Gerald Weston and those all-wise boys in Charlotte are still refusing to cancel their ministerial conference that was/is expected to draw in 300 ministers. The potential for exposure to the virus is high for those flying in on planes from certain areas of the U.S. and the world.
Greetings from Charlotte,
Mr. Richard Ames recorded a Tomorrow’s World telecast this week titled “Just What Is ‘The Day of the Lord?’” We are making preparations for Council of Elders meetings this coming Thursday and Friday, and for the General Ministerial Conference the following week. This is the first conference of this size in six years. COVID-19 caused us to consider whether to cancel the conference, but after serious discussion and prayer, and looking at who is coming and from where, we decided to go ahead with it. There are certainly risks with something like this, but if the virus has spread much further than is being reported, which is almost a certainty, the actual mortality rate may be significantly lower. We have taken what we call a “layered approach,” involving decisions to be made at different levels of risk. For example, we have encouraged any of our ministers with underlying health issues to consider carefully whether to come. Also, if necessary, we will ask those people from a high risk part of the world not to come. Few if any currently fit into the latter category. Please do pray for the safety and health of everyone traveling to and from the conference.—Gerald Weston
Ministerial Conference, March 16–18
As was mentioned in an e-mail this past week to all the ministers who have registered to attend the conference, after careful consultation, Mr. Weston has made the decision to continue with plans for the upcoming Ministerial Conference, but with caution. We are expecting over 300 attendees to the Ministerial Conference March 16–18. However, the international situation with the COVID-19 virus is very fluid, and we will be prepared to adjust plans as needed, with special concern for international travelers. We urge our ministry to be aware of the COVID-19 virus situation, and how it might impact their travels, particularly if they are coming from outside the United States. As mentioned in the e-mail, no one should travel to the U.S. if they are feeling ill or have been around people who are ill. All of us, especially the elderly, need to consider carefully whether or not to travel at this time. The Church has long practiced the biblical statute regarding quarantine (Leviticus 13:46 and others), and members should be especially alert and careful in these times (Proverbs 22:3). CAD is not requiring anyone to travel in these times if they would rather not. CAD will make arrangements regarding costs associated with cancelled flights, etc., on an individual basis. Concerning ministry from the U.S. and Canada, the quarantine statute should be carefully observed. If possible, drive instead of using air travel, and CAD will discuss the financial aspects with individual situations. In any case, you should not come if you are uncomfortable with travelling in the current conditions.Today, the Mormon church wisely canceled its annual conference in Salt Lake City and will do it as a telecast to its faithful. After consulting with health and government officials they decided to "be good global citizens" and do what they could to help control the spread of the virus.
Can you imagine LCG consulting with health officials? Can you imagine LCG leadership telling its members to be "good global citizens?" They know more than the health officials in everything and besides, they claim to have a powerful god on their side that will prevent any minister or member from getting the disease.
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced Wednesday that it will hold a major conference in April that features speeches by top leaders without any attendees because of the spread of the coronavirus.
It marks the first time in more than 60 years since the Utah-based faith has taken this extraordinary step of barring church members from attending in person.
The twice-yearly conference usually brings about 100,000 to Salt Lake City over two days, but instead the speeches will only be broadcast via television and the internet.
The only people allowed inside the church conference center on April 4-5 will be top leaders, their spouses, musicians, choir members and technicians, the faith widely known as the Mormon church said in a news release.
The decision was made after consulting with government and medical leaders, the church said. Church members are also being discouraged from gathering at local churches or buildings to watch the conference together in areas where the virus is a concern.
“We want to be good global citizens and do what we can to control this contagious illness,” the church said. Mormons to hold major conference without attendees
If this virus continues to spread all of the COG's that hold Feast sites around the world are going to have major problems on their hands if they do not proactively act. Most of them are too self-centered and self-righteous to do so. If they do, they know their money stream will have serious issues.
30 comments:
Love the "we prayed about it" part. May as well be we threw bones, read the Tarot Cards and got the Urim and Thummin out of the closet for a look see. Of course, there was no positive response from God. But as long as one prays about that which they already intend to do, it's all good and permission granted.
They will cancel it. They just don't know it yet.
LCG teaches that God mandates observance of the Feast of Tabernacles.
If LCG cancels Feast sites and tells people to meet in their local congregations, this will loosen the cult's hold on its members, as they will be admitting that they don't trust their God to protect them.
