LCG Finally Decides It Is Part Of Their Christian Duty To Help Others, With One Condition Though

 

Gerald Weston had an epiphany the other day in that as Christians it is their duty to help those in the world around them, in addition to their primary purpose of preaching some kind of gospel that they think the world so desperately needs. Though, as usual in COGland, there is a condition to that assistance, those people that LCG magnanimously decided to help had to be subscribers to their magazine, The World Tomorrow. Due to the recent rash of damaging tornadoes, LCG was so moved that they decided to give people some money.

Weston had to be very very careful in how he helped people as he did not want to jeopardize their great mission. 

I have already shared with our Living Church of God members something that we did recently, but I want to share this with you who are co-workers with us. As many of you know, a series of terrible tornados last month cut across the central part of the United States. One plowed across the landscape for 227 miles, destroying everything in its path, including several small towns. Mayfield and Dawson Springs, Kentucky, were especially hard hit, and I think we all desired to do something to help the individuals whose lives will never be the same. 

 

We know that we cannot rebuild houses or replace destroyed vehicles, nor can we help everyone who suffered a loss. We also know that our primary calling is to preach the good news of Christ’s Second Coming and warn the world of what will happen if we do not change directions. At the same time, we have the example of the Good Samaritan, and when we see a specific need to do what we reasonably can without jeopardizing our primary mission, we should do so. 

 

Several of us discussed how we could provide some direct help and concluded that we could offer a small amount of financial assistance to Tomorrow’s World subscribers to cover some incidentals they may need in the aftermath. This offer went out to 93 individual households. Only a handful of grateful people have so far responded, and the amounts we give for this come out of our Disaster Relief Fund, so this will not impact our primary commission. And, by the way, my mention of this fund is not a veiled request to contribute to it as we have sufficient resources from past member contributions, and we do not want to tie up funds in an account restricted to only one use, as this special account is. And on another note, we will not announce any of this to the world, but I want to share this with those of you who are in our inner circle of members and co-workers.

PCG: Are You Ready To Run And Tug On Their Garments So You Too Can Have Abundant Life?

 

The lunatics are loose in the asylum in Edmond Oklahoma. Lil'Stevie thinks that the PCG is so important that people will be running to them tugging on their garments to find out the awesome truth that the PCG has to preach. Once more, Bob Thiel was seen whimpering in the corner because he never thought of this!

Apparently, PCG believes they are living life so abundantly that everyone will want to join them when they see this. Unfortunately, the only people living life abundantly are the elite and their children/grandchildren. 

Stephen Flurry Goes Off the Rails Again:
January 22, 2022 

 

Just to show how far off the rails Stephen Flurry is getting, he gave a Bible Study titled “Ask and You Shall Receive” where he talked about how we members (including the PCG youth) should know how to answer questions. He said the following which I thought was more than a little ridiculous: 

 

“There is going to come a time when people are going to be chasing us down, pulling at the hem of our garment, to get answers to life’s most important questions. And we’ve got to be ready to answer everyone that asks.”

On the other hand, if a member were to ask a minister (especially your highness SF or GF) something that they don’t like, don’t want to hear, or can’t answer, you can be sure that person will be suspended on the spot. 

 

In this Bible study, SF took a long time to brag non-stop about Herbert Armstrong, ad nauseam, raising him up as the whitest of white saints.What would PCG ever do if they didn’t have HWA to continually refer to? The Bible, and especially the Christ of the Bible, wouldn’t be enough for them. 

 

Even though this Bible study was about how we should know how to ask and reply to questions, SF said God doesn’t want us to question His authority (Translation: PCG ministers), His leadership (Translation: Gerald Flurry and Stephen Flurry), His Truth (Translation: GF’s teaching promulgated to the exclusion of all other groups).

He told about the “abundant life you all have in God’s church” and “why would you want to give that up?” 

 

The only ones I know who have the “abundant life” are the higher up ministers and their pampered, rich kids. The rest have to endure split families, financial problems, and fearing what’s coming in the future. 

 

I wonder how SF thinks his loud, nerve-wracking, voice (which crescendos in the middle of all his speeches) is going to get anyone to focus on asking any kind of question. But his behavior is all part of mind control which he is very good at. –G. E. Exit and Support Network

What do you do if your friends label you as "Bitter"?

