Sobering Signs of the Times: When we look at events and trends in our world today, it is sobering to see the parallels between conditions mentioned in the Scriptures and the times in which we are living. During the days of Noah, God intervened dramatically to destroy a global society that had become filled with violence, wickedness, and evil (Genesis 6). Just about 400 years later, God poured out punishments that destroyed the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, because they perverted their ways with depraved behaviors (Genesis 19; Ezekiel 16:49–50). While Lot and his family enjoyed the abundance of the area (Genesis 13:10–13), they had grown so accustomed to and tolerant of what was going on around them that they were reluctant to leave. Lot’s wife was turned into a pillar of salt because she looked back longingly at what she was leaving behind. As we see our modern societies going the way of Sodom again—approving and promoting homosexuality, same-sex marriage, abortion, and other behaviors that God condemns—we need to remember that these Old Testament examples were recorded for our admonition today (1 Corinthians 10:1–13). The Apostle Paul urged Christians to “come out” of this world and its perverted ways (2 Corinthians 6:17–18) because God’s judgment will come on our societies—just as it did on Sodom and Gomorrah. We need to wake up and recognize the real significance of what is happening around us today, and earnestly pray, “Thy kingdom come.”
Have a profitable Sabbath,
Douglas S. Winnail
The gays, the gays, the gays! Its never the corrupt, lascivious, and perverted Church of God's leadership who destroys members' lives. Nope. Never! Blame the other instead of your own dirty church headquarters and morally bankrupt leaders.
Truly, "thy kingdom come" when the Church of God is delivered from its own leaders!
27 comments:
It would make better sense and would be much more consistent to target all sin. Murder, abortion, cheating on taxes, drunkenness, the entire sin spectrum. I believe that the reason these ACOG leaders single out and dramatize homosexuality is that they are still afraid that it's catching. They don't worry so much about being tempted to murder someone, or tempted to get an abortion, because those things are generally the furthest thing from the minds of church members. So there is presumptive innocence with regard to those sins lurking in the congregation. Obviously, some or all of them live in constant fear that they or their members might be tempted to cross the line and change the sexual orientation with which they were born. Guess the ACOGs have all slacked off on their calisthenics!
When horrible natural disasters hit Communist countries, you don't hear them labeled as being punishments for Godlessness. When have we ever heard an ACOG leader proclaim that punishment has been inflicted upon a nation or region for their racism?
I got sick and tired of hearing about heterosexual sin, homosexual sin, and masturbation every single day way back in the days of Rod Meredith's First Year Bible Class. If any preoccupation were catching, apparently it was that, because now all the ministers dwell on those topics all the time! Aren't there more advanced theological topics for discussion?
BB
God's plan was for a man and a woman to get married and then reproduce and raise their children.
Now, many people want to do anything and everything else under the sun except that.
The so-called sexual revolution of the 1960s was about selfish and irresponsible people wanting to have sex without the responsibilities that used to come with it. It led to pornography, fornication, adultery, broken families, sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), and abortions.
The recent LGBTQ mania is about people wanting to do everything that God said not to do, especially the really perverse things. It helped to spread diseases like AIDS.
Complete gender confusion is the latest big thing. People no longer want their true biological sex listed on their birth certificates or driver's licenses. Boys are taught to want to be girls, and girls are taught to want to be boys. For sure, the boys want into the girl's bathrooms. They used to be called perverts for doing that, but now those who do not want them to do it are being called the bad people. The basic idea that God created humans male and female is now being replaced with the idea that there are 57 or more different genders.
Rather than it being a matter of “two consenting adults in the privacy of their own bedroom” like it was passed off as at the start, it is now about the Bible and its teachings and the Ten Commandments being banned at schools for being “hate literature,” and all of these other ideas being taught to everyone's young children instead.
Remember that Herbert W. Armstrong had taught that the USA and Britain had become so great because they had been blessed by God, but that because of their increasing sins they will be punished by God.
The membership deserves the leadership they have. They control the money but take orders from men who careless for them.
Why did people join Rods LCG when they had the choice of other splinters? After all, Rod had a reputation for lording it over members via mental cruelty. And his sermons were his version of Herbs two trees, in which nothing new was taught.
It's interesting how in all the splinters, their true moral code is imparted under the table by the way that the ministers treat the members. And this informal code is not biblical morality.
