Gerald Weston recently revealed he likes to listen to Elvis Presley, yet now he claims that Lucifer loves and uses music to destroy the world. Music and sex are evil but abusive ministers of the brethren are not. This is the Church of God after all.
More of Weston's strange Personal for May/June 2018
We hear a lot about the growing opioid epidemic, and its toll has been staggering. As of 2016, more Americans are now dying from the scourge of drug overdose each year than died in the entirety of the Vietnam War! Consider the irony in this. Many war protesters took the lead in the “free sex” and drug culture of the ’60s and ’70s, and today, we are reaping what was sowed. Yet, many of those who introduced such misery to our world are viewed with reverence!
Ezekiel reveals to us that Lucifer was a musician (Ezekiel 28:13). As such, he knows how to use music in his plan to destroy mankind. He will fail in the end—but for now, he uses music to separate children from their parents and to promote destructive lifestyles. Some rappers promote violence against women and police. Some country music promotes alcohol abuse and adultery. Some rockers and pop stars promote drugs and a lewd lifestyle of disrespect for parental and other authority. Some musicians are anarchists at heart and have no comprehension of a purpose to life, other than cramming as much fun into it as possible, even if that fun kills you!
Satan shows no loyalty or compassion to those who promote his values. Consider this partial list of celebrities who paid the ultimate price, due to complications brought about by their satanically self-destructive lifestyles: Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, John Belushi, Kurt Cobain, Amy Winehouse, Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, and yes, even the “King of Rock and Roll.” This is only a partial list of the more than 100 famous musician deaths due to drug or alcohol abuse since the 1970s, when drugs became a large part of the music industry.
Man does not know how to fill the emptiness that comes from a life without God and without a purpose greater than the here and now.
Looking back a decade after their 30-minute concert at Shea Stadium, John Lennon recalled, “I saw the top of the mountain when we were at Shea.” In other words, it was downhill from there. Four years after that concert, the Beatles broke up, never again to play together as a band.
How shallow celebrity worship is, compared to that which God offers us. I can only imagine the excitement and thrill it must have been that muggy night at Shea Stadium, but it was a temporary, emotional experience that could never last. No matter how hard we try to relive some “top of the mountain” experience, it cannot be duplicated. It will never fully satisfy (Isaiah 55:1–2; Ecclesiastes 1:8; 2:10–11).
God reminds us in His word and through life experiences that we are mortal. We are here in the flesh for a very short time, but it is enough time to let Him know we want His Way to be our way. He gives us hope for an eternal future. There is a crown laid up for those who love God and endure the temptations Satan throws at us (James 1:12). We have a living hope—a hope that the world does not know (1 Peter 1:3–5).
David proclaims in Psalm 16 that his hope is in God. He ends the Psalm, “You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore” (v. 11). We accepted God’s new covenant at baptism, just as Israel accepted God’s covenant on Pentecost at the foot of Mount Sinai. We proclaimed our trust and allegiance to Him. Our mountain is the Kingdom of God, and when we are born into His family, that will be the beginning of something far greater than a fleeting emotional experience from the past!
How can any Living Church of God member find anything uplifting in this crap?
ReplyDeleteGod created Lucifer, who became Satan, who was allowed to enter the Garden of Eden, and for 6000 years rule the world, and sometimes tempt mankind depending upon the person or test which is allowed or not allowed by God, so, that you can build righteous character.
ReplyDeleteGod will return so that mankind can be freed from Satan's rule for 1000 years, before letting Satan out one last time, just to make sure that everyone remembers how kind God is for putting Satan away, and to test some people again.
And then everything and everyone is good.
The End
Totally makes sense. I'm sure there will be a movie.
Uplifting 10:55?!
ReplyDeleteKnowing that your God's favorite and that he loves you as a member much more than the rest of the world, or the rest of the COG members.
Knowing that you are the light of the world, the city on a hill.
Feeling that you're called out while all the rest of the world is in the dark.
