For a church that claims to have restored the one true faith that the original disciples taught, you would never know that in 2024. Armstrongism picks and chooses what it deems to be right.
The Holy Days of the Church of God used to be the one defining factor of the church. They no longer are.
These are some COG groups that are keeping the Feast in September:
Then we have the other Church of God Groups keeping the Feast in October:
The Restored Church of God and the Philadelphia Church of God have restricted sites that only allow their members. Others, like UCG, LCG, and COGWA, let others attend from other COG's but do not encourage it. Some even allow the public to attend. The Messianic COG groups seem to have the liveliest Feast sites.
Consistency and unity are not part of Armstrongism.
34 comments:
I think it all boils down to the barley harvest. When the harvest began in the Middle East determined which moon groups considered the start of "sacred new year."
You noticed that LCG Feast site in Arroyo Grande, didn't you? Wondering why they possibly would be meeting there...
You mocking scorners get sillier week by week.
Ah yes. In the late 60's carrying my briefcase and camping supplies list and in a gray or green suit (yes, at one time I had a green suit, looked like a grasshopper) "learning" to rule with Herbie in the world tomorrow......
I wonder who will claim bragging rights this year with the ‘mines bigger than yours’ Feast site? Place your bets people. Who will have the biggest numbers in attendance and largest site.
How is anyone mocking anything here? Just because he pointed out the divisiveness of the COG isn't mocking or scorning.
Maybe the current state of affairs in the ACOGs is why God inspired Amos 5:21-24 to be written? Well, actually probably not, since God never had anything to do with Armstrongism in the first place. We write a lot about Bob Thiel, but the stuff we say about him applies just as much to the rest of them.
I have a friend that is keeping it now. I keep it in October. We both strive for unity as friends and do a good job of achieving it
I remember the chocolate brown and powder blue suits. Thank goodness style progressed.
I fail to see what the problem is. This is a positive not a negative situation.
How can God be leading them if they keep the feasts on different day?
I'm shocked that some erstwhile researcher has not delved into the ways in which Samaritans kept it! Wouldn't it be a gas if we found that their practices deviated from the orthodox in the same perverse ways that Armstrongism does?
Hope they have a great and wonderful feast. Maybe some will learn something new.
The majority of groups will be trying to observe Tabernacles on the same dates. Even Sunday keeping Christians are very taken in recent years with travelling to Jerusalem to observe Tabernacles.
6:51:10 AM, Some screwy little weirdo groups are keeping the feasts in September 2024 rather than October 2024 because they are led by demons. Even some splinter groups like PCG and RCG that observe the feasts in October 2024 are satanic and need to be avoided. There are lots of FALSE splinter groups out there.
Surprising they even have a budget to rent halls for 8 days for 30 old folk and a small smattering of families with kids.
What is interesting and encouraging in my eyes, is the growing group within the Christian church, majority Sunday ‘keepers’ who are embracing Tabernacles and observing these days, and in Jerusalem Israel. Huge evangelical churches in South America also are and have being observing the festival days for decades.Part of this movement is driven by their genuine love and concern for Israel and Jewish communities globally. And a desire to be closer to the roots of their faith in Christ. Noting the roots as Paul attests support them. I was living in Israel in 1980 when the ICEJ was founded.While I never met with whose folks while there, they saw a great need to educate the Christian community about these days, and draw attention to the rather astonishing ingathering of the widely dispersed Jewish Israelite peoples back to their ancestorial homeland.
NONE of the "splinter groups" represent God's Church. They claim to obey the commandments which Moses gave to the Israelites, but they ignore the Law of the Central Sanctuary and most of them do NOT live in temporary shelters. Sorry, a hotel stay isn't consistent with the instructions in Leviticus 23 (a camper or manufactured tent doesn't quite cut it either).
Halls? I thought they were down to hotel meeting rooms at this point.
Unfortunately, I had my palm tree trimmed in July. Sorry, the arborists took them with them. I would love to have donated them to a nice ACOG family so that they could properly keep the Feast of Tabernacles in accordance with the laws of the Levitical priesthood, but our H.O.A insists on us trimming them late spring or early summer.