However, if members meet locally, there will be much more excess second tithe. You just know LCG leaders won't be able to resist the urge to demand, "Send it all in, brethren!" When LCG leaders find out that Holy Day offerings are higher when people stay local, they'll be tempted to cut back dramatically on the number of Feast sites in future years, maybe having just one or two very expensive sites for the wealthiest members and expecting everyone else to stay at home. This, too, will loosen the cult's hold on its members when they confront the legalism of finding "temporary dwellings" in their local communities. Some will swap homes with friends, some may rediscover Biblical booths, all will realize the arbitrariness of LCG's Un-Biblical rules.
No matter what else happens, this is a disaster for LCG.
Do the right thing. https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/cancel-everything
"These three facts imply a simple conclusion. The coronavirus could spread with frightening rapidity, overburdening our health-care system and claiming lives, until we adopt serious forms of social distancing.
This suggests that anyone in a position of power or authority, instead of downplaying the dangers of the coronavirus, should ask people to stay away from public places, cancel big gatherings, and restrict most forms of nonessential travel.
Given that most forms of social distancing will be useless if sick people cannot get treated—or afford to stay away from work when they are sick—the federal government should also take some additional steps to improve public health. It should take on the costs of medical treatment for the coronavirus, grant paid sick leave to stricken workers, promise not to deport undocumented immigrants who seek medical help, and invest in a rapid expansion of ICU facilities.
The past days suggest that this administration is unlikely to do these things well or quickly (although the administration signaled on Monday that it will seek relief for hourly workers, among other measures). Hence, the responsibility for social distancing now falls on decision makers at every level of society.
Do you head a sports team? Play your games in front of an empty stadium.
(I would add. Do you give sermons to a church. Give them in front of empty chairs)
Are you organizing a conference? Postpone it until the fall.
(Even if you prayed about it)
Do you run a business? Tell your employees to work from home.
(Do you run a Church? Tell your employees to work from home and stay home)
Are you the principal of a school or the president of a university? Move classes online before your students get sick and infect their frail relatives.
(Are you planning to fly hundreds into your campus or church HQ? Do it over the phone. Send an email or teleconference)
Are you running a presidential campaign? Cancel all rallies right now."
(Are you planning a Ministerial Conference? Cancel it right now)
if you are elderly and have serious health issues, be cautious about the virus...
few others have much to fear from it... but you won't hear that on the evening news...they're invested in creating a fear frenzy so they can feel important.
As mentioned in the e-mail, no one should travel to the U.S. if they are feeling ill or have been around people who are ill.
ARE THEY SERIOUS?
Anyone who listens to experts for even five minutes understands that "feeling ill" is irrelevant. The virus has an unknown incubation period, perhaps as long as two weeks, during which you don't feel any symptoms but you can infect other people.
The whole point of isolation is that you cannot know whether or not you have been around people who are ill, because many people who are ill don't show symptoms.
If LCG's god is inspiring LCG's statements, their god is a moron. I wonder whether any disgruntled LCG members have contacted the media or the government out of concern about LCG's willful stupidity?
LCG has the infrastructure to broadcast live sermons over the internet.
If LCG gathers 300-500 people together in one auditorium in Charlotte on the weekly Sabbaths of March 14 or March 21, or for ministers March 16-18, it will be scandalously irresponsible at best, a public health disaster at worst.
Rod McNair is in the age range of those most likely to survive the virus.
Doug Winnail, Dick Ames, Dexter Wakefield, and Gerald Weston are in the age range of those most likely to die from the virus.
Coincidence?
While this Pollyanna view of the motives and always pure and righteous heart government and politicians are said to have and from whom they derive it is suspect and a nice propaganda piece that Paul wrote to cover his ass with the Romans, Gerald is stuck with it.
Higher authorities can be everyone above them in both the medical and political realms. They can't just wing it anyway and see how it goes while others are obeying whatever edicts are coming down whether they be in the form of "you should do this" or "you shall not do this".
Hear ya go Gerald. Read it, heed it and obey it for such times as this. A shame you can't exercise your own common sense without being commanded to have it.
Romans 13
Submission to Governing Authorities
1 Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.
2 Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.
3 For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and you will be commended.
4 For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer.
5 Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also as a matter of conscience.
6 This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing.
Don't these people understand? A healthy young LCG minister can travel to the conference and return home with no symptoms of infection, but because he is young and healthy he can be a carrier of the virus even if the virus doesn't make him sick. He can then visit his elderly congregation members, spread the virus to them unknowingly, and helplessly watch them die in a month or two.
