It's almost Feast of Tabernacles time in COGland and members are eager to head off to numerous superspreader events around the country or world.
What if LCG actually kept the Feast of Booth's as it should be kept, as the Jewish people do. The COG anglicized American version of the Feast no more resembles what should be happening than it does 1st century Christianity practices.
If you are going to turn it into a Christianized week-long block party then wouldn't it be great if at every single service LCG members got to hear about Jesus? Imagine that! Instead, they will be subjected to one butt-numbing sermon after another on keeping the law or sermons on some Old Testament hero. God forbid of Jesus was mentioned.
Fall Holy Days: In the weeks ahead, we will be reminded of the culminating events in God’s Great Plan of Salvation for all human beings. These Holy Days reveal how God will put an end to deception and suffering by sending Jesus Christ to banish Satan and set up the Kingdom of God on earth, where the saints will reign for one thousand years and eventually all who have ever lived will have a chance to learn the true purpose and way of life (see Revelation 20). Although Satan has blinded the world to the meaning of the Holy Days, we need to remember that Jesus told His disciples, “blessed are your eyes for they see... because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given” (Matthew 13:16, 11). As we observe the coming Holy Days, let’s rejoice and be deeply grateful for the incredible privilege we have been given to understand these “great and precious promises” (2 Peter 1:2-4).
Have a profitable Sabbath and Fall Holy Day season, Douglas S. Winnail
41 comments:
When is the feast of tabernacle in all the COGs?
How does this legalistic sect explain Colossians 2:16-17 where the inspired Apostle Paul warns about returning to the 'elemental' Old Covenant model with its Sabbaths, Feast days, New Moons...?
Superspreader??
FOT gatherings will be less than 500 people tops at any of the largest FOT site. Many will be just the size of a small everyday work business office.
Meanwhile, major league football, baseball, and more, routinely have crowds of 40,000 or more EVERY DAY! The FOT as currently configured is not some kind of "Sturgis" event with 700,000 people attending.
Labelling the FOT's as "super spreader" events is a gross exaggeration.
Better have a word with thyself then Tonto.
returning to the 'elemental' Old Covenant model
What is the context? Paul was writing to former pagans! How could they 'return' to something they never did?
Paul claims in Acts that he never abandoned the Law and the traditions as well.
C'mon. Doug does mention Jesus Christ.
5:04 am
more
proper translation: So don’t let any outsider judge you because of what you eat or drink, or because of how you observe festivals, new moons, or Sabbaths, which foreshadow things to come. Only the body of Christ, the church, may properly make such judgements.
Good call, Anon 8:45! Relying on out-of-context proof texts gives a piecemeal picture, a "here a little there a little" view of scripture. What is needed is a holistic view, and everything fits together.. well, is at least a better fit. The old "Bible is a jigsaw puzzle" leaves one with a poor picture!
Yes, COGs mention Jesus Christ, but usually "Christ" far outnumbers "Jesus" (or the Lord, the Master, Teacher, etc).
8.45 AM
But the "body of Christ, the church" is divided on the matter.
Legalist "Christians":
Living in the Shadows:
Millionaire Doug needs to pay a visit to Millionaire Joe (also in Charlotte) and have him explain the New Covenant to him!
They weren't solely pagans... read about the collosae heresy, it was probably a Jewish knostic heresy...
Such a typical armstrongite response. "The church makes all the decisions"... the body, the substance (as contrasted to the shadow) is christ!!!
The one thing the COG movement have in common is division.
Indeed division is so entrenched within this movement it is almost an immovable ‘doctrine’ in it’s own right.
Human folly knows no boundaries.
That aside I do remember ‘The Feast’ with fondness. An escape for many of us from the reality of our daily lives, as we lost ourselves in another ‘reality’.
Enjoy your Feast if you keep it but get vaccinated before you do.
Doug, who is spiritually blind and driven by another spirit, writes about another Jesus, another gospel and another "Kingdom of God" in the following way:
"...These Holy Days reveal how God will put an end to deception and suffering by sending Jesus Christ to banish Satan and set up the Kingdom of God on earth, where the saints will reign for one thousand years and eventually all who have ever lived will have a chance to learn the true purpose and way of life (see Revelation 20)..."