 

From an LCG source:

From an HWA co-worker letter, May 25, 1972:

What organization, church, college or important enterprise is there which does not have a few -- possibly former members or employees, or those who have had some former contact -- who are dissidents, hostile and bitter or prejudiced?

It seems those who, for a sensational story or broadcast, attack this Work, seek out only those very few dissident and bitter enemies of the Work, and are willing to broadcast or print every defaming thing these enemies will say against us without checking the facts. They never seem interested in checking with the 75,000 members and many thousand other Co-Workers. They imply false motives employ clever and deceptive innuendos, and give false and misleading impressions.

Did you ever notice that our persecutors attack us from two inconsistent angles? 1) They accuse us of embracing doctrines, so difficult to observe that nobody would ever want to become one of our followers -- so unpopular we would never attract members (and in most cases they entirely misrepresent these doctrines). And yet, 2) they imply we are so very successful, and that we are receiving much money. I'm sure you can see the utter inconsistency of this. Why do they not point out, as our Co-Workers know, how every dollar in this Work is made to go farther and accomplish more than any place we know. HOW do you appraise the VALUE of one human life turned from sin and death to righteousness, receiving the gift of ETERNAL LIFE? The living Christ who heads and directs this Work, reaps a harvest, THROUGH this Work of a few THOUSAND of such every year.

PCG: Since Israel Is Too Stupid To Understand Their Own Archeology We Are Now Starting A New Institute To Educate Them On Their Archeology.

 

Gerald Flurry is constantly seeking to find ways to be relevant in the world like he believes Herbert Armstrong was. He built his own mini-me campus and auditorium near Edmond Oklahoma. He stole hundreds of HWA's works and republished them, got sued, lost the case, and then paid $3,000,000.00 for the rights to publish them. Then proceeded to rework them to edit out anything HWA might have said to make Flurry look like a self-appointed idiot, He started the Armstrong International Cultural Foundation in order to imitate Herbert's Ambassador International Cultural Foundation so he could share the same abbreviations (AICF). Abbreviations are important in COG land, it makes them closer to HWA than they really are.

Flurry also has his students from the cult college participate in archeological digs in Israel just like HWA did. While HWA worked with Benjamin Mazare, PCG has worked with Eilat Mazar, the great-granddaughter of Benjamin Mazar. When she has made a lot of discoveries, she is not held in the highest esteem for her interpretations. She fits right in with the distorted interpretations of Gerald Flurry.

Mazar was a biblical maximalist and, according to herself, "I work with the Bible in one hand and the tools of excavation in the other, and I try to consider everything."[22] 

However, Israel Finkelstein and other archaeologists from Tel Aviv University have flagged concern that, with reference to her 2006 dating of the "Solomonic city wall" in the area to the south of the Temple Mount known as the "Ophel", "the biblical text dominates this field operation, not archaeology. Had it not been for Mazar's literal reading of the biblical text, she never would have dated the remains to the 10th century BCE with such confidence.[23] Nevertheless, scholars now agree with Mazar's dating of this structure.[24][25][26] 

Mazar was cautioned by epigrapher Ryan Byrne following the 2008 confusion over the inscription on the Shelomit seal, that "in the mad dash to report biblical artifacts to the public or connect discoveries with the most obscure persons or events reported in the Bible, there is sometimes a tendency to compromise the analytical caution that objects of such value so dearly deserve."[27]

Flurry had an office in Jerusalem several years ago until he got the brainy idea to buy the Bicket Wood campus of the old Ambassador College so that he can be closer to Hill Tara in Ireland where he believes he and his cult will soon dig up the mound and recover the Ark of the Covenant that Jeremiah brought to Ireland when he supposedly visited it centries ago. When the campus sale fell through he bought Edstone outside of Bricket Wood and closed down the Jerusalem office due to finances.

Now that the end is just a few months away Flurry needs to spend millions on a new foundation and office to be built in Jerusalem.

In order to impress the faithful followers of Flurry, they announced this on the 32 anniversary of the founding of the PCG by Flurry.

Brad McDonald wrote the following the other day in a mailing to the faithful:

It was around five or six years ago now that Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry first mentioned his plan to start an archaeology institute. I remember the mix of emotion I experienced listening to the idea—the excitement and anticipation pickled in gravity and trepidation.

