Those fun boys in Cincinnati are on a roll!
Presentation of 3-year Strategic Plan Review—John Miller & Brian Shaw
In August 2021, the COE tasked the Strategic Planning and Finance Committee (SPFC) to develop Paul’s appeal to the Ephesians to “speak the truth in love” and incorporate that concept into the major update of the Strategic Plan that was due for the 2022–2023 fiscal year. The SPFC has been working on the updated Strategic Plan for the past two months. The Council presented this updated Strategic Plan to the administration for about three hours.
We value our responsibility to preach the gospel, make disciples and prepare a people. To accomplish that responsibility, we must plumb the depths of the Word of God and live it out in the Spirit of God. In summary—Truth in Love.
Wut? A COG speaking truth in love?
Truth in Love is, in essence, who we are and how we do what we do. It is about much more than just “speaking the truth in love.” Ephesians maps out a path that leads to becoming like Him. It provides a framework to organize and focus “The Work” of the Church.
The SPFC took up the challenge, with the approval of the COE, to incorporate these elements into the update of the 2022-2023 Strategic and Operation Plan. This Strategic Plan builds on the work of those who have gone before, but we believe it brings a new level of clarity, detail and focus to outcomes-based planning and makes it Scripture Centric.
We all desire to hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much” (Matthew:25:23, ESV). The Strategic and Operation Plan does not ignore the “small things” (Zechariah:4:10), but keeps the overall Vision and Mission in focus.
We acknowledge that not everything in a work that is both human and divine can be planned, documented and measured. However, we can and should implement, measure, evaluate and continuously improve everything we can with the resources God has so generously supplied. This plan is intended to be a living document that can, and will, be updated each year.
The Council unanimously approved, by consent without resolution, to continue with this Strategic Plan and for the administration to use the framework provided to prepare the Operating Plan and Budget that will be presented to the Council at the February meetings.
As for preaching "truth in love" and how much of an impact thay are making after 25 years of existence, there's this:
Peter Eddington went through some of the following statistics as of November 30 this year:
United News circulation is currently at 18,449, which is 2.8% more than this time last year and just below our all-time high of 18,475 reached for the September 2021 issue.
Our coworker count is now at 8,799 (16% higher than the same time last year) and just below our all-time high from October 2021 of 8,809.
Our donor list now includes 10,599 people—12.9% higher than this time last year. (Our all-time high was 10,834 in June of 2021.)
Donors combined with our coworkers is now 19,398 (14% more than same time last year).
Total Beyond Today magazine circulation worldwide is at 327,229 for the Nov.-Dec. 2021 issue—which is 9.2% more than the same time last year and the highest since 2008.
U.S. magazine subscribers are at 279,406 for the Nov.-Dec. 2021 issue. This is 12.3% more than the same time last year and the highest since 2008.
Those people on our U.S. file associated with the Church (teens, members, associated) as of November 30 is 12,112.
Imagine what UCG could do if they actually made Jesus the center of their new 3 year program and actually taught what he taught and truly believed in the new covenant. I know. Silly me.
ReplyDeleteSpeak the truth in love or any other motive, and one will get slapped down by the church. It's Pharisaic window dressing and a trap for the naive.
ReplyDeleteAnon, Saturday, January 8, 2022 at 11:09:00 AM PST, said:
ReplyDelete"...Imagine what UCG could do if they actually made Jesus the center of their new 3 year program and actually taught what he taught and truly believed in the new covenant. I know. Silly me..."
******
If the United Ass. hirelings actually did all of that regarding Jesus United would never, among other things, tell us about such things as:
- Jesus to return very soon to reign on earth for 1,000 years (a Mickey Mouse Millennium)
- Jesus was "God in the flesh" while He walked on earth.
- Jesus was the God of the Old Testament, etc.
Will these hirelings teach these things that Jesus understood?
Time will tell...
John
To help the UCG find more truth: Ex 23:14-16 lists 3 feasts-Hebrew chags. Lev 23 lists the 3 feasts and 7 annual sabbaths-Hebrew moeds. Yeah, it's a brain teaser. Old Covenant stuff you say? Could be except for the three feasts which appear to still be observable: Zech 14:16; Acts 12:3; 20:16; 1Cor 16:8.
ReplyDeleteI applaud them for setting goals. Hopefully, they will follow through in measuring the results. If next year at this time there has been noticeable improvement, which members can feel by the seat of their pants, is that necessarily a bad thing?
ReplyDeleteThis beats what we have been hearing from some of the other splinters.
One question, though. When they speak of "all time highs", do those numbers include their pre-calving days before the COGAWA split?
This 3-year goal will end up being like the 5 year and long-term goals UCG has set in the past. It will never come to fruition. It's all talk and no bark. Its been a failure every since COGWA departed with their best and brightest ministers, most of their members, and much of their money. Is there any COG out there today that is doing any witness for Jesus Christ? I have never seen one yet.
ReplyDeleteI'm not buying it! These ACOG groups wouldn't know love if it slapped them across their face.
ReplyDeleteUCG wants us to speak the truth in love?
ReplyDeleteThe problem with that is that your kind of love is not their kind of love so truth can never proceed. (Hab 1:4)
You can't win with them because they want you to be weak, timid, a pushover and compromiser on truth so that you won't offend their extreme sensitivities to member challenges. They are like Eli the high priest, sitting on a rocking chair thinking that every problem will take care of itself (1 Sam 2), more afraid of what men will do to them for their negligence than God.
Truth can't proceed in a community when you have too many hoops to jump through to establish a truth. And you can't win if you have too many respecters of persons (James 2:9) who believe one man's version of truth over another man's version on the basis of affiliation or socio-economic level.