******
Doug's vision is one of the Mickey Mouse Millennium. Has anyone noticed saints reigning with Jesus Christ for 1,000 years Yet?
No, b/c it's a false theory, and every day passing by is indicating that time is telling us just that. Doug, where is your Jesus? What's the delay?
Yes, Revelation 20 makes mention of a 1,000 years for some to be reigning with Jesus Christ; however, there is no mention of that happening on earth. Doug didn't mention Revelation 5, perhaps b/c he just may know that Revelation 5 is speaking about a different, later time period, beyond the 1,000 years mentioned in Revelation 20.
Doug thinks he and his group have a lot to rejoice over during that 1,000 years; however, Doug has an erroneous vision of that 1,000 year period, b/c that is the time for the "famine of the word." That famine has not yet happened and it isn't happening today.
Additionally, Doug has latched on to a false gospel when he writes things like: "...These Holy Days reveal how God will put an end to deception and suffering by sending Jesus Christ to banish Satan and set up the Kingdom of God on earth, where the saints will reign for one thousand years..."
Deception and suffering will continue after that 1,000 years and Satan exits the pit:
Revelation 20:7 And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,
:8 And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom [is] as the sand of the sea.
At that time where will Doug and all of his "blessed" followers, who Doug believes are wide-eyed, rejoicing, along with Doug's "another Jesus," going to be?
Why was Satan loosed out of his prison after 1,000 years?
Why was Satan allowed to deceive the nations, worldwide, again after that 1,000 years?
Why is there another battle 1,000 years PLUS from today?
What good did Doug and his followers actually do to assist their "another Jesus?"
Yes, Jesus' disciples had blessed eyes, but why wasn't Doug and his followers blessed with eyes to see, ears to hear, minds to perceive? {{Hint Deut 29:4]]
The Kingdom of God still has not been established on earth, while Doug's "another Jesus," like Doug, Weston, other xcog former WCG hirelings, remain ignorant of the answers to those questions, but God's established Kingdom of God on earth AND time (a 1,000 years PLUS from today) will tell...
John
P.S. to Doug: plan to exercise a lot more patience than you ever could have imagined, b/c Satan has blinded your eyes to God's mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven, and you are not telling us the truth regarding God, His Son or the Kingdom of God!
"In the seventh month, on the first of the month, ye have a sabbath, a memorial of shouting, a holy convocation".........is Young's Literal Translation which is considered more accurate from the Hebrew text than other translations. So...it's not a feast (there are only three - Ex 23:14-16 and "feasts" in Lev 23:2 should be translated "fixed times"), and trumpets are not mentioned although trumpets can certainly be blown. So it's not specified as the Feast of Trumpets. What exactly is to be remembered ("memorial")? What to remember is in the past or a reminder of something already existing, not something in the future such as the second coming of Jesus Christ. Could it be Israel was to make noise so that God will remember them?!
Better still 1008 why don't you listen to Ronald L Dart preach and teach the New Covant instead of your apostate one.
Tonto UCG and COGWA can have over 1,000 members joyfully keeping the feast in one site. Won't that make you happy.
Dark and dangerous Doug and the Shadowy Charlotte Boys have deceived their followers by pretending to be ministers of light. However, their recorded, collective, unabridged volume of work proves they preach about the shadows incessantly, while ignoring the Reality that the shadows foreshadowed (Hebrews 10:1 and Colossians 2:17).
The Shadowy Charlotte Boys repeat Herbie's deception about the word fulfilled actually meaning "filled full", instead of completed - as in Jesus fulfilling the law.
These dark deceivers want their followers to fear Satan and look to a future kingdom, while ignoring the present Kingdom and the Victorious King, in rebellion against such verses as Colossians 1:13 He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son.
Yes, Jesus is coming to fully establish his Kingdom on Earth but the COG rebellion of ignoring Jesus makes them unable to see or feel or believe the present Kingdom of God, with a currently Victorious King, because they are looking for it and him only to be in the future.