The idea was logical. We have practiced archaeology in Jerusalem, mainly in support of Dr. Eilat Mazar and Hebrew University, since 2006. We’ve helped Dr. Mazar uncover some truly astonishing biblical artifacts, including King David’s palace and the clay seal of Judah’s King Hezekiah. Our predecessor, the late Herbert W. Armstrong, worked alongside Prof. Benjamin Mazar, Eilat’s grandfather, for almost 20 years. After 50 years of participating in (and even sponsoring) archaeological digs, starting an archaeology institute was the next logical step.

Still, founding an institute would mark a major development. It would require an office in Jerusalem, qualified staff and researchers and a substantial research library. It would mean in-depth research, working alongside scholars and scientists, and then publishing. It would be a pretty audacious enterprise!

How did we get on?

This past weekend (January 16-17)—exactly 36 years after the death of Herbert W. Armstrong and less than one year after the death of Dr. Eilat Mazar—we finalized and launched the website of the Armstrong-Mazar Institute of Biblical Archaeology (AMIBA).

We have an archaeology institute!

This is what Flurry has on the main page of the Armstrong-Mazar Institute of Biblical Archeology and how they intend to educate Israel and the world:

Welcome to the Armstrong Institute of Biblical Archaeology (AIBA). AIBA’s mission is to showcase Israel’s biblical archaeology and to make it available to the largest audience possible, most especially to the people of Israel. 

 

AIBA is a non-profit academic and educational institution headquartered in Jerusalem, Israel. 
AIBA seeks to share and promote Israel’s biblical archaeology via multiple platforms, including: 1) this website, which publishes articles, scientific reports and videos on Israel’s biblical archaeology; 2) Let the Stones Speak, a full-color, 32-page bimonthly print magazine; and 3) private tours of the Ophel and the City of David, as well as public seminars and archaeological exhibits. 

 

AIBA also sponsors and participates in archaeological excavations in Jerusalem, primarily in the City of David and on the Ophel. (To learn more about past projects, or to follow our ongoing projects, see Excavations & Projects.)   

 

AIBA has deep roots in Israel and in the field of biblical archaeology. The institute collaborates and works in partnership with many of Israel’s esteemed academic institutions, including Hebrew University, the City of David Foundation, the Israel Antiquities Authority, and the Israel Exploration Society. AIBA is named after Herbert W. Armstrong and Dr. Eilat Mazar, two personalities with a long and rich history with both Israel and biblical archaeology. 

 

Herbert Armstrong was a prominent 20th-century Bible scholar, minister and humanitarian. He was also a keen supporter of biblical archaeology and the Jewish state. From 1968 to 1986, Mr. Armstrong supported multiple archaeological excavations in Israel, most notably the “Big Dig,” a massive excavation on the Temple Mount led by Hebrew University professor Benjamin Mazar. (Our Excavations & Projects page has more information on this.) 

 

Dr. Eilat Mazar, granddaughter of Prof. Benjamin Mazar, was one of Israel’s greatest biblical archaeologists. Eilat was responsible for making some of biblical archaeology’s most sensational discoveries, including King David’s palace, King Solomon’s royal complex, Nehemiah’s wall and the seals of King Hezekiah and Isaiah (among other finds). Dr. Mazar was a brilliant scientist who not only deeply valued the scientific method but recognized the crucial role the Bible plays in the study of Jerusalem’s ancient history. 

 

Since 2006, AIBA has proudly sponsored and worked alongside Dr. Mazar in her excavations in the City of David and on the Ophel. We endeavor to preserve Dr. Mazar’s archaeological legacy and keep it alive by approaching biblical archaeology with the same dedication to scientific and academic integrity, and the same passion, urgency and love. (You can learn more about the work and legacy of Dr. Eilat Mazar here.) 

 

AIBA’s overarching mission can be divided into five specific objectives: 

 

To promote the Bible as a credible and essential historical resource in the practice of archaeology in Israel 

 

To feature and continue the archaeological work of Dr. Eilat Mazar and her grandfather, Prof. Benjamin Mazar 

 

To analyze and explain archaeological excavations and discoveries past and present in the context of the Bible 

 

To challenge the unwarranted and unsupported criticisms leveled against the use of the Bible in archaeology in Israel 

 

To encourage archaeologists to consider and employ the Bible in the practice of archaeology

 

Gerald Flurry: Have a Smart Phone? Unless You Get Rid Of It You WILL Be In The Tribulation And Will Eat Your Sons, Daughters, And Friends!!!!!!!!!

