Beware UCG members, God is watching you!!!!!
Rick Shabi is not happy that many UCG members are either traveling to the Feast on this night or are too tired from driving to attend the opening night service. Given the track record of these services down through the history of the COG they were not a good use of time and usually were just opportunities for Feast site coordinators to preach canned sermons that we had all heard for decades.
We are all in “preparation mode” for the Feast. We’ve registered, we’ve made housing and transportation arrangements, we’ve saved our second (festival) tithe faithfully throughout the year (a key component of preparing for the Feast) and we are ready to go.
The Feast of Tabernacles is a joyous time. It pictures the time when Christ is King of kings. Satan has been deposed and the whole world will be free to learn and live by the Word of God—the very word and way of life we are striving to learn and apply today so we are ready to be teachers in the “world tomorrow” (Isaiah 30:20-21).
And then, according to COG mythology, Satan will be released from the pits of hell to come back and destroy people yet once again. What a cruel trick the god of Armstrongism plays upon the world.
As part of our proper and God-instructed way of observing the Feast, we leave our homes behind for the entire seven days of the Feast and the Eighth Day. That pictures the temporary state of our existence on this earth and our willingness to come out of the world to where God has placed His name.
These are nothing more than COG instructions laid down by Herbert Armstrong and Rod Meredith when he was over Church Ad through the decades. Just more man-made rules.
He says to be at “that place” by the time the Feast of Tabernacles begins. That’s at sunset that begins the 15th of the seventh month on the sacred calendar.
Would you dare be late to an assembly the Great God of this universe has called—the God who has offered us eternal life if we follow Him and earnestly, diligently and carefully learn and keep all His ways?
So brethren, if you dare to miss the first evening service just remember this, GOD IS WATCHING YOU!!!!!!!!
God sees our hearts by how we observe the Feast of Tabernacles.
As we prepare for the Feast, bear in mind that you are also preparing your heart for how you receive God’s Kingdom. Will you be late, asleep or unprepared like the five “foolish virgins” of Matthew 25?
Or will you be ready? Will you be at the Holy convocation of God as the Feast begins in the very first service at the site you will be attending? We know where we should be. Now is the time to be preparing to be there in that Holy convocation as the Feast begins.
53 comments:
Anything worth doing is worth doing right. If festivalgoers believe the High Day begins at sunset, then they need to be at their feast site, unpacked, settled in, and ready to observe the festival by sunset. It's very simple and there isn't much room for excuses if indeed one really believes in the festivals and in sunset marking the beginning of the high day.
This is something that always kills me about COGWA and UCG, but especially COGWA. I wish I had a dollar for every person in the Dallas congregation who proclaims to believe these things but then shows up late or not at all until the following day. Either you believe these commandments and keep them, you believe them but don't respect them and fail to properly prepare in order to keep them, or you just don't believe them. Based on my observations over the years, a substantial number of UCG and COGWA members fall into the latter category.
I assume Mr. Shabi isn't going to Branson for the Feast.
It always has two daytime services on Day 1, because theaters have shows in the evening. That's true again this year.
The only place I could find in Branson that had an opening NIGHT service last year was LCG. That was because they met inside a hotel.
"I assume Mr. Shabi isn't going to Branson for the Feast.
It always has two daytime services on Day 1, because theaters have shows in the evening. That's true again this year."
UCG, like all the other COG's picks and chooses what they want to do that is convenient for them at the time. They never practice what they reach. They preach unity and they are the most divisive COG out there.
Well, to be picky: Mr. Shabi in the article posted July 15 wrote: "Three months from today, when the sun sets, the Feast of Tabernacles begins". However at sunset on July 15 the 17th of Tammuz began.
It's been just too long for me! I don't remember when the opening services of the feast were held back in the '50s, '60s, and '70s, which were the years during which I attended. I do remember that before there were multiple feast sites, the sermon topic of the first service was "Why Are We Here?". And, the message was delivered by HWA personally, and nobody who didn't want to be Laodicean would have missed it whether it was a daytime service, or nighttime one.
I'm totally out of touch with the sizes, scopes, and practices of these events in the post-splinter ACOG world of today. There were thousands of members attending each feast site when I last attended, so the sheer numbers would have made it difficult to know and police whether the Smiths, Joneses, or Browns arrived late, left early, or skipped some of the services during the week. It was also quite a different church back then. Only people who were about to leave the church would have skipped services.