The Shadowy Charlotte Boys teach that the people must work to become their own savior to compensate for what Jesus could not atone for - and they also must give lots of money to a "work" that they believe will make Jesus return - and then he will become a victorious king.
The dark deceivers want the people to be anxious over their fate and the coming of the Kingdom as being unsettled, unfinished - so that they will be enslaved to working to finish it.
I encourage the people of the COGs who really want to keep the Feasts this year, to shun the dark assemblies of the deceivers and take your family to a safe, secluded location to read only the books of the New Testament and focus on the Reality of Jesus. Reject the shadowy overlords who do not focus primarily on Jesus.
Colossians 2:17
These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.
Hebrews 10:1
The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves.
I noticed the homophone in my initial comment almost immediately after it was posted, but I was so tempted to let it stand. It immediately struck me that Doug was literally pouring out the traditional line on the Holy Days and how fortunate Armstrongites are to know more about everything than anybody else does. At any rate, my original intention was to offer a little sympathy for Doug's delusional state (Hence, the correction):
Poor Doug! He thinks that he and his followers understand the Holy Days. I would suggest that he doesn't understand that they are a shadow or reflection of the reality found in Jesus Christ. Moreover, the Day of Atonement has absolutely NOTHING to do with Satan (Armstrong's understanding of that symbolism verges on blasphemy), and I believe the Feast of Temporary Shelters suggests the temporary nature of our current tabernacles compared to the eternal homes which we will inherit someday thanks to Christ (also the fact that Christ tabernacled in the flesh for a while for our benefit). Come to think of it, I'm not sure these folks even understand the full implications of Trumpets or the Spring Holy Days either!
Anonymous (7:02) wrote: "How does this legalistic sect explain Colossians 2:16-17 where the inspired Apostle Paul warns about returning to the 'elemental' Old Covenant model with its Sabbaths, Feast days, New Moons...?"
Trypho replied: "Paul was writing to former pagans!"
I believe Anonymous (7:02) has it right. Col 2:8 points to a kind of Jewish philosphy that centers on the OT, hence, the mention of Judaic distinctives in Col 2:16. Also, in Col 2: 13-14 we have "...He forgave us all our trespasses, erasing the record that stood against us with its legal demands. He set this aside, nailing it to the cross." It makes no sense at all that Paul would be talking about the legal demands of some pagan philosphy. It was sin as defined in the OT that was relevant. Nor would Paul state that Jesus would be setting aside a pagan philosophy. And a pagan philosophy cannot foreshadow Christ as stated in Col 2:17.
These scriptures are referring to the Old Testament. The reference is to the OT solely or to the OT plus practices found in pagan philosophy. It can't not refer to the OT. This conclusion is inescapable.
The interesting conclusion here is that Paul has now placed the superseded OT practices on par with a kind of worldly philosophy promoted by the "elemental spirits of the cosmos." Christ rendered these worldly ordinances inconsequential because he died to the elemental spirits of the universe (Col 2:20). Those who are in Christ also died to those elemental spirits.
It is easy then to understand why Paul is not popular within Judaism. Jews recognize what Paul is saying even if Armstrongists do not. From "The Jewish Annotated New Testament", p. 367, footnote :
"The author (Paul) thus simultaneously condemns Greek philosophical tradition, Jewish legal teaching, and pagan worship."
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The GOOD news is that Jesus Christ will put an END to the suffering of people by FALSE ministers and FALSE churches like the DEAD Church of Rod!!
Matthew 5:18 is one of the many verses that destroys Armstrongism:
For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.
The Armstrongists will use this verse to insist that the law has not changed and that we must keep the Old Covenant law today, such as the Holy days.
If you ask a COGlodyte if animal sacrifices or circumcision are still required – they will probably say no. However, they will divert or end the conversation when they notice that they’re caught in acknowledging that some very big jots and titles have passed from the law.
If they COGlodytes were intellectually and spiritually free and honest they would admit that the whole law must be fulfilled, if the law on animal sacrifices and circumcision has changed. However, the deceived and the brainwashed COGlodytes cannot see the truth.
Jesus atoned for our sins and fulfilled the law.
Colossians 2:14
having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.
