On Wednesday, September 19, is the traditional day for the Churches of God to observe The Day of Atonement. That date is pretty standard across the board for the COG's, except for one malevolent personality cult. That group, led by the Great Pharisee of the Church of God James Malm, has picked a different date.While everyone else in the world can easily pick out proper dates for holiday/holydays, Pharisee Malm has his crew of moonbeamers sitting on cold rocks in Israel, with binoculars in hand, straining to be the person to catch the very first glimpse of a new moon. This year the Great Pharisee got waylaid by some clouds in the region of his moonbeamer, who was not able to see the new moon break forth. However, just five miles up the road Avraham Baruch was able to see the new moon in all its glory and normalcy descended upon the devout in Israel and elsewhere.
Due to the missed sightings by his moonbeam brigade, The Great Pharisee had this to say about Atonement:
16 Sep: Because the Fast of Atonement is on a Friday this year it is very important to properly prepare for the Sabbath on Thursday. Be sure to have your casserole, stew. pot roast, soup or whatever you prepare for the Sabbath, ready and in the fridge by Thursday afternoon: Then you can just warm and serve after the fast and on the Sabbath!This is a prime example of what legalism does to the brains of the obsessed devout as they struggle with trying to impress the god they can never impress.
24 comments:
" Be sure to have your casserole, stew. pot roast, soup or whatever you prepare for the Sabbath, ready and in the fridge by Thursday afternoon: Then you can just warm and serve after the fast and on the Sabbath!"
Not only does he "change" atonement for everyone based on ridiculous moon-sightings, now he's telling people when to have their casserole or stew or pot roast or stew ready and completed so it can be taken out and prepped after the Fast on the Sabbath.
Sorry, but seriously. Everyone reading this should go out Thursday or Friday Night to the Outback Steakhouse and order a nice big Rib-Eye and while taking a big bite, and savoring a Blooming Onion, or a warm Mozzarella Stick, hold up a tall glass of Bud, and say - under your breath, with a big smile on your face, knowing how wrong he is - full of snark -
"You crazy, Malm. Enjoy your stew. This is some darn. good. steak."
Then take a big sip of your Bud, and go "ahhhhhhhh."
And know that no matter who you are, a strong COG member (cause you already fasted on the accepted Atonement day and have a clean conscience, or a mainstream Christian or an atheist (who also have a clean conscience), that you simply are making a statement that Malm doesn't have an ounce of power over you with his delusions.
Spot on!
Malm is a prime example of what legalism does to the devout.
The gospel according to James Malm said, "16 Sep: Because the Fast of Atonement is on a Friday this year it is very important to properly prepare for the Sabbath on Thursday. Be sure to have your casserole, stew. pot roast, soup or whatever you prepare for the Sabbath, ready and in the fridge by Thursday afternoon: Then you can just warm and serve after the fast and on the Sabbath!"
MY COMMENT - Clown Malm appears to be treating his dumb sheeple like children. Can't they think for themselves? Do they really need Clown Malm to tell them when to put their food in the refrigerator? Are they really that stupid?
Typical Armstrongite attitude of micro-managing the brethren.
Richard
Armstrong and many of his followers miss the real meaning and significance of the Holy Days - they all pointed to the personality and work of Jesus Christ. Paul said that they were a shadow of the reality found in him.
This truism is probably no where more evident than in the Day of Atonement. HWA claimed that the symbolism of the day was mostly about Satan, but the ONLY one who ever bore all of our sins away into the wilderness - away from us and God - was Jesus Christ!
They waste their time on physical observances of holidays they don't even really understand, instead of fully accepting what Christ did for them and confidently standing in that grace. They can watch for new moons, fast and rejoice that their sins will be placed on the Devil; but none of that will earn them a place in God's Kingdom!
Malm is a funk-bomb! Conventional ovens have timers, and microwave ovens have been around forever. These days of computer controlled homes, more work is required in taking a crap than is needed to prepare a meal.
