Our job—the mission Christ gave to us—is to share God’s message of life, hope and truth with the world. We don’t believe that message needs to be updated or polished or reinvented for the modern age. The words of God are as timeless and powerful today as the day they were first recorded.
Throughout the centuries the church has ALWAYS updated itself, polished and refined itself, and reinvented itself to adapt to the rapidly changing world they were in. While the basic principles might remain the same the overall mission and action of the church has always made itself relevant to the age it was in. Unless of course, you are a Church of God and think you are better than everyone else and you remain stuck in the unreachable "glory years" of the Worldwide Church of God under Herbert Armstrong. The current COG movement is stuck in the past, always trying to recapture some lost value or pipe dream that remains stuck in their heads.
The Bible contains the reason you were created. It contains God’s plan for you and what He expects from you. It explains where the world is heading and why—and how God is going to rescue it. It contains the blueprint for living a successful, meaningful life in the present, and inheriting eternity in the future.
As the Church of God, a Worldwide Association, our job is to share that message with the world and then care for those who respond to it—to give them a place to grow and flourish. We are a community, a brotherhood of believers, marching together toward a common goal—the future promised to us by God.
COGWA, while larger than the improperly named "continuing" Church of God is almost in the same league. No one knows who they are. Other than continuing to poach COG members from other groups, little is known about them.
Our Values
Our values are developed from those of the New Testament Church. We teach the living Word of God from both the Old and New Testaments, which transforms peoples’ lives.
The Church of God, a Worldwide Association, teaches and practices the same way of life Jesus Christ and the first-century Church of God followed. We observe the seventh-day Sabbath and the annual Sabbaths or Holy Days, as did Jesus and the early Church.
There is no Church of God today with any ties to Herbert Armstrong that teaches and practices what Jesus taught and what the 1st-century church did. No matter how much they claim this, they do not.
46 comments:
What does COGWA teach about the payment of third tithe?
What does COGWA teach about tithing on the gross vs. the net?
What does COGWA teach about inter-racial marriage?
What does COGWA teach about Adam's racial characteristics?
What does COGWA teach about taking pharmaceutical drugs?
What does COGWA teach about a woman's place in the home?
What does COGWA teach about corporal punishment for rebellious children?
What does COGWA teach about the use of cosmetics (makeup)?
What does COGWA teach about the end-time Elijah?
What does COGWA teach about Church Eras?
Yes, COGWA HAS watered things down. If they hadn't, nobody would join!
Our values are developed from those of the New Testament Church. We teach the living Word of God from both the Old and New Testaments, which transforms peoples’ lives. The Church of God, a Worldwide Association, teaches and practices the same way of life Jesus Christ and the first-century Church of God followed.
The New Testament Church taught that if you were a slave in the Roman Empire, you should accept your status, and that if you were a slave-owner you could be a Christian without freeing your slaves. Has COGWA watered down this point, or do they really teach what the first-century Church taught and followed?
So they, the cogwa teach what they claim the first century church taught.
So tell us the other cog groups that separated themselves from the wwcog.
So why the division folks, if you all teach the same ‘message’?
But that is irrelevant.
This ‘work’ is invisible, unknown, unheard of and irrelevant to the vast majority of humanity, except those caught up in its tentacles.
In spite of Armstrongism and it’s irrelevance, the gospel message of salvation and hope in Jesus Christ is going out as never before. The astonishing witness of untold numbers coming to Christ from the Islamic world and beyond is testament to this.
And we can witness this phenomenon today via the web and social networks.
Ironically the web and social networks are the biggest threat to Armstrongism.
Make no mistake, if Armstrongism had the power censorship would be the norm.
And we would enter a new dark age.
They do water down stuff like both them and UCG keeping birthdays and stuff Mr. Armstrong would and could never approve. Jehovah's witnesses and some secular news articles know the truth about birthdays so why can't they understand? The UCG only cares about their own church doctrine, not true sound reasoning or actual true Christian knowledge.
Do a search on Life Hope and Truth for "third tithe." The answer is... (crickets)
This idea of "watered down" is something all COGS would claim... but since all gave doctrines to various degrees peculiar to their organisation, we must conclude (to take a saying from HWA) 'they can't all be right'---BUT they certainly can all be wrong.
Are COGWA trying to distinguish themselves from someone else? UCG?
This Splinter group asserts that it "teaches and practices the same way of life Jesus Christ and the first-century Church of God followed. We observe the seventh-day Sabbath and the annual Sabbaths or Holy Days, as did Jesus and the early Church."
