Living Church of God wants you to know that it is doing all it can to assist the homeless and those who have no hope. Just exactly what is it doing? Are members volunteering in local homeless shelters? Are they making hot meals for the homeless? Does LCG open its doors to its meeting halls in the winter to shelter the homeless and feed them? What about those without hope in their own town of Charlotte? Is the church contributing to international organizations that assist war refugees?
What do you think they are doing?
Here is what they are doing. As they are ensconced in their warm homes after a hearty meal, they are to think about those who are homeless, displaced and without hope. That apparently is a great comfort to those in need and alleviates LCG members from actually having to associate with a dirty urine-stained homeless person or to really provide comfort to a person who no longer has any hope in life.
When has Rod McNair ever washed a homeless person's feet or fed one of them a hot meal? When has Gerald Weston stooped down to care for a homeless veteran laying on the sidewalk? When have the students at the most incredible "university" in the world volunteered at a homeless shelter or worked a suicide prevention hot line? When has the elite ministry of the church ever gotten their hands dirty or their suits soiled?
Wiping away a tear as you watch some tragedy on the news as you "feel" concern is nothing like putting your feet to the pavement and doing beneficial deeds.
Oh wait, I forgot! God's going to fix it all in the end, so why waste resources on the homeless when it can be better used to publish the Tomorrow's World magazine. Most LCG ministers will totally miss the irony in that. God forbid if they might actually have to get off their pampered butts to bring a foretaste of that Kingdom to the world today.
Homeless and Hopeless: How many people long for a place to call home? How many people globally do have a place they call home? According to a new United Nations study, “One person [is] forced to flee their home every three seconds by war and violence” (The Guardian, June 19, 2017). This translates into over 65 million displaced persons in 2016! The study notes that the majority of these displaced people are refugees and half of them are children! If you have a peaceful place to call home, do you realize how blessed you are? Are you able to feel concern and compassion for the tens of millions who are on the move, living in unsafe and unsanitary conditions? Stable homes and families are two criteria that are used to identify the ever-elusive human state of peace. Peace is something that everyone seeks and few are able to truly attain. Government agencies and politicians strive for peace, but often little is achieved. The prophet Jeremiah warned that the time would come when the leaders of the world would claim “‘Peace, peace!’ when there is no peace” (Jeremiah 6:14; 8:11, 15). However, Jesus Christ is going to return to this earth and usher in a true time of peace in the Kingdom of God (Isaiah 9:6-7). The God of the Bible states about this exciting future, “My people will dwell in a peaceful habitation, in secure dwellings [homes], and in quiet resting places” (Isaiah 32:18).
years ago i posted several comments on the lcg fb page criticizing them for, among other things, their lack of a significant footprint in the way of charitable outreach, etc, and how showing love for their fellow man would do a lot towards preaching the Gospel...
ReplyDeletei also posted about how the Church could gain a better reputation if they were known for having a more loving concern for their fellow brethren in need...
somebody on their staff erased all of my posts and ultimately blocked me from posting on their fb page...
The LCG Doesn't Have A Charitable Bone In It's Body.
DeleteThe character of a society is judged by how citizens treat the least amongst them. I'm so ashamed for cruelly telling homeless panhandlers to get a job back when I was a member of the WCG. Kicking someone when they were down and out, not caring enough to take the time to find out what had put them in the place they were in.
ReplyDeleteI also learned a powerful lesson the first time a homeless person had looked up into the heavens, and had proclaimed "Thank you, Jesus!" just after I turned him on to my spare change. There are some grifters feeding off peoples' generosity for sure. But, there are also individuals and families who have been ruined by medical issues and expenses, people whose job skills technology has passed by, and some who are just not gifted with a functional level of intelligence. You never know unless you are caring enough to talk with some of these folks rather than dismiss them.
BB
A "living" comment was made saying: "... However, Jesus Christ is going to RETURN TO THIS EARTH and usher in a true time of PEACE in the Kingdom of God (Isaiah 9:6-7)..."
ReplyDeleteOh, the MMM (Mickey Mouse Millennium) to the rescue, again!!!!!!
