Sunday, August 19, 2018

LCG: They Wrote the Book on Religious Hypocrisy. They're Still Selling it.




They Wrote the Book on Religious Hypocrisy. They're Still Selling it.

Recently, the Living Church of God has, with the force of a snail pushing a sailboat, declared a voluntary fast for their membership to be held maybe on October 20th, or around there, whenever. It was the most apathetic of any ecclesiastical decisions any Church of God could make. But for what reason? Why? And the bigger question is - on what spiritual basis? Do these Churches of God really show God, or who He is? Do they really obey His Commandments? Are they authorized, really, to ask for a church-wide Fast? Will the members who see the wickedness around them really respect the calls to fast of those who don't take their concerns to heart? And if they do fast - will it be in prayer against the leaders who proclaimed it, because they claim to know God, but by their actions deny Him? 

Titus 1:16 - They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny Him. They are detestable, disobedient, and unfit for anything good. 

The word "Hypocrisy". It's defined as the practice of claiming to have moral standards or beliefs to which one's own behavior does not conform. (Google definition). Hypocrisy is one of the very things that has caused many scores of individuals to leave their particular form of Christian faith. It has been observed from all corners of organized Christianity - from the laity clear up to the governing bodies. It's one of the strongest condemned behaviors of Jesus himself. Since the Worldwide Church of God claimed to be the One True Church, you'd expect the hypocritical behaviors of this organization to be reigned in, wouldn't you? 

In the Plain Truth of 1952, a question was asked about the wearing of Jewelry. Of course, the thought was, "is it wrong"? The response is quite clear. 

No, it was not wrong to wear Jewelry - or wedding rings - the church deemed. Why was it not wrong? Here is the way the Church taught the brethren: 

"The wearing of gold ornaments and pearls in connection with costly array is forbidden by the apostles. Gold and pearls are not sin; for God sanctified the use of Gold in the temple.But their great expense was not becoming to Christian women who were to put their treasures into spiritual traits of character which God views as much greater worth. These two verses contain no prohibition on wearing a moderate amount of relatively inexpensive, but not "Cheap" adornment. A string of inexpensive pearls would not be violating the principle which the apostle lays down. For women to bedrock themselves with cheap objects for vanity is just as wrong as to put one's treasure in expensive jewelry." 

Well isn't this interesting. 

The wearing of gold ornaments and pearls in connection with costly array is forbidden, the church wrote. Though God "sanctified the use of gold in the temple", it was the great expense that was sinful to a woman because the "spiritual traits" are of greater worth than the gold. 

Beautiful, timeless, and humble pastoral counsel, isn't it. I'm sure every woman in the church at the time followed it expressly. It would have been a great example for the church to practice what they preached, wouldn't it. 

What happened? 

It took only around two decades to find out what happened. 

As the Church continually chastised the brethren around the world for the accumulation of wealth - what did they do? They accumulated wealth. Why did they accumulate wealth? For the purchase and use of expensive property. Yet, we know that it went far beyond just expensive property. 

It was Garner Ted Armstrong who - just a couple tens of years later - was flaunting, according to one of our readers here - a thirty thousand dollar watch (in today's monetary value) as if it was a small toy out of a cereal box (remember those days?). I'm pretty sure he thought it was okay because of the extremely expensive furnishings, paintings, and apparel purchased by his father for the college. His mom was photographed in a denominationally-famous large wall art wearing an expensive fur wrap. In fact, GTA was so used to wealth, that in one large, negative missive from the ministerial Bulletin, he was complaining about being trapped in the four walls of "the little condominium" he had to stay in. 

It was Herbert Armstrong who was continually obsessed with the accumulation of wealth. He never was "getting enough", it seemed - discouragement was always on him like a dark, musty cloud from a dingy, ratty basement. His plans were always costly - never inexpensive. 

But it wasn't the large, expensive, gold-leafed, wool-carpeted, extravagant Auditorium that wasn't sinful. It wasn't the million-dollar buildings that was the sin. We all know that the Campus was awarded as one of the most beautiful in the world. What was sinful was the absolute, blatant, carnal, disgusting hypocrisy that rained down from Headquarters like a tropical torrent, that flooded the life out of the members who hardly could have 60 percent of their own money to themselves. 

