Send in that money folks! Otherwise, your Passover is invalid!
Holy Day Offerings
Brethren, as God directs us, we should not come before Him empty-handed during His annual Holy Days, but with an offering reflective of the blessings bestowed upon us by Almighty God. It will take a bit more effort on your part to be sure that you comply, in principle, with this instruction from God. We greatly appreciate your faithfulness in following through with your offering to further the work of God in preaching the gospel and preparing a people for Christ’s return and for service in His Kingdom. Detailed instructions are included in this issue of the eNews (and on the Members site at https://www.ucg.org/members/news/us-holy-day-offerings-for-2020-days-of-unleavened-bread) for your convenience, along with a link to a 90-second video that demonstrates how to make an online donation: https://www.ucg.org/members/news/how-to-donate-online
18 comments:
Ugh, not again. "Commanded tithing" is the biggest scam in Christendom. The Triple Tithing doctrine was derived from a misunderstanding of the Levites, Melchizedek, and the book of Hebrews.
Sure, "a laborer is worthy of his hire" and "God loves a cheerful giver", but it's all voluntary. Biblical tithing was on increase in livestock and produce in Eretz Israel, to the Levites, the poor, and personal consumption at the FOT. There were also some variants such as spoils of war and captive foreigners.
Christianity is the most expensive book club ever conceived of.
Except that Josephus etc. verifies the 3 tithes historically.
Why can't people tell when they're being suckered? How convenient that of all the nasty Jewish bits that christians like to dismiss from the Torah (stoning disrespectful children, purity laws etc.), somehow, the "we need your money on a weekly basis" survived!!
Wait a minute...tithing was an agricultural/harvest rite, not a paycheck deal, amazing how easily tithing moulds itself to a non-farming, modern world - god sure knew how to keep the cash-taps running in any and all ages!
Shouldn't the UCG be telling its members to skip giving an offering this holy day season and use that money to take care of their families needs during this difficult time. Can't they do without just one or two less offerings for the good of their members? Yes the UCG budget would have to cut but isn't the welfair of their members more important? This indicates to me that the leaders of the UCG believe the church organization is more important then the lives of the individual members of the UCG.
Hahahahahahahaha.
Josephus must be right and the bible wrong.
There is NO way the Jews or greedy early Christians could have POSSIBLY come up with the three tithes scam as well? Nope. Josephus is more tighter than the bible.
Even slum lords are having mercy on their tenants during these trying times.
The big issue right now is survival. Survival of the individual, survival of the economy, survival of businesses, and survival of our country. For some, it becomes survival of power and control of resources. Unfortunately for the power mongers, when most are worried about personal survival, life becomes primary, and entities which can be rebuilt later become secondary.
What the Asians who are ahead of us realize is that so long as one singular person has the virus, and in the absence of an effective vaccine or herd immunity, infections can flare back up, requiring future quarantines, shutdowns, and other countermeasures. Social distancing is most likely going to be with us for some time in the forseeable future, and the workplace and other places of mass gathering are going to be forever changed. If the animals, like the tigers at Bronx Zoo, become massively infected, planet Earth will become a giant "Wack a Mole."
For an ACOG to survive, the members must survive. If sufficient numbers do survive, then the corporate structure can be rebuilt later. The thing that is scariest to church leaders right now is that public funds can be used to keep secular businesses viable, but separation of church and state leaves the various churches pretty much on their own. It is very likely that churches which marginalize themselves, that don't participate in the communities in which they are centered, and whose leaders constantly bungle their primary message (prophecy) are going to contract, and perhaps cease to exist.
So, within the confines of Armstromgism, it is perfectly predictable that this would be a time in which the importance of tithing would become the primary message. If the splinters were conducting drives to help those at risk in their communities, it would send a more positive message, one of concern and inclusion. Unfortunately, that is antithetical to the Armstrong movement, a movement which assumes that disaster victims should not be assisted by church members because those are the people whom God is punishing!