Hint to Malm: Next year, invest in some weather balloons! Clouds are no excuse for missing the new moon. Remember, Jamesy, accuracy is important! The penalty for the high priest entering the holy of holies on the wrong day was death!
Wow! Oh how he (Malm) must feel so righteous and imporyant and so full of himself as he tells his dumb sheeple what to do, and how and when to do it. Ha! Maybe he should make a schedule for everyonewhen and how often to take a dump, and how many sheets of toilet paper to use to wipe themselves afterward, or is THAT too much work... Sheldon Cooper, where are you? Malm needs your help.
9:44 -
Nah, he'd find in the Bible the Law's requirement on that particular process - and enforce it. Everyone would have to conform to the Deuteronomy principle.
Dueteronomy 23:13.
Come on Malm! It's in the Law!
"And you shall have a trowel with your tools, and when you sit down outside, you shall dig a hole with it and turn back and cover up your excrement."
Its the Law, isn't it? Obedience to the Law, right? If you go out and try to find the new moon - every Malmite has to get a trowel.
Oh, we have toilets now? That Law's obsolete? Not needed? Reaaalllyyyyyyyyyy.
Hillel had the authority, and he used postponements,....
the Day of Atonement can never fall on a Friday or Sunday.
Malm is polluting the Day of Atonement, just like all the other deceived people out there that ignore it.
Malm has gone off the deep end ever since his girlfriend Connie stabbed him in the back. The poor thing is unemployed and now has no girlfriend. Life must be rough.
Malm relates to others from topdog position i.e., he treats others as if he owns them and they have no rights. This is the typical minister mindset. He needs to read up on assertiveness (everyone has rights that need to be respected), rather than being obsessed with technicalities.
I used to snack around with some candy or drink a lot of coffee on the "day of atonement" to keep the hunger pains down. I remember once on the d.o.a. a lady passed out during services and was thrashing & foaming at the mouth. I don't remember what happened to her but I do remember they rushed her to the hospital.
Thanks for letting me know when that day comes. I have to figure out what delicious dishes I'm going to prepare to celebrate it. Haven't fasted now for four decades on any ridiculous day. Yahweh gets the old raspberry every year.
Most places are understanding of physical needs now and taking medication when required
I remember one day of atonement in the old Shakespere Club. Padadena was having a heat wave. We were horribly dehydrated and drank water like crazy as soon as the sun set. When we went out to dinner, they brought us a pitcher so they wouldn't have to keep filling our glasses. It's a wonder someone didn't die that day. What is it in humans that make them think their made up gods enjoy and demand human suffering?
casserole, stew. pot roast, soup or whatever
Way back a couple of old-timers told how there used to be a lot of "practical" sermons on such things, from food preparation for the Sabbath to why a certain brand of tires was better than another. An old deaconess added approvingly that "sermons are now more spiritual".
James Malm left the WCG in 1985 while HWA was still alive to try to think for himself. James Malm now criticizes HWA's teachings and then comes up with much worse teachings. James Malm is a prime example of what rebellion does to the rebellious.
Anon 9/17 -8AM Quite possible that lady that passed out that DOA had an epileptic grand mal
seizure. My 1st wife had 3 that DOA 1965 Omaha NE. Ministers REFUSED to help me in any way
in that situation. MY prob they said...never, ever will forget it, NOT in this lifetime (she died Dec 65 at 25 1/2 yrs old.) Not one damn single iota of compassion on their part. Had a
car wreck at Talco TX on way to Big Sandy for FoTab.
1.51 PM
Thinking for oneself is far superior than the alternative of blindly believing Herb and his minions.
"Pharisee Malm has his crew of moonbeamers sitting on cold rocks in Israel, with binoculars in hand, straining to be the person to catch the very first glimpse of a new moon."
Sorry, no - Malm does not allow binoculars to be used in looking for the moon - although I believe glasses are allowed if normally worn, to bring your eyesight up to a normal level.
James Malm is confusing me here. I thought he was against cooking on Sabbath - even changing the temperature of foods. Now it's OK to "warm" something on Sabbath, if Atonement falls on Friday?