 

The total asinine pronouncements of Church of God ministers get crazier by the day. Exit and Support Network is reporting that Flurry has banned smartphones and has proclaimed that anyone who still uses them will be in the tribulation where they will be eating their own children. Imagine being part of a cult that is this sick? Why do COG members still fall for this shit?

I can guarantee you that Lil'Stevie and the kids of the elite ministers at the cult compound have those phones. While they may use them at home instead of at work, they still have them.

The real reason he doesn't want them to have these phones is that they can easily access articles and information critical of the cult.

Armstrongism is sick. Sick to its rotten filthy core. Not one single one of them has any idea what being a Christian is.

GF Says Get Rid of Your Smart Phones or You Will End up in the Tribulation:
January 25, 2022 

 

I just wanted to draw attention to the last sermon GF gave entitled, “Jeremiah’s Commission.”
Towards the end he began speaking about smart phones. He referenced one specific family who used them and though he didn’t specifically say, he alluded to them no longer being members. So whether they were kicked out or left I don’t know. 

 

He then proceeded in an attempt to scare his followers by saying if people don’t get rid of their smart phone they will end up in the Tribulation and they’ll be eating their sons, daughters and friends and he then asked, “what good will those smart phones be then?” 

 

This is only about control! Think about this. What is the difference between an iPad or a computer? They all access the same information. What is the difference between a man at work all day on his computer in his private office or a stay at home mom with access all day to her iPad?? There is literally no difference. 

 

GF does this to control, and if the members secretly keep their smart phones, then they feel guilty and will attribute any bad thing that happens to them to this little “act of rebellion.” And if the ministry finds out someone is “rebelling,” then that gives them leverage and control over them. Even by their own doctrine, if their members can’t control themselves and stay off the porn sites–which he seemed to indicate that was a problem–how then can they make it into their supposed kingdom? Clearly they don’t have the character, and can’t do it unless their life is controlled for them. 

 

Last time I checked God doesn’t want robots. If He did, He would have made us so. It makes no difference if they access porn via a smart phone, iPad, or computer. It’s not about that, it’s solely about control, just like the recent ruling on men only wearing white shirts to church. It is 100% cult behaviour. –T. C.

Crackpot Prophet Lets His Racism Show In Regards To His African "Gentiles"

 

One thing Armstrongism was good at was segregating people into "us vs them" categories, but its biggest epitaph was to calls someone a 'Gentile" which quickly translated into an "unconverted" person. COG members were enlightened and chosen by God while all others were not called and were labeled as Gentile, particularly those of color and those assumed to not be part of the British Israelism belief the church clung to in order to make itself special and better than others.

There is one book of the Bible that irritates COG leaders the most and that is Galatians. Nothing makes their legalism look more stupid and silly than this book. They particularly do not like Gal 3:28 as it puts everyone on an even playing field, though this doesn't stop the Great White Bwana and Chief Overseer from labeling his black followers as Gentiles, i.e Black...the other.

The CCOG has nearly 6,000 Gentiles, which compares to about 300 or so in early 2014. CCOG has been the fastest growing x-WCG COG in the 21st century. 

 

Sadly, many people are affected by prejudices and other factors which stop them from acting on the truth and supporting the reaching of the Gentiles. Many also seem to dismiss that we are reaching tens of millions on non-Gentiles with our internet presence and programs. 

 

Jesus taught that the end does NOT come until the ‘Gospel of the Kingdom of God‘ reaches enough nations (Matthew 24:14) and, based on Paul’s writings, we also see that “the full number” (as the NIV, NLT, BSB, CEV, GNT, HCSV, ISV, and NET Bible, put Romans 11:25) of Gentiles God wants in this age come in. 

 

Notice also the following that Paul wrote which points to Gentiles, and then those of Israel:

25 As He says also in Hosea:

“I will call them My people, who were not My people,

And her beloved, who was not beloved.”

