COGWA: Funny Post Of The Day

 

Are Current World Situations Scaring People Into Returning To Certain COG's As They Claim?

Gas shortages, Middle East turmoil, drought in the West, racial unrest, the dollar in upheaval, and idiots on both sides of the aisle in the U.S. political system, all make up the perfect scenario for latter-day doom and gloom preachers of the Church of God.  These are all sure signs of validation of their prophetic utterances.

These doom and gloom preachers are kicking into high gear right now trying to warn lazy and lukewarm COG members and ex-members to wake up and rejoin the one true faith (their version, of course). 

On Facebook on some of the exCOG groups every once in a while someone pops up and asks if anyone else is having PTSD over world events in light of what we had been taught.

From Gerald Weston to Dave Pack, to Gerald Flurry, and on to Bob Thiel, these preachers of end-time malarky are all claiming they are gaining new members because of recent world events. They claim people are waking up and returning to the true faith. But are they? Would you return to these hotbeds of doctrinal heresy and abusive ministers and think your salvation is secure through them?

According to LCG, these troubles are bringing into the church former members and younger people who grew up in the church but left it.

Living Church of God 

Rod McNair reported to Gerald Weston last week on his visit to the congregation in Knoxville, Tennessee, where there was a service in the morning and a Tomorrow’s World presentation in the afternoon. He was struck by how many were there in the morning whom he did not recognize from last time, including a number of individuals who were young people in WCG days, and have come back in the last few months or weeks. 

 

Gerald Weston commented that the same activity is being seen elsewhere, with people also coming from other Church of God groups. He added that people seem to be recognizing the fact that the LCG is where God’s work is mainly being done. 

 

This churning is not limited to the LCG, and the return of disenchanted young people who left the WCG decades ago is more likely driven by what they perceive to be the ‘signs of the times’. Church of God News

Dave Pack: "Never has the world been so ripe for God to fix its endless and insoluble problems."

The end is nigh! Again!

Dave Pack sent out a letter to his members and coworkers the other day. It is a perfect deflection away from his extensive list of failed prophecies over the last few months.

Dear Brethren and Co-Workers,

Greetings from Headquarters! A week of unseasonably warm weather brought God’s campus to life sooner than ever to start spring. I have never seen such an early spring in Ohio. Even Japan’s famous cherry blossoms set records, flowering earlier than they have in 1,200 years! Many attribute this phenomenon to global warming, but few consider that God—the Creator of all life and seasons—is behind it. Let’s read.

When Dave started having one epic failure after another, some commented that we would soon see Dave as explaining away those supposed failures as not failures at all. While the physical thing never happened, it happened spiritually. Right on cue, he does so below. though he is using these examples to explain the early blooming of flowers and trees in Wadsworth Ohio. It's a miracle from his god meant to show members that Dave's kingdom is here!  Woo hoo!

Often Christ taught His disciples using physical examples to describe larger spiritual principles or lessons. All through my ministry I tried to do the same. Physical people—including those with God’s Holy Spirit—understand and relate best to physical things in life. Here is what Christ said about the fig tree and all the trees in the Olivet Prophecy: “When they now shoot forth, you see and know of your own selves that summer is now near at hand. So likewise you, when you see these things [He had just listed many] come to pass, know you that the Kingdom of God is near at hand” (Luke 21:30-31). These verses describe germination and budbreak in all the trees—exactly what we are seeing now. The parallel accounts in Matthew 24 and Mark 13 add that the fig tree even has tender (young) branching and leaves, signaling “summer”—meaning the Kingdom—is near. Again, this is happening now! We are NOW in the run-up to summer. For those in the world, springtime is just another season—one that involves vibrant colors and warm weather returning. But God intends we see this time of year very differently, relating it to His Kingdom being near!

Now to the real spiritual meat of the matter. The kingdom of God might come this summer then the kingdom of Israel needs to happen every soon. Wut? 