Mickey Mouse Interpretation? Part 1
ReplyDelete“Where did Christ say He would be?
"The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool?" Matthew 22:44
“The last enemy is death, which is not conquered...” (John, "Only 10 Years Left Till Jesus And Certain Select COG Members Are Ruling In Jerusalem,"April 22, 2018).
“... a Mickey Mouse Millennium where BobT believes, like so many, that Jesus Christ will "very soon" return to earth and reign on earth for 1,000 years, but that view is just fake news, which isn't going to happen unless Jesus Christ lied. Jesus Christ said He'd be at the Father's right hand until His enemies are made His footstool. Satan is an enemy; death is an enemy...” (John, "Fake News COG False Prophet Claims US Government Hates Him And His Improperly Named Church," April 15, 2018).
Ps 110:1 The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.
Jesus Christ quoted Psalm 110:1 in Matt 22:44. To understand what 110:1 means the Psalm needs to be consulted. When this is done it can be seen that John’s interpretation is a ‘mickey mouse’ interpretation.
Before looking at the psalm some background is required. A couple of quotes from previous posts:
Ro 1:8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all...
“God the Father is always the "first course" of everything and thus always appears in the primary position as the "prime mover"...” (Gordon D. Fee, Pauline Christology, p.9).
“In the birth story, as in the passion story, Jesus is passive and God is the actor. This is the nature of the Gospel as such. It is not the story of amazing things done by Jesus, but of what God has done for humanity in the event of Jesus Christ” (M. Eugene Boring, The Gospel of Matthew, NIB, Vol.8, p.137).
God as the “prime mover/actor” implies He uses others to accomplish His objectives.
Mt 19:4 And he [Jesus] answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he [God] which made them at the beginning made them male and female,
God is Creator but He creates through [ex hou] Jesus Christ (1 Cor 8:6). In Mt 19:4 God is the prime mover in making “them male and female”.
Isa 63:8b so he was their Saviour.
Isa 63:9b and the angel of his presence saved them:
Jude 1:25 to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through [dia] Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen. (NIV).
God is Saviour in both the OT and NT; He saved/saves through “the angel of his presence (lit., “face) and Jesus Christ, respectively. The Angel of His face being the preincarnate Jesus Christ.
Looking at a couple of examples of God being the prime mover in warfare in the OT.
Lev 26:15 And if ye shall despise my statutes, or if your soul abhor my judgments, so that ye will not do all my commandments, but that ye break my covenant:
Lev 26:16 I also will do this unto you;
Lev 26:17 And I will set my face against you, and ye shall be slain before your enemies:
“I will” is used in the sense of “prime mover”.
The first is where God becomes the enemy of His people:
La 2:4 He hath bent his bow like an enemy: he stood with his right hand as an adversary, and slew all that were pleasant to the eye in the tabernacle of the daughter of Zion: he poured out his fury like fire.
La 2:5 The Lord was as an enemy: he hath swallowed up Israel, he hath swallowed up all her palaces: he hath destroyed his strong holds, and hath increased in the daughter of Judah mourning and lamentation.
“Here God is pictured as an archer shooting at his enemies, his own people. In reality, his bow is the Babylonian army, but the author of Lamentations knows that the arrows of Babylon are really shot by the Lord. God is described as wielding human weapons elsewhere in Scripture. In Joshua 5:13-15 he holds a drawn sword. In Psalm 7:12-13 he takes up sword and bow” (Tremper Longman III, Jeremiah, Lamentations, NIBC, p.354).
Part 2
ReplyDelete“Yahweh is the primary actor, Babylonia the secondary means” (Paul W. Ferris, Lamentations, EBC, Rev Ed., Vol.7,p.589).
The second example is where God is on His peoples’ side:
2 Sa 7:6 I have been with you wherever you went, destroying all your enemies before you. I have made your fame as great as that if the greatest of the land.
2 Sa 7:10a I have established a place for my people Israel and I have planted them so that the might dwell where they are, disturbed no more. (A.A. Anderson, WBC, p.121).
“I have” is also used in the sense of “prime mover”.
1Ki 5:3 ... because of the wars waged against ... David from all sides, he could not build a temple for the Name of the LORD his God until the LORD put his enemies under his feet.
God put David’s enemies under his feet through David himself. God is the “primary actor” and David the “secondary means”. David against his enemies provides the type for the “greater David” against His enemies.
“Proof texting is the method by which a person appeals to a biblical text to prove or justify a theological position without regard for the context of the passage they are citing” (theopedia.com)
“The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool?" Matthew 22:44”.
To read into Christ’s quote of a single OT verse that He will be at God’s right hand until death and Satan are “conquered” is a good example of proof-texting.
Hos 11:1 When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son.
Hos 11:2 The more they were called, the more they went away; they kept sacrificing to the Baals and burning offerings to idols. (ESV).
Mt 2:15 And was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son.
Using a bit of ancient Near Eastern type hyperbole, the only people better than the COGs at proof-texting are the NT writers themselves. For the latter this was an acceptable hermeneutic but for the former it is not.
“... Matthew’s christological interpretation consists not of an exegesis of what the text meant in its original context, but of a far-reaching theological argument which takes the OT text and locates it within an overarching scheme of fulfillment which finds in Jesus the end point of numerous prophetic trajectories” (R.T. France, The Gospel of Matthew, NICNT, p.81).
