Church of God News has up its annual list of COG's that allow open attendance at their Feast of Tabernacles. The exclusionists, like Living Church of God, Philadelphia Church of God, and Restored Chruch of God do not allow visitors.
Most sites listed have a single COG group meeting in the location, but not Branson Missouri. It has 12 different groups meeting there. Talk about unity in the Church of God! What a sad situation. On top of that, you can see from the list below that they cannot even agree on the dates and number of days they are gathering. There will undoubtedly be some church-hopping within these groups as friends want to meet up, but some of the groups will frown upon it.
Let's see how many of these folks will jump over and visit Bob Thiel's improperly named "continuing" Church of God. If they thought they would be bored out of their minds with some of the speakers at their sites, watching Almost Arrested Bwana Bob bounce around the stage would be a nightmare come true! The lake of fire never looked so good!
At least this time around multiple COG's in the same building is not happening, unless LCG, RCG, and PCG might happen to be there, and if they are, you can be guaranteed that there will be no Feast hopping. The chances of getting a friendly nod or even an uncomfortable greeting will probably not be happening.
The red number after the festival dates below is the calendar method.
Please see the Biblical Calendar 2022 for an explanation of the dates.
Many festival sites will be holding a service on the first evening.
Missouri
Branson Oct.10-17 [2] Venue : Honeysuckle Inn
Church of God Ministries International Festival Info Visitor Info
Branson Oct.10-17 [2] Venue : Radisson Hotel
Continuing Church of God Festival Info Visitor Info
Branson Oct.10-17 [2] Venue : Westgate Branson Woods Resort
Intercontinental Church of God Festival Info Visitor Info
Branson Oct.10-17 [2] Venue : The Mansion Theater
United Church of God Festival Info Visitor Info
Branson Oct.10-17 [2] Venue : Star Theater
Church of God a Worldwide Association Festival Info Visitor Info
Branson Oct.10-17 [2] Venue : Stone Castle Hotel
Christian Biblical Church of God Festival Info Visitor Info
Branson Oct.10-17 [2] Venue : t.b.a.
H.W.A. Library Festival Info Visitor Info
Branson Oct.10-17 [5] Venue : RecPlex
International Congregation of Yahweh Festival Info Visitor Info
Cassville Venue & Visitor Info : Paradise Valley Resort
Torah Family Oct.11-18 [5] Festival Info
Fulton Venue & Visitor Info : Harmony Hill Youth Camp
Yahweh’s Assembly in Yahshua Oct.11-18 [7] Festival Info
Holt’s Summit Venue : YRM – dorm rooms, RV and camp site.
Yahweh’s Restoration Ministry Oct.12-19 [7] Festival Info Visitor Info
Steelville Venue & Visitor Info : Garrison’s River Resort
EliYah Oct.12-19 [7] Festival Info
27 comments:
This is so sad and disgusting to see this. All of these groups claim to speak the one truth delivered by HWA and yet every single one of them have added new beliefs and teachings to an already tainted belief system. God is not pleased!
Well, choices choices choices………..
Enee meene minee mo……….choices choices and again choices…….
I’m sure our ‘Bobby boy’ would be delighted to see some Festival church hopping in Branson,especially in his direction; otherwise no one may turn up to hear him pontificate.
Come to think of it maybe no one may turn up anyway.
What a witness Armstrongism is to the masses. The message is loud and clear, keep well enough away folks.
Where is the Lake of Fire Church of God holding its Feast of Tabernacles? St. Petersburg? Ocean City MD?
I am intrigued by the Judaic slant to some of the denominational names. The includes references to Yahweh, Torah, EliYah and Yahshuah. This seems to advertise the idea that these denominations are really lined up with the Old Testament. And that they are keeping the Feast in the correct Judaic spirit.
Maybe they have absorbed Judaic culture and can wear that mantle with some sense of authenticity. I know nothing about these denominations and what their praxis might be. What I do know is that God did not place his name in Branson, Mo. He placed his name in Jerusalem Temple which no longer exists. That is where the followers of God are adjured to convoke by scripture. "Three times in the year all your males shall appear before the Lord God."