For the rest of us in COGs, Atonement falls at a perfect time this year. Tuesday was National Cheeseburger Day, with restaurant discounts. After Atonement ends Wednesday night, it's off to seafood places for discounts on Talk Like a Pirate Day!
Armstrong and many of his followers miss the real meaning and significance of the Holy Days - they all pointed to the personality and work of Jesus Christ. Paul said that they were a shadow of the reality found in him.
Paul said they are a shadow of things to come. Written in 62 AD, they ARE a shadow of things yet to come. Like the return of Christ, the Millennium, the Great White Throne judgment, and more. And the shadow? It is cast by Christ (the body of Christ - gk 'soma'). The holy days are an image or a reflection of Christ, His work, His ministry. And, they point to prophetic events yet to occur in that work. And, they show God's plan of salvation in Jesus Christ. They are far more significant for the Christian than they ever were for the Jew.
LCG Expositor,
Even in the KJV, the sense of Colossians 2:16-17 is that these Holy Days were shadows of things yet to come at the time they were instituted. However, I believe the NIV makes this much clearer "These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ."
Nevertheless, even if we accede to your interpretation of the verse as being futuristic in Paul's time, the sense remains that ALL of it finds fulfillment in JESUS CHRIST - as you acknowledged in your remarks "The holy days are an image or a reflection of Christ, His work, His ministry."
Moreover, even Herbert Armstrong's teachings on the meanings of these holy days characterize Passover, Unleavened Bread and Pentecost as having been fulfilled by Christ (or currently being fulfilled in the lives of Christ's followers). Indeed, most in the Armstrong COG culture would acknowledge that Trumpets and Atonement have at least partially been fulfilled (Christ's first advent and His sacrifice making the way through the veil available to us). Hence, your statement that these days "point to prophetic events yet to occur in that work" only apply to Trumpets, Atonement and Tabernacles (according to HWA and most of his followers).
And, while Christians have the added perspective of Christ and his work available to them in interpreting the meaning of these days, it is extremely arrogant to say that those days have more significance for Christians than for the people to whom they were originally given (the Hebrews). Whether past, present or future, the point is that these days are a SHADOW of the reality found in CHRIST! In other words, Christ and his work are the crucial/important/essential elements for Christians.
Remembrances of Days of Atonement past, there are probably some typical events in common - The member who says his treat for lunch? The minister who says we'e all dreaming of steaks (and gives an embellished description of a steak dinner)? A sermon about Satan? A "proof" of which goat is Christ?
As some have commented through the years, Armstrongism took the Feast Days and reworked them, straying from the original intent. So, has anyone remember a sermon on the Day of Atonement being about the annual atonement of the Temple, the Altar, and the Nation of Israel? I don't. But that was the original intent. And they missed a chance to work the Atonement of Israel into their LTTBI (Lost ten tribes British Israel) agenda.
The majority of the COG groups do follow "God's Holy Day Calendar" aka the "Hebrew Calendar" aka the Hillel II Calendar BUT has anyone told all of the COG leadership that postponements are NOWHERE to be found in Scripture.
Show me one place in Scripture where YHWH has said that it is okay to delay (postpone) His days. See the postponement rules below:
RULE ONE
When the Molad of Tishri or advancement occurs on a Sunday, Wednesday, or Friday, the
declaration of Tishri 1 is advanced one day to a Monday, Thursday or Saturday (Sabbath)
respectively.
RULE TWO
When the Molad of Tishri occurs at noon (18 hours 0 parts) or later, the declaration of Tishri 1 is
advanced to the next day.
RULE THREE
When the Molad of Tishri of a common year falls on Tuesday, at or after 9 hours and 204 parts,
the declaration of Tishri 1 is advanced to Wednesday. The application of Rule One advances the
declaration one more day to Thursday.
RULE FOUR
When the Molad of Tishri of a common year immediately following an intercalary year occurs on
a Monday, at or after 15 hours and 589 parts, the declaration of Tishri 1 advanced to Tuesday.
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