Why I Failed Dave Pack's Potential RCG Minister Interview

Awhile back, when Dave was scouring the planet for ministers he could manipulate, control and program to his liking, he provided this form that potential ministerial hires had to fill out for him.
I took the test and the results are in...

(1) Retirement—Mr. Armstrong taught that retirement is not an option for a true minister.

• Did you retire? If so, when, and why did you think yourself an exception?
• I can never retire in any normal way known to man because of being involved with WCG from my youth. 

(2) Non-Career—Mr. Armstrong taught that “going non-career” is not an option for a true minister.

• Did you do this? If so, why did you think yourself an exception?
•  I should have stayed fired in '74 during the "East Coast Rebellion".  I am sorry I ever went career.  This was yet another area of belief where HWA was mistaken and overly opinionated mistaking the opinion for Biblical truth and knowing the mind of God. Six months of "intensive study" in the religion section of the Portland Public Library is not sufficient anymore than your AC education in and "intensive study 50 years ago" into Evolution did by outlining the Genesis Flood book and reading church literature on the topic.  BTW, church literature on the topic was badly mistaken and ill informed as well, even in the times they were written. 

(3) Established Doctrine and Tradition

• In what doctrines or traditions do you believe Mr. Armstrong “got it wrong”? (Include all areas—bespecific.)
• All of it..... HWA's first "got it wrong" was that he was a well trained, historically sound, grounded in real Church history and a Biblically literate human being. After "all of it" it was mostly downhill from there. 
• 
  
  

(4) Did you actively resist false doctrine in your ministry?—or give safe sermons where you disagreed? (Be specific.)

• During the liberal years of the 1970s?   I gave sermons that were practical, encouraging and historically interesting and helpful in real life. I avoided the Gerald Waterhouse Church of God like the plague. Majoring in the minors was not a habit of mine with regards to the myriad of "what about's" the zealous could come up with. "You decide what is best for you" seemed like a good response.  I doubt you'd have liked my views and administration of practices revolving around divine healing, divorce and remarriage,  sabbath keeping, job issues, immunizations , Petra, A theory for the Birds/A whale of Tale and Gerald Waterhouse.
• In the WCG in the late 1980s and early 90s?  (I saw some light at the end of tunnel of the 70's and early 80's, but see above)
• In your splinter or splinters? I never splintered. One go at Presbyterian and then WCGwas enough for me.

(5) On each doctrine where you came to agree with God’s enemies—either Joe Tkach, those who assisted his destruction or your splinter leader—why did you agree?

I didn't agree  but it took some time to cycle out of the insanity and transitions are messy. 

(6) Why should you still be considered for the ministry in God’s Church?

• Why should God’s flock ever again be entrusted to your care?  
• They shouldn't be as I would teach them things that would curl their theological socks.
• Are you prepared to re-win brethren’s trust, including brethren now here whom you will likely also pastor? What about re-winning the trust of Headquarters?
• NO.  A rat's ass I do not care to rewin yours or anyone else's trust at Deadquarters. 

(7) Did you actively pursue where God’s Truth, Church, Work, College and Government were found?

• If not, why not? Be specific.
• At one time but it was hard to keep up with all the personalities and baloney. 
• If so, how hard? Be specific.
• Sincerely hard for a time.   From June 25th, 1964 at 7PM to April 4th, 1990s-ish hard to say

(8) Have you read or viewed any of our Splinter Explanation Packet material?

      NO.  I can't stand your explanations and self centered and absorbed perspectives

• What items?  NONE Ÿ Did you at any time hear my “30 Reasons” sermons of 1993 and 1994? (Parts 1, 2 or 3?) NOPE. I didn't want to 

(9) Do you now believe again that Christ works solely through one unified organization?

      OH GOSH NO. Are you on drugs???  "All on body weeeee" is a fallacy 

(10) In light of government(s) you followed, how do you see God’s government today?

    Whacked out, arrogant, mistaken and mostly made up to serve the best interests of men like         yourself

(11) Have you returned to believing that Mr. Armstrong was the final Zerubbabel?

Can't return to what I never believed, no.  

(12) Have you returned to believing that truth only enters the Church through apostles as Mr. Armstrong said so often?

See 11

(13) Do you believe I Corinthians 12:18 applies to you with no qualifications added?