Isaiah 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
:7 Of the increase of his government and PEACE THERE SHALL BE NO END, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth EVEN FOR EVER. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.
Thankfully, the LORD of hosts will perform that...PEACE THERE SHALL BE NO END, but that never-ending peace comes so much later, but False Prophet (FP) Bob Thiel, and the Weston "living" group, along with so many xcog leaders (e.g. Doug Winnail, VKubik, GFlurry, JMalm, JFranks. the Packman, etc.) remain in their spiritual rut of a blinded state, so can only preach junk food and lies.
What happens at the end of that MMM?
Rev 20:7 And when the thousand years are EXPIRED, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,
8 And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to GATHER them together TO BATTLE: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.
Where was Jesus Christ? He apparently is nowhere reigning on earth, because Satan's deception is allowed. The nations will be gathered to battle. Did Jesus Christ become a wimp: unable to fend off that deception and war?
And what about that "...PEACE THERE SHALL BE NO END?"
The FP Bob Thiel, then man-made living group leaders, along with numerous other blinded xcog leaders, have different timing from what the LORD of hosts has planned......or the LORD of hosts is a liar.
Which is it? Obviously, the LORD of hosts has planned to bring in that "PEACE THERE SHALL BE NO END" some time AFTER Satan is loosed from the bottomless pit!
But these leaders can only continue in their ruts producing the same old Junk Food and lies and can't seem to stop it b/c they are blind to what they think, believe and preach.
They continue to prove one thing, at least: they eventually will believe the words spoken by Jesus Christ.
"...Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up." Matthew 15:13
Living still just doesn't get it! Global was "rooted up!" Did they think that downsizing and renaming themselves would change anything? Same thing could be said for those of the United Ass., and the cogwa Ass., and we could go on and on.......with other xcogs. None of them have repented in their thinking with minds full of so much Junk Food & lies...and some little milk (Sabbath-keeping, law, clean/unclean meats, etc.). When will the weaning end? When will the spewing out of Junk Food end?
Deceived people do not know they are deceived. Ministers and brethren can't help themselves. God will some day grant/give them repentance away from Junk Food and lies, but what is to happen until then?
Oh, while they preach via another spirit, another gospel, another Jesus, the Jesus Christ of the Bible said this:
"Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch." Matthew 15:14
And these leaders may continue to be offended (especially FP BobThiel) just as much as the Pharisees were in Jesus' day (:12).
Time will tell...
John
Seems simple enough....
ReplyDelete“But whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him?” [1 John 3:17 KJV]
However the problem is that Gospel Jesus, in Mark, narrows down the group who only deserves help with their needs. Even mom and real brothers, who in this context thought Jesus was out of his mind in vs :21, didn't qualify. The inner circle of disciples "seated around HIM" only were considered brothers worthy of help.
"Then Jesus’ mother and brothers arrived. Standing outside, they sent someone in to call him. 32 A crowd was sitting around him, and they told him, “Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you.”
33“Who are my mother and my brothers?” he asked.
34 Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother."
The Churches of God always retreat to the concept of their message being of more real hope for the poor and needy than actually helping the poor and needy now. Of course this does not actually help the poor and needy and anyway, "the poor you always have with you." is their quote from Matthew 26:ll ignoring the context of Jesus contrasting that with "you won't always have me with you" (even though to me that sounds rather self centered and ...oh never mind).
We have other quotes of Jesus reminding us of "When did we see You sick or in prison and visit You?’ 40 And the King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did for Me.’" Matt 25:40, but that doesn't help the cause of the generic poor either. We only help the "least of these MY BROTHERS. Seems help is only for the followers and not the lost in the streets.
The poor can't win in the Churches of God and are only proof we need the Kingdom so send your money to the church and we'll take care of the brethren from here, if we choose to, depending.
I'm sure some here can document the misuse of Third Tithe for anything but even helping the "brothers." My senior year I helped in church administration with dispersing 3t to widows and those in need in the church who made it through the gauntlet of ministerial interviewing for such help. I doubt the amount of help going out was anywhere near the amount of 3T coming in.