Virtually no one knows that Christ arrives first to build a brief “kingdom to Israel” (Acts 1:6). Christ and Peter called this the “restitution of all things” (Acts 3:21, Matt. 17:11 and Mark 9:12) that precedes the Kingdom of God. Of course the Kingdom of God cannot be restored since it has never been here, but the kingdom of Israel has. Again, no Church has this knowledge—even though MANY other verses (Old Testament and New) support it! If the Kingdom of God comes in summer, then the brief—less than a month—kingdom of Israel must come very soon if it is to arrive this year. (Note that 17 modern nations comprise the lost tribes of Israel today. Today’s nation called Israel is just one tribe, Judah.) While this is not the world government that will be the Kingdom of God yet, it is a titanic event that will rock the planet after coming as a snare (Luke 21:34-36) that NO ONE expects! (Why God will send Christ to build this kingdom first is a story too long for this letter.) 

Then like any good COG prophet, he gets all twitterpated over world events as a sure sign the end is nigh.  

Alongside the spring season, God has given us unmistakable world events that make plain His intervention in world affairs is close. Earlier in the same chapter, Luke describes “wars and commotions” alongside ethnic instability and national conflict. Consider world turmoil today: U.S. tensions with China, Iran, North Korea and Russia, who is also pressuring Ukraine, as well as South China Sea territorial disputes, civil war in Syria, unrest in Venezuela, the U.S.-Mexico border crisis, the ongoing war in Afghanistan, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict (the latest chapter includes over 1,000 rockets fired into Israel in just the last two days), and so much more. All of these stand alongside the global pandemic and that 2020 was one of the worst years on record for hurricanes, storms and fires. Never has the world been so ripe for God to fix its endless and insoluble problems. 

I imagine the citizens of Europe thought the same thing in the midst of WWII. And what the citizens of Japan thought when the earthquake and tsunami hit. The COG always sees the world as always in a state of insoluble problems and predicts the coming of their kingdom. They thought this in 1986 when HWA died and the shuttle blew up. It was a sure sign from their god.

And the world is experiencing problems faster than ever—as well as in new and different ways. Last week, America suffered one of its worst cyberattacks in history. Hackers penetrated the Colonial Pipeline system—an oil provider responsible for 45% of the eastern U.S.’s supply. As explained by a subject expert, it was “the most significant, successful attack on energy infrastructure” the country has ever suffered (Politico). Sixteen states and Washington, D.C. are now under an emergency declaration, with a growing number declaring an outright emergency: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas. In a world as interconnected as the one we live in, such commotions can turn into catastrophe fast! Supply chains are very fragile. And EVERYTHING turns on fuel costs. One top expert, quoting a group of others, says if this is not fixed by Friday, “all bloody hell is going to break loose.” I remember the bad 1974 Arab oil embargo. It was nothing beside this! 

 

Now consider that a year has passed since the death of George Floyd, which sparked massive unrest and $2 billion in property damage in the following months. The police officer accused of murdering Floyd was recently found guilty. If the officer had been acquitted, the world would have spiraled into a level of chaos and unrest that would have made the summer of 2020 look tame. But he was found guilty, meaning we may begin to see many in the police force across America begin to resign. Early indicators of this have already appeared: 

 

•               Portland, OR: Last year alone saw 115 officers quit the force—an unprecedented number.

•               Seattle, WA: Over 200 officers quit after months of anti-police riots.

•               Louisville, KY: Since the death of Breonna Taylor, more than 150 have resigned.

•               Washington, D.C.: Metro police saw 313 officers leave over the last year.

•               Minneapolis, MN: Close to 200 officers have applied to resign from a force that is only 850-strong (24%).

•               New York City, NY: Over 3,500 in the NYPD resigned or retired last year—a 75% increase over 2019.

•               Chicago, IL: About 560 officers retired in 2020—a 15% increase over the previous year. 

 

If time were to go on, we would watch the world’s most powerful nation rapidly descend into full-blown anarchy. GRASP THIS! This in and of itself proves God’s Kingdom is near. 

There is no "full-blown" anarchy raging across the country, much to the disappointment of COG doomsayers. 

