Week after week there is always something that LCG members are not doing right. Apparently this week they are unable to keep their hearts and minds focused on the "work". This has been an ongoing issue in the church since the early days of the Worldwide Church of God. There was always some reason the Big Boys found lacking in church members who were not totally engaged (i.e. sending in money). Boys and girls, get your hearts turned in the right direction and your desires will be fulfilled! Magical god will give you all you want, though for some reason it never has done so to LCG as a church.
Winnail makes the claim below that if your heart is in the "work?" you will become a godlet in the kingdom to come and reign with Christ over the rest of humankind. The trouble with his verses quoted is NONE of them say any such thing. All they say is to prepare the way. Touch the lives of people in the world and share the anticipation you have for a kingdom to come. Show mercy and grace now and it will be infectious and draw people in. Oh, wait. This is the LCG we are speaking about.
Where Is Your Heart? The Scriptures clearly reveal that God looks on the heart (1 Samuel 16:7) and that He examines and tests our hearts and minds (Psalm 7:9). Our thoughts, actions, and priorities reveal what is in our hearts. This is why Jesus said, “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you” (Matthew 6:33). When God sees that our priorities are focused in the right direction, He will provide many of our desires—in His time and way (Mark 10:29–30). Jesus set an example of being focused on His mission of preaching the Gospel, warning the world, and preparing a people to reign with Him in the Kingdom (Mark 1:14–15; John 4:34; Luke 1:17)—and He will receive a great reward (Philippians 2:5–11). Jesus’ heart was in the Work of God! We each need to examine our priorities and ask ourselves the question, “Where is my heart?”
Have a profitable Sabbath,
Douglas S. Winnail
16 comments:
Doug asked the same question in June 2008 and January 2011, so it appears that he hasn't had much success with his message.
This is absurd. In spite of the stupid, arbitrary ministers, their ridiculous policies, continued denial of obvious truths, and these constant messages that talk down to the peon membership, the members stay with and pay their tithes to LCG. In spite of all logic, they stay with their church. How is that being heartless in any way??? They are loyal not because their church merits loyalty, but in spite of the fact that they don't!
This is about the most dumbass peptalk that Winnail has ever concocted!
In my time, the ministers never practiced what they preached, which blunted any message that they gave. If their hearts were in the work, they would be striving to go down the straight and narrow, so that their prayers would be heard by God. But nope, it's the abusive church culture that they embraced.
ACOG ministers are like the biblical Pharisees who preached one thing, but practiced the opposite.
Animal trainers know that you get a lot better response and teaching opportunity by rewarding and praising good behavior.
The COGs have always been a little bit light on the praise and recognition aspects , especially with a religion that is much more demanding than most.
I always wonder if Winnail is a worse pastor or theologian; which is silly because both dangerous characteristics go hand in hand.
As a pastor, Winnail would never identify his people or encourage them the way St. Paul did in 2 Corinthians 3:3.
As a theologian, Winnail fails to lead his people to Jesus as St. Paul encouraged in Ephesians 3:17.
On both the heartless pastor front, and dangerous theologian front, Winnail prefers to keep the people on edge, uncertain, and feeling unworthy.
WinnIl never teaches security in Jesus, as St. Paul did in Romans 10:9.
Today, My prayer and blessing for the people of LCG is:
Colossians 2:2.
My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ.
Apparently, the cog leaders are completely unaware what the "Work" of God is and have a definition that somehow means sends us your money and shut up. So, I will help them out. When asked, what is the Work of God, the reply was, This is the work of God:have faith in the One whom He sent" John 6:28-29.
So, Gerald, Dave, Ron, Bob...when will you do the actual work of God?
7.54 AM
"Tbe COGs have always been a little bit light on the praise and recognition aspects,."
That's an understatement. As well as mentally shrinking church members, eg, "you are an evil incompetent fool," members are also kept on a emotional starvation diet. This is abusive relationships 101. In fact the pilot episode of Star Trek: the Next Generation called "Encounter at Farpoint" revolves around a planetary station that enslaved a creature by keeping it on a starvation energy diet. The writers did not pull this out of thin air.
It's bully morality rather than biblical morality than prevails in the ACOGs.
I wonder how much of Roderick Meredith's time at work was spent jockeying for more power and to be the successor to HWA. I suspect that this was his definition of focusing on the work. Rader, GTA, RCM and HWA were probably more interested in money and power than actually preaching and teaching.
I spent 13 long, hard, distressing years in the Worldwide Church of God. My wife and family utterly rejected WGC doctrines and practices, and my membership and participation (especially tithe-paying) caused family hardships that have never healed.
While sitting in Sabbath services each Saturday I was continually told that I wasn’t good enough; that I wasn’t keeping The Law sufficiently. I’d better get my act together or I wouldn’t “make it,” wouldn’t be invited or allowed to go to “the place of safety” in the always continuing “three to five years.” Personal sins and inadequacies, one after another were, forcefully brought to my attention.
