PCG's Lil'Joel Hilliker Says To Deleaven Your Use Of Technology

 

God does observe all your texts, chats and search histories, regardless of your age or circumstances. 

 God sees it all and judges you by it.

It is that time of year in Church of Godland when everyone is scurrying to and fro trying to get leaven and sin out of their lives. They want to be able to sit in confidence at Passover services that they are free and clear of sin, if only for a few minutes, till they find out who's feet they have to wash and pop an attitude of "ew, not him!".

At the Philadelphia Church of God cult compound in Edmond Oklahoma, they have been in hyperdrive trying to get sin out of their lives, which they have not done and will never be able to do.

Every spring holy day season, we deleaven: thoroughly cleaning out lockers, backpacks, rooms, kitchen appliances, cars, garages and so on. And as we deleaven, we examine ourselves for hidden “leaven,” or sin—and work to deleaven ourselves.

Very often, God chooses this time of year to expose problems in our lives. Though this might often be uncomfortable and even painful, it is wonderful—because once something is exposed, we can deal with it. You cannot deleaven something if you can’t see the leaven.

Correction doesn’t feel good in the moment: “Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby” (verse 11). 

 

If we respond to God’s “deleavening” the right way, it yields beautiful results! It can be embarrassing—it can sting—but it helps you grow. It makes you more righteous! That is what this time of year, and in many ways, our whole lives, is all about.

I hate to burst Lil'Joel's closeted bubble, but there are NO righteous people in the PCG, starting with Gerald Flurry himself! 

Anyway, of the many grievous sins that PCG members carry around with them, it is the use of technology that is the most appealing.

Let’s look at one area where most teenagers in the world, and even many in God’s Church, have a lot of leaven: our use of technology. 

 

We are so reliant on technology today. For students taking Imperial Academy classes online, technology makes receiving a godly education possible! Technology makes many things possible, but it also has serious potential problems. It makes it easy to find trouble. Perhaps even more dangerously, it makes it easy to hide trouble—to conceal what we’re doing from other people. 

 

But even if you can hide your online activity from other people, God sees everything. And often, people who think they are getting away with things really aren’t. God often exposes activities that shouldn’t be happening and stops them. But—and this might surprise you—He won’t do that in every case.

From watching porn to reading dissident websites, PCG's god is there watching and shaking his head in disgust.

Consider all the safeguards already in place in God’s school and within His Church to guard against misusing technology. Imperial Academy, for example, has a rule that all websites other than the class link are closed, and instant messaging programs are prohibited during class. The Internet on the headquarters campus is equipped with several content blockers. For college students, access to the Internet turns on at 7 a.m. and turns off at 10:30 p.m. In 2020, Gerald Flurry banned smartphones at IA and Armstrong College. God is serious about trying to protect us! 

 

God does want to protect you, and will use your parents, your teachers, the school, the ministry, and even your peers to do that. But if you are determined to get yourself into trouble, God will let you do that! If you are determined to find ways around all the rules, boundaries and obstacles that are there to help you—if you’re determined to lie and deceive so you can do what you want, then there is a point when God will say, Fine. If that’s what you want, go ahead.

Then, like any good control freak and professional guilt tripper in COG leadership, Lil'Joel has this to say:

God does observe all your texts, chats and search histories, regardless of your age or circumstances. You are personally responsible before Him for the sites you visit, the movies you watch, who you talk with, what you say, what images you share with others. God sees it all and judges you by it. 

It's always the members at fault and never the leadership who are some of the biggest purveyors of pornography and sexual misdeeds in the church. Apparently PCG's god also looks the other way when ministers lead people to suicide, tell parents to leave their daughter at the mall so the state can take care of her, or tell people they're of no use to god. But remember you loathsome PCG members, god is watching YOU!

Some sins of technology:

Sending or receiving a text triggers your brain to release dopamine, which creates a pleasant sensation, a feeling of reward. You tend to crave more of those dopamine hits, so texting quickly becomes addictive. 

 

Many people try to “multitask” by texting and chatting while doing homework or other activities. But multitasking is just another word for doing distracted, subpar work. 

 

If you text and chat, examine the time you might be wasting. And closely examine the content of your messages: What are you texting about? Chats might be innocuous, but they can also be silly and worthless. And chats often include pictures, memes and gifs that lead to more time-wasting Internet-surfing for the next hilarious meme to share. Beyond that, it is soeasy for this to devolve into inappropriate exchanges: insults, complaining, obnoxious opinions, worldly language, off-color pop-culture references, innuendos, raunchy jokes, sexually suggestive comments, flirting. 

 

Verses 3-4 continue, “But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints; Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks.” There are things you just shouldn’t talk about. Yet wouldn’t you say that “filthiness,” “foolish talking” and wrong “jesting” describe a lot of group chats? Proverbs 15:2 says, “The tongue of the wise useth knowledge aright: but the mouth of fools poureth out foolishness.” Even if you or your friends are not “pouring out foolishness,” the memes, YouTube videos and Spotify songs you share might be.

A final warning before that pissed off god strikes you down:

Be honest. If you’ve been misusing technology, show them. Bring it all out into the light.Let God deleaven you before the holy days. Wherever He exposes a problem, thank Him for that, and then do all you can to root it out entirely!