The Church of God has always found reasons to find all kinds of things "pagan" in the world around us. One of the most idiotic things the church did was to change the words in some of the hymns we sang, including the Battle Hymn of The Republic.
Bye-Bye Lilies
"The Easter Lily, the flowery symbol of Easter, which turns up at church altars everywhere that day, is actually not a Spring flower. It was a pagan phallic symbol that represented a sexual reproductive organ. It obviously reflected on the fertility aspect of the celebration."
"...pagan symbols of sex and fertility, like little trees decorated with orbs and bulbs); the vernal equinox, called after Ishtar (pronounced "Easter") and accompanied by symbols of sex and fecundity, like rabbits, and eggs, and the lily flower, which the pagans thought looked like a sex symbol."
GTA, gave a blistering attack sermon at the feast. Mainly, focusing on sex symbols and lilies. Near the end of the sermon, he asked everyone to open their hymnals, turn to page 54, and then mark through the word "lilies" replace it with the word "autumn". This got Christ out of the middle of the pagan lilies.
Then the great lily purge started. Our pastor announced at church a few weeks later; "no more lilies were to used in church floral arrangements". My mom threw away some clothing which had lily designs on them.
In the mid-60s we moved to another church area. A woman committed the lily transgression showing up to church services wearing a lily corsage. She was instructed by a DIC to remove it, she complied. My father told me about an attack speech given in Spokesman's Club the member destroyed all the lilies on his property.
In 1970 we moved to Atlanta. Carl McNair was surprisingly a little more liberal. No more than 2 or 3 lilies in the church's floral arrangement were OK. However, the pastor in St. Louis had a floral arrangement removed from the stage due to the detestable flowers being a presence in the church. Citing; "a stench in God's nostrils."
In the mid-80s when I started attending church again I noticed this taboo was no longer enforced and the church had gone whole-hog pagan.
Reposted from Facebook, with permission
22 comments:
The church succeeded in removing Jesus from the lilies, from members lives and from pretty much every other aspect of the gospel too.
Unbelievable.
Lilies are amazing flowers, in fact, found in scripture.
" Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:"
Apparently Jesus was quite fond of lilies. Jesus didn't equate the lilies with sex symbols. Jesus instructed us to look at them to see God's care and providence in the simplest things of the world. It is simply perversion of the highest degree to look at lilies and think of something sexual.
I can imagine Jesus sitting down by the lilies, doing exactly what he was inspiring others to do - looking at these beautiful flowers and how miraculous and beautiful of a flower they are, with wholesome and pure thoughts of awe and wonder.
Then there's GTA. Standing there, comparing these beautiful flowers as pagan symbols of sex and fertility. Perversion.
It's all in what your focus is. You could focus on what Jesus said to consider when you look at lilies. Or, you can be like GTA and find sexual innuendo and paganism in everything you see, to the point where you can't even have lilies on the stage or in a corsage.
This is what is wrong with Armstrongism. Finding paganism and everything wrong in everything. Jesus looked at it with the right mindset. There's no need to throw out lilies - or anything else - just because they had some link to paganism. It's all in how you use your mind and your thoughts - whatever is true, noble, good, and right - think on these things. Don't throw out the lilies because of the bad apples. Ponder on the goodness of the lilies.
Why is it always the lilies and never the willy's?
Nck
All flowers should be banned because the all pretty much have the same reproductive parts as lilies.
Mental illness in the church.
What a bunch of idiots. If Yahweh was in the room would one be expected to throw lilies at His feet as a sign that they are pagan?
Surely these people have lost their minds.
Does anyone know if the splinters still have the attack speech in their Spokesman Clubs? Or has any of them removed it?
An older WCG member mentioned that prior to the Purple Hymnal the intermittent mood swings over certain songs such as Onward Christian Soldiers - one week they're okay, next week they were out.
A few times when we sang America the Beautiful the song leader told us to substitute Israel for America.
