Living Church of God has another Chicken Soup for the Soul Friday night message for their faithful in the church.
The problem with it all is that it is just another rehash of a tired and worn our record that has been skipping for 20 some years now. They have been preaching a message that they call the gospel, which is filled with doom, gloom and almost no hope at all for anyone, including their members.
LCG members are encouraged to be lights to the world, yet turn their backs on the world around them. When is the last time LCG, as a church, told its members to be lights by helping at homeless shelters, or to feed the hungry, or care for the orphans who are not church members? When have their members made sandwiches or meals for the police or fire departments in their neignborhoods who have to work on holidays or during times of disasters or emergencies? When has LCG ever shown their thanks like this? What about cooking a warm meal for the prostitutes or drug addicts who have no hope in their lives?
God forbid if LCG members get caught up in such twiggy ideas or being peripheral agents of grace! It is better to ignore them, or at least beat them up with the law.
Oh, and LCG members are to NEVER let "personal agenda's" ever overwhelm their lives, especially Headquarters employees, and leadership. Has there ever been a COG HQ filled with more backstabbing than LCG? Given the long history of members and employees spilling the beans on HQ shenanigans, we all know that "personal agenda's" is the game of the day, and the children of the dead leader and his relatives live in an alternate universe from the rest of the membership.
Living Church of God members are to NEVER sit around and complain about the hypocrisy at HQ and in the leadership.
Living Church of God members are to develop their minds to be just like Christ's. As usual, LCG members have to be constantly doing something to please their God. Unless they continually are working and working and working and working to please their God, they bear the burden of stirring up it's wrath. Living Church of God's continual denial of being true followers of Jesus leaves LCG members with no ultimate hope. Constantly having to do things makes them feel good, but still leaves them distant and longing for the grace some sincerely seek, but never quite find.
Where Is Your Heart?
Jesus urged His disciples to “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness” (Matthew 6:33). He said, “My food [My nourishment, what motivates Me] is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work” (John 4:34). Jesus was a mission-oriented person who challenged His disciples to follow in His footsteps (Matthew 4:18-22). Truly dedicated Christians are committed to that same mission—preaching the Gospel, warning the world, feeding the flock and being real Christian lights and examples to those around them (Matthew 10:6-7; Mathew 24; 1 Timothy 4:12; 1 John 2:15-19). They cannot afford to get side-tracked on peripheral issues or twiggy ideas (2 Timothy 2:14-19). They don’t let personal agendas—economic, political or romantic—pull them off course (Matthew 13:18-23). They don’t listen to rumors, and they don’t stand around and complain—they focus on what is good and what is positive (Philippians 4:8). They don’t let interpersonal differences hinder their spiritual growth or their relationship with others (Romans 12:14-18). Their goal is to develop the mind of Jesus Christ (Philippians 2:5-11). The Sabbath is a good time to ponder the question—Where is Your Heart?
Have a profitable Sabbath,
Douglas S. Winnail
14 comments:
'ow 'ilarious, Mate! Let the twigginess stop with our twigginess. Fixate on that and go no further. Only the approved twigginess will qualify you for the kingdom!
BB
They don’t let personal agendas—economic, political or romantic—pull them off course
Winnail wrote this? The same Winnail whose romantic (or was it economic) agenda led him to violate the counsel of his friends and fellow ministers and re-marry the ex-wife who divorced him? The ex-wife who had left the church and was active in a local Baptist church, shunning LCG almost entirely? The ex-wife who convinced Winnail to attend that Baptist church more than once? What a hypocrite Winnail turns out to be!
Maybe Winnail didn't recognize himself in what he wrote? I know that Living University's on-campus program in Charlotte is filled with strife as the young unmarried students juggle their romantic, economic and political agendas to find the right mate who will best secure their future in the ragtag cult their parents brought them up in. Pity poor Bria Martin, who when her great-grandfather Rod Meredith died went overnight from first-prize to booby-prize as marriage material in LCG. The LU kids are some of Charlotte's best at putting on two faces—one for the adults, and one for their potential mates—which must infuriate Winnail and his fellow cult masters.
"Don't let interpersonal differences hinder their spiritual growth.."
