Living Church of God has put up a video sermon by Gerald Weston, that is over an hour in length, on why LCG members must trust the LCG ministry and leadership and more importantly that LCG members must OBEY church leaders in every aspect. Doubt and questions have no room and serve absolutely no purpose in the LCG.
LCG members are to trust Weston and every single minister and employee in Charlotte as if their life and salvation depend upon it. As direct representatives with God's Holy Spirit and as God's personal true representatives on earth today, every word uttered by the leadership is God-spoken and cannot in any way lead any member to have doubt or questions.
Because church leaders and ministers are direct conduits of God's wisdom, and because LCG uses 'proper" church governmental structures, LCG members MUST obey every edict and command coming out of Charlotte as if God himself spoke it. OBEY is the operative word here.
Weston makes the comment that church members have been conditioned to expect rebellion and apostacy after a church leader dies.
Church of God News had this up:
“Some believe that, just as with Mr. Armstrong’s death, that it is inevitable that the church go into rebellion or apostasy again ... Have God’s people always rebelled after the death of a significant leader?”
He compared the current transition of leadership from Roderick Meredith to himself with “another transition, one in many ways of far greater significance” - that of Moses and Joshua.
He quoted Joshua 24:31, ‘And Israel served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that outlived Joshua, and which had known all the works of the LORD, that he had done for Israel’.
“So it is not inevitable that, when a leader dies, the church has to go off track.”
He was careful to interject that he was not considering himself to be the second Joshua (as certain other CoG leaders do).
Unfortunately, the track record of the Church of God has been one of outright lies, half-truths, and deliberate deception for 80 some years now.
Corrupt and apostate men have set themselves up as lords and masters of their own personality cults in which they abuse members and preach heretical doctrines.
Leadership integrity has never been a priority in the Church fo God. It was not present in Herbert Armstrong and is certainly not present today in any of the COG's.
33 comments:
Because they aren't about God but $$$$$$$$$$$$! I mean how hard is it to write drivel for 2 hours a week?!
As Dr Phil would say, "The best predictor of future behavior is past behavior." If the historical pattern is one of corruption, deception, rebellion, splintering, divorce, broken homes, emotional trauma, etc. in these various Armstrongist institutions then should it really surprise us if their fate is not unlike that of their own "mother"?!
@GEW “So it is not inevitable that, when a leader dies, the church has to go off track.”
Under RCM, LCG changed several core doctrines. Was that "going off track"? If so, would GEW be more faithful by returning to HWA's teachings or by adding his own new spin to RCM's changes? Here are just eight of the many areas where HWA and RCM weren't on the same page:
• The Falling Away
• The Marriage Supper in Heaven
• Interracial Marriage
• Identity of the End-Time Elijah
• When Does the Laodicean Era Begin?
• Which Comes First: Calling 911 or Anointing?
• College Accreditation: Worth Seeking?
• "Recognize" But Don't "Observe" New Moons?
LCG has quite a few members who are holding fast to HWA's understandings, and who tolerated Meredith while hoping that there would be change. If GEW upholds Meredith's changes, LCG will lose those people. LCG also has quite a few members who liked Meredith's changes, and who will leave if GEW changes back toward HWA's understandings.
The only people on whom GEW can rely are the ones who believe that God supported RCM's rebellions, first against WCG and then against GCG, but that God won't support anyone who rebels against LCG.
ALL Of The Armstrong Cults Use Mind Control In Order To "Police" The Members. The "Click" That Each And Every Congregation Always Has Is Made Up Of People Who Have A Considerable Amount Of Money To Their Name, And The Ones Who Are Not Popular Are The Ones That Are Struggling Financially And Are Usually The Unfortunate Ones That The Minister "Walks All Over" And Doesn't Give Sh*t About Them.
Flurry, Pack & Weston should never be trusted!
Paraphrase: Check your minds at the door, brethren!
BB
TRUST Us and OBEY Us
We will see how that works out!
Piss on Armstrong and his brainwashed followers !!!
the corruption of an organization headed by human beings is not unique to just lcg: many organizations, whether they be secular or religious, have been found to be deeply flawed...
singling out lcg as particularly evil, when there are scores of other religious organizations that have done much, much worse, smacks of a personal vendetta...