Armstrong churches are freakin CRAZY! They are so obsessed over such stupid stuff. I was in LCG at the time of the Ratzman shooting and I remember church members being horrified that local non-church people were putting up memorials with crosses and notes of prayer for the victims. I thought it was a nice thing for the community to do but ACOGers were more concerned with the fact that there were CROSSES there than what caused Terry to lose it in the 1st place (RCM). This type of insanity is very common and I have experienced it countless times.
Always interesting that the WCG hymnal had the famous German Anthem and marching song in it. Listed as "Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken" here are the real words to the tune...
Germany, Germany above all,
Above all in the world,
When, for protection and defense,
It always stands brotherly together.
From the Meuse to the Neman,
From the Adige to the Belt,
|: Germany, Germany above all,
Above all in the world! :|
Connie
Yes that is interesting for a supposed BI church isn't it. The anthem of the great british challenger. How could you feel discriminated at?
The "Uber Alles" lyrics were changed in 1952 I believe.
I am sure you understand the meaning of the original lyrics since Germany formed out of some 300 semi independent states as an idea and state "over the other". As a matter of fact this was accomplished just 21 years after HWA was born. And some 40 years before Buffalo Bill died. And also 40 years before the last pension of the American war of Independence stopped being paid in 1914 to the widow of the last soldier receiving such payment. This 70 year old fellow had married a 23 year old.
I am not sure about the cause of death of the soldier but doubt he had any shots from Rumania supplied. So I'll have to guess.
nck
nck, I think you mean the Civil War.
Paganism is the original and true religion of Europeans. Christianity is a foreign import, brought in through trickery and deception. Paganism seems to be having an upswing as people begin to realize this and Europeans return to their cultural roots.
If you think Herb was bad, read about the Talmud. His fanaticism has Jewish roots.
What happened to the troll? Some of this material is right up his alley. Thought he'd be all over this praising Hitler and Germany.
BB
Hello Allen.
No sir,
the last pension of the american war of independence was paid up to 1914.
The soldier must have been about 18. Married as a 70 year old with a 20 year old. The widow died in 1914 at old age, ending the last pension for the war of independence. I have certificates.
The last German repair payments to the allies for WW I one were paid in about the year 2009 as I recall.
And the occupation of Germany for WWII ended 1991 by treaty.
The bank of England last year 2017 paid for war bonds issued to finance the Napoleonic wars.
Do you get a grasp of the true contents of the booklet "a world held captive".
Nck
Allen.
86 year old Irene Triplett received a Civil War pension of 73 dollars per month for her fathers service until at least 2014.
I do not know if she made it to being a 90 year old. But then indeed a Civil War pension is still made available to her to this day.
I will have to check on the Lousiana Purchase how that worked with the assets of Barings bank when Leeson shipwrecked that vessel.
Nck
Glory glory hallelujah!
Teacher hit me with a ruler,
Hit the teacher back with a baseball bat,
And he not my teacher no more!
This reminds me of the old story about the man whose wife recommends that he seek counselling because he is preoccupied with sex. The counsellor shows him a series of blots, shapes, and pictures, and asks the man what each remind him of. Each time, the man replies “it reminds me of sex!”
Finally the counsellor makes his diagnosis, and tells his patient, “John, I believe we have conclusive evidence here from our study that you are most definitely preoccupied with sex!”
The man replies, “How can you possibly say that to me, when it was you in fact who was showing me all the dirty pictures???”
Paganism is another one of those things that
is in the mind of the beholder. If you see it everywhere you look as we were programmed to do, paganism is always going to be a dominant influence in your life. It will exert a huge amount of power, much moreso than if you ignored it and considered it to be nothing (as St. Paul instructed).
BB
What a ass Garner Ted could be. What sort of Feast sermon was that attacking lily flowers.
Did these people give thought that lily flowers are part of Gods creation. Do they think God messed up with these and similar flowers.
As always, they teach Pharisaic morality by focusing on trivia.
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