Adding to the confusion in Minneapolis is the recent death of 20-year-old Daunte Wright—shot by a police officer after resisting arrest. Body cam footage of the fatal shooting showed the police officer grabbing the wrong weapon from her holster. Thinking she was about to tase the man, she instead discharged her gun, fatally wounding him in the side. The city—and shortly thereafter the entire nation—lit up with protests, riots and looting, prompting deployment of the national guard in Minneapolis and other large cities. 1,000 businesses sit burned out and destroyed in Minneapolis alone. 

 

While these types of police shootings capture headlines, violence in no way stops there. Just think of the 30-year-old mother who recently made headlines for fatally stabbing her three children in cold blood—all of which were under the age of six. Involved in a custody dispute with the children’s father, she became mentally unstable. After the murders, she stole a car and fled. Stories like this make one physically sick, and long for God to put an END to rampant evil. 

 

What would the world look like if time did go on? How bad would it get? In addition to worsening violence and division, we would see more disease, social distancing and widespread school and business closures. Many now fear “vaccine passports” will be used to deny service to those who decline vaccination. In an increasingly tyrannical society, will those who make the personal choice not to vaccinate be allowed to board a plane—work at certain businesses—go to school—even dine in certain restaurants? No one can doubt the impact the virus has had on government ability to control the citizenry. 

 

Then there are the proposed medical “solutions” being discussed. God long ago told Israel, “I am the LORD that heals you” (Ex. 15:26). He wants to heal the modern nations of Israel—and the world—of COVID and other diseases! Scientists and doctors can do their best, but their methods are inadequate—and sometimes reckless. 

And yet Dave was the one reckless person we saw spouting off about COVID and telling his followers not to be concerned with it actually caught it and came close to dying because he was so sick and then was deceptive to his members though it all acting as if nothing was wrong. 

While the world is in turmoil over COVID and various vaccine issues and problems, the next frontier of virus intervention involves subdermal implants to monitor the bloodstream. As a doctor leading the effort told 60 Minutes, “That tiny green thing in there, you put it underneath your skin and what that tells you is that there are chemical reactions going on inside the body and that signal means you are going to have symptoms tomorrow.” He likened it to a “check-engine light,” and assured listeners, “It’s not some dreaded government microchip to track your every move, but a tissue-like gel engineered to continuously test your blood.” Patients can then be connected to a dialysis machine to have the virus filtered out of their blood. Ask: Is THIS what God wants for human beings created in His image? Again—He wants to heal us, with all solutions devised by mankind inferior! If man has proven anything it is that he is INCAPABLE of ending what is a relatively “tame” disease. In India alone, the daily case count has been hovering around 400,000—and this is well over a year-and-a-half after the virus started to spread! 

 

But there are scientific “advancements” on multiple fronts. According to a report from National Public Radio, “For the first time, scientists have created embryos that are a mix of human and monkey cells.” This is an abomination in the sight of God. Humans have an awesome potential made plain in the Bible. Hybridizing them with primates is not part of that Plan! 

 

Perhaps even more dangerous is the radical transformation of the levers of government controlling American society. For more than 230 years there have been three branches of government in the United States. A careful system of checks and balances were instituted to ensure no one branch became too powerful. Each branch itself was also structured to prevent abuse of power. All of this may soon change. On April 9, President Biden issued an Executive Order “Creating the Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court of the United States.” “The Commission’s purpose [according to a White House statement] is to provide an analysis of…the Court’s role in the Constitutional system; the length of service and turnover of justices on the Court; the membership and size of the Court; and the Court’s case selection, rules, and practices.” The endgame is what many have feared: to “pack” the United States Supreme Court. Increasing the number of justices will politicize the court and make it more easily controlled by those who hold power in the Executive and Legislative branches—effectively destroying the already fragile checks and balances that remain. 

 

The radical agenda being foisted on America is already moving forward at alarming speed. What will happen if the Supreme Court is controlled by these modern revolutionaries? 

 

The nations of the world who once viewed America and other democratic, modern Western nations with respect—as beacons of light—now mock and laugh. Will God allow such a radical transformation of America to occur before the arrival of His Kingdom? Would the birthright blessings remain in America? Would it even still be America in a year or even six months?

