Recently the Living Church of God posted fourteen points that Rod Meredith believed were signs of Christ's coming. Those fourteen points had the Muslim nations rising up and raising mujaheddin hell.
There are other COG self-appointed leaders who also believe the rampaging Muslims make for a good story. However, there are those in the other side of the camp that claim otherwise. The Chief Pharisee and bastardizer of the law, James Malm, claims the other COG leaders are all prophetically ignorant about how to interpret the Bible. Of course he and only he is right.
The Chief law-breaker writes:
A few years ago Rod Meredith gave a sermon on “The Fourteen Signs Announcing Christ’s Return,” This was then compiled in written form and published as a booklet. LCG has been pushing this material as recently as this week.
This article will analyze the claim in the Fourteen Points article that Islamic Extremism will take over the Islamic world and will coalesce together to become the biblical King of the South. This claim is certainly NOT exclusive to LCG, but is championed by Bob Thiel, UCG and other COG Groups.
I have covered these subjects over and over again at the sites so I am only going to analyze one or two sections to clearly reveal how they have departed from the scriptures.
The claim is that: “Presently, the whole Islamic world in the Middle East and North Africa is being enveloped by a wave of resurgent Islamic fundamentalism. Islamic fundamentalist insurgencies, funded by rogue states and terrorist organizations, are trying to destabilize the moderate, Western-leaning, secular regimes currently in power, and are seeking to replace them with a unified, resuscitated Islamic caliphate (empire)—the prophesied “king of the South.” The final leader over these reinvigorated Muslim nations will be a tremendously powerful religio-political false Messiah or “Mahdi” who will draw his power from a confederation of those nations. He will provoke the key events written in Daniel 11, which must occur before the return of Jesus Christ to this earth.”
Gerald Flurry is on record as claiming that Islamic Extremism is controlled by Iran and therefore Iran is the King of the South.
Rod Meredith with LCG, Bob Thiel, UCG and probably others, teach that the biblical King of the South consists of radical Islam which will take over and unite the Islamic world against the now rising New Federal Europe.
Let us consider this claim in the light of theHoly Scriptures[my own convoluted reasoning.]
For well over eight decades the church has heard one interpretation after another about how the end times would be happening. One wild prophet after another would come up with even more outlandish interpretations as the years went by.
From streets running with blood, parents eating their children to Americans being hung up on meat hooks in concentration camps, the blood and guts reigned supreme. Rod Meredith screeched this for decades.
Then there was Gerald Waterhouse with his 3-4 hour long rambling, butt hurting, mind-numbing, dumbed down sermons of sheer prophetic idiocy.
In the Pasadena area for many years, John Ritenbaugh was the prophecy guru that church members latched on to as prophetically true.
Dave Pack has suffered so many prophecy failures in the last five years that he has had to bull hundreds of articles off his web site because they expose him as a liar.
And how can we leave out Weinerdude Man! Ron Weinland went on record in rather public way in San Francisco and has since been humiliated ever since.
And who can forget the utterly pathetic failed prophecies of Herbert Armstrong and Garner Ted. That list is well documented here: Herbert W. Armstrong's 208 False Prophecies: The Most Comprehensive Listing of Herbert Armstrong's 52 year record of False Prophesies ever made.
Never once in the 80 some years has the church ever had a single interpretation of what they thought the prophecies of the Bible were all about. Yet, today in 2018 the church is filled with one raving lunatic after another telling us all how it WILL be. Church members are getting sick of the idiocy of the COG false prophets, yet they never cease to shut up!
What never crosses the minds of these false prophets and many church members is that if a church member was truly confident in following Jesus, then none of the blighting idiocy of these emasculated men would matter. What ever is going to happen will happen. Having faith in the One and resting in the One you are supposed to be following invalidates every single word these lying jackals spit out.
This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Woe to the foolish[a] prophets who follow their own spirit and have seen nothing! 4 Your prophets, Israel, are like jackals among ruins. 5 You have not gone up to the breaches in the wall to repair it for the people of Israel so that it will stand firm in the battle on the day of the Lord. 6 Their visions are false and their divinations a lie. Even though the Lord has not sent them, they say, “The Lord declares,” and expect him to fulfill their words.
8 “‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Because of your false words and lying visions, I am against you, declares the Sovereign Lord. 9 My hand will be against the prophets who see false visions and utter lying divinations. They will not belong to the council of my people or be listed in the records of Israel, nor will they enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Sovereign Lord.
The problem is that none of them ever get validated through the fulfillment that proves that a prophet was really of God. They are all using Armstrongism as a basis for guessing, which ensures that they have zero understanding and will always fail. Why do ACOG loyalists use fulfilled prophecy to validate Armstrongism? They fudge by insisting that fulfillment has been delayed, but isn’t a 43 year, two generation delay enough to demonstrate that it has failed, and not been delayed? What a crock they dump upon us!