The very church that told woman to put their treasures in spiritual worth put all their treasures in physical riches. The very church that said that such an accumulation of wealth was violating the apostles' mandate went full steam ahead violating the same mandate's spirit of the law in snatching the finances of their members in the most threatening, abusive ways possible. 

Though women were commanded in the church to be temperate in expense and modest in apparel, (and even strip them of any form of make-up as soul-exterminating), the church was anything but temperate and modest. Time after time, they'd take out loans for expenses beyond their means and thrust the bill on the members with the force and weight of a beach-ball shot out of a cannon. Time after time Herbert would beg, plead - and finally threaten members with eternal damnation for not giving enough. He'd call them slackers or not fully converted. He'd make them feel like a dog's freshly defecated dinner from lunch in so many letters about how they're not "in it" or helping enough. Herbert would lower their standard of living while increasing his, letter after letter, year after year, decade after decade. 

Eventually, Herbert would be living in the lap of luxury with hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of tableware, an auditorium worthy of the greatest kings and queens, a Gulfstream Jet worthy of a Fortune 500 for-profit organization , with his son Garner Ted reaping all the benefits. 

This was hypocrisy. And what did Jesus say about hypocrisy? 

Woe to you, teachers of the Law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside, but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness. (Matthew 23:27-28)

Luke 20:46 says these "teachers of the law" devour women's houses. Who is it that had no problem taking the homes of the elderly and asking for their wills? Was it not the WCG, the "teachers of the law"? 

Matthew 15 says "these people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me". How accurate this is, when GTA constantly made fun of people who "gave their hearts to the Lord". No, that's pansy pansy, love love talk, he would say. 

2 Timothy 3 condemns those who are "lovers of money". It also condemns the abusive, the conceited, the proud and the brutal. The WCG is well-documented to have been ALL of these things. .

This all from a church that claimed to be the One and Only true Church. This all from a church that claimed to hold the keys to the Kingdom of God - This from a church that claimed to hold the bindings and loosing of ecclesiastical power from heaven. A church that became rich and powerful in the ways and wealth of the world by lording it over the weak, and using the tithe as a way to financial gain and accumulation at the oppression of the poor, the needy, the hungry, and the sick - even denying the sick health care to gain more finances, which in some cases led to death. This is the very definition of wickedness. This is the very definition of injustice. This is the very definition of ungodliness. Yet, in this same church - this was all okay - because they were "the True Church who was keeping the Law - the Sabbath, and the Holy Days" - and called themselves "the Church of God". 

Hypocrites.By their actions we know they didn't know God. By their actions we know that their hearts were on the things of this world. By their actions we know that their minds were on material positions. And by their words we know what their intentions truly were. 

These attitudes continue these days in the organizations that remain from the mother, the old Worldwide Church of God. From Edmond to Wadsworth, the same hypocritical passion for material wealth and the oppression of the people continues. The same spiritual starvation emanates from the leaders who were trained by the worst hypocrites of them all.

And people still go to church to have fellowship with those who scripture clearly says by their actions deny Him. Those ministers who claim they are ministers of Christ, but are detestable, disobedient, and unfit for anything good. 

Yes, I do think that Living Church of God - and the other COG's - need a fast. But not the members.Those who stand behind their lecterns and take the tithes of the people need to fast. The only "fast" that needs to be done by the members is the setting on the level of speed required by their legs on their exit. 


-by SHT, Contributing Writer

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

LCG members should fast from the poisoned milk and the spoiled meat the LCG ministry serves to those who listen.

Stay home for a few Sabbaths, and read your Bible. Get the whole family together, and let the younger people ask the older people about the life-lessons they would like to impart.

Do this for just a few weeks, and you may be surprised to discover the fog lifting, and the old ACOG programming fading away. After even a few weeks away from the well-oiled brainwashing machine, you will likely see your Christian commitment in a fresh new way, and the old abusive ACOG tricks will no longer work so well on you.

THIS is the fast that will change your life and draw you closer to your God.

Anonymous said...

Want to hear what Dave Pack is telling his slayers they will be doing soon?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFthgdtI9n4 please share so no one else enters his snare.
Thank you

nck said...

I was going to say, "I miss No2HWA's tongue in cheek delicious sarcasm", but then I read the very last paragraph.

I feel like the pope being lectured by St Frances of Assisi. "What.........can't sell indulgences, should sell my ruby robes???????" "I would banish you to Hawai, if an island of that name had been discovered already.........."