I guess the elephant in the room would be splinter surfing at the feast. People have shared right here on Banned that since the different ACOGs often hold their feasts at different venues in the same city, they sometimes will crash another ACOG's site to see old friends with whom they haven't been able to fellowship because their old friends are in a different splinter. What does shabby Rick have to say about that??? Technically the splinter surfers who do that are still keeping the same feast in the place where God has allegedly placed His name (according to Armstrongisn standards).
Well, to be picky: Mr. Shabi in the article posted July 15 wrote: "Three months from today, when the sun sets, the Feast of Tabernacles begins". However at sunset on July 15 the 17th of Tammuz began.
It looks like UCG edited the article from the way it was originally (the way that caught Banned's attention). Your post points out that in editing they simply traded one error for another.
Blasphemers! You use a long-haired effeminate Jesus to mock God's sacred Holy Days! I would not want to be in your shoes come judgment day!
The problem is that Yahweh named Jerusalem as His place for the feasts. His Name is nowhere else. Just as scripture shows, the Israelites came from far and wide to Jerusalem to observe the feasts of Yahweh.
So all of the cogs of today, except for those that travel to Jerusalem for the feasts, are not obeying Yahweh when they go elsewhere for the festivals.
My first FOT was when I was a new student at AC. Had never kept the FOT up til that moment. I recall the traditional "opening night" service and then THREE services each day thereafter. Morning, Afternoon and Evening. Even then I thought "this is nuts".
The powers that be never caught on just to leave people get there safely and skip the first night dirge. I think there was such a line up of HQ and celeb ministers that wanted to speak at the FOT that they just had way too many services. One a day would have been just fine so families could actually enjoy the place they were with family and friends. The exhausting and numerous 2 hours services over the 8 days of the FOT probably did more to turn off the kids than just about anything. Within a few days, people were tired, patience in families was running thin and mom was pretty much worn out.
Staying the LGD through late afternoon for that service always was less attended because the common sense types simply left after morning services to get on the road home. Usually tired and burned out on sermonettes, sermons and "climbing through the windows leaping, each unharmed".
I don't recall if Jesus ever actually attended a WCG or COG FOT, or the New Testament was mentioned....
“UCG Rick Shabi: He is not happy many UCG members are missing opening night services of the Feast”
If they wanted true believers to attend, they should not have set up the UCG to cater exclusively to unrepentant, unconverted unbelievers who just go there to behave badly all the time. They should not have expelled true believers at the request of the old adulterers and slanderers who hang out there.
What the disUnited Church does to decent people is not a service at all. It is a disservice.
One of the practical problems with the UCG is that it is not the sort of place where you would want to take any family members, or relatives, or good friends. The ongoing bad behavior of many of the godless and wicked types who hang out at the UCG is so shameful that it would simply be too embarrassing to have to explain all the evil that is going on in the UCG.
Complaining about UCG members opening night Tabernacles attendance months before Tabernacles could backfire on new President Shabi. Majoring in the minors springs to mind. UCG members should be encouraged not nit picked to death.
Surely God judges Christians over their lives in a more broadbased way. Isn't it meant to be about the heart ? Many older UCG members, including the ministry, have to pace themselves during the feast. It's no good attending everything at the beginning if you've exhausted yourself by day four and miss the last half of Tabernacles.
What works for one doesn't work for others.
Monkey pox has been declared an international emergency perhaps realising its not 1992 anymore should be the focus and not nit picking members.
This person wrote, "... our willingness to come out of the world to where God has placed His name."
What God is he talking about? Is the God who places his name in various cities around the world the same as the God of the Bible? I am curious about how Armstrongists would cogently address that issue.
As I stated a few days ago, I take great exception to the quoted statement above. God placed his name in Jerusalem. He said, "I have hallowed this house, which thou hast built, to put my name there for ever." But according to Herman Hoeh, HWA first asserted that God placed his name in Gladewater, TX (read as Big Sandy). This was not understood by overt revelation from God or, as in the days of Solomon, or resort to the Bible but by HWA reading contemporary circumstances - the Hammer family donated some land. And based on this, HWA formed an facile opinion. Since that watershed, "God places his name" wherever an apocalyptic Millerite sect wishes to observe the Feast of Tabernacles. What was critically important in the Law of Moses is now a rubber stamp used routinely by denominational administration.
