LCG members had better start listening to their preachers that give sermons, read the articles they write, and take FULL advantage of all the other opportunities that the church offers them so that they can be kings and priests in the world to come. It is going to be a hard job educating the world in Herbert's teachings.
From reading Winnail's blurb below it seems obvious that some LCG members are NOT listening to the leadership as they are expected nor are they reading church literature. After all, these men work SO HARD to deliver the sermons and other things they do and you should be respecting their hard work! Bad boys and girls!
Prepare for the Future: The Scriptures reveal the saints will reign as kings and priests in the Kingdom of God (Revelation 5:10) and that they will be teachers in the Kingdom (Isaiah 30:20–21) who will explain the laws of God and His way of life to all people (Isaiah 2:2–4). However, you cannot effectively teach what you have never proven or lived. Down through the ages, God has prepared human instruments to accomplish His purpose. God personally taught Abraham. Moses was educated as a prince in Egypt (Acts 7:22) and then received 40 more years of training in the wilderness to prepare him to lead the nation of Israel. Daniel was educated in Babylon (Daniel 1:4). Ezra “prepared his heart to seek the Law of the Lord… and to teach statutes and ordinances in Israel” when the Jews returned to Jerusalem from Babylon (Ezra 7:10). At the age of twelve, Jesus amazed religious teachers in the temple with His knowledge of the Scriptures (Luke 2:41–47). Paul received much of his education before God used him in powerful ways (Acts 22:3; Galatians 1:14). Part of the mission of God’s Church today is to “make ready a people prepared for the Lord” (Luke 1:17). This is why we preach sermons, do Bible studies, publish literature, and offer Living Education courses. Are you taking advantage of the opportunities that God is offering—to prepare for the future?
Have a profitable Sabbath,
Douglas S. Winnail
17 comments:
Hello! Again, who the F wants to be a king or priest? Those people are just assholes! I'd rather just be a humble working guy, doing a line function of helping everybody using my talents and developing them further. I really don't even want to be supervising the people who do what I do now! I like what I do, and want to keep on doing it.
Know what else I don't want to do? Teach everyone Armstrongism! I'd just love it if we got to completely stamp that out in the Kingdom!
Since they don't open up their Bibles to read it, they don't understand about kings & priests. It is about the authority of the believer today..Our words are alive. If we know we are in God's will, we bind, loosen, send the host to pull down strongholds and platforms of the enemy, and speak God's words into the situation.
The number one priority of the HWA era church and its splinters is to keep its members chained to their church so that the leadership can continue their privileged life style.
Which means keeping their members docile and dependent on the church, hence the teaching of rights, assertiveness and genuine understanding is taboo. Douglas pays lip service to education and knowledge, but as many a church member has discovered, the reading of self help books can result in persecution by the ministers. How dare members outgrow Herbs "two trees" level of understanding.
These churches don't want their members to grow up but remain eternal teenagers.
To be fair, it's no different with the rest of Christianity, which is why church attendance in America has been declining for decades.
What happened to believing on the name of Jesus? I find that in scripture, and it even claims there is simplicity in Christ! Something about ‘take my yoke, it is easy’! Preaching another gospel of works?
Good news for May 22, @ 12:11 am:
"Know what else I don't want to do? Teach everyone Armstrongism! I'd just love it if we got to completely stamp that out in the Kingdom!"
It is ALREADY "stamped out." Armstrongism is a false doctrine. (I used to live under it.) Jesus stamped out keeping the Law on the Cross. There is a better way. The New Covenant. Try it and be free! Get to know Jesus! Read the epistles on your own. Armstrongism says that the epistles say you have to keep the law. But they really say you DON"T have to keep the Law !
Surprise!
There are a few nuances in the viewpoint expressed in this post.
1. Christians are not elected to become Kings and Priests. Correctly translated Greek indicates that Christians are to become a "Kingdom of Priests". They will not be Kings but rather Priests. John 5:10 is connected to Peter's statement in 1 Peter 2:9. This verse can be clarified by visiting Exodus 19:6 - the source of Peter's quotation. This is a straightforward exegesis and something that I would have thought Armstrongists would have sorted out by now. There are references to crowns and a "royal" priesthood but none of that symbolism really nails down the idea of "kings and priests."
2. Education is much to be appreciated in the Christian life. Gregory of Nyssa's identification of the concept of Epektasis underscores the need to be ready for an ever-growing and joyful experience of growth in every dimension in the family of God. The kiss of death is if you make education a part of a program for qualifying for the Kingdom of God. This refers to the Armstrongist concept of "qualification" and equates to salvation by works. This takes something noble and good and renders it toxic.
3. Back in the Seventies, and maybe later, AC students were being taught in classes in Pasadena that the church hierarchy reflected the coming Kingdom of God. The men who were in charge in the church would be in charge in the Kingdom of God for eternity (Rom 1:20). (I have this as testimony from an AC Pasadena graduate.) Later HWA began to speak of the church being the Kingdom of God "in embryo" which comports with this idea. In other words, no matter how diligently the Armstrongist laity seeks education in this lifetime, they will always be subservient to the men who are currently in the Armstrongist ministry. And in other words, qualification is limited by hierarchy. This is bad news for Armstrongists because they follow a pattern of autocratic leadership rather than servant leadership.