“Certainly some Old Testament prophecies were fulfilled literally in the New Testament. Some of those Old Testament prophecies were clearly understood in a literal manner prior to their fulfillment. Thus Herod could be advised by the chief priests and teachers of the law where to go looking for the Christ child on the basis of Micah 5:2 (Matt 2:1-5). However, other prophecies from the Old Testament were fulfilled in ways that would have been completely unexpected to preceding generations though they were fulfilled in a literal way. What first-century Bible prophecy conference would have been clearly predicting the birth of Messiah from a virgin basis of Isaiah 7:14? Or his crucifixion on the basis of Psalm 22? Or his physical resurrection on the basis of Psalm 16? These texts were clearly viewed by the New Testament as messianic prophecies that were literally fulfilled, yet they were only seen to be such with the benefit of 20-20 hindsight after their fulfilment in Christ, not before...” (Iain M. Duguid, Ezekiel, NIVAC, p.31). - See for a lot more.
Ps 110:0 A Psalm of David.
"In light of NT use of the Psalm, Christian exegesis traditionally took the psalm as messianic prophecy that Jesus fulfills... One would never guess this interpretation from the psalm; it can only be read into it. When Yhwh spoke the words in OT times, people could not have been expected to understand them as the NT does...
Part 3
ReplyDeleteThe relationship between NT and OT text is the one that regularly obtains. In light of Jesus' coming, the Holy Spirit inspires significance in the OT that was never there before” (John Goldingay, Psalms: Psalms 90-150, BCOT, p.299).
When the Jews came back from the Babylonian captivity and the Davidic monarch was not reinstated this Psalm and other writings began to take on Messianic significance, so that people in the time of Christ, though not all, regarded this as a Messianic prophecy.
Ps 110:1 The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.
"The speaker ... reports words of Yhwh to someone identified in v.1 as "my lord" and in v.4 as a priest. In light of the context of the utterances, I take "my lord" to be the king; the words in v.1, expanded in vv.2-3, are an "utterance" promising Yhwh's support, which will enable the king to win victories over his foes, and promising that he will have the support from his people, that will make that possible... The psalm is the twin of Ps 2, which speaks similarly of what Yhwh will do for and through the king...” (John Goldingay, Psalms: Psalms 90-150, BCOT, p.291).
The human king provides a ‘type’ for the divine king. The human king, using ancient Near-Eastern hyperbolic court language, is metaphorically at God’s right hand, while the antitype, the divine king, is literally at God’s right hand now. God as prime mover/actor used/uses both the human and divine kings to put their enemies under their feet; verse 2-3 elaborates and is supported by v.5ff, providing the type for the antitype.
Ps 110:2 The LORD shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion: rule thou in the midst of thine enemies.
Ps 110:2 The LORD will extend your mighty scepter from Zion; you will rule in the midst of your enemies. (NIV).
“Psalm 110:2 continues, “YHWH sends forth from Zion your mighty sceptre. Rule in the midst of your enemies!” This passage both supports and further explains v 1a. Interpretation of verse two is not without challenges. In verse one, Yahweh speaks in the first person, whereas in verse two the verbs change from a first to third person point of view. Either the oracle has ended and the speaker is explaining the meaning of the oracle or, more likely, God is referring to himself in the passage. The metaphor changes as the subject of the oracle no longer sits at the right hand of Yahweh. Instead, the king or Messiah now acts by the power of God to rule over his enemies in battle. The author chooses a specific Hebrew verb for “rule” (radâ), clarifying that the rule mentioned here is to subdue and dominate by force. Zion, as the location of the coronation, is used as shorthand to locate the kingdom at Jerusalem. The “mighty sceptre” is used to represent the powerful king, commissioned by Yahweh and leading the Israelites into battle” (Bryan C. Babcock, Who is “My Lord” in Psalm 110? crucibleonline.net, p.7).
“... In substance, certainly, v.2 restates v.1, though in a superficial sense it implicitly contradicts it in picturing the king not sitting on a throne but going out to battle. “Your strong staff” is a metonymy; the powerful staff stands for the powerful king himself as the army commander in chief, commanded by Yhwh (cf. “scepter” in 108:8[9]). It is not Yahweh who wins the victory while the king watches, but the king who wins the victory while Yhwh watches. Zion is the place where Yhwh reigns, and where the kings sits at Yhwh’s right hand, and from which Yhwh acts (e.g., Amos 1:2). The king shares in that authority and action” (John Goldingay, Psalms: Psalms 90-150, BCOT, p.294).
Ps 110:3 Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning: thou hast the dew of thy youth.
“The psalm continues to describe the process whereby the promise or commission in vv.1-2 works itself out “on the day of your force [hayil]”... hayil suggests military might and resources (e.g., 18:32, 39 [33, 40]. The expression points to the day when the king exercises the might to which v.2 refers (cf. Tg). The king wields his staff as the means of directing his army, and v.3a declares that he will have the forces needed in this connection...” (John Goldingay, Psalms: Psalms 90-150, BCOT, p.295).
ReplyDeletePs 110:5 The Lord at thy right hand shall strike through kings in the day of his wrath.
Ps 110:6 He shall judge among the heathen, he shall fill the places with the dead bodies; he shall wound the heads over many countries.
“... the king is no longer at God’s right hand - Now God is at the king’s right hand. To be positioned at the right hand is found elsewhere as a position of protection and support. The metaphor has once
again switched positions between the king and God. In verse one God is conducting the action on behalf of the king while verses two and three shift to the king accomplishing the action with the support of God. Now, in verse five, God again takes on the action destroying enemies and shattering foreign kings. The choice of the verb “to shatter” is found in a similar context in Ps 18:38 [39] in which God supports the king in battle. The king will benefit as God moves forward to divinely secure the king’s kingdom” (Bryan C. Babcock, Who is “My Lord” in Psalm 110? crucibleonline.net, p.9).
