The Living Church of God is the epitome of brotherly Philadelphian love at its finest! That love is so potent and Christ-like that they love to share it with prospective members.
Living Church of God Is Corrupt:
July 4, 2022
I used to think that the LCG was a church that could be the genuine article and wanted to know more about them. I contacted them in [city removed] and told them I’d seen their Sunday programs on the local TV and wanted to know more about them.
To cut a long story short, I was sent various literature about the Sabbath, God’s Holy Days etc, and was sent DVD’s in job lots of about 5 or 6 every now and then which were sermons by the then Rod Meredith.
When I contacted them one day by phone in [city removed] and told them I could not see why tithes were still enforceable, my DVDs never came anymore. When I phoned later to inquire about why the DVDs were not coming anymore, I received a very chilly response and learnt it was because of my attitude to tithing.
This immediately told me that money is their god so the elders and other high ups can live the easy good life at the expense of their members.
I’m so thankful that my questioning them about why tithes are still in force saved me from an horrendous mistake in joining the LCG.
My advice is keep well away from this corrupt “church.” They are not the genuine article at all. –B. T. Exit and Support Network
12 comments:
If this story isn't invented, it reveals a lot about how LCG ministers operate.
LCG doesn't send "job lots of 5 or 6" DVDs to people unless they are considered homebound members, who cannot attend because of distance or illness. And it is HQ, not local cities, that send out DVDs to members. Those "job lots" would never be all RCM, which makes me suspicious of the story, but let's say it happened. I wish we knew the cities with names removed, because if the second one is "Charlotte" it all makes sense. A local minister was padding the rolls of his congregation, to impress the higher-ups, but when a nonbelieving "member" dared to call Charlotte and ask about tithing, he got his supply of DVDs cut off, and was probably reassigned as a former member or at most a prospective member.
The congregation-padding local pastors usually end up shooting themselves in the foot like this. Not only does Charlotte sometimes find out the low commitment of alleged "members" of a congregation, it can happen that when Meredith or Weston run a tithe or attendance check a congregation with lots of marginal members will have a low "donations per person" number and will probably have a low attendance percentage compared to other congregations where a minister doesn't pad the rolls of his "members."
I call this story absolutely made-up propaganda. I do not like LCG, but to lie about something that absolutely didn't happen, this person should be held liable for falsehood.
You guys need to examine the clues. The writer used the Brit term "learnt". Also, "an horrendous mistake". Most of the ACOGs have minor differences in policy over in Europe.
I was a member of LCG from the time it started and also in Global before LCG existed. That is 26 years. I left in 2021 and can vouge for this type of treatment. The whole time I was there I attended in different states where I moved, and different congregations in those states and this treatment is spot on. It is all about the money.
The Virtue Squad just like the Pharisees. If you had lots of money they buttered you up and told those ordained these are high tithe payers and donators be really nice to them. It didn't matter if these people did anything wrong to others they just could get away with so much. Those are the ones they look for to ordain and move up the ladder. Once you are about to be ordained you are told to break off all your friendships and only build friendships with other ordained people. They sit around condemning anyone that may have a difference of opinion, and they get all the ministry together in Charlotte to talk about all the brethren and their problems. There is NO Confidentiality we learned that if a minister said you can trust us THEN RUN and RUN FAST!
They thrive on MONEY, FEAR MONGERING, SELF-RIGHTEOUS PRIDE, and Their arrogance. It was heart breaking to watch.
This also includes if an ordained minister has family members who have left or are not considered worthy they are considered not family anymore and an embarrassment. We never took the ordination because of all these things we witnessed first hand all over the USA and HQ. We were even told we were not family because some family members were being moved up the ladder and their duty was to the Ministry and warn them of people like us who don't fully just DO AS WE ARE TOLD TO DO! Plus one on the council of elders told us we were not worthy to even serve and take out the trash.
So do I believe what this person says? From my own experience and watching how the "leaders" treated people and were trying to "train" us to be like them. We rejected the training and said No thanks we are don't need a title to serve God. That really ruffled the Minister's feathers and he was offended and told us how dare we act like this.