Good to be reminded of those good old fire and brimstone calvinist preachers of ye olde country...........now and then.

nck

Anonymous said...

Not limited to LCG, goes on throughout all splinters from WCG.

Anonymous said...

Speaking of hypocrisy, why hasn't anyone in LCG Canada raised objections to Evangelist Stuart Wachowiz's leadership role in the Confucius Institute?

The Confucius Institute is a propaganda arm of the Chinese Communist Party. How can Wachowicz at the same time be an LCG Evangelist and an apologist for the Chinese government? Is this an extension of Rod Meredith's puzzling friendship with old WCG liberal Robert Kuhn, who is also currently a high government advisor in China?

Anonymous said...

Have any of you ever heard a sermon on James 1:27? Did it include Gal 6:10 that says that dong good should extend to ALL people, not just those in the church? Have you ever heard a preacher teach from Gal 5:22, the fruit of the spirit, and use any of the top leaders as examples of love, joy, peace, KINDNESS, goodness, faithfulness, GENTLENESS and SELF-CONTROL? When you think of some of the leaders of the WCG, do many of these fruits come to mind? RCM . . . kindness, gentleness? I don't think so. HWA and GTA . . . self-control? I don't think so. It seems to me, perhaps like the RCC and other organizations, the higher up you go, the less godly the people are. Perhaps those who seek higher positions are the ones who are the least qualified to fill them. Perhaps that is why the Bible oftentimes says that a person was "called" to a ministry. Perhaps the personnel officer who interviews prospective ministers should first ask, "Do you really want to be a minister?" If the answer is "yes", then he is disqualified.

Anonymous said...

In church sermons and writings, the practical application of Gods laws is essentially ignored, and following Gods lead in members personal lives is hidden. So the incessant obey, yield, surrender, submit is nothing more than ultra conformity to church culture. How can one live by the ten commandments in today's Godless world, while also being a ultra conformist? One can't. But this doesn't faze the ministers who have never had a real job and live in a ivory tower. The ultra conformity churches of HWA.

Yep, the ministers are the ones who need to fast rather than expecting members to jump through loops so that they don't have to change. The pigs in Orwell's Animal Farm come to mind.

Anonymous said...

5.05 AM
It's a universal phenomenon in all dictatorships that the most morally flawed people rise to the top of such organisations.

nck said...

4:35

You know what is really funny and has escaped your criticism.
UCG's "Jelly" seems to be an undercover operative too in this endeavour.

nck

Southern Slang Is The New Sexy said...

So thankful for this blog and even more thankful that I am no longer a slave to the lies of Armstrongism. Keep up the good work with great articles such as this one.

Anonymous said...

At 9:29 AM, nck wrote:

You know what is really funny and has escaped your criticism.
UCG's "Jelly" seems to be an undercover operative too in this endeavour.


Is this nck's attempt at humor? The Confucius Institute is a well-funded propaganda operation, with a much larger budget than any Church of God. It lobbies, provides biased educational materials, and even pays Western teachers to present a false, sanitized version of China's history.

A Church of God minister is supposed to stay out of worldly politics, not to support China's attempts to pretend that the Tienanmen massacre didn't really happen but was Western propaganda "fake news."

Jelly is just a wussy. An LCG minister teaching the false narrative of the Confucius Institute is much, much more dangerous. Not "funny" at all.

nck said...

1:15

Me thinks you are faster with "opining" than committing yourself to genuine research.

Did you click on the provided link "leadership roles" before "spraying bullits?"

Nck

Anonymous said...

The fruits show that a lot of people here were never converted, so to complain about hypocrisy is pretty silly.

Anonymous said...

"It's a universal phenomenon in all dictatorships that the most morally flawed people rise to the top of such organisations."

Well, America and Britain must be dictatorships. Lying scum keep rising to the top.

Anonymous said...

I don't have a problem with WCG having expensive things....

I do have a problem with WCG having expensive things while sending out letters putting people in fear of the lake of fire for not giving enough...

Anonymous said...

To nck at 5:52PM, the "leadership roles" link goes to a page at which LCG evangelist Wachowicz is revealed to have an e-mail address at his local branch of the Confucius Institute ( stuart.wachowicz@confuciusedmonton.ca ) and is listed as having the role, "Advisor of Board of Directors & Advisory Board." Elsewhere on the page you'll see that he has been "Chairman" of the Board and is regularly connecting local Edmonton educators with Chinese government resources.

