Gerald Weston dares to criticize Christians who keep Christmas claiming they all "give presents to everyone except the One they think they are honoring." Well if that is not calling the kettle black I don't know what is!
Here is a church that ignores almost everything about Christ and yet dares to question others. Here is a church that worships the law more than the Christ they have forgotten.
Weston makes it clear where the money being spent on presents should be going...into LCG's pockets.
Is it not interesting that at this time of year, people will give presents to just about everyone except the One they think they are honoring? Christ is forgotten! We should not give to Christ for the purpose of celebrating Christmas, but neither should we neglect Him. Because many are deceived and still observe Christmas customs, their donations drop off at this time of year.
Dear Brethren and Co-workers, we still have a great Work to do. God is not calling everyone today (John 6:44; Matthew 13:10-17), and I often ask the question, “If God is not calling everyone, why is He calling anyone?” The clear answer is He has called us to do a Work! We must preach the good news of the Kingdom of God and warn our peoples of the consequence for rejecting God and His commandments. We must do what we can do, but in the end, it will be God doing it through us. As our predecessor Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong used to tell us, “We must work as though it all depended on us, but pray as though it all depends on God.” In the end, God will do through us far more than we can ever imagine, and He will reward us far more than we can imagine.
Thank you again for your faithfulness. May God truly bless you!
Sincerely, in Christ’s service,
Gerald E. Weston
P.S. Please remember that any contributions dated in December that are postmarked on or before 12/31/2017 will be counted as 2017 donations, and may be tax-deductible in 2017, even if we receive them in January 2018. So be sure any December donation is dated and postmarked no later than December 31. If you prefer to use our online donation system found at www.lcg.org/donations.shtml, the cutoff for 2017 donations will be 11:59 p.m., December 31.
Another aging Armstrongite cliche! This is baad dinner music, Jer!
ReplyDeleteSeriously, back in the 1980s, when Dr. Gene Scott was everywhere on L.A. radio and television, as he was searching for his "Gideons"(mighty donors), and playing "I Wanna Know" over and over and over, until enough telephone pledges came in, Dr. Scott made one thing plain: If you donated to his organization, you didn't get receipts to file with your taxes! He wanted to keep it all pure and simple. No donating just for the tax "duck".
Actually, I listened to Dr. Gene for the same reason I later listened to Rush Limbaugh. Outrageous entertainment. But, considering another 20 year religious experience, I found it refreshing that there was someone out there who "ran clean". Somehow, it felt like less of a scam. And, no. I never sent him any money.
BB
HWA did not preach “THE” good news of the Kingdom of God, nor do the splinters.
ReplyDeleteHe and they teach “a” gospel of the KOG, a version of what is called Premillennialism, previous known as Chiliasm. A defining tenet of this doctrine:
“10. The throne of David will be set up in Jerusalem with Jesus Christ, the Messiah of Israel, the Son of David, literally ruling upon it in His millennial kingdom (2 Sam 7:12-16; Luke 1:32-33)” (Ed Hindson & David Hocking, "Premillennialism," The Popular Encyclopedia of Bible Prophecy, Tim LaHaye and Edward E. Hindson, General Editors, (Eugene: Harvest House Publishers, 2004), p.280).
At least a couple of a million Sunday-keepers believe the above.
Andrew Fausset basically nailed the good news of the KOG some twenty years before HWA was born; a couple of quotes:
“… If revelation is to recommence in the millennial kingdom, converted Israel must head humanity. Jews and Gentiles stand on an equal footing, as both alike needing mercy; but as regards God's instrumentalities for establishing His kingdom on earth, Israel is His chosen people. The Israelite priest-kings on earth are what the transfigured priest-kings are in heaven... Earthly and heavenly glories shall be united in the twofold election. Elect Israel in the flesh shall stand at the head of the earthly; the elect spiritual church, the Bride, in the heavenly. These elections are not merely for the good of the elect, but for whom they minister. The heavenly Church is elected, not merely to salvation, but to rule in love, and minister blessings over the earth, as king-priests" (A.R. Fausset, Revelation, JFB, p.722).