Homosexuality is God's way of insuring that the truly gifted aren't burdened with children.
Samuel Austin Allibone
Those who matter don't mind, and those who mind don't matter.
Bernard Baruch
"Gay people are born into, and belong to, every society in the world. They are all ages, all races, all faiths. They are doctors and teachers, farmers and bankers, soldiers and athletes. And whether we know it or whether we acknowledge it, they are our family, our friends, and our neighbors. Being gay is not a Western invention. It is a human reality.
Hillary Clinton
Native Americans have often held intersex, androgynous people, feminine males and masculine females in high respect. The most common term to define such persons today is to refer to them as "two-spirit" people...Rather than emphasizing the homosexuality of these persons, however, many Native Americans focused on their spiritual gifts. American Indian traditionalists, even today, tend to see a person's basic character as a reflection of their spirit. Since everything that exists is thought to come from the spirit world, androgynous or transgender persons are seen as doubly blessed, having both the spirit of a man and the spirit of a woman. Thus, they are honored for having two spirits, and are seen as more spiritually gifted than the typical masculine male or feminine female.
Therefore, many Native American religions, rather than stigmatizing such persons, often looked to them as religious leaders and teachers. Quite similar religious traditions existed among the native peoples of Siberia and many parts of Central and southeast Asia. Since the ancestors of Native Americans migrated from Siberia over 20,000 years ago, and since reports of highly respected androgynous persons have been noted among indigenous Americans from Alaska to Chile, androgyny seems to be quite ancient among humans."
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2010/oct/11/two-spirit-people-north-america
Continued...
Continued
It's mostly fundamentalists and literalists Christian zealots fault if fault is to be searched for. Just about in every case in my experience in ministry and with ministers of both WCG and other denominations, those men who decry being gay and rant about homosexuality are struggling with their own thoughts. Shoot me if you must, but one can make an terrible good case that the Apostle Paul was such a man based on his own words, conflicts and disciplines.
"15 I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate.
16 But if I know that what I am doing is wrong, this shows that I agree that the law is good.
17 So I am not the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.
18 And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can’t.
19 I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway.
20 But if I do what I don’t want to do, I am not really the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it. 21 I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong.
22 I love God’s law with all my heart.
23 But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me.
24 Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death?
What a miserable plight and of course Paul reflects the view of his times and considers himself full of this thing called "sin". It is not he that thinks the thoughts does the things he thinks he should not. It is "sin" in him as if it was a virus. Some would say it is but Paul is not taking responsibility here for his own life. He has been taken over. Later he says he even beat himself into submission and he meant it literally. He was a conflicted man over many things and it is not a stretch to believe he is beating around the bush over his struggles with his own true self and sexuality. Why else would he not be more specific as to what all these things were that he thought and did that he felt he should not?
Dennis, you have gone from one proverbial ditch to the other.
Jeffrey Dahmer. Leopold and Loeb. Roy Cohn.
Talk to me about these men's "spiritual gifts."
People with same-sex attractions are neither more spiritual nor less spiritual than people with opposite-sex attractions. A gay man may be a world-class chess player, musician, artist, or investment banker. A gay man may be a petty thief, a rapist, even a murderer.
But are those same-sex attractions "natural" (whatever that means)? Same-sex attractions occur in species other than human beings, so they're clearly not some kind of willful perversion. Now, a willful pervert may use his sexuality in his perversion, and a sick man may use his sexuality in his sickness. But that doesn't make sexuality (hetero/homo/bi/pan/etc.) a perversion or a sickness.
Nor does it make LGBT people into saints. And as for one of your quotations:
Homosexuality is God's way of insuring that the truly gifted aren't burdened with children.
Samuel Austin Allibone
Many gays and lesbians have children, and many don't consider those children a burden. Whether it's because a gay person entered into a heterosexual marriage out of obligation or desire to run away from in-born attractions, or because a gay couple want to have a happy family, it's a very 19th century misconception to equate homosexuality with childlessness. I'm sure you know that, so your quote puzzles me.
hmmm, guess that's why there were savages....
Acceptance of homosexuality is only one symptom of man's depravity. Pointing to pagan cultures' acceptance and honor of such does nothing to justify it.