This is an extraordinarily important issue. If God placed his name at the Temple in Jerusalem and the Temple has been destroyed then it is impossible for anyone to keep validly the Law of Moses in the Post-Second Temple Period. The Feast of Tabernacles is the lynchpin. No Temple, no valid place to observe the FoT. The FoT may be the only part of the Law of Moses than specifically requires the existence of the Temple/Tabernacle (Ex 23:17) - hence, the pilgrimage perforce to Jerusalem annually to observe the FoT.
The Jews keep Sukkot locally because they follow Rabbinic Judaism. And Rabbinic Judaism evolved from the Academy of Jamnia where Judaism was repackaged to be observed without the Temple. But Armstrongists have always claimed that they observe the Law of Moses as it appears in the Torah based on Matthew 5:17-18. And they do not. Every time Armstrongists observe the FoT away from the Temple in Jerusalem, they underscore the fact that they cannot keep the Law of Moses at all. For Christians this is a non-issue because the NT asserts that the Law of Moses is no longer in force. (Get a clue: Jesus did not expect anyone to keep the law of Moses after his ministry, death and resurrection. He did not explain how the Law of Moses was supposed to work without a physical Temple. He expected followers to keep the commandments of the New Testament.)
Note: Anyone can keep Sukkot in a cultural sense. One just cannot claim it is required for salvation or claim that it is being observed because the Law of Moses is still in force.
The challenge is to the Armstrongist denominations to demonstrate how they can repackage the Law of Moses for non-Temple worship - that is, by what authority they are able to do this. The Jews had the Academy of Jamnia. I am not sure what authority the Armstrongists would draw on in order to do this repackaging. Certainly it would not be the Bible itself. GTA claimed that loosing and binding was only valid where the Bible does not explicitly speak.
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I think the first day is A holy convocation, not 2 holy convocations. Seems to me that one service that day is plenty. People traveling from afar just want to settle in and get some sleep. Some organizations have a hospitality room the first evening so folks can stop by and pick up the schedule, shake some hands and speak to some friends, grab a soft drink and relax. That makes more sense to me than trying to have a full blown service that evening, especially since everyone will be at services in the morning.
This is one of the biggest questions I cannot understand about Armstrongism. It is neither Judaism nor Christianity. They pick and choose some OT stuff, throw in a pinch of NT stuff (though, admittedly,I have yet to find any) and Shazam! You have just delivered a thousand pound millstone around the neck of your members.
Who were the people who entered into a covenant with God at Mt. Sinai? I think it was the Israelites. Were the Chinese, Argentinians, or Swedes expected to attend? I don't think so. Was there an expiration date on the Law of Moses? I think it expired when the Messiah came (Gal 3). Is attending the FOT a denial that the Messiah has already come? Are Church of God members acting like Jews rather than Christians?
When are members going to "UNIONIZE" against these overbearing "working conditions"?
A night time service followed by two services the next day, for a total of THREE within 24 hours is onerous, working the "law of diminishing returns" and more for a much older and tired membership.
The opening night service idea needs to be CRAP CANNED once and for all!
The larger ACOGs have lots of ministers who are underutilized during the Feast. Many members would be much more enthusiastic if there were dedicated services for younger people, married people, singles, prophecy buffs, business owners, homemakers, etc.
Instead of forcing people to attend three services, imagine that a church offered FOT attendees their choice of nine sermon topics at three sermon times on the Holy Day. Instead of people complaining that they felt forced to attend three services, many would complain that there wasn't enough time for them to attend every sermon that interested them.
"God placed his name in Jerusalem. He said, "I have hallowed this house, which thou hast built, to put my name there for ever.""
Haven't you heard of the New Jerusalem? It's located between the Super 8 and Lawrence Welk's Champagne Theatre in Branson, not far away from Mormonism's Garden of Eden in Jackson County Missouri. I can't make this stuff up!
https://www.mrm.org/eden
Well after decades of doing this, it was always the same: the entire feast bulletin would be read word for word, even though it was already on your hands. Restrooms are there, mother’s room is over there, etc. Then a short boring message where at the end the speaker would declare —— now go home and get a GOOD night’s rest!! We always went away disappointed and tired. (Except for getting to see some old time friends for a moment). We felt hood ‘spiritually’ though, because we had followed the commands!