“Whereas ‘my lord’ in v.1 was ’adonai, here Lord is ’adonay, the form referring to Yhwh. Evidently both Yhwh and the king had not stayed seated, though by now they may be sitting again. Further, whereas on the throne the king sits at Yhwh’s right hand, in the terms of another metaphor Yhwh stands by the kings right hand when there is action to be taken (the preposition is now ‘al rather than le). Standing by someone’s right hand is the position of support and protection (cf. 16:8; 109:31; 121:5). Whereas vv. 2-3 had turned the king into the protagonist in battle, v.5 goes back to portray Yhwh as the protagonist [as “prime mover/actor”], in the manner of v.1... the reference to the King’s forceful day (v.3) is complemented by reference to Yhwh’s angry day (cf. Isa 13:13; Lam 1:12; 2:1, 21, 22)...” (John Goldingay, Psalms: Psalms 90-150, BCOT, p.297).
Rev 19:11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.
Rev 19:14 And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.
Rev 19:15 And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.
Isa 49:6 And he said, It is a light thing that thou [messiah] shouldest be my [yhwh] servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I [yhwh] will also give thee [messiah] for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth.
Zec 9:9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.
Zec 9:10 And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow shall be cut off: and he shall speak peace [salom] unto the heathen: and his dominion shall be from sea even to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth.
Zec 9:11 As for thee also, by the blood of thy covenant I have sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water.
Zec 9:12 Turn you to the strong hold, ye prisoners of hope: even today do I declare that I will render double unto thee;
A few years ago there was the stated agenda to have the ministry and brethren learn what their "gifts of the spirit" were.
ReplyDeleteThe resultant possibility of personal empowerment from such an exploration proved to be too much to ponder, and that plan quietly went into the ether.
The WCG used to have themes now and then too. There was "back on track", "family", "marriage" , "overcoming" and several more that came and went and are now forgotten.
I agree with 'Tonto' on those comments above.
DeleteUCG it's a typical ACOG male oriented environment. It is highly typical for a group of men to be gung-ho about a plan initially but then quickly lose interest and any momentum dies quickly. They have not the organisation planning of an army but a male dominated business.
UCG's main problem in the next three years is not about lack of LOVE but a growth in AGE. It is rapidly becoming a old folkes home. The aging ministry are too comfortable with that.
The 70% of the 2010/11 UCG youth that went into COGWA are now twenty to thirty somethings, marrying and having children. Full of energy and vigor.
The unspoken, never to be mentioned, problem within parts of UCG are the high percentage of never married and therefore barren members and even speakers. It will become the death toll of many a congregation. The 'marry from within only' and the 'arranged marriage' ways that are deeply rooted in UCG has created a major problem which will come home to roost in many ACOG besides UCG in only a few years time.
You'll be looking down the gun barrel at a complete wipe out. With members never marrying and never having any children the long term effects have molded many ACOG congregations into death spirals they seem blind to and unable to change. Leaders are stuck in their own hubris, they occupy and busy themselves choosing who to hate and despise and wax lyrically (complain) about to their cronies. All leadership energy is put into who the latest hated person is rarther than any solutions.
It's as if God has cursed the middle management of the ACOG. To be blind and big headed. To have want of nothing and point the blame at the membership.
As "John" commentator always writes time will tell. On the age problem in UCG time will indeed tell. It could be a great blessing but difficult and trying times as well.
Part 5
ReplyDeleteZec 9:13 When I have bent Judah for me, filled the bow with Ephraim, and raised up thy sons, O Zion, against thy sons, O Greece, and made thee as the sword of a mighty man.
(Judah represents the southern kingdom and Ephraim, the northern kingdom - by synecdoche; in this case the part for the whole.)
“Indirect messianic prophecy refers to passages that can be literally and fully realized only through the person and work of the Messiah - e.g., passages that speak of a personal coming of God to his people, as in v.10 and 9:9 (cf. Isa 40:9-11; Mal 3:1)... all passages that speak of a future rule of the Lord over Israel or to the earth, or that speak of a future rule of the Lord over Israel or over the whole earth, are ultimately messianic - indirectly or by extension - for to be fully and literally true, they require a future, literal messianic kingdom on the earth” (Kenneth L. Barker, Zechariah, EBC, Vol.7, p.619).
“Although the Messiah’s mission is to establish his kingdom of “peace” (salom), he must first conquer all enemies and deliver his people. This he sets out to do (vv.11-16; cf. Ps 110). Before he can reign in peace, he must fully deliver and restore Israel. The passage is filled with battle terminology; prisoners (v.11), fortress (v.12), bow (v.13), arrow (v.14), trumpet (v.14), and slingstones (v.15). Here the Messiah is depicted as a conquering King (the divine Warrior motif)...
“The basis for the hope is given in v.13, of which Laetsch (p.458) says, “in a bold metaphor the Lord compares Himself as a warrior using Judah as His bow, Ephraim His arrows... The point of this verse is that God’s people will gain the victory over their enemies” (Kenneth L. Barker, Zechariah, EBC, Vol.7, p.666).
Rev 3:21 To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.
After Christ completes the second half of his prophetic week he returns to heaven, not to the heavenly Temple, as he did after the completion of this first half week, but to heavenly Zion where his throne is located.
While in heaven during the Messianic Age he will have a dwelling presence in the Millennial Temple. The “presence” with the Church after the completion of his first half week provides a type for the presence with the Kingdom:
Ac 2:2a And suddenly there came a sound from heaven
Ac 2:2aa as of a rushing mighty wind,
Ac 2:3 And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.