Finally, many nations around the world continue to experience turmoil in the form of natural disasters. For instance, there is the La Soufrière volcano on the island of St. Vincent in the Caribbean that began erupting April 9. Pyroclastic flows of very hot lava fragments, ash and gases destroyed everything in their path. As the recovery process began, one person stated, “You have a foot of ash on everyone’s roofs. You have all the crops that are completely destroyed…Then you have boulders that were on fire that literally came through people’s roofs” (CNN). And this is just one example of a natural disaster in one place in a world brimming with such events. Other disasters are manmade—like one bombing near a girls’ school in Kabul that left more than 85 dead, mostly young girls. 

Yes, brethren, the world is rapidly spiraling down the drain, BUT, never fear! The RCG is here!!!!  

Brethren and co-workers, standing in stark contrast to this ever-deteriorating world is the amazing worldwide Work God is doing NOW leading up to His Kingdom. As reported in the last letter, Church growth has since continued. And this year’s Spring Holy Day offerings far—FAR—exceeded expectations! Both days exceeded 26% over last year. Pentecost is this Sunday and there is every reason to expect this trend of generosity will continue—particularly given it is the only “stand-alone” Holy Day. Many have been able to give more because their offering does not compete with an adjacent Feast day. For these annual offerings as well as general offerings you give throughout the year, I want to thank you on behalf of God. They go a long way to reaching others with God’s precious knowledge. 

 

While this letter is to members of God’s Church, it is also written for co-workers who elect to support the Work of God—including some of you who may want to take your commitment one step further in attending services. The Restored Church of God has ministers around the world eager to serve those whom He may be calling. If this is you, I encourage you to write us at rcg.org/contact. While these personal letters provide wonderful updates on God’s Work and world conditions leading up to the arrival of the Kingdom, there is so much more to God’s Church and way of life!

Just as Paul closed his first letter to the Thessalonians, I, too, ask you brethren and co-workers to “pray for us” (5:25). We here at Headquarters are praying for all of you. 

 

In Christ’s service,

David C. Pack 

 

P.S. to brethren: Referencing the kingdom to Israel above would naturally evoke questions. It is my hope to deliver a 15-20 minute message as early as tomorrow that simplifies everything in a way I could never do before. It will be posted ASAP.

Money, money, money, It's a rich man's world! 

 

PCG's Joel Hilliker Says Children Are Filled With Satan Inspired Human Nature And Are Savages

 

Joel Hilliker from the Philadelphia Church of God has an article up on the PCG website titled: "Twenty Years to Civilization"

Hilliker relates how he went to volunteer at his daughter's school and discusses how awful it was at times. Those nasty, heathen, satan-inspired children of the world really got to him.

After whining that all of the teachers were women and he and the other dads were the only positive male influence the kids had, he said this:

“When it comes to rearing children, every society is only 20 years away from barbarism,” Dr. Albert Siegel once wrote. “Twenty years is all we have to accomplish the task of civilizing the infants who are born into our midst each year. These savages know nothing of our language, our culture, our religion, our values, our customs of interpersonal relations. … The barbarian must be tamed if civilization is to survive.”

It’s a bit dramatic—but in a sense painfully true. Calling children savages certainly reflects reality far better than treating them like natural-born saints, sages and savants. Our Satan-inspired human nature represents a savage within each of us that must be civilized. Children have it in spades—unless we are diligent in confronting it. That’s why Proverbs 29:15 says, “The rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame.”

Where this reality truly smacked me in the face was on the playground at my daughter’s school. I spent three recesses outside—with first graders, then second graders, then fifth graders. Each successive mob was worse behaved. The fifth graders, having lived more years without being properly civilized, were genuine specimens of savagery. Everywhere I turned, I saw carnality on parade: name-calling, accusing, cursing, screaming, boasting, pushing, sulking, cheating.

I realized that most of these same kids had just been inside under the authority of effective, qualified teachers who had managed to keep a lid on this ugliness through productive, focused work. The level of human nature suddenly on display correlated precisely with the lack of government in their lives at that moment.

Having to admit the teachers were fairly good at keeping the kids under control in the classroom, he then makes this comment:

I realized that most of these same kids had just been inside under the authority of effective, qualified teachers who had managed to keep a lid on this ugliness through productive, focused work. The level of human nature suddenly on display correlated precisely with the lack of government in their lives at that moment.