Why that's the greatest feeling in the world!!!
It can be yours too for the low low price of 10% of your income. Sure their are restrictions on who you can be with, what days you can celebrate on, and what you must believe. But temporary discomfort is nothing compared to eternal certainty that you're on the right side of history, FOREVER!!!
Gloom and doom are just temporary moguls on the ski run of eternity!! So hit those slopes sport :D
This is why I never tell anybody in my little congregation anything about my personal life outside church. I love to listen to heavy metal / hard rock music. :)
ReplyDeleteNo anon 11:15, it makes no sense at all! So God allows little babies and small children to die of starvation, deseases or be killed in wars to build character in them?
ReplyDeleteMusic and sex are evil but abusive ministers of the brethren are not
ReplyDeleteSome rock stars made both a lot of money and some bad life choices. Traditional crooners like Bing Crosby where "wholesome" but privately abused their children. Seems to fit the COG paradigm...
I don't know why they threw Elvis Presely into the mix. According to a autopsy TV series, Elvis's drug 'problem' was his use of drugs to help him fall asleep and stay awake. Otherwise he did not use recreational drugs. His death was caused by a food clot in his intestines. Doctors diagnosed the problem, but were reluctant to operate because of the risks involved. He lived a relatively clean life.
ReplyDeleteThe episode is on YouTube 'Autopsy: the last hours of Elvis Presley.'
Uh, you may want to read Elvis: What Happened? By Red and Sonny West and Dave Hebler. Their accounts in the book have been confirmed by numerous people who were close to Elvis in the years since the book was written.
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That's a lot of blame being placed on an imaginary being. Oh wait, that's what the imaginary being wants me to think.
ReplyDeleteGerald said: "This is only a partial list of the more than 100 famous musician deaths due to drug or alcohol abuse since the 1970s, when drugs became a large part of the music industry. "
ReplyDeleteWell, in my small sphere of influence I can think of 7 or 8 members or ministers who committed suicide due to life drama, disappointment, alcohol or some form of rejection by the Church. I can imagine a lot more Church members dying under pressure to "obey God's law", bi-annual scandal, withholding medical help or shunning medical advice, giving what you don't have to give, ministerial arrogance and control, put downs and lousy counseling became a large part of the church industry since the 70's.
My WCG experience personally was extremely stressful, full of drama and getting stuck between the devil and the deep blue sea or perhaps rocks and hard places endeavoring to pastor good folk and hope those over me weren't the clowns they seemed to be having risen to their peak of incompetence, lack of love and not believing that "my yoke is easy and my burden is light" was really the way to go. Neither WCG nor ALL the current splints and spinters were and are hardly places of refuge , love and acceptance promoting harmony and peace. I thank me every day for getting out though the price has been high and the transition messy. Ultimately, I could not be here had I not been there and here is very peaceful at the moment. Plus, I don't mind being star dust . It's more poetic than previous mythological perspectives.
Just sayin'
ReplyDeleteGerald Weston is right about sex, drugs, and rock and roll.
Herbert W. Armstrong once pointed out that sex, drugs, and rock and roll do tend to come together as a package.
Vicious false prophets like Gerald Flurry and David Pack on the COG scene can and should be rejected WITHOUT turning to immoral sex, illegal drugs, and rock and roll noise. The Devil uses all of these people and things to try to harm and destroy others.
Dennis,
ReplyDeleteDo you think Gerald Weston will explain his view of LCG minister Karl Beyersdorfer's suicide? Could an LCG minister have had a demon? If so, will Weston concede that a couple of other top LCG ministers currently seem to be influenced by demons, or will you be kicked out of his church by suggesting that what happened to Beyersdorfer could happen to another LCG minister?
If Beyersdorfer didn't commit suicide under demonic influence, will Weston then talk about the reality of severe depression in LCG? Some close to the late John Ogwyn have suggested that his death was essentially a suicide, as he refused even simple antibiotic treatment in the name of trusting God, not medicine. Ogwyn didn't want to kill himself, but was his will to live so weak that his MRSA infection gave him a way out?