I am not sorry for choosing Jesus over the Pharisees.
I call BS on this story.
"This immediately told me that money is their god so the elders and other high ups can live the easy good life at the expense of their members. "
Clearly the writer has a pre-existing bias against the COG because he is quick to accuse the leadership of using tithes to live the good life at the expense of the members, something veteran anti-GOG'ers do. (I'm sure that is true among some of the organizations)
The initials at the end were B. T. Bob Thiel ??
Anon 5:41, what is an anti-GOG'er? B.T. (Bob Thiel) is fast and loose with his accusations against blogs on which he appears, but he forgets the free advice and publicity. Remember, "The only thing worse than being blogged about is not being blogged about". (Update on a remark by Oscar Wilde)
Consider yourself EXTREMELY BLESSED!! I wish I NEVER set foot in the LCG!! They are an ABUSIVE organization run on FEAR, CONTROL, and GAS LIGHTING!!
Every time I see that new term "Gaslighting", my mind conjures up a cartoon of Pagassos in flight, winnying loudly as he flys across the sky, lightning igniting his vapor trail, propelling him ever faster across the horizon.
Most people can get their information online. Why does tithe money have to go getting on television stations (and previously radio stations)? People can get a message through a youtube video and people can share it with others. Where is all the with money going? See the tithing system works better when the church members live in a community near each other (back in the day). Money could be used to help others in that platform. But since their church members are all spread out, it’s harder in assisting with members.
Seriously, how does one get a mass message out these days? In a sense, I myself am out of the loop on that as a possible recipient. I quit watching TV programs years ago, because you get much better continuity from buying second hand DVDs of your favorite programs, and binge-watching them. Plus, as an added benefit, the only ads on the DVDs are the previews, and you can even opt out of them if you like. With the internet, I generally watch presentations which relate to my various hobbies, or perhaps diy projects for which I could use a little more information, and rock stuff on you tube.
The last thing I would be watching (as in never!) is some sort of webcast by any of a number of "talking heads". Opinion makers are of no interest because I evaluate what's going on around me and form my own opinions. The bad news for those who are attempting to gain audience for their religious beliefs is that this is a field which is largely variable because of the overwhelming prevalence of opinion taught as truth. I can read my own Bible, amongst other ancient texts, and draw my own conclusions. These conclusions would NEVER cause me to give my net worth to someone wanting to spread his opinions, and collect me to be part of his group.
Collect me for a political party? Not possible! For everything I might agree with in a given party's platform, there are equal numbers of policy things in which they believe that I abhor! So, I find myself wondering where the crowds of supporters for politicians even come from! Do they actually feel that their candidate is going to mystically and magically make all of today's problems go away? Is anyone that naive any more?
Plus, in the case of the ACOG groups, I am sure that most people who tune into whatever they are serving up are going to see the same things we have so much fun critiquing and laughing at. We have a certain shared experience, but we're really not all that different from any audience which these guys might attract.
I still believe that Jesus would attract attention today, with His miracles and revolutionary teachings. But, it's a hard sell convincing people that Jesus speaks through you unless there is supernatural backup to prove it. Now, that is something that would really go viral! You start regenerating limbs, healing hopeless mental illnesses, and making Downs Syndrome persons whole, and that sort of thing is going to attract attention. Anything else is just bogus!
I know, its like this video (below) has over 400K views. But I didn’t have to wake up early on a weekend to catch a COG program to see this. ALSO not one of the COG programs are generating that many views such as this particular one.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HaKpI7tpryc&t=265s
So what are doing, are members to tithe to the radio programs still (no). See instead of money going toward a television program (something that they don’t want you to spend a bunch of time doing anyways), why not use that money for helping less fortunate members.
It was radio, then television and now the main source is the internet. It’s a lot easier to just send a link and you can watch the clip at anytime you want, than setting a time where I have to sit in front of the television. On the internet you can basically say what you want to anyways without the fear of being kicked off.
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