Good old government. Where would the COG be without dragging out submission to proper government into the mix? COG government is the biggest failure in the COG today. Absolutely none of them follow the demands that their church government places upon them. If they did, they would not have apostatized and started hundreds of splinter groups.

After musing about his own kids being little savages, and how without proper attention and discipline they would be real savages like students in all of the worldly colleges today. He ends with this:

The task of civilizing the infants born into our midst is crucial—and great. Twenty years is all we have.

LCG Expecting East Coast Members To Drive To Church Two Days In A Row This Weekend, In Spite Of Crippling Gas Prices

As LCG gears up for Pentecost this weekend, HQ wants to make sure LCG members have both of their gas tanks full, their car, and their Holy Spirit tank. 

LCG members may be struggling this week to keep their physical gas tanks full in order to drive to church this weekend and for the next few weeks. A wise church leader would have said due to the current gas shortage on the east coast we will only be holding services only on Pentecost instead of forcing you to spend money traveling to church two days in a row. 

Better yet, Weston should have said, "we will be streaming services on Saturday and Pentecost in order to make your lives a little easier during this crisis."

The ransomware attack on the Colonial Pipeline here in the United States has shut off fuel supplies to Southern and Atlantic Coast states, causing more than a thousand gas stations to run out of fuel. North Carolina is the hardest hit, with about 70 percent of gas stations shut down. Panic buying in Florida, which is not dependent on the Colonial Pipeline system, has shut down 16 percent of their stations. This will affect in-person Sabbath and Pentecost attendance in some of the states hardest hit, but we are thankful for the infrastructure we have in the Church, due to the pandemic, to transmit services online. Of course, we all know that anything involving the Internet is vulnerable, and it is a good practice to have back-up available. As we see our world going from one disaster to another, let us remember God as our Creator this Sabbath, and the millennial rest the Sabbath foreshadows; and let us rejoice in the calling God has given to us as firstfruits of His harvest.—Gerald Weston

LCG members are also encouraged to send in offerings online, particularly if they can't drive to church.  It is always more important to have the money clinking in the till than worry about members struggling to make ends meet with food and bills while also having to deal with high gas prices and shortages. Offerings always trump food on the table. Besides, this way their hands don't have to touch the filthy lucre.

Pentecost Holy Day Offerings: U.S. Churches Only—Repeat Announcement
As we prepare for Pentecost, we want to let the brethren know how we will be handling the Holy Day offering. We encourage those who are able and want to donate online to make online Holy Day offerings. This greatly cuts down on the time and work required to process checks. Congregations holding in-person services on Pentecost will have an offertory message and collect an offering as we have normally done. If you attend in person and choose to donate online, simply write “online” on your offering envelope collected at services. For those who will not be able to attend services in person, we encourage making online donations, if possible, just as we did for the Days of Unleavened Bread.—Finance Department

LCG members must also never forget to keep their Holy Spirit tank topped off, even though the church generally depletes that account thanks to abusive ministers, draconian non-biblical rules, church government demands, and oppressive law-keeping. But, no matter what, have a profitable Pentecost!

Are You Filled with the Spirit? We read in the Scriptures inspiring accounts of numerous people who were “filled” with God’s Holy Spirit—John the Baptist, his mother Elizabeth, and his father Zacharias (Luke 1:15, 41, 67). On the day of Pentecost, the disciples were “all filled with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:4). Later, Peter and Paul are described as being “filled” with the Spirit (Acts 4:8; 9:17; 13:9). Paul admonished brethren, “do not be drunk with wine... but be filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18). How do you become filled with the Spirit? If we repent and make a commitment at baptism and receive the laying on of hands, we are promised the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38). God gives His Spirit to those who obey His commandments (Acts 5:32). However, that Spirit must be nourished daily by regular prayer and Bible study if we are to be “filled” with the Spirit (2 Corinthians 4:16). Paul told Timothy to “stir up” the Spirit, indicating there are things we can and must do to become “filled” with the Spirit of God (2 Timothy 1:6–7). Let’s make sure we are doing our part to nourish and exercise the fruits of God’s Spirit so we can be instruments in His hands.
Have a profitable Pentecost, 

Douglas S. Winnail

Gerald Flurry: Premaritial salvation?