This is a statement that cries to be unpacked in a rigorous way. But I have written on this topic before, and the article was published on this blog. I will not engage in redux. Let me summarize instead. Christ in his praxis abided by the OT. In that sense what they state is true. But Christ did not bring a message of living by the OT. He established a new way in his proclamation of the Gospel though he himself fulfilled the requirements of the OT. The new way was a form of Second Temple Judaism in which the Messiah had already come and brought new standards of belief and behavior.
Jesus did observe the Sabbath and the Holydays. And the First Century Jerusalem church, very likely, did observe the Sabbath and Holydays. But the Jerusalem Church observed these days as a cultural tradition rather than a requirement for salvation. And how do we know this? It is all exposed in the controversy between The Circumcision Party and the Apostle Paul. At this point, the theology burgeons, and I am not going to argue the principles to Armstrongists. That has been done many times before.
Ideologically, the First Century roots of Armstrongism are in The Circumcision Party that opposed Paul so passionately in its efforts to make the Law of Moses a requirement for salvation. While Armstrongism is ideologically a descendant of The Circumcison Party, it is not pedigreed in history by a special connection to The Circumcison Party. They are descended from the Nineteenth Century apocalyptic movement started by William Miller which was principally a Protestant ecumenical movement. They rediscovered and energized the ideology of The Circumcision Party after it had been latent for eighteen and a half centuries.
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The bible teaches to "work out your salvation with fear and trembling." It's an individual responsibility, and acknowledges that people are different. Yet these splinters offer a one size fits all mental diet that they keep shoving down their members throats via the "magic" of repetition. This mental diet always includes "over obedience" to ministers. Forget about obeying God rather than man. And the diet is always partial to the unrepentant. Members are expected to tolerate all manner of abuse in order to make things "work." Christ's command that everyone repent is shunned.
Non of these groups has God's blessing, and for good reason.
We interrupt this topic with a tongue in cheek public service announcement from your local ACOG: Brethren, don't worry about the Russians invading Ukraine! Prophecy tells us that it's the Germans and the Catholic Church who are going to cause all of the misery to Israel in the tribulation. Everything else any other scary sounding nations do is just harmless street theatre. We remind you that if you are really concerned, this may be a good time to send in a special offering in appreciation of the priceless knowledge of the endtimes which you simply would not have were it not for God's True Church (patent applied for). Rejoice in the wonderful security we share as a result of the understanding of prophecy which was given to Mr. Armstrong!
The preceding was a presentation of the National Broadcorping Castration
NEO THERM!!!
Perhaps the most on point you have ever made on this blog. To the point, and accurate in my mind! Thanks.
The UCG does not have God's approval, and with good reason.
As someone who attends the COGWA, I know first hand that they water things down.
Holy Days: To the COgWA: test time! List the three feasts (Hebrew chag) - Ex 23:14-16 - and the fixed times (Hebrew moed; moeds include the chags) of the same three feasts (Lev 23 doesn't contradict Ex 23) and the seven annual sabbaths of Lev 23, including the 14th - Ex 12:6,8,14. You have 5 minutes.
Is Church of God, The Eternal a splintered WCG group as it upholds the original Radio Church of God/WCG teachings e.g Monday Pentecost, Divorce and Remarriage and other die hard teachings of the good (or is it bad) old days?
Love is the keeping of the Ten Commandments and keeping ALL Ten of the Ten Commandments is God's way of life.
3.40 PM
NEO, did Christ have the power to change the laws of physics and chemistry? No, He did not. Did He have the power to change the moral laws of the universe? No, He did not. In fact He was tempted by Satan fourty days and fourty night by the old standards of belief and behavior. All Christ could do was to to teach the application of God's law. Hence the walk on egg shells advice when dealing with the Romans with their pointed swords and sadistic culture. If one looks carefully in the OT, Christ brought ZERO new commandments. For instance, the OT instructs to not plot evil in ones heart towards ones neighbors, and for the evil man to forsake his evil thoughts. The OT generations were not left in moral darkness, and the NT generations did not get "upgraded" standards.
Such claims are all smoke and mirrors.
"Is Church of God, The Eternal a splintered WCG group as it upholds the original Radio Church of God/WCG teachings e.g Monday Pentecost, Divorce and Remarriage and other die hard teachings of the good (or is it bad) old days?"
Church of God, The Eternal is a cult just like Flurry and Pack. Jon Brisby is a cult leader.
It's clear that not a single person who follows HWA as their lord & master has ever studied the New Testament! If they did it would destroy their deeply held delusions.