(1 Corinthians 12:18 ¹⁸But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be.) NO, I think that's made up, again by those who crave preeminence, to justify their dominance and leadership goals.  I also recall you not all that happy that God placed you in the body where he wanted you to be back in the 70's when HWA/WCG  laid you off from the ministry. 

(14) Do you believe there can be exceptions to I Corinthians 1:10 and 13—regarding members or ministers in the Church?

Absolutely not!  All speaking the same thing so that there be no division is not the same as speaking the right thing 

(18) If your ordination(s) is(are) invalid, are you interested in being re-trained for Christ’s true ministry?

No, not by you.  I have retrained myself to my satisfaction

(19) Do you believe ministers should be able to voice opinions to others about:

• Where Headquarters is “wrong”?  YES!
• What Mr. Armstrong taught/said/did “wrong”? YES!
• What Mr. Pack teaches/says/does “wrong”?  OH MAN YES!
• Where your boss is “wrong” or harsh, etc.? SURE
• Where you disagree doctrinally? Why not?

(20) Do you consider yourself as having been (rate yourself from 5 being best to 0 being worst):

• Weak                     Strong
• Cowardly              Brave!
• Slothful                 I'm Dutch . It is not allowed.
• Covetous              Nope
• Confused             Not like I was
• Compromising    I like to think of myself as flexible
• Foolish                 At times
• Political (And did you ever “run for office” in a splinter?)  I was Jr. Class President
• Heretical              When necessary
• Easily deceived    Evidently...
• Betrayed your calling     I like to think it betrayed me
•  (And don't tell me how to answer. I like words better than numbers. )

(21) Why did you lose the ability to “discern good from evil” (Heb. 5:13-14)?—and for so long?

I didn't. I gained the ability to discern good from evil  the longer I was in the WCG ministry because there was so many opportunities to practice. Now I see you have come on the scene and provide even more opportunities.

(22) What do you consider to be your ministerial rank?

Pastor since I actually pastored but was only graced with "Preaching Elder " status forever.

Ÿ Evangelist Ÿ Pastor Ÿ Preaching Elder Ÿ Local Elder Ÿ Local Church Elder Ÿ “Elder” Ÿ Ministerial Assistant

(23) Are you prepared to dedicate the rest of your life to serving God’s flock and fixing completely the horrific mess you helped cause in so many lives?

NO, I got out of my mess. They can get out of their own.

(24) In light of how you once saw Mr. Armstrong, do you still recognize the fruits of a true apostle when you see one?

In hind sight , I've never seen or met one.

• If you say yes, why did you follow Joe Tkach until he destroyed everything?
• I went by the blessing of "May God Bless and Keep the Tkaches, far away from us" too long and I am sorry for this . But I did the same with HWA .  I thought I was supposed to be a minister, Grandpa Armstrong would die as do we all and as in any normal orginization, it would adjust, mature and stop the over zealousness and intrusive BS that comes with the first generation of believers. 

(25) Describe your spiritual condition today. (Also, rate your temperature from 0-10, with 10 the highest.)

Just fine thanks.  98.6  Again, don't tell me how to answer. 

(26) What 5 biggest lessons did you learn from and since the apostasy? (In order of importance.)

Trust no man
When your head tells you yes and your stomach tells you no, the stomach tells the truth
Religion is a drug
Most people can't think critically about Biblical origins and intent.
I wish I had studied paleontology
Prophecy is a lie
I am a scoffer in Biblical terms but an observer of reality in real life.  
I gave you 7. Don't tell me how to anwer

(27) How many times did you fast for 24 hours (or more) before answering these questions?

ZERO

(28) How many times have you prayed over Psalm 51 on your knees?

ZERO

(29) Having now long abandoned many doctrines you said you would never leave, how would you convince Headquarters that this time you “mean it” if you intend to now “hold fast” (Rev. 3:11)?

I don't have to convince you or anyone else of anything. I am happy with having drawn my own conclusions about Church and the Bible and no longer run on fear, guilt and shame based theology.  

(30) What have been your pastoral actions during the troubles of recent weeks and months?

Vomiting  and scoffing reading your announcements. 

(31) Are you prepared to spend a full year (or more) catching up with all you must unlearn, relearn, and learn new?

Absolutely, just not with you or any of the splinters. I'll take care of this one myself. 

(32) What personal responsibility do you feel for the deplorable condition into which God’s people have sunk?

