PCG Continues Its Control Over Members Lives. Men Are Not Allowed to Have "Me" Time

One of the classic traits of cults is that they seek to separate its followers from family and in doing so keep them occupied at all times.  This can be accomplished by weekly or biweekly bible studies, speech clubs, women's groups, men's groups, teen activities, an hour of prayer and an hour of Bible study, and more. By occupying members time they have no opportunity to become tainted or influenced by the world.

Two of the most abusive Church of God groups that use this tactic is Dave Pack's, Restored Church of God and Gerald Flurry's, Philadelphia Church of God.

On PCG's website, Joel Hilliker has an article up called Men: Report for Duty: Biblical Manhood.

PCG men are being told that they CANNOT under any circumstance have some "me" time.  Forget about joining up with some buddies after a long week of hard work and kicking back for some "me" time. That is selfish!

Isn’t it time you got one for yourself? Indulge. How many advertisements have you seen with this message? Take a break! You’ve worked hard. You deserve this! 

It’s not just in the commercials. It’s in our entertainment, it’s in our workplaces, it’s in our schools, it’s in our leadership—it’s in the air! It’s a powerful and influential satanic attitude that surcharges the atmosphere around us: self-importance, self-promotion, self-serving, self-righteousness—selfishness! 

Men in God’s Church are tempted by this same attitude: Have some “me” time. Check out of your responsibilities for a little while. 

Jesus Christ never did that. 

Christ was on duty—all the time.

Apparently, PCG is under the impression that Jesus never sat down and did nothing after a long day of carpentry work or preaching. God forbid if Jesus kicked back with his apostles and had some wine, olives and some feta on a hot night. With such logic from PCG it has to be a miracle that Jesus even had time to eat or take care of bodily functions.

Hilliker continues:

Here is His perspective: “I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work” (John 9:4). Christ’s life was short, limited in duration. He was urgent about taking full advantage of every moment and every interaction. 

Christ’s supreme example defines biblical manhood. The more Christ-like we become, the more masculine we become. Manliness is next to godliness (just as, for a woman, femininity is next to godliness). 

Like Him, Christian men are always on duty.

If anything symbolizes what being like Christ may be is this:

“Have the same attitude of mind Christ Jesus had: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a human being, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!” Philippians 2:5-8 

Christ came as a servant who stooped down to wash peoples feet. Christ exemplified love as he associated with the lepers, prostitutes, the disenfranchised and ultimately gave his life in love. Jesus work was an incarnational work, something that PCG cannot do since they are too busy worshipping Moses and other Old Testament heroes.

Hilliker continues:

This is the unselfish attitude godly men must have: a vigilant urgency to take action and to work at serving others. You have to pay attention to other people’s lives, and act on what you see.

You may look at tomorrow as just another routine day: pray, study, snag breakfast, endure the workday, unwind at home, watch a show, go to sleep. But Christ in you looks at tomorrow as a deluge of opportunities: What can I do? Who can I help? How much can I give?

One of the problems with this is that PCG men are to "take action" only if it is directed towards PCG leadership and members. All actions are directed inwards, instead of outwards to the world. But even that is conditional, only members in good standing benefit. In doing so the men of PCG can expect to be "deluged" with time-consuming "opportunities."

Don’t underestimate the potential value of every decision, every encounter, every conversation you have! Recognize opportunities to give for what they are. You’ll probably have one as soon as you finish reading this article.

Imagine that if you don't feel like jumping up after reading Hilliker's article how guilty you will feel and less of a man!

To follow Christ’s example and seize that opportunity, you must fight the pull of selfishness and relaxation—and embrace the call of duty!

The question is not whether you have a duty to serve others more than yourself. The question is whether you will fulfill your duty. The more you do, the more God-like you will become, and the more habitual this Christ-like attitude will be.

There you have the moniker of the PCG, the more you do, the more you become like their god.  They sure might be like Moses or some other OT hero, but they sure won't be like Jesus. Works vs grace, the never-ending story of the COG.

So seize the moment!  Be a PCG man!

Many of us intellectually understand and agree with the concept of male Christian leadership. But the harder step is to encounter a day-to-day routine occurrence and actively recognize: I need to use this moment—right now—to express biblical manhood!

Here are the things that manly PCG men can look to as opportunities:

A torrent of opportunities is coming at you. Helping your son with his math homework, approving your daughter’s new dress before she wears it, setting a household rule to unburden your wife, helping your neighbor fix his porch step, knocking out the reports nobody else wants to do at work, holding the door open for the mother of two children at the gas station, skipping the football game to visit an elderly Church member, putting your phone away so you’re not distracted when playing with your children, noting something troubling in your teenager’s voice inflection and following up with him about it, setting rules so that dinner time can be quality family time, choosing a topic to lead in conversation after Sabbath services—the deluge of opportunity never ends. And Christ wants to empower you to fulfill those opportunities.

In the family structure as God designed it, the man is the head of the home and a dynamic force within the family. He has a dominating—not selfishly domineering—personality that stands for the right. He is alertly, actively, intensively interested in his children. He uses his God-given authority to lead in serving and in loving his wife and children. There is just no room for “going on break” as a husband and father! He is never off-duty.

Hilliker then goes into detail about how masculine men in the PCG adhere to the teachings in The Plain Truth About Child Rearing. Yep, the final authority for all masculine men.

Once you give a command, remain on duty. Ensure the child follows through. This must be the case at home, at Sabbath services, in public, everywhere.

“In order to teach your child any of these constructive habits, you will need to apply constant diligence and never-failing attention to duty,” The Plain Truth About Child-Rearing says. “You simply cannot expect to have decent results if you just give your child instructions, and then forget all about the lesson—letting the child get down from the chair when he decides, put up his toys when he gets around to it, or begin to talk when you have told him to be quiet.”

And then, like any good COG writer, masturbation has to enter the picture.  Is Joel trying to tell us something here about himself?  I am sure PCG has more masturbators than any other COG, except for RCG and CCOG.  The more repressed people's lives are the more they find new avenues of satisfaction.

In The Missing Dimension in Sex, Herbert W. Armstrong specifically mentions the possibility of young people developing the habit of masturbation. “This would never be if parents realized their responsibility and were vigilant, ever watchful imperceptibly, and took proper means to protect their children from this curse!” he wrote.

Exercising authority in your children’s lives is not easy—it is labor. It is not a power trip. It is a service. It is for their benefit. And it is your duty.

As a Christian single, you are training for that duty right now by learning to pay attention to others, by learning how to treat women and children with honor, by learning to go after dating and to pay attention to the needs of single ladies, by learning how to serve the widows and the fatherless. These responsibilities also remain after you marry.

In your conversations, look for needs. Ask about things you could help with or find someone to help with. Find things you can pray about. Pay attention! You are on duty!

The duties of a man are constant. They require vigilance. They require you to work the works of Him that sent you, while you can. Be urgent. Recognize the onrushing river of opportunities for what it is. Seize each one. Let God come into people’s lives through you. Express dynamic male leadership. Put biblical manhood into action! Report for duty.