Herbert Armstrong's Tangled Web of Corrupt Leaders

Thursday, June 18, 2020

LCG on the widow's mite and clergy abuse. WUT?



Living Church of God's Ken Frank has an entry up on LCG's "Living Education", that sad stepchild of the now-defunct Living Univerity


You remember Living University, don't you? It was that super amazing, mind-boggling institution of higher learning that was the best thing God had ever imagined on earth. They even brought back Michael Germano, the Chancellor of two previously failed universities to run it. Three's the charm, Bro!


Anyway, Frank's article is about "clergy abuse."  Seriously! 


LCG talking about clergy abuse, who would have ever imagined!  


Don't hold you breathe boys and girls, it's not about abusive LCG clergy, but those bad boy Pharisees. 


We all know that LCG clergy has NEVER been like those bad Pharisees! Have they?



David Guzik in his Enduring Word Commentary explained the widows’ poverty: “In that day, a Jewish teacher could not be paid for teaching – but he could receive gifts. Apparently, many scribes used flattery and manipulation to get big gifts from those who could least afford to give them – such as widows.” The scribes were highly respected in their society whether they deserved it or not. Jesus explained that at least some were less than honorable in their teachings that encouraged people to financially support them generously. Guzik continues: “The Jews of Jesus’ day taught that teachers were to be respected almost as God; they said that they deserved more honor and respect than any other people in life did. They taught that the greatest act someone could do is give money to a teacher. Of course, it was the teachers themselves who taught this!” 
Jesus commended this widow for giving more in proportion to the treasury than all the wealthier donors who gave of their abundance (literally, “superabundance”). According to the Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges, “These rich men do not seem to have been observing the injunctions both sacred and Talmudic to give secretly, Mat. 6:4; Mat. 6:18.” By contrast, Jesus warned in His Sermon on the Mount against a loud, public display of one’s generosity: “Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward (Matthew 6:2).” Jesus’ words “do not sound a trumpet before thee” are explained by The Jamieson, Fausset and Brown Commentary: “The expression is to be taken figuratively for blazoning it, Hence, our expression to ‘trumpet.'” These religious hypocrites did all they could to create an ostentatious display when they contributed to the treasury. 
No wonder Jesus denounced such hypocrites. Albert Barnes in his Notes on the Bible declared, “If there is any sin of special enormity, it is that of taking advantage of the circumstances of the poor, the needy, and the helpless, to wrong them out of the pittance on which they depend for the support of their families; and as God is the friend of the widow and the fatherless, it may be expected that such will be visited with heavy condemnation.” These sobering words warn every religious leader against uncaring fund-raising from impoverished donors, especially if the leader’s income depends on it.  We all will be wise to remember these words of the Psalms, “Sing unto God, sing praises to his name: extol him that rideth upon the heavens by his name JAH, and rejoice before him. A father of the fatherless, and a judge of the widows, is God in his holy habitation (Psalm 68:4-5).” 
No sirree! LCG would NEVER try and milk members down till they had nothing to give and still expect them to give. That would NEVER happen, would it? Three tithes, tithe of the tithe, building fund, special offerings, co-worker/member appeal letters, fast offerings, and "the final push". They would never abuse their own members into continually giving money, would they?


11 comments:

  1. "Three tithes, tithe of the tithe, building fund, special offerings, co-worker/member appeal letters, fast offerings, and "the final push". They would never abuse their own members into continually giving money, would they?"...

    >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

    Hey, compared to Pack's "Common" which requires giving EVERYTHING, LCG seems quite liberal!

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  2. All governments world wide, including the ACOGs are like the mafia. They always want more.

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  3. Pharisees seem to get the same bad rap as Samaritans. In part that may be due to Jesus' instruction that "Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the Pharisees..." so the easiest way to look good is make the competition worse.
    But Jesus' teachings were nearly a copy of the Hillel Pharisees, and opposed to the the Shamai Pharisees (ultra strict hypocritical lot). The big exception was that Hillel was very lenient with divorce - apparently serving a burnt bagel was sufficient reason...

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  4. Interesting that he quotes David Guzik, from Blue Letter Bible. Many commentaries there come from the "Calvary Chapel" movement started by Chuck Smith, which is pretty mainstream.

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  5. "Jesus commended this widow..."

    Can someone point out where Jesus commended the widow?

    Jesus never commended the widow. He simply stated the contract between the widow and the wealthy. This is not a story about how we should go and do likewise (as much as title recipients might wish that it were).

    This is a condemnation of the wealthy who do not give as they are able and do not care for the destitute. Why is this widow so poor? Because the wealthy aren't showing the mercy that God demands.

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    Replies
    1. It is also not a story on being rich or poor in physical terms.

      It's about the attitude of flying into Davos on private jets, taking bonuses, robbing companies and telling employees to, tighten belts, live green and holiday at home.

      Nck

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  6. Actually, the widow was foolish in giving all she had, since charity is not an end in itself but rather a means to an end. The end being of "saving" or preserving human life.

    Dave Packman gets away with robbing blind his members since they do not understand this. And they do not understand this since Herbs church policy was one of continually feeding their members spiritual milk. There is blood on the hands of Herb and minion ministers.