Ac 2:2b and it filled all the house where they were sitting.
1Co 3:16 Know ye not that ye are the temple (naos) of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
Eze 43:2a And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east:
Eze 43:2b and his voice was like a noise of many waters:
Eze 43:2c and the earth shined with his glory.
Eze 43:5b and, behold, the glory of the LORD filled the house ["the temple," NIV].
Eze 43:7a And he said unto me, Son of man, the place of my throne ... where I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel for ever
The above works better in a chart where the verse are placed side by side.
The only thing ‘mickey mouse” is John’s interpretation of Psalm 110:1, not the Kingdom.
As an aside, looking at Ps 110 (HB) from a Christological interpretation:
Ps 109:1a The Lord [kurios] said to my Lord [kurios], Sit thou on my right hand (Brenton, LXX).
In the NT Thomas calls the Messiah “My Lord [kurios] and my God” (John 20:28). If Christ was David’s Lord was Christ also David’s God? If so it would follow that the preincarnate Christ was also God in the OT.
UCG does not preach the truth in love they are just as false as the others except they have more people deceived.
ReplyDeleteThe numbers quoted here are unbelievably small.
ReplyDeleteMag circulation is 327,229, in the US it is 279,406.
So 'worldwide' penetration is invisible at best.
On US file there are 12,112 which includes 'associated' individuals, whatever that means?
Donors/co workers 19,398.
United News 18,449.
Nothing to see here folks.
At least they did publish these figures, which raises many questions. Now lets see the competition publish their numbers.
It is very intriguing that as the millenium nears, it's not only referred to lately as a mickey mouse millenium but also as a mystery by some.
ReplyDeleteI spent two years at AC in Pasadena, four years in the church (early 70's). I don't recall any sermons or lectures on the spiritual gifts. To encourage members to identify their gifts and get involved in ministry would empower them. This was something the leadership couldn't allow. Members were lucky to be able to set up chairs at a Masonic Lodge, sweep the floors, hand out hymnals, count the number of attendees. Educated, accomplished and gifted people inhibited this way was a shame.
ReplyDeleteUCG has lots of evil greedy ministers.
ReplyDeleteThis brings to mind Mao's 1957 "let a hundred flowers blossom" campagne. Dissidents were encouraged to show themselves and criticize the government.
ReplyDeleteOne they did so, they were arrested and executed.
I hate to call the millennium "Mickey Mouse", but the fact is that you can't really trust a group that has been so totally wrong in every way about prophecy to actually have the details surrounding the millennium correct. It's their added garbage and inaccuracies that make it "Mickey Mouse". If they get to be the gatekeepers and administrators, it's going to be a pretty hellish place in time. Which is why they do not get to be that.
ReplyDeleteRight now, as global climate change continues to worsen, we have a chunk of Antarctic ice the size of Florida about to break off and melt. As if that were bad enough, turns out that it is a barrier or dam preventing an even larger mass of ice from accelerating into the ocean. Remember, folks, we had the climate change deniers just a short time ago point to Antarctica and proclaiming that fresh water ice was actually growing, so no need to worry about beach weather and surf's up on the coast of Greenland. We've got this disease running amuck and mutating because stupid people don't know valid research from the socio-political quasimedical gossip they read in the internet, and they refuse to take the vaccine. And, you have half the good ol' USA wanting to stage a coup that initiates a right wing dictatorship that will make America white again.
Why aren't the ACOGs screaming bloody murder warning the world about these things? Well, hell's bells, some of them actually want the coup!!! You know, make America Israelite again! Besides, they're still hung up on the Germans and the Catholic Church, both of which are actually doing more to combat these three huge trends than our polarized and currently paralyzed nation could possibly muster.
The ACOGs are blind, deaf, and dumb, and have learned to milk their people without having learned to be relevant to our times, or to be capable of using their financial resources in a way that produces the growth necessary to get their half a gospel out to the world!
I do sense a slight trend in UCG toward being more open, rational, and less insular.
ReplyDeleteIf that perception is correct, UCG better get back on track, or they're headed for more trouble.
You can't keep the sheep down on the tithe farm once they get a taste of sweet freedom.
I applaud UCG for publishing numbers but, due to history, must question how padded those numbers are.
It's interesting that UCG did not cite whether the 12,112 "associated" with the church was up or down from last year - like they did for the other categories.
UCG did not provide an adequate description of what "associated" means either - hope they did not count me in that number.
"Those people on our U.S. file associated with the Church (teens, members, associated) as of November 30 is 12,112."
ReplyDelete“UCG New Three Year Plan Is To Speak Truth In Love...”
That would be much too hard for all the unrepentant, unconverted, unbelievers who hang out at the UCG to do. They would have to stop their speaking gossip, lies, and slander in malicious hatred. It will not happen.
"We value our responsibility to preach the gospel"
ReplyDeleteWhat gospel is that? The Gospel of Anglo-Israelism, predictive prophecy and the Law of Moses?
They can work their sales issues ad infinitum. But they have a product problem.
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Anon, Saturday, January 8, 2022 at 5:12:00 PM PST, said:
ReplyDelete"...It is very intriguing that as the millenium nears, it's not only referred to lately as a mickey mouse millenium but also as a mystery by some."
AND
Anon, Saturday, January 8, 2022 at 9:06:00 PM PST, said:
"...I hate to call the millennium "Mickey Mouse", but the fact is that you can't really trust a group that has been so totally wrong in every way about prophecy to actually have the details surrounding the millennium correct. It's their added garbage and inaccuracies that make it "Mickey Mouse". If they get to be the gatekeepers and administrators, it's going to be a pretty hellish place in time. Which is why they do not get to be that..."