I did help out one family in Kentucky after a long walk with the man down a Kentucky road hearing about no job, no food, no rent , no nothing..and it was true. Long story short, I helped the man with thousands along the way via the 3T account. Years later he got back in touch with me to tell me he won millions in the lottery and made millions more investing and wanted to take me to dinner...lol. Then I suspect he figured out I was not as religious as he had now become and I never heard from him again.
Third Tithe was used to buy the Armstrong jets. Not just any jets, but a deluxe model with gold leaf on the ceilings and gold door knobs. Al Portune, church financial office chief, protested this and was handed his head.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, deserving members and widows let their teeth rot out of their head , lacking dental care, and subsisted on government cheese distributions.
"Woe to the scribes and Pharisees" !!
your words enrage me; not because you said them, but because they are rooted in principle; a principle that has been lost on the hierarchy of the Church of God, the Scriptures not withstanding...
Deleteliterally from the beginning of the Church they have resisted the Principles of Christ (e.g. Acts 6:1, Galatians 2:12), and instead of repenting, they double down and make excuses...
THIS IS WHY WEBSITES SUCH AS THESE HAVE A FOLLOWING!!! and instead of simply humbling themselves and at least showing some empathy, let alone admit they have done wrong, they instead say in effect "we acknowledge the Word of God and keep the Holy Days, and that is all the righteousness we need display"...
meanwhile saith the Word of the Lord: "So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.
Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked" Revelation 3:16-17...
these people are lukewarm, if not outright cool to the Principle of the Loving Nature of Christ...
Connie did you attend a Cog?
DeleteSwollen and blistered, peeling, and scabbed purpled ankle and feet of a homeless person?
ReplyDeleteNah.
I can't believe a COG leader would wash it.
A lowly brethren might do it if asked to do so by a minister.
Not asked, but told to do so by a minister or some other phony baloney church leader.
ReplyDeleteThe church and society believes if you are rich God has blessed you, but if poor you are cursed by God. So being poor is your own fault. Yet the Bible says the rich oppress you. The rich man in the Lazarus parable gets to be in his own personal barbeque. A friend of mine, once said, she did not know of any rich man who became rich by being honest.
ReplyDeleteThere are statements regarding richness and poorness in the Bible which appear to conflict. Generally, such conflicts recognize that there can be a range of individual circumstances. Rather than take what is "appropriate", the people who like to use the Bible to establish legalism generally go with the strictest statement and make that their universal. And that is, of course, why charity that reaches outside of most of the ACOG groups simply does not exist. They also use the companion statement "Let the dead bury the dead."
DeleteThis is one of the many ways in which Armstrongism gives itself a pass from genuine Christian behavior, while also missing out on subtle acts of personal evangelism. Nothing wrong with responding to the thanks of an at risk homeless by saying "Hey! God is good!"
BB
Living Church of God Outreach
ReplyDeleteNot sure why there's nothing newer than January 2014.
A few years ago I had been giving some pocket change to a homeless man and I had been doing this about twice a week until a friend of mine told me not to help the man, of course I thought my friend was being a jerk until my friend told me that the homeless man was taking the money I was giving him and he was buying liquor with it. Some people you just can't help.
ReplyDeleteThat was news to you? Next time you hand some out, go hang around nearby and see what the recipient does. You'll find that many of them are waiting for the booze shop to open, their dealer to swing by, or their replacement in the racket job to show up for their shift.
DeleteMakes it very difficult for those who are actually in need and swallow their pride to ask for change.
In most cases, you get some clues along the way about the people who seek your help. Families on the street are usually not going to use your money for booze or dope.
DeleteOne thing I've noticed over the years if I've somehow been stranded, run out of gas, or suddenly need a jump start. It's not the "nice" well-dressed people who are going to end up helping you. It's the people who you'd probably normally walk around or avoid. They are the people who know what it's like to be down and out, and often have more compassion than "citizens". I figure if I spread the love around, even if I occasionally end up feeding someone's addiction, there'll always be someone around to help me if needed. So far, that karma thing has worked pretty well for me.