This 'trust us' and 'obey' is straight out of the Jehovah's Witness playbook. There's a series on YouTube put out by a Jamaican, a seventh day Adventist, who exposes JW lies and shenanigans. The JWs in effect teach that their 7 man governing body is in place of Christ, and that members are to blindly trust them. So much for Jer_17:5 Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man.. They also deny that Christ leads members directly. I have never once over 50 years come across one WCG and sliver article on following Gods lead. This is a monster sin of omission.
These XCOG are not JWs, but they copy and steal from them. JW only differs in that they are upfront with their blasphemy. Other denominations are more low key and subtle, but in fact have the same beliefs. One comment called their 7 man governing body roosters that peck on members. Ring a bell?
Have a look at some of Westons You Tube 'Watchtower examination' programs. It's educational.
"Trust and Obey" is a traditional 19th century Methodist hymn. Is Weston subtly bringing LCG into the Protestant fold, or does he just have a lot of Protestant "programming" that he doesn't even recognize?
Trust and Obey
@7:10PM
"Trust and Obey" was actually written by a Presbyterian, not a Methodist, but became a Protestant hymn standard.
Does Weston not realize that trust is EARNED, not DEMANDED?
Trustworthy people earn trust. It's the con-men who petulantly DEMAND to be trusted. Weston can DEMAND obedience from the members of his group, because he controls their membership in the group. He cannot, however, demand that members trust him, unless he is demanding that they abandon their consciences in order to remain members in good standing.
Of course, any group that requires you to abandon your conscience is not a healthy Christian group, and such a group should be abandoned.
7.46 PM
Abandon your conscience or fake reality. They also demand members fake reality regarding loving other church members including the crazies, unity, forgiveness etc.
The Living church of Faking Reality.
PS don't forget faking the 'genuine outgoing concern.' yep, make your faking 'genuine.'
Always be sincere. And if you can't be sincere, FAKE IT until you can!
Mormons were told, "Once the decision has been made, the thinking has been done." Ditto other cults.
Trust no one but God. The has been much evidence over the years that HQ leaders, employees, pastors and ministry do anything except what the brethren assume their doing during the week. The ones that do are exception to the rule and are sadly too fww on the ground. Trust God not man.
Trust and obey,and shut up. You people don't deserve better so why are you complaining at all. Obedience is good for you. And I am not being sarcastic
Thanks Gary, I can't get "Trust and Obey... for there's no other way... to be happy in Jesus... but to trust and obey", out of my head, from my childhood days in the pews. lol
The word 'obey' is listed 50 times in scripture. 99% of the time it us used in the sense to obey Elohim, and a couple other times, to obey one's parents. It also speaks of obeying one's master, but obviously this is not in a spiritual sense.
Paul does speak of those that do not heed the word about not being busy bodies, that others should not keep company with them.
HWA once wrote an article in 1939 about government that speaks of true government and not like that practiced today. The government practiced today by the cogs is very much like that of the Catholic church. This type of government is very dangerous as one will find themselves eventually obeying men rather than Elohim.
To whom you obey, is the one that you are worshiping.
7.46PM
Trust is earned?
Isn't that, gulp, swapping?
My $ bill says in "weston we trust".
Centralized one man leadership and government , along with centralized money control is found NOWHERE in the New Testament.
Congregational government , with perhaps a small central office at best, and lot of local control , stops this kind of nonsense. The COG 7th Day practices such a model and is a peaceful and ordered group sans all of this political nonsense.
To obey "Elohim" is really to obey the male priests who put words n commands in the mouth of their god for effect
absolute power corrupts absolutely.
Anonymous June 7 at 4:32 AM says, quite earnestly, "Obedience is good for you."
Right you are, anon. Obedience is good for me as long as I am the one being obeyed. Take my dog, for example. He must sit, stay, come when called, and repress his desire to express exuberant affection to human beings. He might jump up and smear people's clothes with his muddy paws. He lives in a chain-link kennel that resembles a prison. At work as a bird dog, he must resist his natural impulse to flush the bird and hold steady on point so that I can flush it myself, or else get into position to shoot and give him permission. Any game we get belongs to me. I feast on pheasant breast and he eats dry kibble.
