Any student of the Bible, regardless of one's theological training, understanding, or lack of, immediately sees that Jesus only required one thing in order to be his follower. Everything else was secondary. Yet, in COGland, various upstarts and self-appointed messiahs and prophets publish long lists of requirements in order to gain followers to be a money cash machine for their organization.
This brings us today to our favorite prophet that is God's most highly favored in 6,000 years of church history. No other human even compares. No, we are not talking about Super Dave, but once again our very own Bawana Bob, the Great Savior of Africa, or as he is known here in the United States, He who is named Bobus.
The great one recently sent out a missive to his few followers letting them know exactly what they need to do to be followers of his way. The list is long and laborious, as everything he writes and says. He even admits it is long.
A couple of weeks ago, while doing research, I noticed that a Sabbatarian group had a link about how to be part of their church. While the article had some serious errors, it did trigger the thought that we should have an article on that topic.
So, we now do. The article is about ten times as long as the one the other group had, but it better reflects scripture and has more information that potential members should know. Here is a link to that article with its long list of silly steps that need ot be taken: How Do I Become a Member of the Continuing Church of God?
If God is calling you, and you will learn, continue, and seriously do the other items mentioned in this article and what is taught in the Bible, you can be a member of the Continuing Church of God.
In summary, if you are not already a properly baptized part of the Church of God, in order to be considered a real member of the Continuing Church of God, you must:
- Be called of God.
- Be willing to seek first the kingdom of God.
- Repent of your sins.
- Accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior.
- Strive to live as a loving Christian.
- Be persuaded that our beliefs are biblical.
- Contact a CCOG leader for counseling.
- Be properly baptized and have hands laid upon you.
- Support the work of Matthew 24:14, Matthew 28:19-20, and other aspects of the Philadelphian work.
- Continue to live as a Christian and endure to the end.
The truth of the matter is if Christ is calling you it most certainly is NOT into the improperly named "continuing" Church of "god." Run the opposite way as fast as you can. Your sanity and salvation depends on it
I might roll with 9 of the 10 listings that Thiel has for becoming a Christian.
ReplyDeleteHowever, this one Id like to see a Biblical reference for...
"Contact a CCOG leader for counseling."
Beyond that, I think that Booby needs to contact a "psychiatric leader" for counseling himself!
If you look at Thiels original article it is long and filled things no one needs to do.
ReplyDeleteMmmm.. #6 Be persuaded that our beliefs are biblical.
ReplyDeleteWhat does ‘our’ stand for here? The COG’s our? The biblical our? The Christian our? If it is the COG’s: thank you, but no thanks.
It’s Thiel’s beliefs and certainly not God’s.
ReplyDelete‘Accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior..’
ReplyDeleteOh, is THAT what they do.. I always thought all they accepted was cold hard cash from the members!
My understanding is that to be saved, only one thing is required. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. To do so, implies that you also believe a lot of other things, such as: existence of God, sin, need for salvation, deity of Jesus, etc. To be a disciple is something else. Immature Christians are still saved, though they may not be disciples of Jesus. The Corinthian church members were saved, but immature. Some of the "requirements" to be a member of the Church of God are traits of maturity or discipleship, not salvation. Anyway, that's how I understand this.
ReplyDelete#7. Contact a CCOG leader for counseling.
ReplyDeleteOne-man-show:
(Leader quickly removes Safari Hat & dons priestly apparel)
Realistic requirements based on my prior experience as a long time COG member:
ReplyDelete1) Believe that the Bible is 100% true despite internal and external evidence to the contrary.
2) Be a victim of confirmation bias where everything you read is true if it confirms your current beliefs, and false when it doesn't.
3) Believe the COG has an unbroken line of succession from the original apostles.
4) Be willing to endure boring and sometimes incomprehensible sermons every week.
5) Send lots of money to HQ in tithes and offerings.
6) Meet in 3rd rate hall rentals.
7) Be willing to accept the authority of the local elders and accept all their explanations.
8) Believe the HQ group is preaching the gospel to the world - despite noone outside the COG knowing about it.
9) CCOG - lose your mind
10) RCG - lose your wallet
11) PCG - lose your family.
12) LCG - infect your neighbors
An advantage of these groups splintering is that it puts a limit on minister abuse since members can move to another splinter.