At least Rick Shabi didn't go as far as a WCG Elder did years ago, when he noted Opening Night attendance at the Feast was 10% below the norm.
He called it a "tithe to Satan."
You UCG folk like your new president? He's complaining about you skipping the first service the night the Feast begins. Boo Hoo! Why not show him who's boss? Skip the services at which the offerings are taken. How would you like that, Rikki Tik?
There are not three services. If a site has an opening night service then there is one service in the afternoon the next day. If they don’t have an opening night service then there are two services, one in the AM and one in the PM.
In scripture it states to have a holy convocation on the 15th of the 7th month. It doesn't mention an opening night service that one must attend. Leviticus 23 [34] Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the feast of tabernacles for seven days unto the LORD. [35] On the first day shall be an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein.
UCG appears to be "adding to." I do believe the brethren should observe the day properly. It is, after all, Yehovah's feast and should be observed as such. A holy convocation is mentioned in Leviticus 23, but not two, or however many over one.
Is there a link for Rick's letter?
7:00 AM
Exactly!!
It's because the Temple had an evening opening 'service'.
AnonymousSunday, July 24, 2022 at 8:11:00 PM PDT wrote:
"In scripture it states to have a holy convocation on the 15th of the 7th month. It doesn't mention an opening night service that one must attend. Leviticus 23 [34] Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the feast of tabernacles for seven days unto the LORD. [35] On the first day shall be an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein.
UCG appears to be "adding to." I do believe the brethren should observe the day properly. It is, after all, Yehovah's feast and should be observed as such. A holy convocation is mentioned in Leviticus 23, b..."
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Leviticus 23:36 "Seven days ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD: on the eighth day shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD: it is a solemn assembly; and ye shall do no servile work therein."
United Ass, like other x-cog groups and splinters, all like to add to scripture. God in Leviticus 23 only calls for 2 convocations during the 8-day period (and a 3rd if a weekly Sabbath occurs between the 1st and 8th day) but they like to make every day like a holy convocation. And wonder United association is confused about many things. They even think Jesus Christ is the god of the Old Testament, but The God of the Old Testament is actually the one known as God the Father, the living God! And that has nothing to do with Doug Winnail/Weston's living group either.
When will the hirelings in these man-made associations and groups repent and get back on track with what God actually tells them to do, instead of doing what seems right in their own eyes?
Time will tell...
John
I beg to differ not my experience of either.
Anon 6:02. Don't believe a word you've typed. No one ever forgets 30 years of Feast keeping. Who's kidding who ?
It's supposed to be about worshipping God Amighty you self centred wally. Its not Netflix.
"It doesn't mention an opening night service that one must attend."
No, but there would be the evening Ma'ariv offering and prayers - the evening of first day of Sukkot would be no exception.
John, I understand there’s a holy convocation on the last day. I thought the current discussion revolved around the first day, with the opening service in the evening. There’s no command to have two on the first day.
Scripture on that, please.
Years ago, Joe Tkach Sr. and Joe Locke visited a nearby large city. The WCG members from the small church I attended went to the combined services. Just before services I went to the restroom and ran into a friend of mine. We chatted while washing our hands. Since it was autumn we naturally discussed the Feast and the topic of the opening service on the first evening came up.
I complained with some force about the opening evening service. I recall how many times I sat in these services listening to a very dry speaker and struggling to stay awake. We usually arrived at the site in the late afternoon before the first evening service after a long trip. People do not have a lot of vacation time to give themselves an extra cushion to accommodate this service. Sometimes they are on leave without pay or they have been given limited time by their employer with their job hanging in jeopardy. My guess is that ministers do not have to deal with this and can handle the logistics of the Feast at a leisurely pace. I had such issues in mind when I chatted with my friend in the restroom.
I spoke about how exhausted most people are on the first evenig, how dry the topic, how I usually got nothing from what was said and I think I may have said something about how it was even dangerous to have people driving in a strange location while half asleep. I was pretty direct in what I said. And then Joe Tkach Sr. emerged from one of the stalls. And he had heard my entire complaint. When I attended the Feast that year, there was no opening evening service. I like to think I might have had something to do with it.
I think it would be appropriate to consider whether this inconvenient and possibly dangerous first evening service evokes strength of character in the faithful or if it is just tempting God.