******
With Satan in the bottomless pit for 1,000 years it may very well seem to be like a period of human utopia on earth; however, that period of time becomes a Mickey Mouse Millennium when former WCG hirelings strive to make that 1,000 years to be God's kingdom on earth (another gospel?) , and/or preach that Jesus Christ (another Jesus?) will reign on earth with these hirelings for that same 1,000 year time period.
The phrase, "Mickey Mouse millennium" or "Mickey Mouse kingdom during a thousand years", has been around for some time. I first heard about it from Part 6 of a 1996 sermon series on Covenants where the following was stated:
"...Point number seven: what will happen to the covenants in the Kingdom of God? What’s going to happen there? What about the law of God there? What’s going to happen? We’re talking about the Great Last Day here.
We’re not talking about a millennium. If you still think there’s going to be some millennium and Christ’s setting up some little Mickey Mouse kingdom during a thousand years: you know; please go back and get the tapes on...because when we say Great Last Day: we’re not talking about some hundred year period of trying and testing. This is the Great Last Day that goes on forever!..."
That was about 25 years ago.
Another example from 1997 is found from Part 2 of a sermon series on Christ's Second Coming:
"...But, we’re going to prove that by scripture: that Jesus Christ is not going to be on this earth ruling and reigning in some little “Mickey Mouse” kingdom that he sets up for a thousand years just to be overthrown by Satan at the end. It just doesn’t work that way. It was a “good” theory and all of us, who came out of the Worldwide Church of God, believed it. That’s okay. It had nothing to do with our salvation: what we believed about this and about this theory..."
Another reference is found in Part 3 of Christ's Second Coming:
"...You know; Christ is not coming at the beginning of these thousand years to set up some Mickey Mouse little kingdom that basically fails in “the end!”
He doesn’t work that way. His Kingdom is forever!..."
One last reference in Part 3 of The Light sermon series, of Aug 1997, says this:
"...This is NOT the “second coming” of Christ that we all had pictured in our heads: that He comes back, sets up some kingdom, rules some Mickey-mouse little kingdom for a while, and then gets beat out at the end as it is. No, that’s not the way it is. We went through that in Part 2 of..."
When will the likes of a Vic Kubik, or the likes of a Gerald Weston or a Doug Winnail (name a former WCG hireling from other xcogs), driven by another spirit stop preaching another gospel about another Jesus, abandon their satanic theory about their Mickey Mouse Millennium (MMM) with them (self) ruling with a very soon return of their Jesus? Their theory has been preached for decades, if not hundreds of years and that Jesus they expect to return anytime now has not shown up in any of their neighborhoods?
When will their Jesus establish their MMM? How many more years, decades, must we wait, or is it time they abandon and/or modify their failing theory, and really begin to speak the truth in love?
Time will tell...
John
John
ReplyDeleteSatan shall be loosed out of his prison, by someone else who's in charge, for a reason, and for a time but not forever. Satan is overthrowing nobody.
Why 1000 years, and not 1200 or 800 years? It might have to do with a day as a 1000 years, to God, whose thoughts are way beyond what you think, and a week, 7 days, as 7000 years: 6000 years of man's misrule and the last 1000 years as God's rule, which is why it is intriguing, now at this time, as to when the first 6000 years begin and end.
Your quote source did not understand "The Last Great Day" (or Great Last Day), a phrase presumably taken from John 7:37. That day was the 7th day of the FOT, b/c the next day, the 8th day, was a sabbath (John 8:1 - 9:14), not the "last great day", and by the calendar (oh I know: there's consternation and confusion and much debate about "the calendar") a weekly sabbath never occurs the next day after the 8th day, an annual sabbath. Some ministers in the last several decades are going to find out they were a little too zealous, and somewhat wrong, in their interpretations of the meanings of the 8th day and the "last great day"??
Anon. Monday, January 10, 2022 at 2:34:00 PM PST, said:
ReplyDelete"...Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, by someone else who's in charge, for a reason, and for a time but not forever. Satan is overthrowing nobody."
Where did you read that? You have been deceived.
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.
:9 And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.
Why Gog, the 7th head of the Beast? Did God lie to us? It is Satan, the god of this present evil world, who will control Gog in a similar way as was allowed with the previous 6 heads of the Beast, beginning with Egypt...to Rome.
Ezekiel 38:1 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of MaGog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him,
3 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I [am] against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal:
8 After many days thou shalt be visited: IN THE LATTER YEARS thou shalt come into the land [that is] brought back from the sword, [and is] gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them.
9 Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee.
10 Thus saith the Lord GOD; It shall also come to pass, [that] at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought:
11 And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates,
12 To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places [that are now] inhabited, and upon the people [that are] gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land.
14 Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say unto Gog, Thus saith the Lord GOD; In that day when my people of Israel dwelleth safely, shalt thou not know [it]?
15 And thou shalt come from thy place out of the north parts, thou, and many people with thee, all of them riding upon horses, a great company, and a mighty army:
16 And thou shalt come up against my people of Israel, as a cloud to cover the land; it shall be IN THE LATTER DAYS, and I will bring thee against my land, that the heathen may know me, when I shall be sanctified in thee, O Gog, before their eyes.
Now, please don't strive to tell me that those latter years/days will be very soon upon us, like some Mickey Mouse Millennium. That's something a Doug Winnail, and many former WCG hirelings, now part of the scattered xcogs, would tell us, but that 7th head won't exist until after Satan exits the bottomless pit.