12.40 AM
British-Israelism was the official doctrine of the Anglican Church in the 1800s before HWAs birth in 1892. Queen Victoria and her advisors believed in it as well. So I wouldn't give all the honor to HWA for this doctrine, though in all fairness he was its main torch bearer in the 20th century.
Anonymous said...
Dennis, you have gone from one proverbial ditch to the other.
Nah, I just tend to see both side of issues and not much is either/or, black/white
Also said: "Nor does it make LGBT people into saints. And as for one of your quotations:
Homosexuality is God's way of insuring that the truly gifted aren't burdened with children.
Samuel Austin Allibone"
The quote is a not meant as a deep truth or to be taken literally in 100% of all gay lives. There must be a term for that kind of observation but you miss the nuance of the humor combined with the balanced view of human contributions to all fields of endeavor.
It's like saying "God calls mostly older people so they don't have to be the ones to bring watermelons to the Church picnics" lol
But I should realize that homophobia and Biblical rants on the topic will erupt amongst not a few here. Human sexuality is not the all or nothing experience most are taught it is. If it was, there would not be so many threatening laws and consequences inflicted by those who believe it is upon those who struggle. It is not a choice. It is a tendency of thought and many many more deep and complicated factors depending on each person. In any group, and I saw this fascinatingly so with my practice near Bob Jones University, there are people wanting to belong and yet being who they are, all masked up , compliant looking and conflicted because that is just who and how they are. BJU, no wisecracks, has a large gay student population relative to the severity of the institution Biblically. BJU makes Ambassador College and WCG look like a picnic. It has gay students and faculty that either they deny they have or are oblivious to.
I used to live near BJU but now live near FU (Furman University) lol. Karma Fairy messing with Greenville I guess...
Dennis C. Diehl does not believe the Bible. He reads other books and immediately believes them instead of the Bible. Now he is in the position of opposing the Bible on major issues of morality, and pretending that he is a nice guy for going along with things that the Bible calls sins and abominations. This might not end well for him.
and too...any number of commentators and contributors here on Banned are gay and a few, no doubt, somewhat in between if we go by the stats. My practical real life experiences and people met along the way in both the Church experience and in my practice make this very clear in practical human fact.
Im surprised that the COGs are not hitting this crisis on "All Cylinders" to appeal to their base.
They should blame the viral crisis on all the .. Gay, Chinese, Pork Eating, Pagan, Gentile, Non Red tie/Blue suit/ white shirt wearing, non tithing , masturbators!
Hits on all the racist, gender, religious, behavioral , wardrobe, financial ,and diet, "Hot Buttons" that COG people love to hear!
Anonymous said...
Dennis C. Diehl does not believe the Bible.
Comment: Mostly true with some redeeming portions of course as in any work.
He reads other books and immediately believes them instead of the Bible.
Comment: I'd take exception to "immediately" unless 25 years or more is immediately to you. I assume "soon" must also indicate God not viewing time as mere mortals do?
Now he is in the position of opposing the Bible on major issues of morality, and pretending that he is a nice guy for going along with things that the Bible calls sins and abominations.
Comment: The Bible has some real problems with its own issues of morality if you do your homework and think it through. I don't have to pretend to be a nice guy. I am one. You?
This might not end well for him.
Comment: And you know this? Or it might end really well. Nonetheless, it will end. Everything ends. It might not end well for you perhaps? Typical self righteous judgment on those who simple don't filter their world, experiences and beliefs through your eyes.
“LCG: Thank's gays. It's your fault, again.”
Homosexuals were a major cause of the spread of AIDs.
The direct cause of the COVID-19 virus PANDEMIC is reported to be people eating biblically unclean animals such as bats, or snakes, or snakes that have eaten bats.
Modern science apparently helps such diseases along by taking bat viruses and snake viruses and weaponizing them in laboratories.
Modern science has done so much more than merely inventing nuclear weapons and the rockets to deliver them.
Dennis C. Diehl does not believe the Bible. He reads other books and immediately believes them instead of the Bible. Now he is in the position of opposing the Bible on major issues of morality, and pretending that he is a nice guy for going along with things that the Bible calls sins and abominations. This might not end well for him.