You might want to put a little more thought into what your fingers are typing there, 8:15! Jesus most certainly did have the power to change the laws of chemistry, physics, biology, you name it. In fact, He did exactly that on a regular basis in performing miracles. He fulfilled, expanded, and brought new understanding to the writings of the old testament. He certainly had a much different attitude towards women from what was taught in the OT, in which they were regarded pretty much as property or chattel.
Deut. 22:28-29 "If a man happens to meet a virgin who is not pledged to be married and rapes her and they are discovered, he shall pay her father fifty shekels of silver. He must marry the young woman, for he has violated her. He can never divorce her as long as he lives."
Ucg rebels on here having a pop at Cogwa. It's still raw for them, raw I tell you RAW.
Ironically all but one thing you mentioned here has nothing to do with salvation, so who cares if any of these things are taught? They only serve to distract.
I think this is the first reasonable statement I've seen on this post yet.
The Circumcision Party is a weapon in the COG arsenal. As an example, sometime around 2011-2013 famous COG thespian Darth Wally Smith told his congregations that resisting doctrinal changes handed down by Living Church of God, specifically in regard to Grand Admiral Richard Ames's weddng supper epiphany and General Douglas "The Exception" Winnail's falling away debacle, is tantamount to opposing Paul at the Circumcision Party. The COG monisters use that event as precedent to be dicktators.
On a side note, I would not at all be surprised if a sizable number of COG members would have opposed Paul at the Circumcision Party.
Anonymous 8:15 wrote, " If one looks carefully in the OT, Christ brought ZERO new commandments."
We could get into a debate about what a commandment is. Jesus himself claimed to have brought only one new commandment (John 13:33-35). But that one new commandment may be expanded into many new behavioral expectations. These expectations can also be considered commandments in my view. They are as definitive of behavior as anything in the OT. For example:
"“If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen” (1 John 4:20-21)."
I regard this as a commandment that is based on Christ's New Commandment. Someone might then argue that this is implicit in the OT and cite scriptures from here and there in the OT. And there is a reason for this. The laws in the OT and the NT are both based on God's eternal moral law. (The Law of Moses is not God's eternal moral law as claimed by Herman Hoeh but is a human-adapted instantiation of that law for theocratic Israel.) The two covenants are, therefore, cognate and we will see similar themes running through both the OT and NT laws. Further, if circumcison is changed and made spiritual, is that a new commandment or an old commandment revised. I believe both views can be argued.
I believe what you're getting at is an idea that a number of Armstrongists have expressed on this blog. It seems to be an idea circulating in Splinterdom. The idea is that the New Covenant has no laws and no terms. At most, the NC can only be an agreement about the OT laws. Therefore, the OT laws cannot be obsolete since they are the object of the agreement.
And thereby Armstrongists neatly box themselves into a state of disobedience because they do not keep all the OT laws - many of which assume the existence of a Temple. HWA/Hoeh followed adaptive Rabbinic Judaism and not Biblical Second Temple Judaism.
This is a broad topic and I have written on it before. I don't want to belabor this issue. So, let me just say you're wrong and you need to read more about this outside of Armstrongist literature.
One final point. I noticed you wrote, "All Christ could do was to to teach the application of God's law." This is a diminishment of Jesus. Jesus is God and is co-equal with the Father and the Holy Spirit. Jesus is also the author, as a person of the Triune God, of the OT law. For some reason Armstrongists subtly deprecate Jesus. This is not a full-fledged Arianist theme, but I think it somewhat tracks with Arianism. Dugger and Dodd inexplicably spoke highly of Dr. Arius.
This is broad topic that few people delve into and it suffers much from misrepresentation. State of the world.
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cogwa says "We observe the seventh-day Sabbath and the annual Sabbaths or Holy Days, as did Jesus and the early Church"
Wrong: The first known Christian document, Galatians, calls these a "schoolmaster" (rudimentary/elementary "elements"-Col-2) to prepare for the next dispensation.
Of course every COG , including WCG has "watered down" since the first century. Watering down is an attack term, to diminish other groups, and used to disguise an agenda.
Truth is, that there has always been a cultural drift in practice and application since the first century. Christians from the 1st century would not recognize any of the COGs today as emulating them. The cultures are so far removed from each other that trying to reconcile them is impossible.
At best, all a group can try to claim is that the first century church believed in Jesus and the 10 commandments, and the attempt is made to do so in the current times.
When it comes to practical modern day comparison between COGWA and UCG, if you go either of their services, you couldn't pass a piece of paper between them in terms of practice, appearance or sociality.
Ironically all but one thing you mentioned here has nothing to do with salvation, so who cares if any of these things are taught?