Guilt free but sorry I let myself get into denial over my obvious wrong decision as a younger man to get involved with WCG and all the uneducated and petty minister types. 

(33) How would you prove that you are still Spirit-led?—or were ever Spirit-led?

Never was spirit lead so can't prove I still am.

(34) What date did you leave the WCG, and why did you remain beyond May 1995, if this is the case?

1998.  I was lied to repeatedly when I asked questions of Joe Tkach from '95-98.  In hind sight I would have preferred to leave in '74 when I was first fired in Chicago in the great rebellion of the day  but they forgave me. I was young.

(35) What did you do after reading the article “God’s People Back Together—SOON!”?

Shook my head, slapped my forehead,  laughed to tears and pretty much knew that your "soon" was the same kind of "soon" we find in the NT as to the coming of Jesus. 

You're not going to hire me are you...?   

Race and Ambassador College

I don't know if you have seen this or not.  This was by Gregory Doudna and was posted on the AC Alumni site.  Doudna was the author of Showdown at Big Sandy: Youthful Creativity Confronts Bureaucratic Inertia at an Unconventional Bible College in East Texas.  

I came to Ambassador soon after African-Americans were admitted to the student body.  The racist comments were still being thrown around by many administrators and ministers as to why the college had to admit those people.

Anon

We came from a white-entitlement church ideology yet saw ourselves as loving and benign not hateful to all races. All here from AC Pasadena before 1970 were part of a college which by explicit policy excluded unmarried African-American applicants, including from tithe-paying church member families, from admission. That practice ended in 1970 when an IRS threat of loss of charitable-organization tax exempt status forced an end to the whites-preferential admissions policies at the two AC campuses in the US. Members were not told this true reason for the change. As an entering student at Big Sandy in 1972, I did not know that that was the reason Big Sandy had begun admitting for the first time unmarried black students only one year earlier in 1971. HWA never explained to the members and coworkers: “I, as chancellor of the three Ambassador Colleges, foretaste of the World Tomorrow, with the advice of counsel at headquarters, hereby decree that it is now time to admit some of our unmarried black brethren applicants to the two campuses of God’s colleges in the United States, not applicable to the campus in England, in repudiation of my longstanding teaching of God’s strictures against racial intermixing, because a higher power, namely the IRS/federal government, has threatened our income and for the good of the Work I am obeying man instead of God.”

The wcg ideology was white identity politics with an entitlement mentality: that white Europeans were Israelites and as such, entitled to the best land and natural resources in North America and worldwide. We believed in a church which broadcast booklets about a World Tomorrow which spoke of the glories of Assyrian-scale forced deportations in the millennium in which African Americans, who have been in America for generations and this is their home, would be forcibly sent to Africa en masse, leaving America all white. HWA, who authored this literature whose circulation we supported, was aware that some people might object to being forcibly removed from the only home they have ever known, but that was no impediment as he explained it; God assisted by Noah and HWA and members of the true church would force those people to go and "no defiance will be tolerated". In this ideology these soon-coming Wonderful World Tomorrow Assyrian-scale ethnic cleansings and mass deportations would be good not bad because they were in the forcibly deported peoples’ best interests, even if the first reaction of some of the ethnically cleansed in this administration in the millennium might be to cry tears not understanding immediately. (Footnote here: that is exactly what the ancient Assyrians told their conquered peoples anciently.)

Yet few of us thought of ourselves as racist. HWA and all of us at the time--probably without exception here-- professed love for all races. There was no hate speech from HWA or in church literature. The racism was institutional, not in most cases on a personal level. It was not hate-speech kind of racism. 

GTA: The Games People Play

In 1976, Garner Ted Armstrong toured all of the United States Feast of Tabernacle sites, giving a sermon during the day, and then performing that evening with none other than famous country-western star Buck Owens. 

In 1977, Owens, who was the host of the long-running TV show, "Hee Haw" had GTA on as a guest star, where GTA performed "Put your Hand in the Hand" in front of a national television audience. 

I just recently found this track that GTA performed with Buck Owens, and thought the crowd here at Banned would find it fascinating, especially in light of all of the events that transpired post-1977. 

The song is a cover of the well-known hit "The Games People Play"  

Regards, 

Tonto Sixkiller 

Facebook-Pharisees and Cyber-Sanhedrin

Permission Granted! Either Way. Whatever!