Good helpful summation.
Here is the 1st sentence on your page under "Banned by HWA! ..." cut and pasted : Exposing the underbelly of Armstrongism in all of its wacky glory! Nothing you read here is made up.
Ok, HERE is what is "made up" (copied and pasted from Rod Meredith Hates this Blog!) - just under the sentence stating "This would all be funny if it wasn't so sad" paragraph #6 under that sentence : RCM then proceeded to lie (shocking, I know) by asserting that Jim usually gets that fancy Marriott room in Kauai for free.
Ministers who coordinate Feast Site motels OFTEN receive free rooms - due to the bringing in of revenue. *THEY DON'T ASK FOR THEM*. This is similar to Ford Corporate HQ having a convention in Las Vegas. The motel would GLADLY pay someone to bring in HUNDREDS of rooms.
Please don't be facetious ... many people can see your sarcasm - I see and smell lies. The churches NEVER pay for minister's motel rooms at the Feast. **THEY DO** however, pay for single moms, elderly and unemployed .... do you think THAT is Godly behavior ?
4.45 AM
Read only the NT? In case you missed it, Christ quoted the Old Testament on several occasions.
RE Col 2:16-17: Let no outsider judge you that IS observing feasts, new moons, i.e. a lunar calendar, and sabbaths. I agree, anon 9/3, 8:45 AM.
4:45 AM
The New Testament scriptures regard the Old Testament scriptures very highly, as being inspired by God. Paul quotes them often to explain New Testament theology. It would be a mistake to disdain or disregard the Old Testament scriptures.
Said by September 4, 2021 at 11:09 AM:
"Read only the NT? In case you missed it, Christ quoted the Old Testament on several occasions."
No, I did not miss it.
Unlike the COG ministry, Jesus knows how to use the OT.
However, the COG ministry does not know how to use the New Testament.
To recover, COGlodytes who truly want to seek God need to get into the NT like their ministers never do.
They need to meet the Savior who atones for all sins.
They need to learn about grace, justification, and redemption - all the concepts their ministers won't preach about.
The OT is Gods word and has many uses, including disproving Armstrongism - but the starving, traumatized GOG victims they need the healing and rest offered by the New Covenant!
“if the law on animal sacrifices and circumcision has changed”
No if; the law hasn’t changed.
Jer 31:31 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:
It is unfortunate that the books from Genesis to Malachi are referred to as the Old Testament; that is the Old Covenant. For these books reveal so much detail on the New Covenant.
Zec 2:11 And many nations shall be joined to the LORD in that day, and shall be my people: and I will dwell in the midst of thee,
Isa 56:6 Also the sons of the stranger, that join themselves to the LORD, to serve him, and to love the name of the LORD, to be his servants, every one that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold of my covenant;
In the future God is going to renew the covenant with His people Israel. The Gentiles will also be joined to the Lord in that day.
But it is not unconditional - the Gentiles along with Israel will have to keep the Sabbath and take hold of the covenant.
Isa 56:7 Even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer: their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar;
Eze 20:40 For in mine holy mountain .. saith the Lord GOD, there shall all the house of Israel ... serve me: there will I accept them, and there will I require your offerings [teruma], and the firstfruits of your oblations, with all your holy things. (teruma includes tithes, Num 18:24-29).
God will accept Israel, the Gentiles and their sacrifices when “the days come”.
Ezek 44:9 Thus saith the Lord GOD; No stranger, uncircumcised in heart, nor uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter into my sanctuary.
Ex 12:49 One law shall be to him that is homeborn, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among you.
To enter the Millennial temple both Israel and the Gentiles will have to be circumcised in both heart and flesh.
Eze 45:17 And it shall be the prince's part to give burnt offerings, and meat offerings, and drink offerings, in the feasts, and in the new moons, and in the sabbaths ... he shall prepare the sin offering, and the meat offering, and the burnt offering, and the peace offerings, to make atonement for the house of Israel.
Verse 17 list all the offerings required for Millennial public worship sacrifices, as they were required under the Old Covenant - Atonement is need to maintain the relationship between a holy God and a people prone to sin and ritual impurity.