One of the many reasons I quit attending the Radio Church of God is the feeling that we were treated like dogs.
"...and more importantly that LCG members must OBEY church leaders in every aspect."
Nah. Gerald Weston said no such thing. I saw the sermon in question. He did not say LCG members must obey church leaders in every aspect. Nothing of the sort. Good job of intentionally distorting and lying about what was actually said in the sermon. You're not fooling anyone with a brain to think, except those supporters of this blog who already drink the anti-LCG koolaide.
10.08 AM
In the years that I attended services, I never once heard a minister say from the pulpit that members should obey church leaders in every aspect. Rather the ministers behaved this way, and used code words to convey this. Every third sermon was on 'obedience,' with church members knowing that tyranny was being referred to. This repetition was murderous mind twisting, turning members in Borg. Koolaide indeed.
@ 6:53PM, who wrote, "singling out lcg as particularly evil, when there are scores of other religious organizations that have done much, much worse, smacks of a personal vendetta..."
Nobody is "singling out" LCG, as there are many other posts here about many other ACOG groups. However, there are three factors you may want to consider:
(1) LCG singles itself out as the "best" ACOG, or as the "spear point" of the ACOGs, or occasionally as "the only really Philadelphian" ACOG. Since LCG singles itself out as the best, it is asking to be held by that standard, not the ordinary standard of "scores of other religious organizations." If LCG is what it says it is, it should be able to stand up to that scrutiny.
(2) Many observers see one unique feature of LCG when compared to the other ACOG groups. Many ACOG groups (e.g. PCG, RCG, COG-PKG) have been batshit-crazy cultic groups from their inception, and a few others (e.g. CGI, UCG) have been noted as very liberal, relaxed and tolerant. It is rare, perhaps unique, to see in an ACOG the kind of transformation people have seen in LCG in the last decade or so. A group once thought of as a "moderate-conservative sect" of Armstrongism has made big moves in the direction of "oppressive tyrannical cult."
(3) UCG and COGWA have collegial/democratic governance to some degree, while many other groups are "one-man shows" or tyrannies. LCG is the first "one-man show" among the major splinters to undergo what WCG experienced at the death of Herbert Armstrong, replacing one one-man show (HWA) with another one-man show (JWT). PCG and RCG will eventually (soon?) face the same challenge, but LCG has come to it first, so it's no surprise if the group is "singled out" for that reason.
11:47 AM: If church members, as you say, know all that of this "obedience" talk in sermon after sermon is really just code words for tyranny - then how could they be Borgs? Borgs (by their fictional nature) aren't even aware of their being a Borg and being mind controlled. Your argument is baseless and makes no rational sense.
Sounds like you might have been assimilated, 1:53!
BB
If church members, as you say, know all that of this "obedience" talk in sermon after sermon is really just code words for tyranny - then how could they be Borgs? Borgs (by their fictional nature) aren't even aware of their being a Borg and being mind controlled. Your argument is baseless and makes no rational sense.
The Borg are of one mind, just like the ideal in Scripture. No Church of God comes close to achieving the Borg ideal. People have to fake it to pretend to be of one mind with a crazy, flittering mind like that of David Pack or Gerald Flurry. The Borg, however, are engineered to be of one mind. Borg do not need a "sermon" to find out what their crazy head is thinking; they simply tap in to the hive mind. ACOGs can only simulate this, with one man playing the role of Locutus and praising the value of assimilation when in fact humans with God's Sprit cannot be assimilated.
1.53 PM
Exactly. Most members aren't aware that their sense of normalacy is being twisted by repetitive sermons. At least not initially. often it's only after they leave the church that they realize the mental damage done. A common complaint is that it takes years to reverse the brain washing ie remove the Borg implants. The fictional former Borg character Seven-of-nine could not completely remove all her implants.This parallels that the brainwashing cannot be completely reversed. There were many episodes on Star Trek NG that dealt with Seven-of-nines struggle to become human again. These scripts weren't pulled out of thin air. They parallel the experiences of former abusive cult members.
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