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The ministry and members are stuck in a prophecy program that has been running for years. A reboot is unlikely, highly unlikely. It is easier to hope that soon still means soon and they can avoid the nasty reality of the dying process swapping out rather still for "we shall not all die, but we all shall change. In a moment, in the twinkling of the eye, "I" shall be changed." Of course Paul was mistaken about that too.
ReplyDelete"I have fought a good fight, I have kept the faith. Therefore....." is about the best they can hope for. No Jesus is coming back in their lifetime and certainly is not stopping in Wadsworth, Ohio on the way to make Dave feel important, which he is not.
There comes a point of no return I'd imagine where all eggs are in one basket no matter what and even if all the evidence points against their mistaken views about it all.
While I work five days a week and 8 hours a day and will until I drop, I am very content and grateful I have a great clientele who seems genuinely appreciative of my contribution to their health and well being.
I was able to move on when I did, though in hindsight I was still invested too long and the reboot, while deeper and more profound I expect, is not easy and it certainly is costly.
All in all, I personally have come to relax into it all by noting I could not possibly be here, where I am more content and at peace than at any time in the past, if I had not been there. Living a life based on perceived Bible Prophecy is probably a mistake that would be hard to match for one seeking a real and normal life, whatever that means.
Let Dennis explain, he seems to think he knows everything!
ReplyDeleteAnd thanks to plagiarism and poor scholarship, HWA didn't didn't get "fulfilled Bible prophecy" correct either, as in the case of Tyre.
ReplyDeleteHWA wrote that he at one time planned to study all religions in depth and determine the "true religion". However, since "fulfilled prophecy proves the Bible", he thought he need not go further, Christianity was the true religion. So, just find the {Mythical} True Church...
The Endless True (False) Prophet Battle In The Church of God will be an ongoing norm because most of the COG leaders have no fear of God. They certainly don't fear heaping upon themselves biblical titles or taking to themselves jobs or actions that are to take place in the future. Now that they have achieved a little bit of self stature they delude themselves into believing there is no restraint in what they say or do - the "Primacy of Peter" run amok. These same men operate in a false and corrupt church government that operates contrary to the principles Jesus Christ taught those he interacted with. These same men will brazenly enter into the temple of their membership and overturn the tables of their physical, mental, spiritual lives without concern or remorse. They do this by instilling fear into their congregation by any means possible but primarily by reinforcing the concept that disobeying them is equal to if not more than disobeying Jesus Christ. These same men will often give sermons about fearing God and of course the sermons will cover the most important areas of fearing God like: Not sending your tithe in immediately is stealing and not fearing God. Not sending in your tithe of the tithe or third tithe promptly is stealing from those in need and not fearing God. And of course not turning in immediately your excess second tithe is not fearing God. They will tell you in their sermon that not dressing perfectly for services is not fearing God. They will also tell you that if you go to the grocery store in blue jeans and a tee/sweat shirt, you are not fearing God. And God forbid you would show up to services in a automobile that is dented, rusted, faded and has a loud muffler. Jesus Christ addressed this mentality when he spoke to those who would strain at a gnat and swallow a camel. These same Leaders strain at gnats in our lives but their own house is destitute. These leaders will continue to false imagine and prophesy because it is one of three ways that they fuel their self vanity. The first way is to financially destitute membership. Lots of money fuels the vanity of their lives via buildings, landscaping and TV and Internet appearances. The second way they do this is to continue to set dates or try to uniquely define and interpret prophecy hoping to be right on at least one occasion which would legitimize themselves to the churches and maybe the world. The third way they fuel their vanity is by tapping into the demonic world to empower themselves with enhanced talents.
ReplyDeleteThe disclaimer for it all towards all that are following these men is; CONTINUE AT YOUR OWN RISK!
In the whole chemistry of Millerite prophecy obsession, it is easy to overlook the pathology of the followers who are the enablers. These people fully expect to go off to a Place of Safety where they can experience the indulgent conditions of the Feast of Tabernacles while gleefully watching the rest of the world slide into hell. A bonus effect for them is that all the other fragment churches will be left behind because they are Laodiceans. And the fact that they are righteous, wise, in possession of hidden knowledge and on the inside track with God will be evident.
ReplyDeleteA fundamental tenet of Christianity is "love they neighbor." Clearly, the prophecy-driven Armstrongists (that's a redundancy)do not live within the boundaries of Christianity. They are hoping their neighbors will die miserably in the Tribulation while they watch from Petra while relaxing on a recliner with a barbecue sandwich and a beer and feeling a sense of sweet vindication.
In their dreams. The only Millerites that I know of that have gone to the Place of Safety are the Branch Davidians. They retreated to Mt. Carmel. Unfortunately they took a few creates of hand grenades with them and got in trouble.