Psychologists have determined that one of the most effective ways to keep people mired in cults is to keep them depressed. If LCG did not stigmatize psychological treatment, and LCG members felt free to seek treatment for their depression, I suspect that the LCG membership rolls would decrease dramatically.
But its ok to abandon your child at a shopping mall...........
ReplyDeletenah, it's just man's sinful ways that destroy us...the world is full of wickedness, but that doesn't mean we have to participate in it.
ReplyDeleteI suppose that will be made clear in the millennium, when those that live by God's rules prosper, causing more and more to adopt that way of life.
Well maybe Weston is right about drugs , sex, and rock and roll.
ReplyDeleteHOWEVER- Im sure that "Dwight Armstrong" purple hymnal songs/dirges are killing people too, albeit slowly, by sucking out any joy or inspiration that may reside in those singing them!
I don’t condone the use of drugs, but the usage of drugs by musicians by no means started with rock and roll music. Drug usage spans back through the jazz era, and even into the classical composers. Jerry Weston is obviously heavily invested in the agenda of an organization known for being very selective in its facts.
ReplyDeleteOne time at a the monthly meeting of a professional association in our industry, some of us were discussing the then recent plane crash which took the life of Rick Nelson. There was a religious guy listening in, one we all knew was so “spiritual” that he would not print or mail any advertising materials that related to alcohol or womens’ lingerie. I had just made the comment that I enjoyed Rick’s music much more than I enjoyed Elvis’s. The gentleman said to me, “Bob, what if the allegations of drug use turn out to be true? Will you still like Rick Nelson music?” What I explained to him that while I liked Rick Nelson’s music, that did not mean that I looked to him as an example to pattern my life after. Whether or not he might have ingested drugs could not change my enjoyment of the man’s music.
Sometimes I think ACOG leaders are so bent in their thinking that they believe teenagers say to themselves, “Let’s see. What musicians use drugs? OK, I’m going to get into their music!” That may have briefly been the case during the psychedelic era, Summer of Love and all that, but it was a passing trend. Prim and proper types seem to want to believe that people can’t naturally appreciate certain genres of music unless you feed them a bunch of drugs. The thing is, good music strikes a common chord, speaking to a cross section of humanity. It’s not as if every construction worker would normally gravitate to Beethoven if it weren’t for the evils of society “perverting” his listening skills. A blue collar worker may like Alan Jackson music because it relates better to his life than the music some rich or kingly patron might have commissioned a classical composer to create.
Obviously, there is some horrible, even evil music in every genre, that probably never should have been made. But, that is a small percentage, and usually easily avoided. But, in the ACOGs, the personal tastes of the leaders were generally used to define good or evil. Weston is a parrot of ancient HWA cliches.
Music is a sonic experience. It provides a brief respite to the daily drama in all of our lives, and refreshes us so that we can attack some of the problems we face with renewed vigor. ACOG leaders don’t want anything but Armstrongism filling that need, and the dirty little secret is that Armstrongism increases the pressures and dramas in many ways which are just plain unneccessary. There are certain personality types who believe that good leadership involves keeping one’s subjects on edge. All that accomplishes is to produce anger and PTSD.
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ReplyDeleteYou comment reminds me of Scientologist Tom Cruise criticizing psychiatrists. Cults view psychology as competition since it has a different world view. I know as a reader of self help books, that they give a reasonable (sometimes very accurate) view of the world as it really is. By contrast, religions introduce all sorts of self serving distortions eg, tyranny.
Cults want their members to be devoid of wisdom and understanding in order to maintain lording power. Knowledge from any outside source is attacked.
They wrote a song about it years ago- here's a blast from the past...
ReplyDeleteSex and Drugs and Rock-N-Roll!
https://youtu.be/kEUX9k0npgA