BB
How many times did Jesus say to give to the poor? I remember a minister, probably during counseling, told me that meant "poor Church members". Our minister gave a sermon on Matt. 25:31-46, concluding that we should invite another Church member to our home sometime. He added, especially a College student.
ReplyDeleteIn a "must play" sermon, HWA talked about one of his overseas trips, and how he gave money to a particular charity in a country he visited. He said that he knew a lot of us would not be pleased with that, "but God is".
Members are more than paying third tithe through their high taxes, so why give a church third tithe money?
ReplyDeleteLCG insists that all members send in a tithe of their second tithe every year which is supposed to be used for direct festival expenses and sending assistance to low income members to help them be able to attend the festivals. There has also been a common practice of individual members privately, and often anonomously, giving money directly to struggling members around Feast time. This became known to the ministry and they promptly stepped in to announce that members are not permitted to give assistance directly to other members for festival expenses, but must send the money to HQ and the Church will decide who deserves the assistance. This decision is made through a process of the potential recipient of the assistance submitting an application to the local pastor, and going through an evaluation process. Needless to say this was not a small controversy in the church.
ReplyDeleteLet's examine this from an individual humanitarian point of view. Person A becomes aware that Person B needs financial assistance, or something dire will happen. He knows Person B, so his feet are close to the fire, so to speak. He prays about it, discusses it with his wife, and they decide to help. There is a certain closeness or direct connection in that approach. And it is done in a timely fashion when it can accomplish the most good.
DeleteNow, let's say that instead, Person A, following instructions, reguarly sends extra offerings to headquarters, specifically earmarked for the needy (if you even have the right to earmark your offerings in an ACOG!). Now, you have officials (numbers-driven accountants) who are several steps removed from the needy, and have no firsthand experience with the gravity of the situation, making decisions as to how to allocate the moneys in the fund. We can easily see how one of those sudden bogus financial emergencies that dominate most member or coworker letters could prompt administrators to dump the moneys for the needy into the church's general fund. So even if Person B's needs are known at headquarters (doubtful), the bogus financial emergency prevents him from receiving the much needed assistance. Be warm and filled!
There are also rewards, and relationships that come into play from personal charity, and these are just totally lost when they are taken from the hands of individuals and become some kind of impersonal corporate thing. (Oh well. That's the way they see the Holy Spirit, too, and I believe that that "understanding" permeates all of their activities!)
BB
In UCG prior to the split it was, No do not give directly to the person or family. We minister/s need to determine if they are "worthy". i.e. is the person or family doing enough to take care of themselves? Are they being "responsible" with the money they have coming in? One of the underlying messages being, "we know better than you do, we know EVERYTHING about this person/family." We were disobedient and often did it anyway.
ReplyDeleteOf course there was also the attitude of "Don't give to people who beg for money, they might not spend it responsibly. Take them out for, or offer them a meal if they need food. That way you will know it was not spent on drugs or booze or something else they ought not to buy." (what, you mean like comfort food? like you never do that huh?). Yeah sure 'boss', we'll just send the money to you and walk on by, or do a 'drive by'. Their attitude about helping others, did show me a whole new meaning for the term "drive by". I'm sure the kind the churches promotes is just as damaging (mentally and spiritually) as the more familiar kind.
We minister/s need to determine if they are "worthy". i.e. is the person or family doing enough to take care of themselves? Are they being "responsible" with the money they have coming in?
ReplyDeleteIf your church leaders believe that you have the Holy Spirit, shouldn't they trust you to use the Spirit to give charity in a Godly and responsible way? Any church that says its member aren't qualified to make such judgments is either blaspheming the Holy Spirit or is admitting that it doesn't think its members have the Holy Spirit.
If we're talking about the ACOGS, the members don't because its a scam. The ministers would know this because they don't, either. So, they lay down the law and micromanage. They try to do with enforcement what the Holy Spirit is supposed to do in the heart. Every time some stupid minister cracks the whip, it is an admission of the fakery, only you're not supposed to notice.
DeleteIt's the old "thoughts and prayers are with you" claptrap everybody uses whem confronted this issue But sometimes that just isn't enoogh
ReplyDelete