26 “And it shall come to pass in the place where it was said to them,

‘ You are not My people,’

There they shall be called sons of the living God.”

27 Isaiah also cries out concerning Israel:

“Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea,

The remnant will be saved. (Romans 9:25-27) 

 

In CCOG we are reaching Gentiles and non-Gentiles (cf. Romans 9:27, 11:23-24; see also What is the Ezekiel Warning?). 

 

We have done this in person and over the airways, as well as reaching over 100 million computers/talbets(sic)/cellular telephones in 2021. 

 

And that is part of why we have been the fastest growing xWCG church in the 21st century.

Its interesting to notice that here is a guy who thinks his witness is to the House of Israel and the 12 tribes scattered around the world (at least according to COG mythology) and the guy is UNABLE to attract any Caucasian followers, except for a scattered 1 or 2 here and there, let alone any followers from ANY of the Churches of God.  Instead he as to contend himself with "Gentiles" and "non-Gentiles" whoever they are supposed to be. 

 

 

Huh? Sure, Fine, Whatever...

"I'm fulfilling the clearing up of the Book of Revelation!"

These are snippets from the latest, non-Christian and extra-Biblical musings of Dave's, "Never Ending Story" as to just how correct he and the math still is about Christ's Second, or, the way it's going, Dave's Fifth Coming of his Christ saga.

Apologies for lack of context but I assure you, all of Dave's sermons on this BS sound like this from start to finish. I am sure that no member or minister can repeat or explain it as Dave presents it. I do not understand either the members or the ministry of the RCG. Brain dead it seems.  Besides, it changes every week or less anyhow. 

Most of this makes no sense to me and probably not to anyone hearing it at Church. One thinks that if they could hear the entire sermon, it would make sense. Alas, it does not make any more sense in its complete form than it does in snippet form. 

"HOW many STILL believe (as IF they EVER REALLY did!!!) that Moses, Solomon, Jeremiah, Zechariah, Christ and Paul, and perhaps others - PROVED the Kingdom of God comes in the winter month of Sebat?" That it can't be July,  it can't be April or the Feast of Tabernacles or something?................  Ok so we still believe those things


"HOW MANY were convicted that when we move the 8 days out of the Feast of Tabernacles, where the 1st and last days of the Feast, and then the Last Great Day, retain their holy status, and we have to locate them somewhere as SABBATHS?......... HOW MANY STILL believe that?

In other words, do we have AUTHORITY to take these (8) days and move them, and because they're NO LONGER annual Sabbaths, they lose their holy authority, even though annual Sabbaths are more holy to God, there are only 7 of them versus 52 regular Sabbaths. Do we have ANY authority a little over a month ago, to move them and drop the holy status. Are they holy unless God says they're not, or are they not holy unless God PROVES to us AGAIN that they STILL are?"............. There's nowhere in the scriptures that suggests for a minute, that God SAYS they're NOT holy"...

"While the 5 answers remain ROCK SOLID - OR SCRIPTURES BREAK..........SEVERAL things would NOT sit well in my mind for SOME time... In fact, the number of things grew a LITTLE over time - and they resolved themselves"

"The days of his voice..... Either it was 2 messages..... OR the days his voice is PLAYING OUT as his message goes around the world to the brethren....

"My voice is not active anymore since I did Part 344 over 10 days ago... It's TOO far! They don't apply - it bothered me!!

I explained the Book of Revelation - that was a PROPHECY.

I prepared these things WITHOUT ONE THOUGHT - WITHOUT ONE THOUGHT, that I was OPENING UP the Book of Revelation...

It occurred to me DURING the delivery of Part 344, that I WAS FULFILLING the clearing up of the Book of Revelation..... Mr Holcombe and Haboush are both witnesses"....

I believe "Mr Holcombe" was a very close friend of mine back when I pastored in Ohio in my 20's. I ordained him a deacon along the way and then lost track of him over the years. I did call him a couple times in the past but he would not speak with me or return my calls. Then I found he had gone with RCG and Dave so that pretty much explains it.  Dave might not be too happy if John and I were still friends. 

Concerning Dave's view that he opens or fulfills the Book of Revelation-- wrong.  Really, really wrong!