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  7. Yesterday on the LCG website, they posted a sermon by Doug Winnail, titled Remember God's Restored Truths. Around the 11:00 minute mark, Winnail talked about how mainstream pastors would squirm and couldn't answer theological questions. He was saying that the COG had the answers to these questions.

    I was aggressively, verbally abused by a leading LCG pastor (not Winnail) when I asked questions about grace. He did not attempt to answer my questions - so I can only conclude that he could not answer them. He did not squirm - he was brutal and enraged. A portion of his tirade happened in public. Only one person (also not Winnail) came to me to be supportive and that was done privately. I think this pastor wanted to be clear to everyone that no one was to ask certain questions and there would be severe punishment if they did. A couple of years later, and I still have specific reasons to be fearful of naming this abusive LCG pastor.

    I think everyone would naturally prefer a squirming Protestant over a seething Armstrongite. However, when I finally met a couple of Protestants, they squirmed not, nor did they seethe - instead, they were eager to talk about grace and had no problem answering my questions.

    When I was leaving Winnail's church, I looked through all my notebooks of his sermons before tossing them in the trash. He always spoke about law and government. There were no sermons about grace, justification, Jesus as Redeemer, or Jesus as Savior. Obviously, these biblical topics were not important to Winnail. His entire, long ministry is defined by avoiding these topics of paramount importance.

    By LCG's fruit they are known - known as abusive and unable to address the most important biblical topics about Jesus. I hope this other pastor and Winnail never hear Jesus tell them to depart because he never knew them - but, by the fruit of their ministry topics, it is clear that these LCG pastors have never known Jesus.

    Since Winnail called out Protestant pastors for squirming avoidance of questions, I challenge Winnail or any LCG pastor to address:

    1. Salvation by grace, not works (Ephesians 2:8-9; Galatians 5:4; Acts 15:11, Galatians 2:21; Ephesians 2:5)
    2. Justification by Jesus (Romans 5:9, Galatians 2:16; Galatians 3:11; Galatians 3:24; Titus 3:7)
    3. Jesus the Redeemer (Romans 3:24; Romans 3:28; Romans 5:1)
    4. Jesus the Savior

    Rules of the challenge, squirming is acceptable. Abusiveness or silence is forfeiture.

    In this sermon Winnail, mentioned that there were blogs that ridiculed the teachings of the COGs and much evidence exists that the abusive ministry of LCG regularly reads this blog - so the challenge has been successfully communicated to the LCG.

    LCG ministers portray themselves as scholars of the Bible. However, just as in this sermon by Winnail, they lie about what other Christians believe and will not allow discussion or learning about pivotal Christian topics that are actually in the Bible. That's an abusive tactic to keep the people in their place of obedience and tithe-servitude to them.

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  8. LCG just posted a sermon by Doug Winnail, titled Remember God’s Restored Truths. Around the 13:06 minute mark, Winnail was talking about HWA and said:
    "He got some details wrong but he got the big picture right."

    It's shocking to hear Winnail admit HWA got anything wrong. However, it's more incredible for rational people to think that HWA got anything right.

    How many wrong details is someone allowed to preach, as the word of God, by the authority of God, before that person should be rightly labeled a false prophet?

    Was the entire booklet, written by HWA, titled 1975 in Prophecy – just getting a few details wrong? I heard Winnail preach that booklet started his interest in the WCG. Therefore, Winnail knows what was in this booklet and that it could not have come from God - and if not from God, and entirely false, who could this booklet, lengthy teaching, and years of countless sermons have come from?

    Is each of the thousands of times Herbie spoke or wrote certain specific things would happen in a few years, such as three to five, or in the next five to seven years - just getting a few details wrong? Nothing happened that Herbie said, while claiming the authority of God, really happened.

    Winnail's distortion of HWA's record is an abusive lie!

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  9. On July 19, LCG posted a sermon by Doug Winnail, titled Remember God's Restored Truths. At 56:18 (I can't believe I listened that long!), Winnail calls attention to Deuteronomy 14 and discusses three tithes. At 56:39, Winnail goes to Hebrews 7 and said that the first six verses are talking about tithing. Actually, tithing is included in these verses but the context is the supremacy of Jesus as High Priest. Winnail then references verse 12 "For when the priesthood is changed, the law must be changed also."

    I was surprised he would go to this verse because it refutes the whole COG premise that they know what the law is, under the New Covenant. However, Winnail preaches that this new law only means that giving tithes to the Levites was changed to giving tithes to the COG ministry.

    Of course, Winnail doesn't mention anything about verses 18-19 saying that the former law was weak and made no one perfect. He failed to mention the superior nature of the new High Priest and superior New Covenant. He failed to mention that Jesus is the 100 percent Savior (verse 25) because Winnail preaches that people must save themselves.

    Winnail took a passage about Jesus being the High Priest of a superior New Covenant and able to save completely – and preached it as merely a law that requires people to pay tithes to him. That is ABUSIVE!

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  10. The fact that anyone could be so emotionally, intellectually, spiritually empty or disturbed that they would spend one minute in the Worldwide Church (Cult) of god or any of it splinter groups horrifies and makes me sick. I hate those people so much for the harm they have done and still do.

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