If a lobbying firm has given you your own e-mail address with that firm, you know you are not just some generally supportive outsider. LCG members in Canada know very well that Mr. Wachowicz has long been a Sinophile, traveling regularly to China on non-LCG business for many years before he started traveling there on LCG business. He has worked long and hard to expose the Canadian people to the Chinese government's view of politics and history. Instead of being in China as the leader of the Jesus Institute, he is in Canada leading his city's Confucius Institute.

Maybe that doesn't bother you, but I can see how it would bother some, who see at least a double-standard for the ministry and at worst a serious compromise of LCG's integrity. So, nck, please explain how this is "faster with 'opining' than with genuine research." Thank you in advance!

nck said...

2:14

I'll explain. I do recognize that you have concerns and that you are serious about it. I could even go so far as to seriously adress those concerns.

HOWEVER

I said I was joking about jelly. If you click on the link you will indeed see many names.

Among the names mentioned we see "jelly" listed. Hence the joke, clear and simple no strings attached.

I have commented on this blog regarding the strategig "belt and road" initiative, social ranking points for citizens, the proxy war with china currently waged on china because of americas workers concern regarding their future employability etc etc so I could be serious.

Please accept this explanation of my joke.

Sincerely

Nck

Anonymous said...

woah@1:29 AM I haven't been attending for a long time and he hadn't said that yet when I left. When did he start teaching RCG members would literally be murdering people?

They should just call it the church of Satan and be done with it. I can't believe anyone would stay when they are preaching murder. Sad, really.

"1-EX- sheeple" said...

As far as those aspiring to the ministry me thinks it's the Peter principle in action. Seen it too often in real life. An interesting item to pass along. My daughter (a former member too) came across this...A former member working as a nurse fairly recently in a mental institution had a hair raising experience. seems a patient with NO ties to WWCG & HWA at all started screaming out loud "I'm Herbert W. Armstrong! and I'm going to hell!" Hmmmmmm...self fulfilled prophecy one that will actually come to pass? the only one for sure? Re: "love" in the WWCG.
I remember back in early 74 the cry was WHERE IS the love that's supposed to be here?" That
was shortly before our minister left to become a lawyer & his wife went back home on the
other side of the "BIG POND". And they did their share of abusing their position of power to
the detriment of "some" of their congregation. Know this for a fact, we were among their
victims.

Anonymous said...

I grew up in Pasadena in Radio Church of God and then WCG when the name changed. Back in the early 60's when my dad worked for the church there were times that they couldn't make payroll for weeks, but that didn't stop the lavish spending by HWA and the "top" leaders.

Move forward to the 70's and you had HWA influenced by Stanley Radar to come up with the AICF (Ambassador International Cultural Foundation) and Quest Magazine -- which featured ads of Rolex watches, high-end automobiles, high-end perfume, etc. HWA would travel on his Falcon Jet and eventually his new Grumman Gulfstream III to visit kings, queens, and other high-ranking masons, giving them gifts of Stuben crystal all the time telling us to that we needed to give up more for the "sake of preaching the gospel."

We also had special building funds to build the Ambassador Auditorium aka the "house dedicated to God," that would eventually host gay and lesbian performers.

With all of this, I can see why so many people decided to "toss in the towel" and leave. I remember FOT sites of 10,000 + but now it is hard to find a few dozen people that are hungry for the "Word" and digging deeper with excitement for the coming Kingdom of the Most High.

Speaking of "Religious Hypocrisy," what about all of the "ministers of God" that stayed in WCG until they knew they could break off with a big enough group to support their paycheck? These are the "ministers of God" that started LCG, UCG, [insert name here} Church of God, or Chuch of God [Insert name here]. They played all of the tapes full of deceit and lies to their brethern for years, produced by Tkach and company. Have were ever heard public announcements from any of them saying that they were sorry for going along with the apostacy until they had their paychecks secured? Worse yet, "ministers of God" like Larry Salyer helped Tkach Sr. pump out crap to the field ministry as the Head of Church Administration.

On the same subject of "Religious Hypocrisy,, how many more times will the leaders of the various "Churches of God" break off and start a "new COG," so that they can steer the ship aka control the tithes?

How many of these "leaders of the various "COG groups will hear the words "I NEVER KNEW YOU!!!" Matthew 7:21-23