The advertisement began, "There's been a lot of talk about hot dogs lately" and then went on to promote a particular brand of hot dog.  I recall thinking, that I had not heard one bit of talk about hot dogs almost ever.  "There's been a lot of talk about ______ lately", you fill in the blank, seems to have caught on as a way to introduce one's view about something that probably no one at all is talking about or asking but the advertiser wants to push his product anyhow.

Welcome to the world of Prophet Robert Thiel, who now has given Christians the definitive answer, which is  "Sure fine if you wish" or "Don't worry of it if you don't, about  it being appropriate or not for Christians to observe Thanksgiving and whether it is appropriate for to be thankful. 

 I am surprised the article did not contain the obvious warning found in Galatians 4:10-12.

¹⁰You are observing special days and months and seasons and years! ¹¹I fear for you, that somehow I have wasted my efforts on you. ¹²I plead with you, brothers and sisters, become like me, for I became like you. You did me no wrong.

... but that would be unhelpful and only open the traditional can of worms associated with this scripture and what it might actually mean. The good news is that his scripture can be used effectively by Jewish and Gentile Christians against each other depending on what constitutes days, months, seasons and years observed, but let's spare us.

The only reason I bring this up the day before Thanksgiving is that there has been A LOT  of talk about this whether it is right or wrong for a Christian to give thanks, on Thanksgiving practically everywhere I go this past week.  It dominates the news and that's all I hear in stores and in the workplace.

Last Sunday and certainly Saturday, churches were filled with near riot conditions begging clergy for the answer to this nagging question, that with the actual Thanksgiving holiday looming, simply MUST be answered NOW, lest we fall into depravation and offending The Most High with our mere human reasonings and wisdom, which we all know is  pure foolishness if we are not careful in our discernment to the answers of such deeply troubling questions. Just don't ask about football on Thanksgiving. 

Thanksgiving: Can a Christian give thanks?

https://www.cogwriter.com/news/religious-news/thanksgiving-can-a-christian-give-thanks-2/

"The fourth Thursday in November is the American holiday called Thanksgiving. Unlike most holidays observed in the USA, this one is not of pagan origin. Hence, the vast majority in the Church of God (COG) consider it an “optional” (not biblically-required) holiday."

Comment:  First of all we need to get the actual date set firmly in our minds so we evidently don't confuse it with Christmas which, sadly and of course will be addressed far more seriously soon. 

It is not of pagan origin.  That's a good thing and of ultimate importance to understand before going on to answer this pressing question that so many have been talking about. It also does not rank up there with the Biblically required ones either, so get that straight.

The Prophet Robert goes on: Concerning the persecution of the Pilgrims and their coming to America. 

"The persecutions of the Pilgrims somewhat remind me of the history of the Church of God"

Comment:  Somehow we knew it would

The Prophet Robert goes on then nostalgically reminding the savvy reader of the old WCG hymns speaking of, praise and thanksgiving along with a good round of proof texting with a Topical Bible on words like "give thanks", "thanksgiving" and such.  Without those, we simply can have no clue as to what the answer to the question might be. 

In conclusion Prophet Bob adds another piece to God's Puzzle on the rights and wrongs of living on Earth.  He boldly ventures into a scripture that actually more have talked about the meaning of than even hot dogs. But let's keep use of it to focus in on the pressing question at hand. 

"While Christians can observe national holidays, presuming they can do so without sinning, they do not have to keep holidays like Thanksgiving. While he was mainly referring to fast days, the following from the Apostle Paul seems to be applicable here:"

NOTE: Sinning is a function of national holidays, not God's Holydays. And too, Thanksgiving is not like God's Holydays, which you do have to keep,  so let's get that straight from the start. 

Continuing... and seemingly applicable

"5 One person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind. 6 He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord; and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it. He who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks; and he who does not eat, to the Lord he does not eat, and gives God thanks. (Romans 14:5-6)

If one has a problem of conscience keeping Thanksgiving, then one should not. But, either way, Christians should thank and praise God.

Give thanks and praise the Eternal!"

So there we go!  It's ok to give thanks as a Christian!  Or not!  It depends on how you feel about it but it's OK!  Or NOT! Go for it!  Or NOT! Also, let's be sure our praise and thankfulness is of and for the Eternal and not the harvest. 

