An LCG member wrote the following in the previous posting on
"We Are Not Qualified to Counsel in Some Areas of Sex and Marriage." It deserves a separate posting for its truthfulness.
@ 3:35 PM...
There are several people posting to this site who either:
• Sat in one of RCM's Ambassador College classes
• Worked under him while he was WCG's director of the ministry
• Accepted a paycheck from him after he started the Global Church of God
• Went to youth camps with his children
• Ate dinner as a guest in his home
• Had access to his LCG Masterfile (member/coworker/subscriber database)
• Sat in the congregation and heard him speak so disgustingly that mothers left the room with their children.
• Sat in his office after being "counseled" by the lying Rod McNair, and heard him say horrible things
• Read his court depositions in which he slandered some brethren and denied knowledge of matters that he clearly had knowledge of.
Yes, I am sure that some people who post here are exaggerating their experiences because they are still badly hurt by what happened, and they cannot yet look back coldly and rationally at what they experienced with Rod Meredith. Yes, it is obvious that people sometimes speculate stupidly or tell outright lies. However, if you want to defend LCG, you would be better off defending Gerald Weston or Doug Winnail or other LCG leaders who haven't revealed their flawed character to so many people over so many years.
As for me? I spent my first few LCG years aware that RCM wasn't perfect, but sure that most of the stories about him must be lies. Then, as my family got to know him better, I started seeing more things that made me question, but for more years I put those questions out of my mind. Eventually, thank God, I could not deny that RCM simply did not meet the Bible standard for a church leader, which meant that I was under no obligation to support him as the leader of LCG.
As for you? Maybe you are an insider who already has seen much and already has some private doubts, but who feels an obligation to defend LCG even against your conscience. If so, I hope you change before your conscience is seared in defending evil. Or maybe you are an outsider, as I was for a while, sincerely believing that RCM was God's anointed and sure that the stories about him were falsehoods told by bitter ex-members. If so, you will be disappointed eventually, so I hope the disappointment comes soon and does not hurt you too badly.
Whichever may be your situation, ask yourself honestly: Have you seen provable evidence that LCG ministers have any special God-given aptitude for counseling? I have seen marriages ruined that were salvageable. I have seen parent/child relationships poisoned. I have seen careers derailed by stupid ministerial counsel. The people who flourish in LCG are the ones who ignore ministerial counsel until they are somewhat successful and wealthy, at which point the ministry shifts from abuse to flattery as their preferred method of control.
17 comments:
Whether or not the article is true I cannot say, but unless someone can produce a sermon tape by Meredith or some other such documented evidence it would be foolish to believe it.
Who is David Rickman and why does he post random musings about unrelated topics? I must admit I do like it! So keep it up Davey boy! ;-)
Rickman is another cryptic religious nut. A sure sign of a cultist in action for his masters.
As to lcg, they deserve another Terry Ratzmann. They have not learned the lesson of false prophecies and the effect it has on the membership.
All I can say about people having hidden faults is that some are around these people and they see things. I learned that from my job of 26 years. Some people had a nice,clean exterior. Get to work and be around them and you see the faults that others don't see. And then try to tell others out of your frustration and see if they believe you.
This would be an appropriate post to comment that the Pittsburgh Synagogue mass shooting tragedy on Saturday is the second mass shooting to occur involving Sabbath Keeping groups - the first, of course, was the Terry Ratzman LCG Milwaukee mass shooting.
So that those who read this post understand the difference between the two Sabbath Service mass shootings, the Pittsburgh synagog shooting was REAL persecution committed by an outsider filed with antisemitism. Terry Ratzman LCG mass shooting was not REAL persecution. It was committed by a loner who wanted a wife, couldn't find one in the LCG, and then went off and lost it after a Rod Meredith sermon.
For 80+ years of Armstrongism, we have heard many sermons on the subject of "Persecution", on "Fox's Book of Martyrs" and in dying faithfully under persecution in the "one true Church". In fact, persecution was considered a sign of the true Church of God. To date, I have yet to see or hear of not one person (thankfully) who have died from persecution because of being in the WCG or any of its splinters over the past 80 years. The Jewish people who were killed on Saturday at the synagogue while worshipping their Creator on the Sabbath died because of REAL PERSECUTION due to whom they were.
Just wanted to make sure the Armstrong Churches of God understand the difference between FAKE PERSECUTION versus REAL PERSECUTION!
Richard
Hey Anonymous LCG member, there's the door. No one is forcing you to stick around and put up with anything a minister may be doing. Last time I checked, only one Man walked the earth who was perfect in every thought and action.
Hey anon 7:16 why should the good people leave to let the corrupt rule the roost ?
Doesn't good triumph over bad eventually? Evil triumphs when good people do nothing.
Think David and Goliath anon 7:16
7.16 AM
No one's perfect, hence abusive cults are OK or no big deal. Interesting justification. The other side of the same coin is monstrous vindictiveness. One standard for me, another for thee.
@ 7:16AM, you seem unaware that Rod Meredith claimed that even his imperfect actions were to be accepted as if they were ordained by God. Rod told LCG members that God would remove him if he ever displeased God, so if you dared to question anything Rod said or did, you were a tool of Satan. Classic cult manipulation.
Why don't I walk through the door? I have family in the cult, and don't want to lose them. If LCG weren't a toxic cult, I could leave and not lose my family. It is people like you who create people like me.
Anyone who died in an Armstrong sect because of a lack of medical treatment, or for suicide , are persecuted martyrs as victims of "Top Down Government".
If you don't like someone or something in the COG group that you attend, there's a simple solution to your problem. Leave. Go to another one...until you're disappointed once again about something else. Keep doing that until you find the perfect fit. Problem solved. This isn't a difficult problem to figure out people. Good grief.
@ 1:53PM
...or, if you are a minister, START another church, where you will be the top dog and won't have to submit to other troublesome ministers who are constantly trying to tear you down so they can rise higher.
1.53 PM
It's no so simple. While some are less evil than others, the COGs still share commonality in their church culture. Try finding a rights respecting group.
Prayers that you all can leave together.
If theyd break off contact with you for quietly leaving, they are not worth your loyalty.
This is an interesting thread.
RCM,when he chose to incorporate as the LCG, was in direct violation of the law of the land concerning the CEO of Global, which he should have been doing all that he could to protect. Instead, he left it, even though he was the CEO. And as a result, his actions ultimately led to the destruction of this church as the then leaders sought refuge in UCG. The leaders of the Church of God a Christian Fellowship did not think that their limited congregation had enough funds to support them into retirement. I well remember the departure of Raymond McNair before those stalwart leaders dissolved Global.
The leaders of the churches of God march on. I cannot tell you how sickened I was to hear a UCG minister whine to me that they did not have social security and this was a big issue for them when everything was busting up. Where was his faith in God to take care of him and his family? He preached a good sermon but in reality did not believe what he preached. The sad part is, God really is there to support you through hardship. We do not need a church sending us money. God really does support his own and take care of them.
Post a Comment