You acknowledge that COGWA requires of its members some things that aren't required for salvation, yet you don't care if any of those things are taught? That's not Jesus' example; He decried the Pharisees who burdened their followers with unnecessary rules.
Wow...Anon 1228, you are so pharisaical!! These things are not what makes a follower of Christ. Look at the laws the Jews have created where they cannot even turn a light switch on on the Sabbath. These are what man has placed on individuals, not God. I would hate to know you and follow the cult you do. COGWA is one of the most balanced of the groups, not full of hypocrites. We have attended several groups, and finally have found where God is truly blessing. They left UCG because UCG was allowing members break the Sabbath blatantly.
Tonto (8:33) wrote, "At best, all a group can try to claim is that the first century church believed in Jesus and the 10 commandments, and the attempt is made to do so in the current times."
Kemo sabe, we can do better than that based on the historical content of the NT. We know that there were three factions within the First Century Christian movement: The Jerusalem Church under James, the mission to the Gentiles under Paul and The Circumcision Party comprised of Pharisees. (Armstrongists would probably tend to omit the latter and include Simon Magus and his following as a false church. Simon was of little actual relevance.)
And it is important to remember that the ekklesia started out as a form of Second Temple Judaism. The members even met in synagogues with traditional Jews. The members of the ekklesia differed from traditional Jews sitting next to them by the fact that they believed that the Messiah had already come. It is this social situation that makes it easy to see how the Circumcision Party, standing between the ekklesia and Judaism, could emerge.
The importance of how these groups were deployed is huge. They covered theological stages of the Ekklesia from The Law to Grace. And it is the issue of the Circumcision Party that makes it possible for us in modern times to analyze cogently Armstrongism.
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Anon 11:16 PM no one should be in UCG the only place worthy of going to sabbath services is RCG.
Cogwa has not only watered down every doctrine, then they turn around and lie about it.
Isaiah 56:10-12 says everything that affects all but maybe a few cogs.
Cogwa generally says very little. They basically stumble into not watering things down because they dare not touch topics which they know they would need to water down if they actually tried to teach some of these absurd doctrines as taught in the past.
Their members are mainly just told to stick with one another and to cogwa truth. The basis of their beliefs are not generally taught; ministers just skip to how to do the law portions Herbert Armstrong told them to. I’ve heard sermons on note taking, meditation, mindset, sabbath behavior, preparation day planning, feast behavior, proper music for services and the need for a uniformity, discernment, etc. i guess we’ve all heard these kind of sermons, but cogwa relies on them rather than teaching the foundations of their beliefs, hoping instead that those teachings from 40 or more years ago and booster reminders (without teaching) will keep the brethren from veering from the cog path or truly studying their beliefs. Most were ignorant of scripture, much as i was, when they first came into the wcg and were taught with a handful of scriptures taken out of context. “Here a little, there a little” we were told. So bogus! I wish some of the good cog people could look at these issues with a fresh untainted eye.
Can any of the COGWA members reading this blog tell me whether COGWA believes that Sabbath keeping is required for Salvation?
If no, why not - and if yes, to what degree?
Same questions go for any other COG members; but, I hope you'll also state your COG affiliation.
Thanks
Perhaps the same question asked a different way is, 'is there anyone in the church (the spiritual church) that does not keep the sabbath'? If tge answer is no, then your answer is yes, the sabbath is required for salvation. Many armstrongists will go a step further and say the Holy days also- but this at the same time destroys their beliefs on apostolic sucessionism, as many of the people they recognise as part of the "true church" through history, did not keep the holy days (or the sabbath for that matter).
Yes, of course it is. It is a commandment that God said must be kept throughout each generation. This is a bait question isn't it??
Good posting.
Being part of Armstrongism wasn't 100% pure bad. There were some enjoyable facets. However, I liken it to your Mama serving you up a nice big bowl of ice cream mixed with spinach, broccoli, and rutabaga, and telling you that if you didn't eat it, the bully from up the street would beat you up and maybe even kill you.
One Armstrong cult is not really all that different from another. COGAWA might have a little less rutabaga, and PCG might add jalopenos, but as a Christian religion, they've all been pretty much ruined.
Let me just put this here...
Galatians 2:21-
New International Version-
21 I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!”
Perhaps the same question asked a different way is, 'is there anyone in the church (the spiritual church) that does not keep the sabbath'? If tge answer is no, then your answer is yes, the sabbath is required for salvation. Many armstrongists will go a step further and say the Holy days also- but this at the same time destroys their beliefs on apostolic sucessionism, as many of the people they recognise as part of the "true church" through history, did not keep the holy days (or the sabbath for that matter).