BB
A revision of the famous Winston Churchill World War 2 quote might apply here for the history of the COG...
"Never in the field of a human church was so much owed by so many to benefit so few"
I must ask the question, Why isn't cogwa ever taken to task on here? They expect the same amount of money to flow into their coffers as usual. They want their money now you must send it electronically or credit card. They cant wait to get their grubby little hands on the loot. the USPS used to be good enough but not now. I want it and I want it now. Would that not fall under the meaning of greed. Isaiah 56:10 says it all. They take in the most money, what do they do with it besides squandering it on themselves on unnecessary travel to all over the place and quote admin cost and throw a pittance to some areas around the world. They never give a full accounting to the members. They are just like government workers who never have done a day's work in their lives but are so willing to live off of others' sweat and toil. This is begging to sound like a Bernie Sanders utopia.
Ten percent of zero is $0.00. Okay I'm good with this, so an empty envelope it is! On second thought, the envelope and the stamp costs more than the offering - forget it I might needs these to mail something important like the gas or electric bill.
Craig
They want their money now you must send it electronically or credit card.
Don't worry, they'll accept your checks. They have little people to open your envelopes and put their hands on the checks you have coughed on.
Except that Josephus etc. verifies the 3 tithes historically.
Not the way the ACOGs teach them.
Scripture says that your regular tithe may be converted into money before you give it to the Levites. There is no such provision for third tithe. Nor is it a tithe on your money or even on your livestock. The third tithe command is specifically that farmers must give the Levites one-tenth of their produce in the third and sixth year after the sabbatical year. A shoemaker or woodworker or teacher would have little or no third tithe to give.
"It is very likely that churches which marginalize themselves, that don't participate in the communities in which they are centered, and whose leaders constantly bungle their primary message (prophecy) are going to contract, and perhaps cease to exist."
We can only hope!
km
Tonto
The most applicable Churchill quote to the ACOG leadership is:
"We shall fight our Banned critics on the beaches, we shall fight them on the landing grounds, we shall fight them in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender and repent of our sins and hypocrisy."
"Why isn't cogwa ever taken to task on here?"
I meet with a COGWA group regularly. And in my experience they certainly preach the same ideas about tithing and even an odd email will go out with feast reminders about where to send tithes. There's been maybe two sermons on tithing in about 10 years. He ministers have never harassed or been rude or belligerent about it.
I've even advised numerous people openly at services that should not tithe. And I have never been reprimanded or attacked for this.
Maybe the spirit of the people at COGWA is a little different than what most expect of a COG these days?
While I've had to deal with some minor disagreements from ministers over the years they've been welcoming even for a difficult person like myself.
I think God wants repentance not quitting. And we should be happy that COGWA has changed at all even if it's not perfect.
Good for you @anon 8:55!
You clearly never have been to a RCG Sabbath service, or listened to any of their messages.. David Pack and his ministers make it very clear that tithing is ‘commanded by God’. If you don’t pay your tithes, you’re out. If you dare to question it, you’re accused (by the ministry and brethren) of ‘not obeying God’ and you’re out. You have to tithe, even if you can’t afford it because you’re unemployed or because you have a family to feed/rent to pay. They then will remind you of the story of ‘the poor widow, who gave everything she could’.
I’ve experienced that first hand.. My spouse giving the little amount of money we had left after getting unemployed, to the church. He was pressured to do so. And no minister would help us in any way
Gag. Yeah they talk about how things are changing and times are gonna be hard for everyone...how the church is gonna have to make changes. Then they talk about the changes like...cutting back on ministerial retirements, cutting back on ministers’ health insurance, etc. they’re so far removed from reality that they don’t even realize that a vast majority of their membership don’t HAVE retirement plans or healthcare! Their ministers are driving Cadillacs, and the members hitch rides to afford going. But yeah. Keep sending your money.
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