Sadly and of course, being grateful and thankful , as an agnostic, pagan or atheist, is not addressed in this article so I don't know the anwer to that question.

But, and may the gods forgive my human reasoning and wisdom of man, which I know is foolishness to Prophet Robert, I will risk a personal gratitude for the harvest even though I don't have to if I don't wish to, but I will so I do and we all should, unless some feel they shouldn't. Do what you wish, or not.

“When you rise in the morning, give thanks for the light, for your life, for your strength. Give thanks for your food and for the joy of living. If you see no reason to give thanks, the fault lies in yourself.” – Tecumseh

So,  Happy Thanksgiving

or not

depending!

Restored Church of God: The Cult of Campus?

Dave Packs: "Bigger than the Bible Fable "

Did you know that Scriptures Predicted Bob Thiel and the Improperly Named "continuing" Church of God?

In his ongoing quest to prove he is legitimate in the eyes of Laodicean church members, the great Bwana Bob Thiel is pulling more rats out of his hat to make us believe he is the one and only TRUE church out there today do a work.  Scriptures point directly to him:

The New Testament does specify some in the last days:

17 ‘And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your young men shall see visions, Your old men shall dream dreams. 18 And on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days; And they shall prophesy. (Acts 2:17-18) 

We in the Continuing Church of God have those biblical signs. Plus unlike the Eastern Orthodox, we teach much more that agrees with the Bible. 

Being faithful to the word of God is more important than signs and wonders. However, for the Philadelphian faithful signs and wonders can help show who the most faithful church is.

Self-appointed Church of God leaders down through the decades have pulled scriptures out of the Bible AFTER they have started their little personality cults, to PROVE they are the chosen ones.  Anyone can go to the Bible and pull out some obtuse scripture to support whatever loony idea they want to hold.  Fake COG leaders are extremely adept at doing this.

Bwana Bob Thiel can spout all he wants that because he dreamed a dream and some crazy person on the other side of the world also had a dream does not prove he had the right to start yet another splinter personality cult of Armstrongism.

Bwana Bob is always looking for scriptures to legitimize himself, but for some reason ignores this one:

Jeremiah 23:1-6 New International Version (NIV)
The Righteous Branch

23 “Woe to the shepherds who are destroying and scattering the sheep of my pasture!”declares the Lord. 2 Therefore this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says to the shepherds who tend my people: “Because you have scattered my flock and driven them away and have not bestowed care on them, I will bestow punishment on you for the evil you have done,” declares the Lord. 3 “I myself will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them and will bring them back to their pasture, where they will be fruitful and increase in number. 4 I will place shepherds over them who will tend them, and they will no longer be afraid or terrified, nor will any be missing,” declares the Lord.

Or this one:

 Ezekiel 34 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

Israel’s False Shepherds

34 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 Mortal, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel: prophesy, and say to them—to the shepherds: Thus says the Lord God: Ah, you shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves! Should not shepherds feed the sheep? 3 You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fatlings; but you do not feed the sheep. 4 You have not strengthened the weak, you have not healed the sick, you have not bound up the injured, you have not brought back the strayed, you have not sought the lost, but with force and harshness you have ruled them. 5 So they were scattered, because there was no shepherd; and scattered, they became food for all the wild animals. 6 My sheep were scattered, they wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill; my sheep were scattered over all the face of the earth, with no one to search or seek for them.

7 Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: 8 As I live, says the Lord God, because my sheep have become a prey, and my sheep have become food for all the wild animals, since there was no shepherd; and because my shepherds have not searched for my sheep, but the shepherds have fed themselves, and have not fed my sheep; 9 therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: 10 Thus says the Lord God, I am against the shepherds; and I will demand my sheep at their hand, and put a stop to their feeding the sheep; no longer shall the shepherds feed themselves. I will rescue my sheep from their mouths, so that they may not be food for them.

Or this:

Matthew 24:24

24 For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.

And this:

2 Timothy 4:3-4
3 For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 4 They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.

Or this:

Acts 20:28-30
28 Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood.29 I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. 30 Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them.

And this one:

Matthew 7:15-20 New International Version (NIV)
True and False Prophets
15 “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. 16 By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17 Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.

