One thing that the more extreme aberrant groups of the Church of God instill in members is that they under no circumstance cannot attend a church-related event, even if they are putting their life in jeopardy in doing so. God expects them to be present for all church events. Instilled with the belief that if they do not attend a function then they are telling God they have no faith, they will then put their own lives and thier families at risk in order to make themselves look good in the leadership's eyes. Of course, when members put their lives at risk and survive it is further proof that God is exclusively on their side.
Check out this jibberish from the Philadelphia Church of God.
CANADA—By Abraham Blondeau On April 5, the capital region of Ontario and Quebec was hit with a downpour of freezing rain. Over several hours, two inches of sleet froze on impact, encasing power lines, trees and roads in a layer of ice just as Philadelphia Church of God members were beginning to gather and observe the spring holy days.
Members would be keeping the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread at the same venue where we had kept the Passover service in Cornwall, Ontario. I was staying at the hotel in Cornwall with my family when the freezing rain hit. While running errands the roads didn’t seem too slippery, and I forgot to fill up on gas.
We planned to keep the Night to Be Much Observed with the Montreal brethren at a restaurant in the city of Montreal, a 90-minute drive. While getting ready, the power went out in Cornwall and was still out when we left. Fallen tree branches blocked roads, and some streets were nearly flooded. The traffic lights flashed red. Trees on the side of the road shuddered under the ice. Some snapped and fell over as we drove past. Cars were abandoned on the side of the road. Gas stations were vacant and dark. I calculated that I had enough in the gas tank for less than 7 miles more than the distance to the restaurant.
Magincal God is soon asked to kick into gear and find a gas station because the minister was too stupid to fill up beforehand.
As we entered Montreal, the city was dark. Parking lots were deserted and street lights off. Before leaving, we had prayed as a family that God would help us find a gas station along the way. With 18.6 miles left in the tank, we came across a gas station teeming with people who had been in the same predicament as us.
Magical God delivers! Woo Hoo! Apparently, this PCG minister wasn't the only fool ignoring the warnings.
The city block where we gathered for dinner was unaffected by the power outages. I checked the Hydro Quebec outages map, and it became clear that God performed a miracle. The green dot on the map is the restaurant where we met, and the red patches indicate where power was out. All around, the restaurants, businesses and homes were without power, but we were able to celebrate the Night to Be Much Observed because God had caused the power outages to “pass over” His people.
Over 1 million people in Quebec and Ontario were without power for more than a day. In Cornwall, where we kept the first day of Unleavened Bread the following morning, power was restored to the hotel at midnight. Cornwall has its own hydro-electric dam, which allowed service to be restored much more quickly than in other areas.
Magical God chose one restaurant in Quebec to leave the power on while all surrounding buildings and areas were without power. Woo Hoo! Never once does this inept minister consider that the workers in this place risked their lives to be there because these foolish PCG members still expected to eat. After all, keeping a man-made observance was more important than worrying about restaurant employees' ability to get home as they worried about their own families.
The Hydro Ontario outages map shows that the worst of the power outages were concentrated where brethren lived. Brethren observing the Night to Be in their homes around the Ottawa area persevered through the weather and power outages. Two groups had dinner by candle light. Another family had to weave around fallen trees on its way to a member’s home. While driving back, the father decided to take the side roads instead of the highway. Only a few minutes after making that decision, an entire wheel of the car came off, becoming lodged under the bumper. The nuts holding the tire had been stripped, an event that could have been catastrophic if they had been driving on the highway at high speeds.
These miracles illustrated for us that God delivers His people (Psalm 18:2; Hebrews 13:5). When we step out on faith and put our trust in our spiritual Father, there is nothing that can stop His people from moving forward. Whether it is wildfires around headquarters or ice storms in Canada, God performs miracles on behalf of His people.
A reader on Exit and Support Network had this to say about the absurdities above:
All that happened on that day just shows how foolish and reckless members can be and the ministers never rebuked them for heading out in such dangerous conditions. You can be sure they would have been rebuked if they didn’t observe it.
Logic Lesson 101: "Just because B follows A, does not mean A caused B".
ReplyDeleteThe story does have the makings of a miracle, but the following conditions are what, in my opinion, would have given the story credibility.
ReplyDelete1) The fact that that restaurant alone had power while all other electric company customers on that grid did not was reported by the manager of the restaurant who was not a member of PCG. This was investigated and verified by a representative of the power company, who was also not a member of PCG, and who confirmed that given the way the grid is designed, there is no possible way that that restaurant could have had power during the outage.
2) An electrical contractor certified that the restaurant had no back-up generator, or other alternative power source.
3) The narrative quoted was reported in a newspaper of good repute, not owned by or employing any PCG members.
4) Verification that the power inexplicably went out, consistent with the rest of the grid as soon as the PCG members completed their observance?
There is always a certain amount of skepticism surrounding paranormal church phenomena. The public is accustomed, as an example, to Pentecostals testifying that they can understand one another speaking in tongues, even when trained students of languages report that the gibberish spoken had no repeating language patterns and was just random syllables. If a linguistics professional confirmed what the Pentecostals shared, it would add authenticity to the report.
We had fish and loaf type miracles reported at holy day potluck observances in old WCG years ago. These were always a little convenient and self-serving. If reported by professional caterers who had training in estimating crowds and foods, they would have been more believable.
There could indeed be miracles during our contemporary times. Miracles are more powerful if they survive the scrutiny of an objective thinker or skeptic. However, I think what we are looking at here is the need for constant encouragement or validation of one's church to counter the miseries caused by authoritarian church government. It's kind of like Dave Pack's "choof boops" as his church members exclusively pass through another car or truck. Funny thing is, manna never seems to fall from the heavens in these situations. Nobody saw a lightning bolt attach itself to the main power source going into the restaurant. And no truck driver reported a phantom family passing through the cab of his truck.
I'm thankful that all the members apparently were safe.
ReplyDeleteBut some of us stopped eating out on Sabbaths and Holy Days years ago. Why be a hypocrite by making others "break the Sabbath" by working for you?
The PCG people that I knew were such wicked old perverts and outright liars that I would no longer be in a hurry to believe anything that they say.
ReplyDeleteThis guy Abraham Blondeau, the writer, is a total idiot. He’s related to John Macdonald who made him a minister in Canada. He was a minister trainee in the US and he was taken out of the running because he lacked what it took to be a good leader but now with his relative helping him, he’s not back on top. That’s how the PCG works
ReplyDelete