It is ironic that those who so ardently want to emphasize Judaic themes would miss this big one. They do not follow the Law of Moses. They do not even follow Rabbinic Judaism - the form of Judaism packaged to operate without a Temple. They follow an idea that came into being when HWA decided that God placed his name at the site of some land donated to his church in East Texas. The idea seemed to have no theological gravitas at the time. It was a circumstantial decision - a reading of opportunities.
Hoeh claimed that Jesus kept Pentecost (one of the "three times") away from Jerusalem. There is some doubt here. The reference may have actually been to the Wave Sheaf offering rather than Pentecost. But,in any case, Hoeh never established that the FoT could be kept away from the Temple. Hence, the great pilgrimage to the Temple in ancient times.
My personal reaction, is that this denominational Judaic business is greatly overstated. Because of issues like the placement of God's name and other aspects of the Law of Moses that either are not observed or have been transformed to meet modern cultural expectations. And I don't think anyone is doing this with a malicious heart. I just don't think they have considered the issues carefully. They need to have a large multi-denominational conference and address the question: "To Jew or not to Jew." And then do whatever with purity.
If they believe that Jesus kept the Law of Moses, honored the Second Temple ("He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers.”) and set an example for them to observe, they need to figure out how they have the authority to observe the Law of Moses without a Temple. The multiplication of Feast sites underscores, I believe, that they have not done this due diligence.
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Personally, I'd suggest Disneyland and Epcot Center. Their entertaining theological fantasies would fit right in, and a good time could be had by all. I'm sure the political climate would easily fit the COGs. Branson would as well, however, so there's that.
Dave Pack could even factor in ALL the daily outside visitors during that time as really coming to hear him. He would find a scripture to absolutely show this indisputably true and simply can't be questioned! This would propel Dave even further into the realm of the most attendees ever at his Feast.
So easy peasy!
Addendum:
This is a good laboratory exercise in the concept of salvation by works. If you believe that Jesus fulfilled every jot and tittle of the Law of Moses and, therefore, set an example for you to follow,then you must observe the FoT in the right location, that is, where God placed his name, in order to receive salvation. This is the "work" that you must perform in order to be saved. If you do not make the right decision about which denomination knows the Feast site where God has placed his name, then your salvation is abrogated.
So in Branson you have a marketplace of offerings concerning where the name of God is legitimately placed. The fact that there are many Armstrongist denominations assembled there does not make it more likely that God's name is placed there, it really just confuses the issue. Only one denomination can be correct, if you want to believe the etiology of this idea going back to a decision model innovated by HWA in the last century. And in Branson that one denomination may or may not even be present. So within Armstrongist theology, I conjecture, attending the FoT is not a time of joy but rather a time of doubt and misgiving because your mistaken stepping through the doors into a certain congregation may be stepping in to hell fire. Crossing over to other congregations also transgresses the Law of Moses. So what do you do? Draw lots and trust your salvation to probability?There is a big downside to salvation by works.
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The LCG would not want anyone without prior BRAINWASHING to enter because they might see through their facade!! WWJD???He did everything out in the open!! Hmmmmmm, I wonder WHERE THIS THOUGHT CAME FROM?????
I guess when Jesus comes back there will be 12 different "Kingdoms of God" then too!
Wonder what Paul did as to observing the feasts when he was in Rome for two years, far, far away from Jerusalem.
....when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people......Dan 12:7. Those who have the Holy Spirit, which is God's power? Who are now scattered? Prophecy marches on!!!!! Branson could be a symbol of 12 scattered.... But of course not one of the corps (UCG, CCOG, CGI, etc), or is that corpse, is God's church, but only individuals. Doesn't the number 12 have something to do with the meaning of completeness?
It's like a supermarket. Choose your church folks.
"Branson could be a symbol of 12 scattered.... But of course not one of the corps (UCG, CCOG, CGI, etc), or is that corpse, is God's church, but only individuals. Doesn't the number 12 have something to do with the meaning of completeness?"
There are actually on 11 here. Bob Thiel's cult is not a legitimate Church of God
THINGS JESUS NEVER SAID:
Saul, Saul, take the law to the gentiles!
Exactly DW! Jesus never told anyone to take the law to the gentiles. The law was never upon the gentiles.