No, Sabbath-keeping (or Holy Day-keeping) doesn't destroy ACOG beliefs about apostolic succession. The ACOGs say that to be saved you have to act on the full knowledge the church has at that point in history. If they've lost the Holy Days, you don't need to keep them, because they haven't been revealed to you. But if Herbert reveals Monday Pentecost to you, you had better keep it, until he changes it to Sunday Pentecost, at which point you had better keep that instead.
There is a certain degree of double speak on these things within COGS. It seems the only thing that the church 'eras' throughout history have is an anti-catholic viewpoint. Other doctrines are iffy at best. For example, the trinity, tithing, etc etc.
Anonymous 6:19're
I agree with you view that one cannot be held responsible for something that one does not know or understand. The "Monday Pentecost" is a good example. But this is a bit more complex than that. HWA believed that the true Gospel was suppressed for eighteen and half centuries and God used him to restore it. If this were true, it would fit nicely with you're statements. So, let us assume that it is true. Then there was the First Century church that knew the truth and the Twentieth Century church that had the true Gospel restored to them through HWA. In between these two end points the truth was supposedly suppressed. So what church does Armstrongism connect to back in the First Century? What church faction was trying to make the Law of Moses a requirement for salvation? It was The Circumcision Party with its anti-Pauline dogma. And Armstrongism connects nicely with The Circumcision Party. HWA re-discovered the doctrines of The Circumcision Party after eighteen and a half centuries.
So, this makes Apostolic Procession a moot point for Armstrongism. It does not apply to unorthodox denominations. And the true Gospel was never suppressed. Perhaps, the dogma of The Circumcision Party was suppressed for eighteen and half centuries.
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And so it comes down to apostolic authority then, and we should all be catholic!
To the ones who said that observing the Sabbath is a requirement for salvation:
Can you provide links to official church statements indicating that salvation is contingent upon works of the law, such as Sabbath keeping?
I'm weirdly fascinated by the group-think of COGlodytes.
As a rule, whenever you provide them with scriptures that refute their cherished beliefs, they won't deal directly with the scripture you provide and will instead offer another scripture that they feel supports their belief.
Someone earlier mentioned this scripture, which drew no comment:
Galatians 2:21
I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!”
I also like to try, unsuccessfully, to draw comment on this verse:
Galatians 5:4
You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace.
Could anyone from the un-watered down COGWA or other COG comment on these verses or refer me to official church teachings related to these verses?
While COGWA is not perfect, maybe it is as good as it gets these days, This is supposedly the Laodicea era of the church. So, it could be worse. A lot worse. Consider how totally satanic the raging false prophets like Gerald Flurry and David Pack have turned out to be.
Anon, Friday, February 25, 2022 at 3:32:00 AM PST, wrote:
"I'm weirdly fascinated by the group-think of COGlodytes.
As a rule, whenever you provide them with scriptures that refute their cherished beliefs, they won't deal directly with the scripture you provide and will instead offer another scripture that they feel supports their belief.
Someone earlier mentioned this scripture, which drew no comment:
Galatians 2:21
I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!”
I also like to try, unsuccessfully, to draw comment on this verse:
Galatians 5:4
You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace.
Could anyone from the un-watered down COGWA or other COG comment on these verses or refer me to official church teachings related to these verses?
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Using the AKJV,
Gal 2:21 "I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness [come] by the law, then Christ is dead in vain."
Gal 5:4 "Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace."
Basically, both verses say what they mean, and mean what they say. Period.
There are a couple of phrases that came to mind for that rule of: "whenever you provide them with scriptures that refute their cherished beliefs, they won't deal directly with the scripture you provide and will instead offer another scripture that they feel supports their belief."
One phrase is: "Going down the corkscrew."
Another phrase is: "Going down the pig's tail."
IOW, those individuals do not reason in a complete circle. They start at one point beginning the circle in a plane, start reasoning in the direction of a circle staying in the same 2-dimensional plane, come around almost to the starting point of the circle, but then just before reaching that starting point to complete the circle the next point goes above or below the plane and continues going around and around and around...like a corkscrew, or a pig's tail.
FWIIW, Job is a good example of an individual who was righteous of the law:
"And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:" Phil 3:9
But, that righteousness did not save Job, who will awake in the second resurrection and live again in flesh:
"And [though] after my skin [worms] destroy this [body], yet in my flesh shall I see God:" Job 19:26
Job will experience the grace of God: God's gift, and for those who are unable to believe that..........
Time will tell...
John
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