The above is a great example of the Christ-like attitude that "believing the Bible" fosters in Bible-readers. Even Jesus Christ didn't say that wine-bibbers and tax collectors were not "nice guys." He dined with them and showed them His love, and generally treated them better than He treated the Pharisees who kept to the strict "letter" of the law (and more).
People who call themselves "Christian" yet wait with relish for people to suffer are not practicing the religion of Jesus Christ. Some of these people are just a$$holes. Others are secretly envious, wishing they could commit the sins they decry and lashing out at those who (for now) "get away" with those sins.
DennisCDiehl at 9:40 AM said...“I don't have to pretend to be a nice guy. I am one. You?”
Yes, I am a nice person too.
In fact, I am EVEN NICER than you.
So THERE!
Jim-AZ said
Doug Winnail wrote about Sodom and Gomorrah being destroyed because of their depraved behavior while Lot and his family enjoyed the abundance of the area. Peter called Lot a righteous man. Winnail goes on to say these Old Testament examples were recorded for our admonition today. This section of the Bible perplexes me. Because of the wicked behavior of the people Sodom and Gomorrah was destroyed. Then righteous Lot got drunk and committed incest with his daughters. Was getting drunk and committing incest considered ok. By the way Lot’s daughters didn’t get him drunk. How did they force him to get drunk? Was he so drunk he didn’t know he was having sex? Would someone explain why how this was considered RIGHTEOUS?
Jim-AZ
Everybody jumps to the conclusion that Sodom was a hotbed of homosexual debauchery because the male residents ganged up and made threats of anal rape against the angels who came to serve Lot's family an eviction notice. Those threats did not imply affectionate gay relations, or even homoerotic impulses. What the gang intended was dominance displays: violent expressions of contempt. The problem readers have is that the words for Sodom's wrongdoing ("their sin is very grievous," they are "wicked," "committed abomination," etc.) so general that people can read into them whatever sins they themselves are hung up on.
Ezekeal 16 mentions what might have been the most egregious offenses, beginning in verse 49: "Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy. 50 They were haughty and did detestable things before me."
The scene about raping strangers seems to have been an oral formula device for poets who wished to emphasize the brutality of regimes that oppress foreigners and the domestic poor. See Judges 19.
In other words, the residents of Sodom acted the way American Republicans have acted since Newt Gingrich's Contract with America, cheered on by Rush Limbaugh, Fox News pundits, and their ilk. Donald Trump is the culmination of the trend.
9:51AM wrote:
Homosexuals were a major cause of the spread of AIDs.
In Africa, heterosexual Christians were (and continue to be) the main spreaders of AIDS.
Hemophiliacs, however, have been disproportionately the worst spreaders of AIDS. Why does God continue to make hemophiliacs?
Oh no way 1012 are you nicer a guy than me?! Lol
DennisCDiehl at 1:16 PM said...“Oh no way 1012 are you nicer a guy than me?!”
AM TOO!!!
231 Wishful thought: DennisCDiehl at 1:16 PM said...“Oh no way 1012 are you nicer a guy than me?!”
AM TOO!!!
Look! I had a dream. And in this dream there were two fig trees. And the smaller one, which was you, withered for bearing no fruit even though it was the season for figs. (Don't ask). Then my figs received a double portion of fertilizer and grew into heaven. People came from all around and said "What a nice tree. That's the nicest tree I have ever seen. And the figs are marvelous."
And yes brethren, I am that tree that did not wither, as did yours... Obviously, and I have the agreement of all my family and friends. They have never quite heard a dream such as that! I am that nicer guy...
So send it in and share all your stuff with me as well...
You can't fight a dream and a double portion of fertilizer. You'll see in three days or maybe years depending...
I was going to say I didnt necessarily recall the COGs being as obsessed with gays and lesbians as some groups were, but then the COGlodytes comment and show us that yes, they are rather infatuated with them after all.
DennisCDiehl at 3:33 PM said...“Look! I had a dream. And in this dream there were two fig trees. And the smaller one, which was you, withered for bearing no fruit even though it was the season for figs. (Don't ask). Then my figs received a double portion of fertilizer and grew into heaven.”
Ha!!! That's nothing!
My tree received a TRIPLE portion of fertilizer, SEVEN times over, which was too much and burned it out. That is the plain truth about the real truth about what actually happened. Don't poop on my tree.
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