Titus 1:10 -
ReplyDelete"10 For there are many rebellious people, full of meaningless talk and deception, especially those of the circumcision group. 11 They must be silenced, because they are disrupting whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach—and that for the sake of dishonest gain. 12 One of Crete’s own prophets has said it: “Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons.”[a] 13 This saying is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, so that they will be sound in the faith 14 and will pay no attention to Jewish myths or to the merely human commands of those who reject the truth. 15 To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure. In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted. 16 They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good."
Does this describe the "ministers" of the COG? (Titus 1:10-16 NIV)
ReplyDelete1. Rebellious people
Many of the COG leaders rebel against themselves, splitting, causing division, usually on plays of power or doctrine.
2. Meaningless talk and deception
Name in your head ministers who fit this.
3. Disrupting whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach
Disfellowshipment, splitting up marriages, families, shunning, etc.
4. Doing so for the sake of dishonest gain
This goes without saying. Tithes, money, offerings, more money, etc, etc.
5. Always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons
Constant lies and false prophecies, deleting whole sermons, not admitting wrong, trivial punishments, threatening eternal life for stupid and selfish reasons.
6. Their minds and consciences are corrupted
They think they are doing no wrong. They do not listen to sound advice, they disfellowship and ignore those who attempt to rebuke in good standing, they have no conscience whatsoever, their actions and thoughts are corrupt.
7. They claim to know God but deny Him with their actions
They claim they are Christians and speak for God, but act as dictators and tyrants in God's name, causing oppression and harm wherever they go.
8. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for anything good.
And these are just a very, very, very brief list of example. I am certain the readers here know tons more to add to this list.
Who can dispute the evidence presented?
Forgetting Millerism, and failed prophecy for a minute.
ReplyDeleteLooking at history, it seems that mankind and war are inevitable outcomes. The question is just how long will it take, before there is some kind of WWIII , with nukes and EMP, genetic and germ warfare etc. I find it amazing that we have avoided it for the 73 years since WW2. (and we came close even then a couple of times).
So I wouldn't relax too much that "Happy Days and Peace" will continue into perpetuity. It is a pretty good odds on bet that sometime within the next 100 to 200 years will be a holocaust of such magnitude that 80% of the Earths population might face death.
So this is not an unreasonable fear, even for people who are non-religious to have, and in fact, is probably a pragmatic expectation.
It’s going to be sooner, rather than later, Connie. Globalism was what was preventing or forestalling war. Massive numbers of Ignorant rednecks coming out of the woodwork have convinced a president that he has a mandate to curtail international trade and cooperation. Unless voters correct our path, watch for an outbreak of uncompromising nationalism to do to the world what the same type of thinking did to cause all of the splintering within Armstrongism. Nck will probably cite this as yet another way in which Armstrongism is in tune with the times and is acting out a role as harbinger.
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Connie,
DeleteOn a further note I'm surprised that there hasn't been things like reservoirs being poisoned and more bomb blasts in buildings etc. Some bad things are not hard to do. So what answer does one have for some things like that?
Here is how we know Pack's prophecy of a United Europe will fail. The fundamental mistake of Herbism is that he assumed the far-right would be pro-empire. As the far-right rises their first and most hated target is the EU and the lefties that control it.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HP1pQmqKkvU
NEO
ReplyDeleteI'm outing myself. I've come out of the closet. I love vengeance, am proud of it, and I wont be intimidated. After being persecuted by so many, for so long, I look forward to 'feeling a sense of sweet vindication.'
Vengeance, sweet vengeance, sweet vengeance.
Karma is a bitch! Remember that as you temporarily enjoy your proclivities. Massive retaliation eventually triggers an equal and opposite reaction, 10:22. You may be one who knows this and is all too happy to pick up the tab for it, but that lifestyle eventually begins to suck.
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NEO wrote These people fully expect to go off to a Place of Safety
ReplyDeleteRecently I heard someone defend his belief in the Rapture, and his explanation of Rapture vs Second Coming. The only thing that made the Rapture sound different from the Place of Safety was the destination and the method of getting there.
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ReplyDeleteI didn't say that I would take matters into my own hands. David many times in Psalms asked God to avenge him. This is the (natural) 'equal and opposite reaction' that you mentioned.
I once asked my minister about Davids request for vengeance, and he was anxiety stricken, stuttering that today we are NT rather than OT. Obviously he was in fear of Gods vengeance for his mistreatment of members. In fact, Christ quoted from the old testament as well as mentioning David more than once. Which means that the old Testament writings are still relevant.
When Judah went morally astray under king Ahaz, Judah lost more than one hundred thousand soldiers in battle in one day. Vengeance indeed.