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Anonymous, Monday, July 25, 2022 at 1:00:00 PM PDT, commented saying:
"John, I understand there’s a holy convocation on the last day. I thought the current discussion revolved around the first day, with the opening service in the evening. There’s no command to have two on the first day."
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I had specified that God commanded a holy convocation to take place on the first day of the Feast of Tabernacles, and the eighth Day (Great Last Day), and on a weekly Sabbath if there was one in between those two days.
Anonymous, Monday, July 25, 2022 at 1:00:00 PM PDT, wrote:
"John, ...I thought the current discussion revolved around the first day, with the opening service in the evening. There’s no command to have two on the first day."
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P.S. when I first began attending God's Feast of TabernacleS in 1970 we had, through ignorance and/or blindness and/or deception, 3 holy convocations: one holy communication in the evening, and two holy convocations during the daylight hours of the first day.
When will the former hirelings (modern day pharisees, sadducees, scribes, etc?) of wcg stop "doing their own thing," and repent, change, and return to what God said to do and that was to observe one holy convocation on the first day of tabernacles? And having a holy convocation in the evening is silly, so why do it? How can these religious leaders continue to tell us to do what God in the Bible say, when they aren't even doing it themselves? No wonder Jesus Christ called the religious leaders of his day hypocrites, and other names, although Jesus Christ was actually addressing the generation of evil spirits (Matthew 23:33-36; 2 Cor 11:4; James 4:5; 2 Tim 2:26; 2 Cor 11:13-15, etc.) that were driving those religious leaders to say and do the things that they did especially when it was so obviously contrary to God's word. When will they change?
Time will tell...
John
"Brethren, what are we doing here?"
Always felt if you needed to open with that, some real serious questions should follow.
Well, 8:42, it was more like 17 years. The sermon of which I have the most specific recall is GTA's "What the World Needs Now". It was shocking, and I can tell you exactly where I was sitting in the arena in Squaw (Is it still called by this racist name?) Valley when he gave it. And, then, he was off to the plane and his young concubine, to travel to the next feast site.
As a point of fact, it is said that people tend to forget or diminish all of the crap in their lives as they get older. That is apparently what goes first. So, it's hardly surprising that I would have forgotten most of the sermon content 47 years later. I was mostly rehabilitated by the end of the '70s, and knew nothing further of Armstrongism until getting on the internet and wondering about some old friends who were worthy of reconnection.
John, yes, I agree with you there.
Still don't believe a word you type. Remembering the title but not the context what a fraud. It's usually the other way round.
Monday, July 25, 2022 at 4:45:00 PM PDT said, "The sermon of which I have the most specific recall is GTA's "What the World Needs Now". "
MY COMMENT - I remember GTA giving this sermon at the FOT. My take is that he borrowed the title from the 1965 Jackie DeShannon pop song "What the world needs now is love". I kept all my sermon notes, but at the present moment I am away from my home where they are kept or I could give more details. I do remember the conclusion of his sermon though. According to GTA, what the world needs now is YOU - you with more of God's Holy Spirit!
Richard
I attended services for about ten years, and looking back, I learnt next to nothing. You can learn more from reading one good self help book than all those sermons put together. Which makes attending or not attending the opening night services a storm in a teacup.
Monday, July 25, 2022 at 4:45:00 PM PDT
I also was at Squaw Valley when GTA gave the sermon on What the World Needs Now. I believe he ended with the line about the world has waited a long time for this love, let's not make it wait any longer. This must have been in 71 or 72 when I was at AC in Pasadena. Yes, I recall he then went off with his girlfriend. He didn't want her to wait for loving either.
And so I sat their, probably long side my future wife, and were so impressed. And we were impressed when HWA left and his jet flew over the arena. They were both such con men. But the one who benefitted the most from it all had to be Stanley Rader. He created these corporations to serve the church in the areas of accounting, law, travel, air time purchasing and leasing of the jets. I imagine he got paid by all of these corporations as well as his salary from WCG. He outsmarted them all.