Or this:

Titus 1:10-16
Rebuking Those Who Fail to Do Good

10 For there are many rebellious people, full of meaningless talk and deception, especially those of the circumcision group. 11 They must be silenced, because they are disrupting whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach—and that for the sake of dishonest gain. 12 One of Crete’s own prophets has said it: “Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons.”[b] 13 This saying is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, so that they will be sound in the faith 14 and will pay no attention to Jewish myths or to the merely human commands of those who reject the truth. 15 To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure. In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted.16 They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good.

Jim Crow Church of God

There has always been an uncomfortable relationship between British-Israelism and White Supremacy. That fact probably played a role in why COG7D rejected it. British-Israelism is one of the two pillar doctrines that set HWA apart, giving him his niche to start his own information marketing business, the Radio Church of God. The COG's know this and is why they are having such a hard time departing from this debunked theory. They also need it in order to continue creating a sense of urgency surrounding the return of Christ.

Lambert Greer gave a sermon at the feast on the promise to Abraham's seed of physical blessings at the end of the age. He claimed that when he first started hearing the phrase, "white privilege" that he was offended by it. That is the typical knee jerk reaction from white people. They instantly apply it to themselves. They reason that they personally are not recipients of benefits at the detriment of people of color. They argue that no one gave them a hand-out or a free ride but that they fought for and earned everything they have. And that probably is true but white people fail to view the term in its over-arching social context and how it effects individuals of color.

This nation was established by genocide and built by stolen labor. Even after abolishing slavery, whites were quick to install Jim Crow laws, enforce segregation, establish Planned Parenthood with its real aim to abort non-white babies and federalize a fake war on drugs to supply a prison system with free non-white labor.

And so a minister says he is offended by the term, "white privilege" at first but then after thinking about it in the context of the promise made to Abraham's seed in the end times, he now understands white privilege in the framework of British-Israelism and that we should actually be INSPIRED by it!

To be inspired by white privilege achieved by the degradation and subjugation of non-whites in most horrific ways for hundreds of years exposes an egregious flaw in the world-view well-meaning white folks in the churches of God hold dear.

Just recently, LCG was very quick to point out a genome study reported by Live Science stating that there is no "gay" gene. Yet the same church refuses to acknowledge those same studies in genome research disproving British-Israelism.

When viewed critically from a long view of human history, the rise and fall of British and American empire is the most recent of a chain of empires over thousands of years. How they came by that dominance in no way differs from the way all empires rise to prominence: war, subjugation and genocide. Might makes right in this fallen world so we should take great pause before attributing blessings from God to current events.

After Abraham demonstrated his faith, God says:

"blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice."  --Genesis 22:17-18

HWA herded his followers into viewing everything through his selective interpretations of the Old Covenant, as well as Old Testament prophecy, and gave them life in an urgent present. Instead of trying to make this fit into current events, how about we accept the largeness of the blessing far beyond what we see today. Does Britain and the United States possess "all" the gates of their enemies? There is an estimated 1 septillion stars in the universe and over 7 quintillion grains of sand on earth and yet the Brits and Americans fail to outnumber over 1 billion Chinese or Indians. And finally, are "all" the nations of the earth blessed because of Britain and America? Hardly. The fulfillment of blessings on Abraham's seed are still set in a future very different from this present reality. And more importantly, when that blessing is fulfilled, what makes up Abraham's seed will be a spiritual entity. Accepting Jesus Christ as Savior should reorient our thinking about what it means to be sons of Abraham.

"just as Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him as righteousness, Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, "In you all the nations shall be blessed."  --Galatians 3:6-8

"Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, "And to seeds," as of many, but as of one, "And to your Seed," who is Christ."  --Galatians 3:16

I know those who cling to British-Israelism insist that their identity is the key to unlocking prophecy BUT the reality is the growing genome research is making it impossible to discern just what an Israelite descendant would be today. And secondly, what Christ reveals concerning prophecy in the New Testament is sufficient without knowing where physical Israelites are today. This skewed perception of needing to know who the physical descendants of Israel are today is a distraction from the bigger spiritual picture.

“For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise” --Galatians 3:26-29

My advice to the leaders in LCG is to not cherry-pick genome research. And instead of finding inspiration in "white privilege" find it in Jesus Christ. Drop all the racist baggage inherent in British-Israelism and reorient the brethren to think the way Paul worked painstakingly to do; to tear down the wall of partition between flesh tones and genealogies, and make a new people through the power of His Holy Spirit.

"But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God..."          --I Peter 2:9-10

Stoned Stephen Society