"As Jehovah employed angels to ordain the law, when on Sinai He established His throne in Israel, so at His coming the saints with transfigured bodies shall administer the kingdom for and under Him. The nations of the earth and Israel, the foremost in the flesh, shall be the subjects of the Lord and His saints. The mistake of the Chiliasts was, they restricted the kingdom to the terrestrial part. Besides this earthly glory, there shall be the heavenly glory of the saints reigning above" (A. R. Fausset, 1 Corinthians, JFB, Vol.3, p.298).
A major key in understanding this is to understand Ezekiel 43:1-7.
Eze 43:4 And the glory of the LORD came into the house by the way of the gate whose prospect is toward the east.
Eze 43:5 So the spirit took me up, and brought me into the inner court; and, behold, the glory of the LORD filled the house.
Eze 43:6 And I heard him speaking unto me out of the house; and the man stood by me.
Eze 43:7 And he said unto me, Son of man, the place of my throne, and the place of the soles of my feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel for ever, and my holy name, shall the house of Israel no more defile, neither they, nor their [human Davidic] kings, by their whoredom, nor by the carcases of their kings in their high places.
This is how the UCG Bible Reading Program [name has been changed] described the above:
“Christ’s Arrival at the Temple; Altar of Burnt Offering (Ezekiel 43) February 19-20 [2004, p.24]:
“Returning to the east gate, Ezekiel is now given a glimpse of the awesome and thrilling arrival of Jesus Christ (identified by Ezekiel as the coming of the “glory of the LORD”) to this newly completed temple, a scene that reminded him of the visions he had recorded earlier in his book (verses 1-5; see Ezekiel 1; 10). Ezekiel 10:18-19 had specifically mentioned God leaving the temple, after which it was destroyed. Here we have God returning again”.
Eze 48:35b and the name of the city from that day shall be, The LORD is there.
Rev 2:13 I know where you live - where Satan has his throne....where Satan lives. (NIV).
If Revelation 5:10 is the argument used against this position, then it is not being read in the context of ancient-near eastern thought forms.
This past Christmas I gave money to family & friends but no way in holy hell am I going to give any money to a church!
ReplyDeleteYou missed the point and don't really know what LCG teaches about Christ.
ReplyDeleteYou missed the point and don't really know what LCG teaches about Christ.
ReplyDeleteYour comment is quite revealing. You can't even bring yourself to write "Jesus." Thank you for confirming what we do know.
When you give any amount of money to any church, you are not giving to God but to humans. All churches are human organizations. The body of Christ is composed of individuals who have an individual relationship with God. A church organization is not needed to have a personal relationship with God. When you give to a church you are merely lining the pockets of the church leaders!
ReplyDeleteAnonymous Anonymous said...
ReplyDeleteYou missed the point and don't really know what LCG teaches about Christ.
Your comment is quite revealing. You can't even bring yourself to write "Jesus." Thank you for confirming what we do know.
December 28, 2017 at 6:25 AM
I wrote the first comment and do not have a problem writing or saying Jesus. You don't know or understand us.
I never knew the churches of God had a problem writing or saying Jesus. The LCG writes and says Jesus.
ReplyDeleteIf your a member you tithe. Isn't that enough or do they want it all?
ReplyDelete"God will do through us far more than we can ever imagine"
ReplyDeleteSo, when is that going to start? They haven't achieved anywhere close to what they've imagined. Does this relate to the "greater works" thing?
11:52
ReplyDeleteI have no time to verify your intereting comment.
I like how you offer more context to the issue of the Kingdom of God message.
It seems that people without context belief Jesus was crucified for relgious reasons.
This belief must stem from a complete black hole in knowledge about the Romans, their philosophy and sophisticated legal system.
To offer a "choice" between the insurgent Barnabas and Jesus is the best summary of the Roman view on Jesus. Somehow along the road they got convinced that Jesus was planning a political movement that would in some way propagate a kingdom secceded from the Roman empire on earth.
The public display of crucifixion between the other two guys who asked about his "Christship" is another proof of Roman view of things.
They could have easily executed this renegate jew with a sword or an arrow. But no the entire population of Jerusalem had to take notice what happens if one challenges a real empire.
