Monday, April 12, 2021

"...these men expose themselves as an emperor with no clothes. They are poor. They are blind. They are miserable. And they are naked. "



It would be refreshing for a change if one of these guys actually pointed to Jesus Christ as our leader, rather than constantly pointing to themselves and pointing fingers at others, within their own movement. Frankly, I am tired as others are of the whole everyone else is Laodicean so therefore you should follow me mantra. It smacks of the very attitude God criticizes in that passage. "I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing."(Revelation 3:17) In other words, "I" alone am righteous." "I" alone have complete understanding, the purest doctrines, the most godly "church government" etc. Fill in the blank. The truth is these men expose themselves as an emperor with no clothes. They are poor. They are blind. They are miserable. And they are naked. 

Their focus is on promoting their own name, their own imagined ecclesiastical authority, their own church, in an effort to attract or control their own "members." There is no love for one another in their writings. There is no humility of spirit. There is no thought process that perhaps they don't know as much as they think they might, and maybe they could learn a thing or two from someone else. There is no effort among any to work to come to any unity of the faith, but instead to cast blame, point fingers, and justify one's own position, or church group. 
 
Even efforts to preach a gospel are done almost solely as a "warning" and with the idea of self-promotion or preservation, rather than compassion or care for those who might be reached with such a message. If the motivation is skewed, the message won't be effective. You can scream all day about how you are the best, greatest, most mistreated, most persecuted, most favored by God, whatever. You might even attract a few people with grandiose statements of righteousness, claimed unique prophetic knowledge, etc. but if you aren't truly motivated by a love for God and a love for your fellow humans, your efforts will ultimately come to nothing, because God won't honor them, and unless God is building the house, your efforts are useless. (Psalm 127:1)

Concerned Sister

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

One of the best proofs that someone is not Philadelphian is that he accuses his brethren of being Laodicean.

Anonymous said...

Eph 5:11 Have no fellowship with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.

Anonymous said...

Very true...

DennisCDiehl said...

Prophetic warnings of the day and time being short along with the idea of being in "the True Church" are the most financially profitable and member producing for a church. The SDA's draw folks in the same way with their End Times public studies which they have conducted all my life and way before. The NT message of Salvation, Forgiveness and such is not as profitable because , at least in America, "everyone knows that". It's the hook of prophecy, as BS as it can be, that is the most productive and profitable. It feeds off people's fear and "what's going to happen to me and mine?"

Anonymous said...

This is exactly why I find Bob Thiel so disgusting. What he preaches has nothing to do with Jesus Christ but it's all about himself and how magnificent he is and how much he knows. His constant lying and placing the focus upon himself is disgusting.

Anonymous said...

The Laodicean: we know there are seven festivals. We know tithing is required. We know Great Tribulation of Mat 24:21 is coming.

NOPE. All false.

Tonto said...

Concerned Sister Writes : "The truth is these men expose themselves as an emperor with no clothes. "

The thought of a NAKED Pack, Flurry, Weiland , Thiel etc. turns my stomach!

Miller Jones/Lonnie C Hendrix said...

Excellent post, Concerned Sister. Your observations about the current "leadership" of the ACOGs is spot on! They are all unsuccessfully trying to imitate Herbert Armstrong, and none of them have the talent or charisma to pull it off. Moreover, I'm thinking that anyone who wants to be known as Herbie's successor hasn't thought this thing through. After all, Herbie was not very bright, moral or humble. Sure, he raked in the money and successfully duped thousands of people, but he was alienated from his family when he died and failed to plan and provide for what would come after him (egocentric folks often end up alone and don't really care about what happens after they're gone). Hence, when one adds their many inadequacies to the profoundly flawed man who represents their ideal, we have a recipe for failure and disaster (the very things we've witnessed since 1986).

Anonymous said...

Exactly 1:06

Anonymous said...

Funny how the commentators with the elaborate names always congratulate and compliment each 'other'.
And when you read 'their' comments it reads as the same style of writing.

Anonymous said...

11.01 PM
Much repetition and affirmations are required when people have been brainwashed and have had their minds imprisoned with lies by abusive cults. It seems that you don't want members freed from their mental chains.

Anonymous said...

This is spot on, Concerned Sister. It applies to all the people in positions of power in all the COG orgs.

The emphasis is on themselves, their org, and their doctrines and commandments of me, which is a mixture of true and untrue things.

If they point to Jesus and the Word of God, people will see the errors, follow Jesus, and leave the orgs behind.

It's, quite frankly, about maintaining their lifestyles (which requires other people's money). That's the real bottom line.

Phinnpoy said...

HWA led the way by being naked before David Robinson! It's a 'restored truth'!

Anonymous said...

Strawman argument wrappped in absurd false accusation designed to bait 2:54 AM

Anonymous said...

12.20 PM
So it's Ok for you to cast suspicion on others, but how dare anyone be suspicious of your motives. The implications in your comment is not a straw man argument.

Anonymous said...

Repeatedly trying to bait. None take the bite.

Anonymous said...

10 45 PM
Believe it or not, replies to your comment/s aren't exclusively directed at you.

Anonymous said...

Never thought that.