The Book of Revelation, whether we understand it or not, is full of hyperbole and is a failed first century prophecy written in or around the Summer of 70 AD just prior to the Fall of Jerusalem at the hands of the Romans. I do understand the emotional disagreements with this, but Revelation was not written for a 2000 plus year down the road group of White Europeans to use as an explanation as to the times they, like all before them, thought or think they live in with Christ's Second Coming the prize. Even the early canonizers of the scripture were at a loss as to what to do with Revelation. But, as a Book for all times, it made the cut. 

This is not a study on Preterist perspectives but take a look at the concept sometime with regards to Biblical Prophecy and in particular the Books of Daniel and of Revelation should it interest you. It is the most satisfying view of Revelation I have studied to me. I recognize it might be so to you. 

"Preterism, a Christian eschatological view, interprets some (partial preterism) or all (full preterism) prophecies of the Bible as events which have already happened. This school of thought interprets the Book of Daniel as referring to events that happened from the 7th century BC until the first century AD, while seeing the prophecies of the Book of Revelation as events that happened in the first century AD. Preterism holds that Ancient Israel finds its continuation or fulfillment in the Christian church at the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70.

The term preterism comes from the Latin praeter, which is a prefix denoting that something is "past" or "beyond".^[1] Adherents of preterism are known as preterists. Preterism teaches that either all (full preterism) or a majority (partial preterism) of the Olivet discourse had come to pass by AD 70."

From The Religion of the Occident

"Revelation was the swan song of Militant Jewish Christianity. When Jerusalem was destroyed, when Rome waxed greater and more powerful, when the False Prophet gained more and more followers (Note: To the author, this was the Apostle Paul who was hated by Jewish Christians), when the book itself was proved totally false within two years, when it became evident that the Jewish Messiah Christ would not come, the Hebrew Christians lost their virility and their cult faded under the combined assault of orthodox Judaism and of Gentile (Pauline) Christianity."

If you'd like my perspective on "The Second Coming as the Eternal Carrot" see:

https://ezinearticles.com/?The-Second-Coming-The-Eternal-Carrot&id=94672

or not...

In short, the "you" of the NT meant them not us, or anyone else of another time, every time.

And "This Generation shall not pass" has indeed passed and, apologetics notwithstanding, was never meant to imply any other future generation than the one Jesus is said to be speaking to in the Gospels. 

Dave's fetish with Revelation and his part in it are delusional and ignorant. 

Thanks for reading and your consideration here. 

   

LCG: Did Its Recent Fast Bring Them Closer To God And More Humble?

 Notice that this is NOT the kind of fast that LCG thinks is profitable for edification

Gerald Weston explained the purpose of a fast to some of his inquiring members as follows:

"...a clear statement that fasting is for the purpose of drawing close to God...fasting is a means of humbling ourselves...we draw close to God in humility. This applies to us individually and as the collective Body of Christ. Let us spend extra time in prayer, study, and meditation this Sabbath as we draw close to God in humility and oneness of mind."

That Sabbath is over. Anyone feeling that oneness and humility, besides Weston and Winnail? Was it so wonderful that fasting will no longer be necessary?

At least, Weston didn't ask his members to make their voices to be: "...heard on high," Isaiah 58:4, because God isn't interested in prayers and fasting to get for self.

Might fasting actually have another purpose that the likes of Weston/Winnail, and other former hirelings of the former WCG, hadn't thought of?

Think about it. Moses and Christ fasted for weeks. David did it for days. Were they any humbler? Were they any closer to God?

Weston/Winnail, as are Kubik, Franks, Thiel, Pack, Weinland, Flurry, etc., other former WCG hirelings (not sure who these people really are today?), all believe in their Mickey Mouse Millennium, to one degree or another lord it over others, and want their members to fast. Why? What has fasting ever done during the days of HWA, and since 16 January 1986?

Aren't true Christians, something other than organizations, associations, groups of men striving to rule, lord, and control the lives of men and women....already humbled by God and are hence close to God?

Did Moses and Jesus fast for the reasons Weston gave? If yes, then prove it to us with scripture!

Jesus told us this:

John 17:21 "That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me."

:23 "I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me."

Can a Christian get any closer to God than that: the Father in Christ, and Christ in every Christian? If these verses are true, that's pretty close to God and that Bridegroom (hint for Weston referencing the Bridegroom being taken away: well, He was away for 3 days and 3 nights), if you ask me.

