In the magical world of Armstrongism, its god is more concerned about the little things in life than it is about Christians being slaughtered in Muslim lands, entire families being wiped out by drunk drivers, families shot in their beds by despondent fathers/siblings or finding out the cancer you have is incurable. However, the god of Armstrongism just looooooooooves doing little miracles for church members, particularly for Philadelphia Church of God members.
PCG's Rufard Manyepa writes in The Brief Case of the Briefcase
My two friends and I had been playing tag inside the house. The game had become more and more adventurous until I hid in my parents’ bedroom, knowing that nobody could get me there. After a few minutes though, I was bored. As I exited, I spotted my father’s briefcase and decided to show it off to my friends.
They were as enamored by it as I would have hoped, their eyes widening with astonishment as it came into view. Soft-sided and old as it was, it still looked good. Its brown leather had developed an attractive patina over the years, and its passcode dials were still shiny. I carefully set it down on the ground and opened it. My friends wordlessly entreated me to examine it. After a second’s pause, I gave them the thumbs up. In that moment, I felt like a Roman Emperor.
Thirsty from the game of tag, I went to fetch us some water. When I returned, just three minutes later, my friends had apologetic expressions on their faces as they held up the briefcase to me like an offering. In the short time I had been in the kitchen, they unlocked the case, set a new code and shut the case with no idea what the new one was. We were now locked out with no clue how to get in.
My entire world came crashing down on me: What would I say to my dad? How would he gain access to his briefcase? His Bible and years of notes were in there. I had been in trouble many times before, but this was something entirely different altogether. This was one of the most personal, important things he owned. Aside from its contents, the briefcase itself was of immense sentimental value. We tried to get it open for the rest of the afternoon. By nightfall, my friends had gone home and we still hadn’t figured out the code.
I had no option but to tell my father what happened. When he arrived, I told him the entire story of what had happened. He listened quietly and attentively as I soberly related him with the day’s events. When I was done, I expected him to ask why I had gone into their bedroom, or why I was playing with his briefcase. I expected him to be furious. Instead, he calmly asked, “Before trying to open the briefcase, did you pray?”
I was rocked. I hadn’t even thought of praying! As I stuttered, trying to come up with an excuse, my father told me to bring the briefcase. “We are going to pray about it,” he said. “God will open it up if He wants to, but you must remember that He won’t do so unless we ask Him to. Always remember to go to God first before you do anything.”
I brought the briefcase to my dad, and he placed it on his lap. I sat by him and he began to pray. He thanked God for this faith-building opportunity asking for His intervention in the matter. He asked God to show His involvement in our lives. As he prayed, his hands fiddled with the briefcase dials. He ended the prayer thanking God for His miracles, asking that He perform one for us now. When he said the word “Amen,” it was accompanied by a loud clack! The briefcase was unlocked!
What a miracle! This wasn’t chance. God miraculously intervened!
14 comments:
What are the odds that dear old dad was not pulling a fast one to delude his son into thinking it was God who intervened and not his dad having another code that also worked....
Yeah, well..... read about the miracle of the man with the heart attack who threw away his prescripted medicine while his non member wife cried her heart out.
PCG's God is a miracle working God.
Nck
This is the stupidest story I’ve ever read! Anyone who’s ever had a combination briefcase knows that it’s a lot more difficult to change the number than just spinning it while playing with it. This dad took advantage of the situation and decided to mislead his child into thinking that God will always find your house keys and fix your combinations.
God forbid this dad teach his son to pray for important things .
So glad I left that stupid cult, wish my family wasn’t still in it.
I know of someone in one of the splinters that has ongoing back pain for many years. It was bothering him one day, so I told him to take 2 Aleve, lay down on the body massager and relax. He had already contacted his minister for an anointed cloth, don't remember if it had come in the mail yet or not. Anyway, after a nap and about an hour or so on the messager, he felt better and his back didn't hurt so much. He sent a letter to the minister telling him his back was better and the minister wanted to know if this episode could be listed on the miracle report. I guess we can thank God for chemicals, they are miraculous.
On one hand, this is a story about which many people would be thinking, "If it's not true, it certainly ought to be!"
Unfortunately, it comes from a branch of Armstrongism, PCG, and we know that these groups frequently exaggerated events into miracles, or just flat made them up. At best, that known pattern of behavior would cast doubt on any legitimate miracles, if any were to actually occur at PCG.
I have no problem believing that God is powerful enough to help humans with relatively small problems, or large scale catastrophic ones, according to His will. It is a very human thought that questions why God would aid a young boy with his small problem, while allowing terrorists to slash the throats of Christians living in Muslim countries. The testimony of the martyrs in early church history was partially responsible for the growth of Christianity.
BB
so someone exercising faith in little things is ridiculed because God doesn't intervene in the things you find important????
No someone is being ridiculed because the PCG is dangerous cult advocating the rejection of medicine leading to a growing list of dead people whose dead could have been prevented.
That's why ANY story attempting to prove that God backs them up should be trashed to hell, where there leaders belong.
Nck
Byker, if God was powerful enough to heal humans with relatively small problems or large scale catastrophic ones, don't you think there would be at least ONE documented instance in which He healed an amputee?
Does God hate amputees? Or is it an amazing coincidence that He is credited with healing only those infirmities (yes, including blindness and cancer) that the amazing human body can occasionally heal on its own? Or should we accept the most obvious interpretation, that God isn't doing the healing after all?
nck said...
No someone is being ridiculed because the PCG is dangerous cult advocating the rejection of medicine leading to a growing list of dead people whose dead could have been prevented.
That's why ANY story attempting to prove that God backs them up should be trashed to hell, where there leaders belong.
Nck
January 19, 2020 at 9:55 AM
WOW...!!!
now that's some true emotion flowing out of Nck, finally. (or he's buzzed)
Shades of Pulp Fiction!
Back when I was an atheist, 11:04, I used Downs Syndrome children in that same question you asked. And, of course, nobody could ever give me an answer which satisfied my criteria.
I don't know why some ailments and disabilities are healed while some are not, and some individuals are healed while others are not. I suppose faith has something to do with it, mental conditioning, attitude. When I was heavily into the martial arts, confidently visualizing my hand going through boards got that job done. Of course, I saw how the boards were laid out. We were breaking the grain, not breaking against the grain.
There probably is a "right combination" to facilitate interaction between the human mind and the deity, unleashing positive enough energy for healing to take place. All that I know was that it was not to be found through Armstrongism. That doesn't mean that we throw up our hands and give up on the possibilities of enlightenment.
BB
The PCG was full of old sex maniacs, sex perverts, and predators. They did not hesitate to tell outright lies. It is hard to believe anything that those lying, slandering perverts say.
Sounds like a suspicious story.
They do not PRAY for others in the PCG.
They PREY on others in the PCG.
And they LIE.
Honestly if the suitcase was priceless or an heirloom encrusted with gold and precious jewels then I'd consider it a miracle if there was no damage done to the valuable suitcase in re-opening it. If it was filled with gold or money or even highly prized documents that detailed natural cures to various forms of cancers and other incurable diseases then I wouldn't have cared about the suitcase at all and would've torn it apart to get to its contents! So, the mere fact it only contained a copy of the Bible (even if it was an heirloom) and study notes if it was mine I wouldn't have worried so much about the suitcase and would have done what I needed to do to get to my Bible and notes even if that means breaking it open. It's not like it was left on a train and disappeared out of my life for months even years only to suddenly and mysteriously reappear undamaged and intact in my bedroom after all this time of separation! Now that'd be a miracle!
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