Gerald Flurry is on a roll lately in finding new ways to intimidate and make his dwindling flock of followers fearful of their standing with Flurry's creature god. 

The most urgent prophecies in the Bible are directed at God’s Spirit-begotten people. Why? Because eternal life is on the line. If they rebel and fail to repent of their sin, they will lose the opportunity to live forever in God’s Family. 

This is the very first paragraph in Flurry's article. PCG members are immediately threatened with not being a "spirit-begotten people", that their eternal life is on the line and that they will lose out on being a god in Flurry's god family. What a cheerful start!

A few have asked, “What is so bad about being dead for all eternity?” Looking at it physically, it isn’t that bad at all. But if you look at it spiritually, it’s catastrophic! It’s like turning away from a pile of precious jewels to a pile of dung. But even that comparison is inadequate to explain the firstfruits being called to marry Christ and then obscenely rejecting that invitation!

How can they "marry" someone they know nothing about? 

Then to scare people further and to further alienate his followers from family members no longer a part of the PCG, Flurry says this:

God’s loyal people who are in this marriage relationship are protected by Christ from the Great Tribulation—in His “skirts”! Remember Ezekiel 5, where, in the midst of the threefold destruction of Israel, God will take a few and bind them in His skirts (verses 1-3). God will protect His loyal Philadelphians. Those who aren’t protected (verse 4) will be cast into the fire. The Laodiceans are not bound in God’s skirts. They have rebelled against God and must also be punished in the Great Tribulation to get them to repent.

Everyone who has left PCG, refused to follow him into the PCG, or refused to heed his message is now Laodicean and MUST be punished by his angry god.

Only if PCG members heed the call of Flurry will they be protected.

To be bound in God’s skirts is God’s coded way of saying the Philadelphians grasp the marriage covenant with God and the Laodiceans don’t! The Laodicean Church has lost sight of this mind-staggering future as Christ’s wife.

Then the creep factor of Flurry's demented mind really kicks into action. Apparently, his creature called "christ" has already consummated his marriage to PCG members though they aren't married to him yet. Is this premarital salvation?

“Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready” (Revelation 19:7). Christ’s wife must be ready when He returns. We are now to be preparing for that fabulous marriage—which Christ looks upon as already being consummated! That’s why we are called His “wife”—not His fiancée. We must think about this marriage as our Husband does!It is extremely urgent that we get ready to be Christ’s wife for all eternity! This is the most exalted reward ever offered to any human being at any time! 

 

At baptism, the firstfruits make a marriage covenant to obey God and be born again as Christ’s wife. This far transcends the marriage covenant He made with the physical nation of Israel! Ours is a special marriage covenant available only to the firstfruits.

In order to whip his few followers into a premarital frenzy, Flurry states:

The highest level of priests for God in the World Tomorrow will be Christ’s wife! His wife has the responsibility to be king-priests forever—for all eternity! That is our calling today. This is why we must be tried and tested. This is the highest calling God has to offer! We can’t stumble into this responsibility. “Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. …” (Revelation 19:7-9).

Nothing excites legalists in the COG more than thinking they will be gods in some future kingdom where they will wield rods of iron as kings and priests. What a miserable thought!

Did you know that COG members in other COG's are committing spiritual fornication? Flurry claims the god they follow is not the same as his god. Thus, they are engaged in fornication with that god.

Some Laodiceans think God will give them this mind-splitting reward if they just stay in a church! A church is not our husband—Christ is! We must learn to follow Him wherever He goes.

Why is there such a preoccupation with COG with sex and sexual innuendo?

“But thou didst trust in thine own beauty, and playedst the harlot because of thy renown, and pouredst out thy fornications on every one that passed by …” (Ezekiel 16:15). The word fornications should be translated adultery! This is a higher level of sin. Ancient Israel was married to God. True Christians are married to Christ today. If we turn away from God to another god—as the end-time Laodiceans have done—it is adultery!