Know how gay people have "gaydar"? I wonder if COGlodytes have COGdar, and can actually recognize the people living parallel existences to their own, (only in different splinters), when they see them in the restaurants, supermarkets, or public restrooms of Branson! Attempting to prove the existence of COGdar might make for an interesting lavatory experiment!
What. Because they can’t teach anything beyond what HWA taught? Not saying the new beliefs are right. They may or may not be but placing a measuring stick from what HWA taught to see if one is strayed or not is not wise.
When I was in LCG, they allowed visitors and guests. Did this change under Weston?
I agree but He is to write His law in our minds which can never really be done through force, but of the heart. And by law I don’t think is meant do’s & donts, missing sabbath & feast days or not, but His character which is of love, mercy, judgment, discernment & the many thing's the Holy Spirit gives us to grow in.
I believe that the splinters are going to continue to languish until some charismatic leader emerges, picks up, and attempts to "Make Armstrongism Great Again". This would need to be some accomplished person from another background who converted during adulthood, perhaps during his late 30s, because none of the ACOGs currently have, or have had such a stellar individual attending. Nearly 30 years of recent history has not produced that person, so the prospects are none too encouraging. It's not for lack of wannabes. Every Spokesman's Club reject, or resourceful self-funding starter has attempted this already, and all of the normal suspects, the tried and true Embarrassing College graduates have at best presided over shrinking splinters whose prime was at their genesis, the exact time period which also marked the beginning of their decline.
That said, I'm not bothered by this at all. It has turned out just as I had hoped, with the exception being that it'd be nice if the decline had happened faster. Much faster.
Mt 1:19a Then Joseph her husband, being a righteous man
Lk 2:27 And he came by the Spirit into the temple: and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him after the custom of the law
Joseph was zealous in keeping the law.
Lk 2:41 Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the passover.
Lk 2:42 And when he was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem after the custom of the feast.
It appears that Joseph only went to Jerusalem once a year.
1Sa 1:21 And the man Elkanah, and all his house, went up to offer unto the LORD the yearly sacrifice, and his vow.
1Sa 1:7 And as he did so year by year...
1Sa 2:19 Moreover his mother made him a little coat, and brought it to him from year to year, when she came up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice.
Elkanah only went to Shiloh once a year.
Lev 23:42 Ye shall dwell in booths seven days; all that are Israelites born shall dwell in booths:
I would suggest that Joseph, Mary and Jesus would have kept the Feast of Booths in Nazareth, even when there was a Temple.
Anonymous 3:45, wrote:
"Joseph was zealous in keeping the law.
"Lk 2:41 Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the passover.
Lk 2:42 And when he was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem after the custom of the feast.
"It appears that Joseph only went to Jerusalem once a year."
Those statements in Luke establish that Joseph went to Jerusalem in the context of the narrative not that he went only once a year.
I would suggest that Jesus kept the Feast annually in Jerusalem because he did not drop one jot or tittle from the observation of the Law of Moses. You can effectively counter this argument by proving that God placed his name at other locations than the Temple in Jerusalem. You can present your exegesis to us. If you can demonstrate this, then you will need to follow up by explaining why Jesus did not observe the Law of Moses as written and why Armstrongists claim that he did.
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Saturday, July 30, 2022, at 1:06:00 said, “Where is the Lake of Fire Church of God holding its Feast of Tabernacles? St. Petersburg? Ocean City MD?”
MY COMMENT – Ah! I see someone knows my identity, LOL!
As Pastor General of the Lake of Fire Church of God, my mission is to minister to myself being condemned to the toasty Lake of Fire for not believing Herbert W. Armstrong. Forget for a moment that Mr. Armstrong made some pretty big claims during his lifetime.
Mine is a mobile Church as it meets in my car! Just me talking to our God in prayer as I drive. So, if I am in Florida and I am driving in my car, then that is where God has placed his name for the Lake of Fire Church of God FOT. If I am in Maryland and I am driving in my car, then that is where God has also placed his name for the Lake of Fire Church of God FOT.
BTW, I must put a plug in for Ocean City, Maryland. It has a wonderfully nice second season after Labor Day. Most of the hotels and Airbnb have reduced offseason room rates. However, it is not uncommon to get 90-degree Indian summer type days during the FOT. The Atlantic is still warm enough to enjoy.