This may all blow over with no more consequence than the ordinary flu that killed Bob League. If, however, there's a sudden increase in the deaths of elderly LCG members between now and the Feast of Tabernacles, Weston will have blood on his hands and a lot of explaining to do to J̶e̶s̶u̶s̶ Christ.
The next time I hear Gerald Weston preach about the importance of "outflowing concern" (they hate to say LOVE), I may throw up.
"Those who can't do, teach" is very apt for these ministers.
The virus is spread through handshakes, so will they refrain doing this during their get together?
What will coronavirus mean for the Passover?
We all know how deacons love to squish people together as close as possible when seating for the Passover service. We also know that scientists are saying that coronavirus can be spread when people are within about 6 feet of each other.
In larger congregations, Passover will mean dozens of older people spending two hours shoulder-to-shoulder. What an ideal circumstance for passing the virus to other people! And what a disaster for the big splinters! Bring people together and spread the virus, or lose control over them by teaching that it is OK to take the Passover at home.
"However, if members meet locally, there will be much more excess second tithe. You just know LCG leaders won't be able to resist the urge to demand, "Send it all in, brethren!" When LCG leaders find out that Holy Day offerings are higher when people stay local, they'll be tempted to cut back dramatically on the number of Feast sites in future years, maybe having just one or two very expensive sites for the wealthiest members and expecting everyone else to stay at home."
yes, there would be more excess 2t 1st time around, if fall feast was indeed cancelled late in summer (although many might still lose non-refundable fares and deposits), but if local feasts were being planned well in advance, my guess is a lot of folks would only save enough to cover the lower costs, and others who were more diligent to save the full amt would simply create a more generous personal 2t budget and use these newly available funds for personal enjoyment of all the feast days instead of saving most of it for fall feasts. I seriously doubt if there would be any more excess to turn in than there usually is.
Weston preaches that the true God is not a God of confusion. Only a confused God would inspire Weston to announce the "go forward" decision and then reverse it a week later. If Weston now moves to cancel the conference, this will show LCG members that he is faithless and that his decisions are demonstrably not led by God.
However, if Weston does not move to cancel the conference, he is telling the world that his ministers are more important than health care workers and future coronavirus patients. Also, if he does not move to cancel the conference, he will need to pray that LCG members aren't much affected by the virus or else his judgment will look very poor.
What a mess!
LCG is terribly confused. It contradicts itself all the time. Just look at these two pieces by LCG writers.
One extols the virtues of the "Confucius Institute" which the Chinese Communist Party uses to spread its propaganda through Eastern philosophy and education.
Another condemns Western people becoming influenced by Eastern religious beliefs and philosophy.
Meyer and Wachowicz are preaching incompatible philosophies, yet both are LCG preachers. Surprisingly, the one promoting a Communist philosophical institute is the leader of LCG's Canadian branch. Unsurprisingly, LCG does a lot of this confusing contradicting itself.
NBA just suspended their season.
One of the players made light of coronavirus and touched everyone and everything he could, and now is infected with it.
It amazes me that people who have historically preached that we are to err on the side of caution are indulging in such reckless behavior. It really wouldn't be a terribly good idea to hold such a conference in the middle of a normal flu season, let alone during the genesis of a new strain which brings an unprecedented set of unknowns into play.
This is confusing to many people, in that here we have a non-economic phenomenon impacting the global economy in the middle of an election year, and it is going to require months or perhaps even years to process it all. The word "panic" is being used, (actually it is the politicians who are panicking) when that doesn't even begin to accurately describe what we see unfolding around us. The Chinese are responsible for creating the majority of the workload at US ports. In an effort to do the responsible thing, and to manage and control the spread of Covid 19, they have temporarily closed many of their manufacturing plants. This constitutes a disruption of the supply chain of manufactured goods, which cannot help but also disrupt the money trail, which must stay fluid for a healthy economy. There is so little activity currently on the Long Beach and Los Angeles docks that there have been massive layoffs already. Workers are in danger of losing their homes, and truck drivers their big rig trucks. Suspending payroll tax isn't going to help workers who have been laid off.