There was a collage of various archival tapes that Tom Clay, a substitute DJ at KGBS radio in Los Angeles, created back in August 1971. Little children were asked to define terms such as hate, bigotry, and prejudice. This was juxtaposed with snatches of speeches by John Kennedy, Robert Kennedy, and Martin Luther King. and graphic news reports of their of their assassinations and the eulogies in the aftermath. The Blackberries supplied the vocal backdrop, singing the Jackie deShannon song. That is what GTA played as part of his sermon addressed to all of the festival audiences. Most of the people of the congregation probably had not heard this, as it was mostly played on radio stations which played rock music, a forbidden genre in Armstrongism. It had obviously affected GTA profoundly. I believe that he often preached his sermons not inly to us, but also to himself.
Sadly, we've reached a point in our national history and political discourse at which this record would be labeled as "woke" and rejected or condemned by a sizable percentage of the general population today. I mean, if you think about it, it's about the Democrats of that day, which is why it actually amazes me that the sermon was even permitted, let alone given at all of the WCG F/T sites. GTA had his faults, and although he might have been making a mess of his personal life at that point, I believe that his message in this sermon was spot on!
#1 with a bullet!
Speak for yourself. Jesus Christ knows those who know HIM.
Holy Convocations?
Lev 23:2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, Concerning the feasts of the LORD, which ye shall proclaim [qara’] to be holy [qodes] convocations [miqra’], even these are my feasts.
miqra’ qodes’ is literally “proclamations of holiness” according to Roy Gane (Leviticus, NIVAC, p.388).
Not all agree that “holy convocations” is a correct translation of the priestly idiom.
Lev 23:2 ... The following are the festivals of the LORD, which you shall declare holy days. These are my festivals: (New American Bible).
Lev 23:3 Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a sabbath of solemn rest, a proclamation of holiness. You shall do not work. It is a sabbath of the Lord in all your dwelling places. (Nobuyoshi Kiuchi).
Lev 23:4 These are the fixed times of YHWH, the sacred occasions [miqra’ qodes’], which you shall proclaim at their fixed times: (Jacob Milgrom).
“Since miqra’ is the cognate accusative of qara’, the idiom should literally be rendered “sacred proclamations.” But the proclamations were for the purpose of announcing the arrival of a festival day, so it is only natural that the term miqra’ became associated with the day itself; hence the rendering “occasion”...” (Jacob Milgrom, Leviticus 23-27, p.1957).
Kiuchi argues that migra’ “does not seem to have the nuance of ‘gathering people’...” (Leviticus, APTC, p.415). He goes on to comment:
“Though the term miqra’ occurs in the phrase miqra’ qodes, the latter is almost always followed by the injunction to rest from work (Exod 12:16; lev 23:3, 7-8, 21, 24b-25, 35-36; Num 28:18, 25-26; 29:1, 7, 12). These occurrences suggest it is unnecessary to infer that the term has something to do with ‘a convocation’ or any kind of ‘gathering’... (ibid., p.420).
Ex 16:29 See, for that the LORD hath given you the sabbath, therefore he giveth you on the sixth day the bread of two days; abide ye every man in his place, let no man go out of his place on the seventh day.
Ex 16:30 So the people rested on the seventh day.
Ex 20:8 Remember the sabbath day, to set is apart for holiness...
Ex 20:10 ... on that day, you are to do none of your customary labor (John I. Durham, Exodus, WBC, p.276).
Jacob Milgrom also argues that "convening an entire community on the sabbath is unattested in Scripture" (ibid).
In the Ten Commandment (Ex 20; Deut 5) there is no injunction to gather together on the Sabbath, the concern is to keep the day holy by not working.
Lev 23:35a On the first day shall be a proclamation of holiness [miqra’ qodes’];
Lev 23:35b you shall do no ordinary work
The above is presented not as argument for not gathering together on the “fixed times” of the Lord, but that in regard to the context “holy convocations” may not be the primary intent of miqra’ qodes’.
Lev 23:39b on the first day shall be a sabbaton, and on the eighth day shall be a sabbaton.
While the abstinence from “work” on the six annual ‘sabbatons’ indicate that they are holy occasions, they are not as holy as the ‘sabbat,’ as the abstinence from “work” is total - food preparation is allowed on the former; but not on the latter.