Flurry's god does not even exist so he has no foothold in lecturing the COG's about the god they follow. 

Remember, this is prophecy for today. Only God’s firstfruits can commit adultery in this end time, because only they are married to Christ.

Bible translators don’t understand about God’s marriage and God’s Family. That’s why they use the word fornications instead of adultery. 

 

Revelation 19:7 and Ezekiel 16:15 reveal how God views our calling now. This is why we can view this marriage as already consummated and yet to be consummated. All too often, we view this marriage humanly. We need to view it through God’s Holy Spirit. God views the marriage through perfect character. God made a covenant. It is as good as done. By labeling His people as His wife, God is teaching us to build His character and think as He does. When God says He will do something, it is always done. He never breaks a covenant. So when we are engaged to Christ, it’s the same as a marriage. A covenant to be married is the same as a marriage—the way God views it. With God’s Spirit we should view it the same way. 

 

However, there is the human element. We can fail and never be a part of that wedding. The lesson God is trying to teach is that a covenant is a promise to keep your word. And our word should be fulfilled, if we manifest the character of God. Our word should never be broken. So God judges us on the basis of our promise, or our covenant. At baptism we said we would marry Christ and meet all the covenant conditions. So God judges us on the basis of our word, or covenant, to become His wife. Once we actually become His wife, we cannot commit adultery, because we’ll be God—members of the God Family—and God cannot sin. Viewing it spiritually, we can commit adultery only during the engagement period.

Carnal-minded men can’t grasp the magnitude of our reward. It takes the Holy Spirit of God to grasp what God is offering His firstfruits! The Laodiceans have lost this marriage and Family of God concept because they are spiritually blind. This is the greatest mistake they or anyone on Earth can make today! God says this adulterous sin is no “small matter” (Ezekiel 16:20). We know that many of them will wake up before or during the Tribulation. But why must they be so rebellious that they allow Satan to turn them away from their most noble, majestic crown? On Pentecost: Remember the Marriage Covenant

I guess when you ignore everything about Jesus and his salvational works one is left with this kind of malarkey. Basic Christianity understands the works of salvation, why can't these perverted purveyors of Armstrongism do the same? 

 

Greg Albrecht on Evil and Satan

The comments below by Greg Albrecht on Satan and evil will certainly set off one doubly blessed prophet of god into a naturopathic fit of self-righteous frenzy. I can't wait! 😈

QUESTION:

Some time ago you gave a sermon and talked about Satan, and asked how “real” is he and how “symbolic” is he. I think he is real, and I have many Scriptures that support my conclusion. Of course, I know that there are many references in the Bible which are true but not literally so. Can you elaborate?

 

ANSWER:

 

Some brief thoughts, perhaps if I enumerate them they might be a bit more logical! 

• The question of the devil, and how “literal” biblical references to his existence are, and how symbolic, is an ongoing discussion – has been for many centuries. 

• Excuse the double negative:  I do not believe that the devil/Satan does not exist.  I believe that would be an uncalled for (biblically speaking) conclusion.  I have no idea how real and literal Satan is, and that fact does not bother me because my believe in the reality of God, who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit completely transcends any worries I might have about Satan.  

In COGland, Satan is the most powerful entity on earth today. Far more powerful than Jesus who is sitting in some faraway place pouring over all the details of COGleaders who have determined when he is to return. Satan is constantly on the prowl for the minds of COG members and apparently, according to most COG leaders, he is quite successful in leading church members astray - not the ministry of course, but the members.

• I also believe that it is possible to have an unhealthy interest in the things that constitute evil and darkness.  Thus, I suggest the more literal one tends to take Satan and his demons, and how much power one attributes to them, the “weaker” and more “vulnerable” one’s faith is.  This is the spirit of 1 John 4:4 –“… the one who is in you [Jesus] is greater than the one who is in the world [Satan].”  Trust God, focus on him, know that he alone is on the throne of the universe.  That we know.  That we believe.  There is our faith.

The emphasis on Satan in the COG is unhealthy and has led to mental health issues with members who think they are under his control. Every single week Satan is brought up in a sermon and members are warned to be on guard for his wiley ways. Jesus is seldom discussed, but Satan certainly dominates the airwaves in the COG.