Fasting is for some other reason(s), but not for what Weston said. Jesus fasted for 40 days and He wasn't going to get any closer to His Father, who was always with Him. And Christ is in them (John 17:23), those to be dragged by the Father and sealed by God's Spirit to be Firstfruits, part of a Bride to be built over time.

Will the likes of Weston, Winnail, other former WCG hirelings determine some other reasons for fasting other than the ones they burden their members with? Will they learn why Christ just may not be "in them:" if that is the actual situation?

Time will tell...

John

The Church of God International's Messaging Problem

The Church of God International's Messaging Problem

Over the years since leaving CGI, I have watched the evolution of that organization with fascination. For those who are unfamiliar with this history, CGI began as a reaction to the autocratic and intellectually stagnant atmosphere within the now-defunct Worldwide Church of God. Unfortunately, one of the "founding fathers" of the organization was the morally flawed son (Garner Ted Armstrong) of the autocrat (Herbert W Armstrong) who ruled over the parent organization. Eventually, the moral failings of GTA became so egregious that some folks abandoned CGI (like Ron Dart) while others (like my own father) forced GTA out of the organization and attempted to institute a more spiritual and democratic direction for their organization. It is as they say, however, good intentions so often go astray.

Like many of the other organizations which descended from Herbert's Worldwide Church, CGI began as a mix of true believers who sought to perpetuate the "core" doctrines of Armstrongism and those who recognized that there were real problems with some of the teachings of the parent organization. Over the years that followed those major disruptions within the organization caused by GTA's indiscretions, these two groups grew further and further apart. Unfortunately, the conservative forces within the church (those loyal to Armstrongism) came to be led by Pastor Bill Watson of Ohio. The reformers, on the other hand, were represented by men like Charles Groce, Vance Stinson, and (more recently) Jeff Reed. The illusion of unanimity between the two groups has been preserved by the desire of the men in both camps not to further dilute the already diminished resources and reach of the organization. Both sides recognized that a rupture between them would effectively destroy the ability of the church to promulgate its message to a wider audience.

More recently, this uneasy truce between the two camps has been sorely tested by the radicalization and extreme polarization of American society at large. In short, the larger tensions between liberals and conservatives within the United States have exacerbated tensions between the two camps within CGI. Indeed, the same denigration of the motives, morals, and intellectual capacity of the other side which has characterized the larger society has excited those same kinds of recriminations within the church. The reform camp sees the other side as stubborn reactionaries that are preventing the church from reaching a wider audience. Likewise, the Bill Watson camp sees the other side as being caught up in the same deception and wickedness that is afflicting the larger culture and views them as an obstacle to getting out their message of warning.

Of course, for CGI, this tension is further underscored and exacerbated by the fundamental differences in the way the two camps react to those "core doctrines" of Armstrongism. Watson (and most of his supporters) still embraces Anglo-Israelism and its attendant notion that the church's primary mission is to proclaim a warning to the "nations of Israel" (chiefly the English-speaking peoples of the earth). Hence, for these folks, the message of the church should be one of warning against the evils of socialism, homosexuality, globalism, gender identity, abortion, immigration, etc. In other words, the culture war on steroids! Most of the reformers, however, reject the teaching of Anglo-Israelism and believe that the church's messaging should be focused on the commission to preach the gospel which God gave to his disciples. For the Watson camp, the thirty-third chapter of Ezekiel is paramount. For the Groce/Stinson/Reed camp, the twenty-eighth chapter of Matthew is supreme. Sure, both camps claim that their objective is to proclaim the Gospel of the Kingdom of God to the world. Nevertheless, we can see that their respective understandings of what that encompasses are fundamentally different.

How have both sides handled this dilemma? Heretofore, the reformers have told themselves that the conservatives are simply stuck in the past and haven't seen the light yet. They pride themselves on being inclusive and not censoring the messaging of the conservatives with which they disagree. The conservatives, on the other hand, feel like they are being stifled and censored! They feel like the impact of their messaging has been thwarted and diluted by the reformers. Of course, for those of us on the outside, it just appears that this organization is speaking out of both sides of its mouth. The messaging is mixed, and both sides have only succeeded in engendering a great deal of cognitive dissonance in their audience!