ReplyDeleteAs for the continuing Church Of god and its leaders' credibility and counselling abilities, as a longtime COG member and a beliver (in general terms) I did attend with them. I saw their people and their increasingly fixated and marginal work such as it really is. What of one of their foremost leaders, Richard Close? Years ago richard was ordered to divorce his wife because his church minister--forcing some cchurch policy--said he had to divorce her if he wanted to be a baptized church member. So, snap like that, he divorced his wife. Richard Close, now a leader in CCOG, chose to put his corporate minister's orders above the Bible's command in Matthew 19:6 which says that: "So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, man must never separate." He put a ministers word above God's holy Word. some years later when the church's policy on d&r changed, Richard Close's minister gave him his permission to remarry his ex-wife. So, he did. This is not simplistically just a case of love having won out. It is an avoidable, tragic example of a man caving into ministerial hejemony--spiritual bullying-- as the so-called "government of God" having been placed above God himself and God's holy Words. If Richard Close had not been given ministerial permission to remarry his ex-wife, he would not have remarried her. what kind of a COG leader is this? ( Like the plodding, dutiful and obedient Boxer from animal Farm.) this is not railing and nastily throwing someone's mistakes at them in a mean-spirited way. For, nothing in essence has changed. Consider the implications of such men in church "over" God's lay people. LCG and other churches are really no different.
ReplyDeletewhat of yet another of CCOG's top leaders, Steve dupuie?
Steve comes across as being not unfriendly, but he is insecure and therefore pretentious and hollow about his church intellect and his knowledge. Therefore, he has been so desperate to prove himself intellectually and in the field of knowledge that he completely minimizes and excoriates the very best and the nicest and most gentle of people who raise points, even by way of friendly discussion.
In one case, Warren from Ontario--a good and gentle man in whom is no guile--merely raised a friendly possibility of an idea being extrapolated and not directly stated in the Bible. Immediately, in public and on CCOG's e-mail group, Steve Dupuie accused Warren of being a force of dissention and discord among the brethren. steve does this regularly to anyone who can out-do him in church writings, knowledge and Bible studying, which could include everyone. He can't get his way and be the foremost, so he slights and belittles others who are far better than he, and of whom the world is not worthy. the good news is that neither Steve nor anyone has to be seen as being superlative in knowledge and church intellect. Insecurity. Consider the implications of such a man in church "over" God's lay people.
I could write of more ... for instance of the CCOG leader I know well who petulantly hacked another COG member's e-mail account and put a trace on it, and taunted him, because he was sore at the member.
Aside from their superficial, fizzling claim to continue the teachings shown by god through Mr. armstrong and doing "the Philadelphia work", how do these CCOG leaders show Jesus to others? If some read this, perhaps they can explain and help us to understand.
The problem with the cogs is that they rely on lying court historians and banker owned media for the "histories" and "news" upon which they base the fulfillment of prophecy. It is all cherry picked data--faker that even Trump could possibly know. The cannon of the bible is also cheery picked and fake. When fake meets fake you have hyper fake. The mentally weak and morally ill among us cannot face this stark reality.
ReplyDeleteDo research on bullies and you will see that they pick on the best and the nicest of people. Some of these ministers are bullies.
ReplyDeleteWhat does ‘our’ stand for here?
ReplyDeleteYes, a good question. In some of Bob's sermons he will say "we in the CCOG" (consider, accept, believe, ...) some marginal factoids. So every "real" member of the CCOG holds those particular points? I imagine many members don't even understand what he's talking about.
7:29
ReplyDeleteMy take on it is more like, "if you wanna know what is going to happen, you better follow the people who MAKE history".
That's why ALL of newscaster Armstrongs "prophecies" have or are coming to pass...... (in a secular way, since spiritual things are figments of the mind or magician tricks to divert from reality, unless you fool belief in magic).
So far WCG has an amazing score, (currently US foreign policy is working on the European 2nd leg poland/serbia corridor. Moved a brigade from west to east, fired a shot at the black sea and pulled back to Germany just to show long range capabilities and that wcg, pt informants were right about the American Empire...... Oops sorry I mean Israel oh Israel god shed his grace on thee.
All very convenient to get to be "Israel", I'm not betting on the next "Israel" yet, but hey......... when the world needs a savior. Someone will step in and WILL get the accolades like "the Bretton Wood system" and "the energy trading currency" to get things done.
No Mr Sakomoto or that bitcoin guy won't be the Beast. That's just the testing guy doing some plumbing for the new system.
Just like the mighty HWA and the GIII were just the newspaper delivery boy and his bike. And we were the nice uncle to get the lad a bike on his first proper job.
HWA and his contacts had a proper sense that "this" would not last. That it required a mighty intervention other than the usual market forces and that it would be swift but like woes of a birth.
Nck
Aww Nicky, Most everything will happen given enough time. Without some accuracy in the time element, prophesies are useless.
ReplyDeleteIf that is your aquired wisdom over a number of years and experiences then I salute you for putting that on this blog.
DeleteI've been working with Shell Oil "scenario's" and governmental policy papers.
I knew things 30 years in advance. But they were just the fate of nations...... nothing personal.
Nck
I know of a little COG group on the west coast that has many requirements to be a "member in good standing". This means you are officially a member.
ReplyDeleteIt is sad that their members do not get it. They do not even understand their own Bible, the words of Jesus. What they have been conditioned to do over decades, is to put trust in a man. This will not hold water, and eventually these people will be left standing on sand.