Heb 8:4 For if he were on earth, he should not be a priest, seeing that there are priests that offer gifts according to the law:
Eze 44:29a They [the Levitical priests] shall eat the grain offering, and the sin offering, and the trespass offering; (no change in priesthood; cp. Jer 33:17-21).
That the priests eat of the last two offerings implies that these offerings were for the sins of the common people. A priest could not benefit from a sacrifice that he presented for himself.
Nu 19:20 But the man that shall be unclean, and shall not purify himself ... defiled the sanctuary of the LORD:...
Eze 45:19 The priest is to take some of the blood of the sin offering and put it on the doorposts of the temple, on the four corners of the upper ledge of the altar and on the gateposts of the inner court.
Eze 45:20 ... so you are to make atonement for the temple.
One of the main arguments for Millennial sacrifices is that certain sins and ritual impurities are dynamic. Christ’s sacrifice does not make obsolete their dynamic nature. To maintain Christ’s holy dwelling presence in the Millennial Temple sacrifices will be required.
The context of 45:19-20 implies the cleansing of the Temple in the New Covenant has changed from the seventh month to the first month. The law is dynamic and adaptable to changing social and historical circumstances, despite the misunderstanding of some of Mt 5:18, who often fail to treat the Bible has ANE literature.
HWA wore the star of David, a symbol very prominent in masonry.
According to this, all the Holy Days are reinterpretations of Cananite religion. So was the Temple of Solomon.
https://archive.org/details/the-pagan-origins-of-gods-holy-days
So God has a poor memory and needs to be reminded of Israel existence by them making noise on a regular basis. Thanks for enlightening us.
The Old Covenant is also helpful in revealing the Gospel:
Lk 24:44 He said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.”
Lk 24:45 Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures.
Lk 24:46 He told them, “This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day,
Lk 24:47 and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
Question for September 4, 2021 at 7:02 PM:
Since you believe the law on animal sacrifice and circumcision have not changed, will there be the required animal sacrifices at your Feasts this year?
The rebellious LCG will not be keeping the FOT according to the instructions in Leviticus 23:40 - they refuse to decorate with fruit and foliage of beautiful trees.
I remember, when I was a child, in the earlier years of the FOT in Mt. Pocono, they would cut branches of deciduous trees displaying autumnal colors and hang them on the drab walls of the metal Feast building. Although that was not following the letter of the law, at least it was an attempt which has long been discarded in the COGs - yet they claim to live by every word of God.
I thought a remark like anon 9/4-11:20 PM might come up so let's review some scriptures:
Genesis 8:1: And God remembered Noah........
Genesis 9:15: And I will remember my covenant........
Genesis 9:16: And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember
Genesis 19:29: .... that God remembered Abraham.......
Genesis 30:22: And God remembered Rachel......
There's more.
According to an AP release I read this morning, Jewish rabbis are assuming a position of leadership vis a vis their holy days and the pandemic. One mega-synagogue in L.A. will not allow the unvaccinated to attend holy day services, even excluding children under 12 who cannot be vaccinated. Some rabbis have set up virtual services. They are saddened by the lack of personal contact, but recognize it as a temporary inconvenience, necessary to safely navigate their members through the pandemic.
Apparently, Armstrongite ministers do not recognize or understand the flexibility of the Jewish religion in life and death matters, and according to what we read here, some of them are planning to outJew the Jews. I wonder if the chicks on their period staying outside the camp thingie isn't a metaphor for anything which could potentially spread germs?
During the COGs' Feast of Covid-nacles, will hospital rooms become approved temporary dwellings?
It was asked:
“will there be the required animal sacrifices at your Feasts this year?”
The answer to the question is in the tora.
2Ti 3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
Check it out, and may be you will be able to say one day along with the Psalmist:
Ps 119:97 Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long.
Hey Anonymous of September 6, 2021 at 2:28 PM: would you let us know the location of your FOT featuring animal sacrifices? I bet it would be a big hit with many hardline GOGers.
I echo Supertramp: “They say it all depends on the MONEY and WHO IS IN YOUR FAMILY TREE”!!! The NEPOTISM only gets worse!!
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