The point is, we can imagine all manner of conspiracy theories, some partisan in nature, and we can even speculate on whether or not these theories are real. The theories are irrelevant. Supply chain disruption is happening whether or not the theories are imaginary, and the effects are already very much in play. Until it can be shown that this virus has been contained, and all fears have been allayed, there will continue be disruption to the economy. And, then, it will require time to slowly regain equillibrium. Public perception of recovery will commence the moment a vaccine has been developed. Meanwhile, apparently in the LCG, your minister has become someone who must be avoided at all costs, because this conference which includes international travellers will make him a high risk individual to be around. What part of asymptomatic transmission do they not understand???
BB
All of you bad children here have stirred up a shitstorm in Charlotte with many employees questioning why the church is moving forward with this conference.
Just in.
President Trump just canceled any travel of foreign ministers to the conference.
As we all know Trump rides "The Beast".
Nck
Scratching the surface of the public relations veneer, what actually happens at ministerial conferences? Are there discussions as to whether the ministers should be micro managing members lives, or are such church traditions reinforced, with any potential dissident put in his place? Are these ministers encouraged to follow Christ or to follow other ministers?
You would think with Coronavirus having a much higher rate of death among the elderly, and the average age of these ministers, as well as the cash cow tithe sheep, being 65+, that they would be both financially and existentially in their interest to be super careful when it comes to this disease.
Since they're engaging looking to quack cures and bogus protection measures if not outright denialism, I guess we shouldn't be surprised if churches turn into hotbeds of Coronavirus and the resulting chaos that we should expect would ensue.
Just another case of ministers thinking the rules don't apply to them. Unfortunately, this is a case in which the normal corruption they rely on to shield them from accountability for their actions isn't going to do diddlysquat.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Oh well. Pass the popcorn.
"However, if members meet locally, there will be much more excess second tithe. You just know LCG leaders won't be able to resist the urge to demand, "Send it all in, brethren!""
I'm curious as to where God commands unused/unspent second tithe is to be turned over to the Church....
You would think with Coronavirus having a much higher rate of death among the elderly, and the average age of these ministers, as well as the cash cow tithe sheep, being 65+, that they would be both financially and existentially in their interest to be super careful when it comes to this disease.
LCG presses its members to make the church a beneficiary in their Will. Weston may be thinking that a few dead members would provide a jolt of sudden income for the church. Of course, if the members follow Rod Meredith's example, they'll tell OTHERS to bequeath to the church, but in practice give most of their inheritance to their own family members.
When the Apostle John was thrust into the future to witness end-time plagues, did he mis-hear?
Maybe what he heard was Trump-Pence ?
We are approaching 3.5 years of Trump-Pence. Where does that put us in prophecy?
"I'm curious as to where God commands unused/unspent second tithe is to be turned over to the Church...." I
I'm curious as to where God commands first tithe to be turned over to the Church....
km
"Anonymous said...
All of you bad children here have stirred up a shitstorm in Charlotte with many employees questioning why the church is moving forward with this conference.
March 11, 2020 at 9:16 PM"
You mean there are some actually starting to think for themselves? Miracles do happen!
BB, the way you continue to praise China one would think you would be better off moving there. We sure would be!
The hotel chain with which LCG is holding its conference is now offering full refunds to anyone who cancels a reservation up to 24 hours before scheduled arrival. There is now no financial penalty to travelers if LCG cancels the conference in order to show its compliance with Romans 13.
Please act quickly, Mr. Weston!
Other organizations with three letter abbreviations are canceling their schedule, NBA, NHL, MLB ,
but apparently LCG is above doing that. This smacks a little bit of arrogance, or a kinda we are above the mass rabble, and
the rules of the masses dont apply to us. Sort of like the way the ministry has always viewed things since their Gods chosen elite
at Gods own West Point , Ambassador College days.
Looks like we're all in for a rough ride for a while. NBA cancels entire season? Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson? Travel ban. Continued slide of the Dow. This is all lifestyle-transforming stuff that wouldn't have been imaginable a few short weeks ago. The ACOGs will be forced to modify their behavior just as everyone else, even if they do have a history of being slow to react and embrace (civil rights would be one major example). It should be a great lesson in why it's a bad idea for humans to eat bats, but that's probably the least of our worries at this point.
BB
Actually, 8:35, I work with a number of Asians, but would not want to live anywhere but the good old USA. My Asian friends love their Cauc-Asian cousin BB! And I them! It is refreshing to work with logically-thinking colleagues who are thrifty, hard working, and subscribe to a high standard of ethics.
BB
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