I've heard variations of this over the years. The ministers who say this are vicious tyrants. In effect, they demand that their victims not react to their mistreatment. The ministers are trying to negate the natural consequences of walking all over their members.
When a minister or a church crazie abuses a member, it's just a 'interpersonal difference,' but if it's the other way around, murderous verbal claws come out.
they don’t stand around and complain—they focus on what is good and what is positive
You mean like Jesus did, when He saw the vendors who helpfully allowed foreign visitors to the Jerusalem Temple exchange their local currency for local currency and/or small sacrificial animals like doves? Like Jesus did when He saw the fig tree taking a much-needed rest from producing fruits? Like Jesus did when He realized that Peter would affirm Him on all but three occasions?
I prefer Jesus' example to Doug's. "Focus on the positive" is what a negative person says in order to shame others into tolerating his negative behavior.
I thought "Twiggy" was a famous model back in the 1960s??
http://www.twiggylawson.co.uk/twiggy50years.jpg
Didn't the Scarborough's get kicked out on twiggy charges? What about John Robinson? How about Charles Bryce? I think the twig problem starts at HQ.
Doug isn't much of an Armstrongite. Note:
Truly dedicated Christians are committed to that same mission—preaching the Gospel, warning the world, feeding the flock and being real Christian lights and examples to those around them
HWA taught that true Christians do only one of those items, the last one. If a mere member had dared in HWA's time to say that she was "preaching the Gospel" she would have been put out of the church for impertinence. A WCG member's job was to give tithes and generous offerings and to pray. In the world of HWA, women can't preach, and men don't preach unless they are ordained elders. For Doug to be writing in this way as the head of LCG's ministry is actually a sign of some pretty amazing change in LCG.
Anon 10:27 AM, my measure of Weston was whether or not, once in charge, he would reach out to reconcile with Braidic, Haney, Bryce, the Scarboroughs, Robinson, Bowmer, the many people mishandled in the Book of Enoch mess, and all the others who were hurt by Rod Meredith believing and spreading lies.
To the best of my knowledge, Weston has chosen not to reconcile with any of Meredith's victims. True Christian behavior on Weston's part would threaten the economic and political agendas of more than one vile liar at LCG HQ, so I think by now we know where he stands. It might even threaten the romantic agenda of a couple of HQ homosexuals.
To anonymous 4:24, re Winnail remarrying his former wife, did he sin by taking her back? 1 Cor 7:11 says that the wife can return if she hasn't remarried by then.
How does the LCG deal with James 1:27?
“Living Church of God members are to not let twiggy ideas or personal agendas lead them astray”
Do you mean like RCM's hybrid gospel, marriage supper in heaven, or great falling away in the world ideas?
Do you mean like RCM's lifelong personal agenda of competing with HWA and trying to put his own stamp on the church?
In LCG the members are chastised for having twiggy ideas.
But if Mr. Ames or Doug Winnail come up with twiggy ideas, they become doctrine.
And if you don't believe their twiggy ideas, you just aren't fully converted.
To anonymous 1:23
"re Winnail remarrying his former wife, did he sin by taking her back? 1 Cor 7:11 says that the wife can return if she hasn't remarried by then."
After the Winnails separated the 1st time, Sherry Winnail actually married another man.
So there's that...
To Anonymous Nov 8, 10:09 am, then you're right, Winnail is culpable, esp for not taking the advice of his fellows elders. Even if his ex-wife had repented of ditching him, as a holy minister he should have restrained himself (IF HE KNOWS ANYTHING ABOUT COUNSELLING) and given her time to be alone to regret her sins. She committed a double whammy of her own soul, a double adultery, by breaking the command to not depart from her husband (1 Cor 7:10) and then marrying another (Mt 19:9). You can't just repent of such sins and re-marry in good conscience at the drop of a hat. Deut 24:1-4 has a prohibition against this for very good reason. Winnail? He's the one who likes to be called "Mister", and the one who brought a stack of secular books to the podium on the Sabbath one day to show how smart he was. Maybe he should be taking more time studying his Bible for moral advice and acquaint himself with the one who is the real "Master"?
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