Now, you go ahead and continue to believe that Satan, after 1,000 years wandering around perhaps among dry places in some bottomless pit, is loosed from that pit and will be "overthrowing nobody," but...
Time will tell.
John
Anon. Monday, January 10, 2022 at 2:34:00 PM PST, said:
ReplyDelete"...Why 1000 years, and not 1200 or 800 years? It might have to do with a day as a 1000 years, to God, whose thoughts are way beyond what you think, and a week, 7 days, as 7000 years: 6000 years of man's misrule and the last 1000 years as God's rule, which is why it is intriguing, now at this time, as to when the first 6000 years begin and end…”
******
Why speculate?
Revelation 20:5 But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This [is] the first resurrection.
6 Blessed and holy [is] he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.
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.
God set the 1,000 years. It's a plan. Who will change it?
In a similar way, we may read the following about a 7th head (Gog), and an 8th head, both of which will also occur after Satan exits that pit over a 1,000 years from today:
Revelation 17:10 And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, [and] the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space.
11 And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.
12 And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.
13 These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.
14 These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him [are] called, and chosen, and faithful.
15 And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.
16 And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.
17 For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled.
Who will defy what it says in verse 17, and say or make what is said there not happen? What happened to free choice, free will, free moral agency: won't those things come into play?
Why 1,000 years? God said so.
Will God's will be fulfilled or not regarding that 1,000 years, the 10 horns = the 10 kings? Will they really give their power and strength to some beast?
Will any of the former WCG hirelings, driven by another spirit, of the scattered xcogs speak the truth in love and believe those scriptures, or will they continue to preach/teach other theories regarding another Jesus, another gospel, another Gog, even a Mickey Mouse Millennium?
Time will tell...
John
Anon. Monday, January 10, 2022 at 2:34:00 PM PST, said:
ReplyDelete"...Your quote source did not understand "The Last Great Day" (or Great Last Day), a phrase presumably taken from John 7:37..."
******
Really! Do you like the phrase "Last Great Day?" If you do, then please tell me what the First Great Day is, b/c only the First Day of Tabernacles is the holy convocation: not the remaining 6 days of that Feast.
John 7:37-53 is all a reference to the Eighth Day, God's seventh annual Holyday, Great Last Day (GLD), a Sabbath and has nothing to do with the Feast of Tabernacles.
The quoted source did understand; it is you who does not understand, just like you, as quoted earlier in your post, could not understand why God inspired 1,000 years, and not some other number of years (e.g. 1200 years, 800 years)?
FWIIW, here is a partial transcript of the 1998 First Day of Tabernacles sermon:
"...For what purpose, and what does that time period picture: this thousand years? The thousand years pictures the Sabbath.
You have this, we think; like a seven thousand year, or approximate seven thousand year, Plan and we have all of those days. Oh, all of a sudden, we get to that seven-thousandth time period. It pictures the Sabbath! He says: “My land will get its rest” and it is a time of rest!
But the Sabbath: do you see? The Sabbath pictures the Great Last Day and the Sabbath pictures: every Sabbath pictures the Great Last Day when Satan isn’t around. He’s not around! That’s why he’s tied up. God is showing this. It is part of His Plan, and so Satan is not around and he can’t hurt the human beings anymore..."
I'll have one more comment to make regarding your post.
John
Ezekiel 38 appears to be a prophecy of what Satan is going to do after the 1000 years and after he is loosed out of prison !!! The "latter years" are the years after the millennium. Indeed, time will tell.
ReplyDeleteAnon. Monday, January 10, 2022 at 2:34:00 PM PST, said:
ReplyDelete"...Your quote source did not understand "The Last Great Day" (or Great Last Day), a phrase presumably taken from John 7:37. That day was the 7th day of the FOT, b/c the next day, the 8th day, was a sabbath (John 8:1 - 9:14), not the "last great day", and by the calendar (oh I know: there's consternation and confusion and much debate about "the calendar") a weekly sabbath never occurs the next day after the 8th day, an annual sabbath. Some ministers in the last several decades are going to find out they were a little too zealous, and somewhat wrong, in their interpretations of the meanings of the 8th day and the "last great day"??...”
******
John 7:37 to the end of the chapter, through John 8, John 9 to John 10:21 is all relative to the Great Last Day (GLD), one of God's annual Sabbaths, the Eighth Day.
Some hypocritical Pharisees, during the Feast of Tabernacles, sent officers to arrest Jesus Christ. Those officers did a lot of listening, and returned to the Pharisees, after the Feast of Tabernacles concluded, on the GLD to advise them that Jesus had not been arrested. They couldn't do it.
John 7:37 to the end of the chapter (John 7:53) was the EVENING portion of the GLD; the people returned to their homes. Jesus went to the mount of Olives (John 8:1), and people returned to the temple early in the morning (John 8:2) where Jesus taught them. It was still the Sabbath, the annual Sabbath of the GLD, but the DAYLIGHT portion that continued all of the way until John 10:21.
Additionally, all three stories/parables mentioned (John 7:37-10:21) fit in perfectly with what will occur in the lives of people in the GLD, after the second resurrection occurs.
Will God, by His perfect Plan of Salvation (shown by His Sabbath, and annual Holydays), eventually demonstrate His love for all human beings, who have lived, from Adam on, and subsequently destroy Satan and his angels?
You are correct saying: "...a weekly sabbath never occurs the next day after the 8th day..."
John 7:37 to John 10:21 all pertains wholly to God's annual Sabbath, the GLD, that 8th Day, and if you do not want to believe that at this time, or you cannot believe that, then that's okay, but...
