues with this:
If that is what Kubik believes and what he thinks UCG is all about, then WHY has he refused to "stick together" and remain "unified" with other COG members? He and his cabal of buddies have never truly been held to this standard.Allow me to share my thoughts and prayers about this day and what it truly means to be “of one accord.” They center on what Jesus passionately prayed for concerning His followers shortly before being tortured and killed.In that passage, Jesus is actually praying for us today! “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word [including you and me]; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us , that the world may believe that You sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one , and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me” (John 17:20-23, emphasis added throughout).And so, we see that it was Jesus Christ’s intense desire that His followers stick together and be united together in purpose and action.
However, according to Kubik, there is only one Church of God on this earth who is "sticking together" and is truly "united." One guess as to who THAT is...PCG? RCG? LCG? CCG?
The Church of God no longer has a purpose or at least one they want to share with other COG members. It plods along with one failed campaign after another. One mind numbingly boring telecast after another. The world is not interested in their message and COG members are not interested in what they do either. Even Jelly cannot hold the church together and unify it.I invite you to consider how the Vision Statement of the United Church of God is drawn directly from what is called the “unity chapter” of Ephesians: “The whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies , according to the effective working by which every part does its share , causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love” (Ephesians 4:16).Unity represents the outcome of having a shared purpose and vision, a purpose that we all actively work toward! To achieve it, we must get in harmony with Christ’s prayer and diligently, as individuals, strive to all support and advance that collective purpose as one body in one accord .
Peace is not simply the absence of conflict. Pursuing and supporting our great purpose as a spiritual assembly—preaching the powerful gospel of the Kingdom and preparing ourselves for entry into that Kingdom as the very children of God —requires great effort and work by each of us. When we do so, when we are so minded and motivated, we have peace and unity!Of course, unity cannot be achieved in UCG if members fail to support the human organization. Screw following Jesus, the "Org." is more important. Oh, wait, Jesus? That dude that disrupts everything we claim to believe yet fail to follow...
Peace is the glue that creates a spiritual bond. Jesus said: “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God” (Matthew 5:9). We have to be willing to wage spiritual peace rather than war in our daily lives. Of course, the waging of peace represents a more difficult challenge. It is far easier to tear down than to build up. But it is worth the effort. With God’s help, we canovercome the baser parts of our nature. We can put out anger, envy and pride—the mental and spiritual states that lead to words that hurt and harm.If one truly acknowledges Jesus, then they know that "peace" has been accomplished. There is no more struggling or continually "fighting" to make one's self accepted. The fight has been won. The battle has been won. But since UCG still places the law above that inconvenient dude, they still have to fight and struggle while constantly being disunified.
As we approach the day of Pentecost, let’s rededicate ourselves to our wonderful purpose, let’s all do our part to be a truly unified Body, a united Church for those whom God is calling.Called into UCG? No thanks. Been there done that. Unified? Never in this lifetime.
Kubik is wrong. Right now, LIVING CHURCH OF GOD is the most unified Church of God of all the Churches of God. No Church could be more united than LIVING. The members and ministry are in total harmony. Everyone loves Gerald Weston and trusts that he is the ONE MAN ALONE who should be followed. No one would even dare to consider that UCG or COGWA or some small new split would be a better place to be. No, brethren, LCG is the MOST UNIFIEDEST CHURCH EVER, SUBSISTING IN COMPLETE AND TOTAL HARMONY.
ReplyDeleteUnity was and is a communist theme. They achieved this 'unity' by means of midnight arrests, torture, executions and concentration camps. In these splinters it's same, thuggery, verbal violence, brainwashing, intimidation.
ReplyDeleteAs commie critics have often pointed out, unity is a consequence. It is not a primary such as honesty.
Unity is the consequence of people living by the ten commandments.
The United Church Of God should stop teaching the false doctrines of Herby Armstrong! Just my personal opinion.
ReplyDeleteSomebody please pass the Jelly!
ReplyDeleteYou forgot to mention the first really big split for UCG , which was David Hulme back around 1997.
ReplyDeleteYet again the evil jelly references.
ReplyDeleteLEAVE JELLY ALONE!!
OH THE HUMANITY!
There is no such thinf as a "unified" Church of God. That's another thing they fake, like the gift of prophecy, the gift of healing, and the blessing of persecution.