Nary a word about the saving grace of Jesus Christ. None of that could be accessed unless I was “right with God,” which actually meant that I was to assiduously keep every point of The Law the church had so arbitrarily selected.
All of that would have been hard enough living in a family where everyone was a believing, practicing WCG member. Cooperatively, the members of the family might be able to more closely approach the perfection described and demanded in almost every sermon. But in my case, utterly impossible. Many a Sabbath I went home from services fearfully weeping.
In reflecting back on my many days and experiences in Armstrong’s Worldwide Church of God, I can’t remember a single moment of Christian joy; just fear and dread. My only distant hope was that, somehow, things would change for the better someday before we were to go to the Place of Safety.
And, thankfully, they did. Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit the then head of the church, Joseph Tkach, pronounced scripturally-based revisions and updates to church doctrines. I was able to leave without endangering my salvation — which now was to be based, as scripture prescribes, on a belief in Jesus Christ himself.
For me — and so many others — membership in the Worldwide Church of God invoked only fear and depression. No way I could ever attain the Law-based righteousness demanded of me each Sabbath. I was merely human dirt. Never a kind or encouraging word; always “admonitions” to “strive harder.”
Not today. I’m in a Bible-teaching mainline Protestant church where I serve and worship with authentic joy. Like the Bereans, I, too, search the scriptures to affirm the teachings and doctrines my church embraces. A few I dismiss. But, altogether, Christ and the Holy Spirit are present, are taught. I have now real hope and joy.
He says, "Jesus's heart was in the work." Actually his heart was to do the will of the Father. He had more favorable experiences with random people outside the "congregation", temple, or synagogues (the centurion, Mary washing His feet, woman touching His garment, Zacchaeus, or the parable of the good Samaritan). Yea the work is part of it, but we are human beings and more so than the work, it's about how we treat each other.
They are like pharisees, that is why Christ said "beware of the leaven of the pharisees which is hypocrisy."
To Anon @2:31pm Amen and hallelujah! As a born again believer, saved by the completed work of Jesus on the cross, your comment filled me with joy. I have never been in any Armstrongism cult, but try very hard almost everyday, to help people here who still believe we are under the Mosaic law, must tithe, must keep the Sabbath, dietary restrictions, etc see the gospel of our salvation, 1 Cor 15:1-4. My forehead feels bruised from banging it against a brick wall some days, trying to show the legalists that Jesus was the fulfillment and the end of the law. The fulfillment of the Old Covenant.
British Israelism has blinded the cog members and I pray for them. I pray the scales will fall from their eyes and the veil of Moses will be lifted. Until it does, more misery awaits these poor people. They will never be good enough, because like all of us, they are sinners, but they are trying to save themselves. Jesus didn't do quite enough and I have to help him out. I can keep the Commandments because he was our example. Ugghh. Please ask God to lift the veil and show you the truth of the Gospel of Grace. What you are practicing is NOT CHRISTIANITY. Exact same thing in Adventism, Mormonism, JWs. Please think about this again, read the Book of Galatians everyday for a week and then say, yup...we are still under the law, and must work for our salvation.
You give me hope Anon @2:36! If just one person here is helped to find Jesus, I will gladly keep beating my head against a brick wall.
Tonto commented Animal trainers know that you get a lot better response and teaching opportunity by rewarding and praising good behavior.
I worked with a guy who told me to sandwich correction between two praises. He didn't seem to follow his own advice, but I think it's still good advice.
One of the best WCG pastors I knew - who then defected to Tkatchism - did that in Spokesman's Club. In one case he quoted John 19:6 "I find no fault in him" to a speaker, reflecting the words of the speech evaluator.
Another time that pastor read a piece from the HQ report that said HWA felt his effort wasn't appreciated enough. The pastor laid down the report, made a facial gesture and said in a mocking voice, "Thanks, Mr. Armstrong".
Part of the problem of the “heart of the work” is that the British Israel doctrine is apart of that work. And see that BI has nothing to do with our eternal salvation. It’s kind of hard trying to have your “heart” in something that’s not eternally beneficial.
I wonder how the test of the leadership’s hearts would go. I haven’t seen anything to indicate they have any sort of morality. Gerald Weston in particular. He has adopted politics in place of morality. Not to mention a massive “rules for thee but not for me” attitude as it pertains to his hierarchy.
HWA claims his first (free) radio broadcasts were on the blessings of Abraham, to which he got a positive listener response. This, I understand, was the point of J.H. Allen's book, that the descendants of Abraham (supposedly us) are blessed. As Ralph Orr's article on BI in the COG pointed out, HWA saw the negative aspects of BI.
Of the splinters that still use BI apart from an interesting fringe doctrine, I think Bob Thiel milks all he can from it. I'd call him the chief scaremonger and prophecy-twister of the splinters. That's apart from Dave Pack's ongoing false starts and fatal finishes.
Post a Comment