Time will tell...
John
Anon, Wednesday, January 12, 2022 at 5:48:00 PM PST wrote:
ReplyDelete"Ezekiel 38 appears to be a prophecy of what Satan is going to do after the 1000 years and after he is loosed out of prison !!! The "latter years" are the years after the millennium. Indeed, time will tell."
******
Amen to that for me at this time, and yes, for you...
Time will tell!
John
In my understanding of Ezekiel 38-39 and Rev 20:8-9, one event occurs before the Messianic Age and the other after, respectively.
ReplyDeleteThe major conquest of the holy land by Joshua, son of Nun, occurring over some seven years, provides a type for the major conquest of the holy land and the earth by Joshua, son of God, occurring over three and a half years.
Jos 6:4b and the priests shall blow [salpizo, LXX] the trumpets [salpigx, LXX].
Rev 8:6 And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets [salpigx] prepared themselves to sound [salpizo].
Israel marched around Jericho once every day for six days and on the seventh they marched around seven times, then there was an earthquake and then the battle began.
In the Day of the Lord there are seven trumpets, with the seventh comprising the seven last plagues; there is an earthquake and then the battle begins with the return of Christ.
Isa 49:6 And he said, It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth.
Christ is going to return to the earth to complete the second half of his prophetic week and raise up the tribes of Jacob.
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:
Jer 31:33b I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.
The above is also pictured in Ezekiel
Eze 36:27 And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.
Eze 37:21 And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land:
Eze 37:22b and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all:
The vision which begins with dry bones also pictures the restoration of Israel, after Jacob's trouble, to national life; as with apocalyptic literature there is fluidity of images, moving from battlefield to cemetery.
The last major battle in the conquest of Joshua, son of Nun, was an attack from the north by a coalition led by Jabin; the last major battle in the conquest of Joshua, son of God, towards the end of the second part of His prophetic week, there is an attack from the north by a coalition led by Gog.
Jos 18:1 And the whole congregation of the children of Israel assembled together at Shiloh, and SET UP THE TABERNACLE OF THE CONGREGATION there. And the land was subdued before them.
Jos 18:6 Ye shall therefore describe the land into seven parts, and bring the description hither to me, that I may cast lots for you here BEFORE THE LORD OUR GOD.
Eze 43:5 So the spirit took me up, and brought me into the inner court; and, behold, the glory of the LORD filled the house.
After the Gog episode of Eze 38-39, Ezekiel is led in vision through the Messianic Temple. At the end of main part of the temple vision, Jesus Christ’s glory takes up residence in the Temple, after completing His prophetic week.
In the allocation of the land under Joshua, son of Nun, five tribes receive their allotment before the account of the setting up of the Tabernacle and then seven after, as above (18:6).
Eze 48:10 And for them, even for the priests, shall be this holy oblation... and the sanctuary of the LORD shall be in the midst thereof.
In the allocation under Joshua son of God, there is a reverse allotment. Seven tribes are allocated their possession first; then there is the description of the oblation which has the Temple at its centre. After the description of the oblation five tribes receive their allocation.
In the allotment of the land four sons of Leah and one son of Rachael have higher status than Ephraim and Manasseh. Social status is measured by proximity to the Temple.
Anon, Friday, January 14, 2022 at 2:43:00 AM PST, said:
ReplyDelete"...In my understanding of Ezekiel 38-39 and Rev 20:8-9, one event occurs before the Messianic Age and the other after, respectively..."
******
Within your post you are all over the place with various speculations about several different events from Old Testament and New Testament, and it is not consistent or make sense to me, although it may make total sense to you.
As one example, you wrote: "...In the Day of the Lord there are seven trumpets, with the seventh comprising the seven last plagues; there is an earthquake and then the battle begins with the return of Christ..."
The Day of the LORD is mentioned numerous times within the Bible, and it pertains to the wrath of God (not the wrath of the Lamb (Rev 6:16))! LORD? Here is the first mention of this "day of the LORD" phrase from the Old Testament:
"For the day of the LORD of hosts [shall be] upon every [one that is] proud and lofty, and upon every [one that is] lifted up; and he shall be brought low:" Isaiah 2:12
The LORD of hosts is a reference to God, to God the Father (Isaiah 64:8), the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Acts 3:13), and the day of the LORD occurs AFTER Satan is loosed from the pit, and the wrath of God occurs some time after Satan is allowed to again deceive the world and cause wars worldwide, but then the time will come for God's wrath and God will fulfill Isaiah 2:12 exactly as stated above.
The 7 Trumps are the wrath of the Lamb (Rev 6:16), and the first 6 Trumps occur before Satan is restrained in the pit. As it turns out, that 7th Trump occurs and 2 things become evident. There is a resurrection, the first resurrection, and the 7 Plagues are only enabled, but not poured out until over a 1,000 years later. Gog does its thing after Satan is loosed from the pit, and not before.
God's wrath involves the 7 Vials, 7 Plagues:
Revelation 15:1 And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvellous, seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God.
Revelation 15:7 And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who liveth for ever and ever.
Revelation 16:1 And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth.
Ezekiel 38 - 39:6 is referring to events of the Day of the LORD, which occur AFTER Satan was loosed from the pit.
Many verses, beginning with verse 7 onward in chapter 39, are a reference to the Eighth Day, a time after the 2nd resurrection occurs; however, some verses mention things that apply to the Day of the LORD.
Will inhabitants of earth witness something called the wrath of the LAMB before the 1,000 years, while others over a 1,000 years later are witness to the wrath of the LORD?
Time will tell...and have a delightful Sabbath!
John