Addendum:

I just finished listening to a sermon by Vance Stinson that was apparently delivered this past Sabbath titled Shepherding the Flock. In the message, Mr. Stinson directly addressed some of the issues raised in this post about the church's messaging.

More particularly, he addressed just how divisive the issue of mRNA Covid-19 vaccinations has been within the church. In fact, Mr. Stinson pointed out the specific post by Jeff Reed (which referred to the widespread misinformation about the vaccines within America and called them a blessing) that this blogger had previously called attention to as causing so much discord within the church (and within my own family). According to Mr. Stinson, the issue has proven to be so divisive that the Executive Council of the Church has made the decision to not allow ANY further posts regarding Covid-19 mRNA vaccination (anti or pro) on their organization's website.

As I suggested in the above post, Mr. Stinson claims that this step has been taken to avoid dissension and promote unity within their church culture. However, while he insisted that this did not amount to censorship because it would apply equally to both sides, he repeatedly stressed that nothing further would be allowed to be posted on the subject.

Mr. Stinson went on to suggest that there was a strong biblical principle upon which the Executive Council's decision was based: That the shepherds of the flock have a responsibility to forgo their rights to express their own opinions on subjects for the sake of the flock. According to him, the primary responsibility of the shepherds is to promote unity and harmony within the church. In adopting this position, he comes very close to the point which I was originally trying to make with regard to these kinds of issues - that ministers of Jesus Christ had absolutely NO business wading into controversial political and cultural issues.

However, Mr. Stinson failed to address a minister's responsibility to protect his flock from harm and to tell the truth. Moreover, it hardly seems even-handed and fair to this observer to allow all of the many ridiculous statements about social distancing, masking, and vaccinations that had provoked Mr. Reed's post in the first place to stand (remain posted as part of the sermon archive). In other words, in this instance, it appears that those who have made the most noise have prevailed (irrespective of the merits of their objections or the truthfulness of their messaging). And, I'm betting that the Executive Council's decision will NOT satisfy folks in either camp. As John likes to say, time will tell.


Lonnie Hendrix

There's Always Time:

 

Did Someone Order a Miracle?

"I still have no Omicron, and to me that's a POWERFUL miracle"

Apostle David C Pack

 Part 345 Opening 

Yet Apostle Dave disappeared from the pulpit for 9 weeks after the Feast of 2020 and when he "reappeared" - he said...

 "I GOT COVID!!!

(It Delta Dawned on him to fess up evidently)

Dave Pack: God Gave Me A Prophecy That I Could Not Speak For 9 Weeks So He Gave Me COVID To Silence Me

"One of the tidbits just relayed to me was that the reason Dave Pack has been missing for 9 weeks is that he had COVID. Should we have expected less since he held Feast of Tabernacles on his cult compound in Wadsworth that became a super spreader event?

After Dave announces he has not spoken in 9 weeks, he says at the 38:30 mark (Sermon 273) - 

"I got COVID I just never told anybody about it...."

 Psychologically, and being God's Man of Faith and Power on Earth, I believe Dave still struggles with why he got Covid in the first place.  He certainly is incapable of admitting to any normal reason for it.  He had to go scripture hunting to excuse and justify why ALMIGHTY HE got Covid. And of course, he finds one! We just don't know which one it was. (Claiming not yet to have gotten Omichron perhaps genuinely surprises him having already had Delta?)  Nonetheless, everything with Dave has to be spoken of "according to the scriptures". 

"There's actually a prophecy. Why I would not speak for a while... Finally I realized there was a prophecy where I wasn't supposed to speak."

Hear Apostle Pack mock and threaten the Splinter Church next door to the RCG Feast Site.

(Hit play symbol twice)

Dave Pack belittles and mocks brethren who choose not to attend the FOT, and mocks another COG

David C Pack is the premier prophecy spewing clown act in the Slivered Churches of God. He is dangerous to those with whom he comes in contact with and they with him.  The man in incapable of admitting scores of past mistakes both in his abuse and misuse of the scriptures or the trail of tears he has left behind him wherever he has set foot. 

If he did contract Omichron, would he tell the Church? 

There is a personality disorder running amuck in Wadsworth, Ohio

The Restored Church of God will not end well

The Scroll of Truth