From an LCG source:
Greetings from Charlotte,
Mr. Gerald Weston is in Nashville this week with Mr. Wallace Smith and Mr. Mike DeSimone to attend the annual National Religious Broadcasters Christian Media Convention, which is “the world’s largest gathering of Christian communicators.” Last week, we had 54 guests attend Tomorrow’s World Presentations (19 in Las Vegas, Nevada; 6 in Schenectady, New York; and 29 at eight follow-up presentations). This weekend, in addition to six follow-ups, Mr. Ames will present in Columbia, South Carolina, and Augusta, Georgia, and I will be in Charleston, West Virginia, and Bristol, Virginia. Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread are only five weeks away! As economic woes increase, and death and suffering escalate in Ukraine, many worry about what will happen next. For God’s people, the coming Holy Days are a welcome time to refocus our minds on Christ’s sacrifice for our sins, His willingness to live His righteous life in us, and His plan of salvation for all mankind.—Rod McNair
Banned comments:
Imagine how much Weston, Smith, and DeSimone stood out like sore thumbs at this convention considering the powerhouse Christian ministries that were represented by those who are never afraid of preaching about Jesus. In walks our three guys, proud and arrogant as they walk around the exhibit hall and ridicule the "so-called" Christians as "sincere, but deceived". Who they believe have no idea what the "truth" is. You and I both know that this is exactly what they were thinking. Yet, here are our boys with their rinky-dink Tomorrow's World program, unrecognized by most of the people there, thinking to themselves how superior their program is, yet is so bad that it could only draw 6 people in the town of Schenectady, NY with a population of 65,000 people. That's some witness there boys!
As the world spirals out of control around them, McNair wants LCG members to look forward to Passover to take their minds off the troubles around them. The COG version of "Passover" is that yearly sacrifice of Christ at the local Masonic Lodge or Odd Fellow's Hall where they sacrifice him once again at their yearly ritual, with microphones enhancing the breaking matzo sounds, and then leave him there on the stage or gym floor till next year. The poor guy is just too inconvenient to talk about the rest of the year. Impending war, epidemics, and deaths of millions are far more titillating and important than Jesus, grace, and the peace that comes through him.
I can’t wait for the one and only dreamy prophet Thiel to show up at this convention. What a hoot that would be!
ReplyDelete"Normal Christian ministry"?! Now that IS a joke!
ReplyDeleteIt seems odd that they would want to attend. For years, the WCG and LCG called these churches and broadcasters "counterfeits", "daughters of the whore", "churchianity" and more.
ReplyDeleteWhy would you then want to be amongst them or hear anything that they had to say.
Strange dichotomy indeed!
Again?
ReplyDeleteThe Armstrongist LCG-cult would have to renounce heresies like racist Anglo-Israelism, Sabbatarian Salvation-by-works (Gal 4:10, Col 2:16, Heb 10:1) before they could be considered a Christian movement.
ReplyDeleteI might be misreading this, but it sounds to me like they're trying to claim Weston is actually a guest at the convention doing some kind of promoting LCG, when its obvious he just bought admission tickets.
ReplyDeleteThey'd also need to expand from their Binity to the Trinity, especially if they want to get their program on TBN.
ReplyDeleteMost generally, to join a club this large, they'd need a godfather from the hosting group to make a powerful case for admitting them. There were some Saturday Sabbath preachers on TBN at one time, one of whom was a Seventh Day Adventist. Perry Stone also taught that there were blessings for keeping elements of the Hebrew roots of Christianity, but has recently been under the clouds of accusations of sexual misconduct. Armstrongism has never really been any more popular or well esteemed by other sabbatarians than they have been by mainstream Christians.
"with microphones enhancing the breaking matzo sounds"
ReplyDeleteThat seems a bit of a vacuous and concocted criticism. You'll maintain credibility if you stay on point with valid and meaningful criticisms.
They want to be on TBN? That network has som e of the biggest flakes in evangelical broadcasting. With their own reputation for flakiness, this would hardly by a step up for them!
ReplyDeleteThe drama was vacuous and concocted, 2:15, not the observation and criticism of it. Somehow, I doubt that you were reading along, nodding your head in assent, and then suddenly Gary lost his credibility with you with his recollection of the amplified matzo sounds.
ReplyDelete"with microphones enhancing the breaking matzo sounds"
ReplyDeleteThis is exactly what they did in Pasadena at the auditorium, college gym, imperial gym, and field churches. I set all three places for Passover services and this was the requirement. They wanted to reinforce in attendees' minds that they murdered Christ because of their sins over the last year. They wanted the breaking of the bread amplified to cause shame. Bad theology considering according to scripture no bone was ever broken.
We should notify TBN that this Armstrongist LCG-cult secretly believes heresies like racist Anglo-Israelism
ReplyDeleteI have a Fender Twin Reverb 100 Watt amp, with some effects. I wonder what sounds we could get off those matzos? Oh, and it is a retro amp with vacuum tubes! How vacuous would that be!
ReplyDeleteThey'd probably laugh their butts off over the sheer ignorance of that one, 9:55! So passe and easily debunked. Can you imagine Gerald Weston trying to explain it to T.D. Jakes or Creflo Dollar? Probably ask Weston if he has his members of color address him as Massah!
ReplyDelete2:15 am said:
ReplyDelete""with microphones enhancing the breaking matzo sounds"
That seems a bit of a vacuous and concocted criticism. You'll maintain credibility if you stay on point with valid and meaningful criticisms."
Nothing is concocted about that. I attended in Pasadena and watched as the minister would deliberately move his microphone as close to the matzos as he could get it and then hold them in front of the microphone real close as he broke them.
ask Weston if he has his members of color address him as Massah!
ReplyDeleteBob Thiel expects his Black members to address him as Overseer. Not cool.
No2HWA and all:
ReplyDeleteThe NT Passover services of the WCG were strange and overly melancholy. Certainly , a sober and serious event, but it was downright moribund and depressing in many ways.
The event needed to be much more hopeful and inspiring , but culturally developed into a kind of funeral.
Tonto wrote:
ReplyDelete"The NT Passover services of the WCG were strange and overly melancholy. Certainly , a sober and serious event, but it was downright moribund and depressing in many ways.
The event needed to be much more hopeful and inspiring , but culturally developed into a kind of funeral."
Exactly, it was a funeral instead of a foretaste of the great heavenly banquet. I remember when Tkach Sr. said to stop making the night such a somber event and to realize the joy it represented. Some people in Pasadena crapped an old covenant brick over the idea of it being a celebration of new life.