ReplyDeleteBB
In 2010 I was a member of UCG. I contacted Vic Kubik, among others, about the belligerent and aggressive tone that the council of elders was adopting and how it was going to lead to a massive split if they didn't start seeking some sort of rational negotiating position. He didn't give two hoots about unity then. To me, "united" is the last thing UCG has ever been. Kind of like how "living" doesn't remotely describe LCG either...
ReplyDeleteTo me, "united" is the last thing UCG has ever been. Kind of like how "living" doesn't remotely describe LCG either...
ReplyDeleteThe last honest ACOG name was "Radio Church of God." Ever since then, they've played a game of ironic opposites.
"Philadelphia" Church of God? That's the church with absolutely no brotherly love!
"Living" Church of God? That's the dead church that hears the same few sermons about church government again, and again, and again.
"United" Church of God? That's the church that has had more splits than any other ACOG since WCG.
COG a "Worldwide" Association? That's the Texas-based ministers' club.
"Restored" Church of God? Completely new fantasy teachings made up each week by its insane leader.
"Continuing" Church of God? That's the church that won't continue after Doubly Blessed Bitter Bob quits or dies.
From about 1974 on thru 1998, I always had a silent yet cynical and sarcastic chuckle in my head when we had to sing the song I hated even when a Presbyterian kid growing up. It simply did not apply to the church I was experiencing. I always hated the Christian Soldier Marching as to War concept as well. We have enough of that in the world
ReplyDeleteLike a mighty army moves the church of God;
Brothers, we are treading where the saints have trod.
We are not divided, all one body we,
One in hope and doctrine, one in charity.
Umm..... LOL....I don't think so!
Crowns and thrones may perish, kingdoms rise and wane,
But the church of Jesus constant will remain.
Gates of hell can never gainst that church prevail;
We have Christ’s own promise, and that cannot fail.
Umm....no, not constant at all and it only took the Armstrongs and Tkaches to take it out.
Onward then, ye people, join our happy throng,
Blend with ours your voices in the triumph song.
Glory, laud and honor unto Christ the King,
This through countless ages men and angels sing.
Um...no...happy? No....drama uneneding? ...yes
Dennis
ReplyDelete'Christian soldier Marching as to war' is a stirring inspiring song to many striving to live a Christian life.
Why must you be a party pooper and attack all things Christian??
Two arguments will be made by the shrinking UCG. 1) That numbers don't matter but what God is doing in the lives of the few does. 2) So our numbers are small, didn't Jesus say his flock would be small. My response to that is, Is a church that has lost over 10 thousand members a church that is being lead by a powerful God? You would think that the UCG would have "added" at least a few thousand in numbers or maybe a lot more in the 20 years+ it has been in existence. The question should be asked, Is this the fruit of a church lead by a powerful God?
ReplyDeleteWhen will people (specifically the vast majority of theists/deists/whatever-ists) learn to apply CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS to WHATEVER so called Holy Writs they adhere to and simultaneously asking themselves in all honesty exactly WHY they believe things they do believe that pertains to their *eternal survival* ???
ReplyDeleteWHY do the vast majority among abovementioned -eists delight in complicating and entangling their personal lives to the degree they do? Enriching the top Poohbahs whilst defrauding themselves and their children financialy ???
What is so flippin DIFFICULT just to LOVE and cooperate with your fellows? But NO, most of these -eists must have at least rules and regulations that varies from anything between 10 - 613 and some even more ???
Come on, DO tell us, please...
Ugh!
ReplyDelete“UCG: The Best Unified Church of God Ever!!!!!! Woo Hoo!”
When a UCG minister suspends some innocent person at the request of some godless, lying pervert who likes to hang out at the UCG to play church, the UCG minister will tell the dearly departed victim of the slandering harasser that, “The UCG meets in peace.” Woo Hoo!
After the big UCG-COGWA split, the remaining UCG ministers proclaimed that they were now more unified than ever. They claimed that the UCG was set to grow now that they had gotten rid of those they hated. Woo Hoo!
@ 7:12 pm, it's not just UCG that makes those two arguments.
ReplyDeleteI hear them frequently in my own group, and I'm sure they are common elsewhere.
In fact, argument #2 is even held up as a proof that "our group is the one, because we are small and Jesus said the church would be small".
It's just like statistics/surveys--you can make them say anything you want.