• Whatever and whomever the devil and his henchmen are, and whatever they may do (Paul calls him “the prince of the power of the air”) the Bible clearly teaches they are limited in their scope of influence.  At times a fallen spirit world (whatever such a spiritual dimension is, and I do not pretend to know specifically and doubt anyone who dogmatically claims they know) they often have power and influence in someone’s life because an individual allows and gives them such powers. 

In COGland, Satan controls everything is craftily planning on how to get COG leaders kicked off the airwaves so their messages can't be preached. Since no COG leader has ever had a real theological education (and this particularly means Bob Thiel)  and spent time examining the subject of Satan in church history and fictional accounts that have entered the church belief system, they are totally oblivious to the many traditions and false understandings that infect COG leaders today.

• The greater question regarding how Satan may or may not literally exist, and the biblical passages that speak of him (or is “he” a “she” – just kidding, but the question is fair given the tone of our politically correct world today) is the matter of evil.  There is no doubt whatsoever that evil exists, that it thrives and that it causes enormous grief and heartache.  Satan may be in some way responsible for much of the evil we see in the world, and in some ways he may stand for and symbolize evil in some biblical references.   But evil does exist without him. Humans cannot blame Satan for all the evil in this world and specifically, the evil to which they contribute.  The totality of evil in our world is greater than the sum of its parts.  Evil is the greater enemy I believe, and thus it deserves more of our attention.

Evil is only discussed COGland when it can be connected to Satan and never is much discussed on how humans contribute to it all by themselves. Just look at the evil that transpired when numerous COG leaders took it upon themselves to set up COG splinter groups, diverting money into their pockets and separating families from loved ones. Did Satan cause that or just vile evil men who were consumed with their own greatness and lusts for power?

• Christ-centered, biblical faith does not offer any perfect solution to the problem of evil and why it exists (called a theodicy).  In brief, 1) God is all powerful.  2) God is good.  3) Appalling evil happens, all the time.  Why? How do we reconcile those three statements?  Some propose that we blame the devil, and when we are particularly involved in evil, conclude “the devil made me do it.”  This is overly simplistic and does not fit within the love, mercy and grace of God.  Do we propose that evil exists because of a mutual attack on goodness by our inherently evil human nature and by Satan and his demonic world?   Some do – again, I don’t think the Bible speaks authoritatively on this topic. But of course 1) God is all powerful  2) God is good and  3) Appalling evil happens, all the time.  These three truths are not perfectly resolved, to our satisfaction, by the love, mercy and grace of God either.  We are left with the problem of evil, where it comes from, how it happens, who is responsible and what can be done about it.

• Whether we take all biblical references to Satan being “literal” and “real” or not is a bit of a snipe hunt, I believe.  For example, one can say that people put on too much weight because they eat hamburgers and fries, while another person may say that people put on too much weight because they eat too much pasta and drink too much alcohol.  While there are folks who say they know dogmatic answers to weight gain, retention and loss (and they stand ready to sell you their book of course!)  the issue is a bit more complex than some of the simplistic solutions offered.  What can we say and know, and where should be place our attention?  In my opinion, Christ centered faith offers no intellectual solution to the problem of evil, or of Satan…. or for that matter, many other topics, including weight gain and loss.  But here’s the ultimate solution, here’s where our focus must be — the Cross of Christ stands forever as absolute testimony to the fact that there is no evil so vile and reprehensible that God cannot transform it to his goodness and grace, and that ultimately, he will.  Christ-followers have, by God’s grace, a cruciform faith, not a fearful of the devil faith.THE DEVIL AND THE PROBLEM OF EVIL – GREG ALBRECHT

This is the standard belief of traditional Christianity, but not the COG version. Jesus gets little lip service in the COG while the law, Satan, and obedience do. People live in a state of fear in the church, constantly worrying if they are going to make it or if they have kept all of the laws properly. Any quick review of exCOG boards on Facebook makes that appallingly obvious on how people struggled when in the church to do everything right and how it helped destroy their mental health, so much so, that many are still dealing with the after-effects decades later.