The Romans couldn't care less if peoples religion is about chanting about some heavenly reward or disperse flowers in ports or bow before statues while jumping up and down. Really whatever you like.
But challenge the empire and kingdom by claiming rulership over a real alternative.......... We'll show you swiftly, resolutely and public and we will make it very clear by hammering a piece of papyrus above his head what this spectacle is all about.
And then there will be pax and everyone will live happily ever after by choosing whatever stone, idol or philosophy or burnt offering, or decking a tree of gold of your choosing.
There can be NO misunderstanding what Jesus was about by looking at the Roman reaction to the Jewish priests complaint.
nck
As someone who recently left the COGs, I can say that I do know and understand "us." It's all about tithes, offerings, contol of the people and "their" work. Instead of wasting hundreds of thousands, if not millions, on things like Living U perhaps they could have donated that to nursing homes and orphanages. But why stop there, they could go into those places and teach them the love of God and Jesus Christ. Of course they or any other COG would have to do this all on their own; God forbid they join forces with another group that is doing a good work already!
ReplyDeleteGerald said "We must do what we can do, but in the end, it will be God doing it through us." This is a plain contradiction. We are supposed to pretend that it's not, but it is. Reality dictates that people and churches exercise self responsibility to survive, but this clashes with a tyrannical cupboard snooping church culture which strips members of self responsibility. Herbs belief that 'government is everything,' including the gospel being defined as exclusively government, is articulated by Ludwig Mises. Note how this was written to Herbs generation.
ReplyDelete"The dogma that the State or the Government is the embodiment of all that is good and beneficial and that the individuals are wretched underlings, exclusively intent upon inflicting harm upon one another and badly in need of a guardian, is almost unchallenged. It is taboo to question it in the slightest way. He who proclaims the godliness of the State and the infallibility of its priests, the bureaucrats, is considered as an impartial student of the social sciences. All those raising objections are branded as biased and narrow-minded. The supporters of the new religion of statolatry are no less fanatical and intolerant than were the Mohammedan conquerors of Africa and Spain."
Ludwig Von Mises 1947
Mises used the word statolatry which Wikipedia defines as:
"Statolatry is literally worship of the State analogous to idolatry as worship of idols. It asserts that the glorification and aggrandizement of 'State' or 'Nation' is the object of all legitimate human aspiration at the expense of all else, including personal welfare and independent thought."
When I went to www.lcg.org/donations.shtml, it had ways to donate my money, but no ways to dontate my thoughts and prayers...
ReplyDelete"Statolatry"
ReplyDeleteThe first time I ever heard that word.
Thanks for sharing.
I was schooled about the teachings of Immanuel Kant amongst many ideas in my education to rule a nation. A different Immanu'el all together.
nck
"Many members of the Church sense that time is closing in on us and that real persecution is just around the corner."
ReplyDeleteOh, finally??
Is this douchebag actually pleading for a christmas present....???
ReplyDeleteGun lap, gun lap....!!!!!!!!!!
Having grown up in the WCG and some of its splinters, it always amazed me how they purposely avoided the scriptures regarding the birth of Christ. I always got the feeling and truly believe to this day that the real messiah of the old worldwide church of god and most its splinters was/ is still is really HWA. I remember sitting in the old bayfront arena in St. Petersburg during the FOT hearing some bozo minister (I think his name was Bob Jones) giving some mind numbing sermon aimed at young people and teens to "Always listen and concentrate on the the words of HWA." Does anyone else remember the time while in St. Pete that HWA was speaking & pitched a tantrum hollering at people walking the aisles saying they were ignoring his message and why they weren't "paying attention to him?" This wasn"t long after he had ditched GTA and had went really hardcore. Does anyone remember some of the "Super Ushers" back in the day that wore little armbands on their sleeves that said "Usher?" Himmler & Heydrich would be so proud.
ReplyDeleteAt the F/T in Tejas, early years, they had purple armbands that said "Deacon" and "Assistant Deacon". Oh, to aspire to the awesome authority of even being an Assistant Deacon! Meant you'd probably make it to Petra for sure!
DeleteBB