The problem with all churches, is that they are very passive spectator sports. When information is new, or when you are first attending, the "same old line" can be interesting and stimulating.
However, within a couple of years, just sitting there passively gets very old and boring. What is needed is a whole new paradigm, with interaction, workshops, activity, field trips or outings, personal involvement and outlet. But alas, that might upset the hierarchy structure and be viewed as threatening.
The greatest leaders are the ones who wants , encourages, and promotes the "students surpassing the teacher".
How hard can it be to give the same content over and over? They only challenge they face is trying to find a new package to wrap it in each time. People would be better informed if they listened to new religious content on the Internet or at Amazon.com. But anything new is "disinformation" from Satan.
What happened to believing on the name of Jesus?
Exactly. He did it all so that we don't have to. Why strain? Why think? Why learn? It's easy street!
Doug Winnail, still thinking he can earn his way by works into God's Kingdom with another Jesus very soon (yesterday?) to arrive on earth and reign 1,000 years, and then fail (Zech 14). Who wants to be a part of that operation, but Doug offers the following advice:
"...This is why we preach sermons, do Bible studies, publish literature, and offer Living Education courses. Are you taking advantage of the opportunities that God is offering—to prepare for the future?..."
Which God is offering all of that?
But, what if Jesus' God has not offered all of that? Actually, the hirelings who left their ministerial credentials behind in Pasadena, and who fled the former WCG of Pasadena and other sheep of that former WCG, to go off, take their bat and ball with them, and strive to create some WCG -2 and accomplish so much more than HWA/Joe Tkach senior did.
Where's proof? Where's the beef? The strong meat? Oh, the milk and junk food to make one think their works will qualify them for something regarding entrance to be a part of God's kingdom? Living, like other xcogs, still teach virtually the same spiritual milk, and junk food messages.
What new things, strong meat, has Living added to what they received from HWA and AC since 1986? Is there a listing of such things? Do we really need all of that literature and education courses Doug offered?
For Doug, Weston, Shabi, Franks, Weinland, Pack, Flurry, et all, babes/hirelings that they are: when will you all realize that one of the great lessons from ancient physical Israel's example was that you can't do it; you won't qualify; you can't earn your way into God's Kingdom! Have you forgotten all of them Correspondence lessons pointing that out to y'all? Even with God's Spirit you cannot, will not, make yourSELF magically qualified.
Surely, you've heard of LSD, haven't you? LawSinDeath: it's appointed for y'all/us to die once, which we all will do...without exception.
So, Doug, how will you qualify yourSELF? Might God have a different plan of salvation than the one HWA taught you? And you still think another Jesus is very soon to return to reign on earth 1,000 years? Well, it would be another Jesus if he were to do that.
But Doug, think about it? Will God call the qualified? Or, will God qualify the called? I suspect the latter, however, either way, you can't do it, but...
Time will tell...
John
The “Good News” everyone is we are probably 10-15 years away from all of these leaders exiting the planet.
I agree Tonto. You mentioned that they need a new paradigm to get/remain engaged. That is a huge reason why these groups are clueless. They all have an Armstrongism worldview. They need a Biblical paradigm, but I don't see that happening anytime soon because they have yet to figure out what's wrong with the worldview HWA established 75 years ago. Until they throw out all that garbage and learn how to apply a consistent, historic, grammatical hermeneutic, they will continue to be blinded. That alone, IMHO, is the reason they are still clinging to the law and don't understand grace.
HWA did such an incredible disservice to these people, but they are stuck in a vicious cycle, that will never make sense..because their founder didn't know his hermen from his eutic. That explains the hundreds of prophecy failures from those, supposedly with possession of the "keys". Every last one of them from HWA to Pack to Flurry to Thiel will never understand Scripture, let alone prophecy. You would think that given ALL the prophetic wrong guesses from just this current crop alone, they would stop and ask themselves what am I missing? Why doesn't any of this work as I was taught? It never will UNTIL you drop HWAs model and get yourself schooled in Theology and hermeneutics. But I doubt most of them have enough time left here on earth to learn what they were never taught.
People are bored in church in part because they are not encouraged to use their gifts. Fear gets them in, fear keeps them in.
Hello to you. Someone after mine own heart. The last will be first. Blessed are the humble for theirs is the kingdom. There will be no religion in the Kingdom of the heavens.
The Bible says that fear is a weapon of Satan so any church that promotes fear operates through Satan.
Since Jesus is above every Name, fear has no place in any church. Any leader that encourages fear does not have a relationship with Jesus and is promoting wrong doctrine.
These people are so deceived. They believe they are going to be resurrected like God and are going to be worshipped, judging the nations. I was in the cult for 11 years. Sad how they think these brainwashing techniques of reading these articles from the LCG is going to raise them on a pedestal. So much pride!
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