I am a member of UCG and I know Rick Shabi
First of all we do not have 2 services on the first holy day at the Feast. Generally speaking we have opening service the night before and then afternoon service the day of. Rick is encouraging everyone to make the opening service. That’s a great goal to set this far advance of the feast. It’s not a mandate for salvation as some want to suggest. It’s great that our new president encourages us to be there and make the first service. I don’t like to miss services at the feast. I try to make all of them if I can. Sometimes I can’t. Mr Shabi is like this about the weekly Sabbath. He knows everyone won’t be able to make it to services and that’s ok due to circumstances. Knowing how humans are, we tend to be slack. Most all the brethren I know are excited to be at the feast. They have traveled distance to get there and crossed hurdles to be there. Rick is a very kind caring minister and certainly is not a tyrant leader. I love Gods feasts and don’t want to miss any of them and the wonderful spiritual messages that I will hear. They certainly are not burdens as some suggest. They are delightful uplifting holy days of God. I fully support the UCG and there balanced approach. Servant leadership practiced and no lording over the sheep. And yes we are new covenant Christian’s and Christ is preached constantly.
I remember GTA giving a sermon and playing the recording in the Dining Room on the Big Sandy campus. I was impressed but I was also impressionable at that stage. But an irony that strikes me now and also struck me then is that GTA was talking about the importance of the relationship of love to a collection of people who related to eachother almost solely through hierarchy. You might say then that he selected his target audience well for corrective purposes. But on the other hand I am not sure there was the psychological infrastructure for the people in the audience to be able to even relate to what GTA was presenting. After the sermon and the dramatic recording, it was business as usual. I do remember an AC student who went around pretending to be a little boy and cutely quoting a statement form the recording: "What is biggery?" (bigotry)
I suspect that many in the Armstrongists ranks saw it as advertising shtick. Sorry to sound cynical about this but at AC Big Sandy at that time cyncism was the prevailing context.
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You are quite right, NEO. How people relate to the world around them is a very important factor, one that very few people consider. Personally, I have an unusual entry point in this. My own relationships are primarily with machinery. And the machines open the door to just about all of my social relationships. I suppose that that is the case with most who work with technology. As such, I am perfectly content over the weekends just being in the presence of machines and technology which are slightly different from what I work with professionally. It's nice over the weekend to work on a guitar, motorcycle, or car just for a change of pace. As we all know, this is something vastly different from the experiences recorded in the Bible. There are of course others in professions which did not exist in Biblical times, so I don't consider myself to be special or totally unique.
GTA was a musical person. He probably realized that music is a universal method of communication and hoped that he could cut through the hierarchy. There has been much written about the competition for controlling an audience that exists between a shaman or preacher, and an actor, musician, or politician. Some extreme cultures have considered anyone who works with crowds on a secular level such as the performing arts to be profane, and of course we know from personal experience that there are those who work in the field of religion or ministry who are actually charlatans, and therefore also profane. This is an entire subliminal level of interplay rampant amongst those who shamelessly collect people. GTA's greatest hit was very powerful. It was not as long lasting in its effect as the conspiracy theories and fearsomely misapplied prophecies and misidentities initiated by his father. But, as we see by the comments, those in the audience back in the day recognized instantly, and had poignant memories of that sermon the moment I brought it up. How many other WCG speakers ever created a more memorable sermon?
WHERE TO FIND THE SONG GTA PLAYED---
https://youtu.be/_i2bq3F6a0I
Biggest problem the boring speaker. Needs to be a proper message on opening night, also some fellowship is nice. I feel a good start to the Feast, always thought so. I lost jobs because of FOT attendance, was a trial but seemed to be blessed afterwards, with a better job.
Anon, Friday, August 12, 2022 at 8:08:00 PM PDT, said
"Biggest problem the boring speaker. Needs to be a proper message on opening night, also some fellowship is nice. I feel a good start to the Feast, always thought so. I lost jobs because of FOT attendance, was a trial but seemed to be blessed afterwards, with a better job."
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Yes, the "united" message (like the Living/Winnail messages, and other xcog splinters) on opening night or at any other time is probably usually not proper, because the United association, inspired by another spirit is focused on another Jesus and therefore preaches another gospel, and the Apostle Paul warned of such counterfeit gospels, Jesus', etc.
2 Corinthians 11:4
For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.
Galatians 1:6
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel:
Galatians 1:7
Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.
Glad you were blessed with a better job opportunity(ies).
But, when will the United Ass. hirelings, and hirelings of other x-cog splinters, preach the gospel of Christ and the grace associated with it?
Time will tell...
John
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