Richard
Someone needs a new map of Missouri. Or maybe needs to check the current one.
Fulton is not Branson... not even close. It's east of Columbia, near I-70.
Steelville is east of Rolla, near I-44 - closer to St. Louis.
The COG division is sad enough, without this site overexaggerating it.
@LOFCOG: Nah. Your identity's safe, Bro. Just a dude with some IQ points and an eidetic memory here havin' some fun! Cheers!
NEO, seeing that it is likely that we will have to agree to disagree I will make some observations:
Nu 9:10 Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If any man of you or of your posterity shall be unclean by reason of a dead body, or be in a journey afar off (cp. Neh 13:6-7), yet he shall keep the passover unto the LORD.
I am not arguing that Christ did not appear three times before the Lord when He was able to.
Dt 12:14a But in the place which the LORD shall choose in one of thy tribes
Dt 12:5b to put his name there,
Dt 12:5c as his [its?] dwelling place,
Dt 12:5d shall ye seek and thither thou shalt come:
Dt 12:7 And there ye shall eat before the LORD your God,
1Ki 8:16 to build an house, that my name might be therein;
In the presentation of the above Scriptures I have created a synonymous with 12:5b and 12:5c to bring out the intent of 12:5b.
1Co 3:16 Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you?
“The point is simply that Israel must worship at the place where Yahweh himself has chosen to be present” (J.G. McConville, Deuteronomy, ApOTC, p.222).
“As in 12:21 and 14:24, the phrase “to put his Name there” indicates divine ownership... The expression alludes to the practice of inscribing the name on the foundation stone by the founder of a building, in this case validating the location and declaring it to be the locale where he could be worshipped and invoked” (Daniel I. Block, Deuteronmy, NIVAC, p.306).
When John the Baptist said “that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham” he was using “strong [ancient Near eastern] hyperbole” (Pulpit Commentary). And when Christ said that “one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law” he was using “deliberate hyperbole” (see quote below).
I see the law as dynamic and adaptable rather than static and rigid. See quotes below next paragraph.
In the Old Covenant the Passover was a private sacrifice, either of the sheep or goats, and was a peace offering. Under the New covenant, according to the Ezekielian Torah, the Passover will be a public sacrifice, with a bullock as a sin offering. The original function of the Passover was apotropaic, in the future it is purgative. (hatta’t is better translated purification offering not sin offering)
"iwra ("iota") is the smallest letter of the Greek alphabet but translates an underlying reference to the smallest Hebrew letter , the yod... We have here thus A DELIBERATE HYPERBOLE -an overstatement that is designed to drive home the main point that the law be fully preserved..." (Donald Hagner, Matthew 1-13, WBC, p.106).
"The law is unalterable, but that does not justify its application beyond the purpose for which it was intended. To speak of a change in application of the law is not to regard it as now discarded" (R.T. France, The Gospel of Matthew, NICNT, p.186).
"The law is referred to here [in Malachi] (and this is the very point which has been overlooked), NOT ACCORDING TO ITS ACCIDENTAL AND TEMPORARY FORM, BUT ACCORDING TO ITS ESSENTIAL CHARACTER, AS EXPRESSIVE OF THE HOLINESS OF GOD, just as in Matt. 5:17... The laws, which were afterwards given in the plains of Moab, are also included in the expression "in Horeb." For they were merely a continuation and further development; the foundation was fully laid at Sinai" (E.W. Hengstenberg, Christology of the Old Testament, Vol.4, pp.190-91).
"Moses has always been considered the first and greatest lawgiver of the Israelites... Of course his laws were edited and expanded, issued and re-issued down the centuries that followed, for different situations and changing circumstances; but Israel's law would never cease to be known as the law of Moses. Rightly so: for the principles laid down in his time, before the settlement in Canaan, remained the principles of Israel's law for all centuries to come" (F.F. Bruce, Israel and the Nations - The History of Israel from the Exodus to the Fall of the Second Temple, pp.3-4).
LCG and RCG should be more inclusive.
You know what I would love to see? Rent one of those mega stadiums with a boxing ring, and have like a Friday night SmackDown with all the heads of the churches duking it out in one arena! I would pay money to see that!
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