Oh well. I'm sure that it would have been a burden to carry them on the plane to Jerusalem anyway.
It's intriguing to me that those in Neh 8:15 thought it was written to build a booth but I cannot find instructions in Lev 23:40 to build anything but just to rejoice with tree parts. Did those in Nehemiah just assume it was written? Hosea 12:9 indicates Israel did dwell in tents during the feast, didn't have to stay in something made out of trees but could.
On who's authority do you boldly declare this?
The Feasts of Leviticus 23 are all part of the Law of Moses that were “added because of transgressions, till the Seed should come to whom the promise was made” (Galatians 3:19). These Holy Days were never kept before the Exodus or when Israel was in the wilderness for 40 years. There is no moral obligation for New Testament Christians to keep these Feasts. In fact, Paul wrote exhaustively in his epistles that Christians were no longer required to keep the Law of Moses. Many in the churches of God do not know what the Law of Moses entails. These were ceremonial laws that pointed to the sacrifice of Christ, and the Israelites had to be constantly reminded through enacting the future sacrifice of Christ in the seven annual Holy Days. The law of Moses was a shadow that pointed to Christ (Colossians 2:17), it “was our schoolmaster [to bring us] unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster” (Galatians 4:9).
Keeping the Law of Moses (Feast Days) is denying the sacrifice of Christ, and Peter warned about a time in the church when false teachers would rise, “who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them.” This is exactly what HWA did in 1936 by introducing the Law of Moses (Feast Days) to the COG. The COG 7th Day and all the eras back to the apostolic era never kept the Holy Days. The apostle John was inspired by God to warn the Philadelphia era of the synagogue of Satan that would rise during the 6th era of the church, “which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie…”. All throughout the New Testament, it was Jews who fought to keep the Law of Moses that was nailed to the cross (Colossians 2:14-16), and this was replicated at the onset of the Philadelphia era by ministers of Satan (2 Corinthians 11:13-15) who crept in unawares (Jude 1:4) to introduce the damnable heresies. Peter even says, “many shall follow their pernicious ways,” (2 Peter 2:2) and true to form, more than 150,000 baptized members kept the Law of Moses in WCG. Many of the offshoots of WCG still follow this damnable heresy.
Interestingly, God warns through John in Revelation 3:8 & 15 that only those who “have not denied my name” will be kept “… from the hour of temptation.” To keep the Feasts (Law of Moses) is to deny the sacrifice of Christ, to “turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage…” (Galatians 4:9).
Learn or perish!
Ever notice that God never "places His name" for the FOT in Jackson, Mississippi, East St Louis or Winslow, Az etc. Dayton, Ohio did sneak in there back in the day, for a time, but that was Lucifer's idea and he got outed for it.
It could be the 3 sabbath(on)s in the 7th month were added because of transgressions (never in Hebrew called feasts) and now removed: "trumpets" as a memorial was for Israel to make noise so God will remember Israel in their iniquities (Armstrongists will not believe this); "atonement" was because of sin but Jesus is now our atonement - Rom 5:11; the 8th day, not the last great day of the feast of John 7:37 because the 8th day is not a feast, may have been instituted......who knows?.....a "breather" to recover from sins committed during the feast????!!
But the 3 feasts of Ex 23:14-16 are still here and in the future: Zech 14:16 and Acts 20:6, 16 (the days are still existing after Christ's death).
Hopefully there will be no COVID deaths.
Agreed - but UCG is warning already about a dengue fever outbreak in the Philippines.
The Feast of Tabernacles will be observed every year in the Kingdom of God by all nations with Jesus Christ himself in the midst of the ingathering of all people's.
Biloxi, MS was a Feast site for several years. But WCG left there right as casino gambling began. Always thought one led to the other.
East St. Louis, IL has too much of a crime reputation. Branson's rep is much better.
Never been to Arizona, so can't speak for it.
MASSIVE CALENDAR CONFUSION
After the Great Apostasy of 1995 in the Worldwide Church of God, when the apostate Joseph W. Tkach, Sr. openly threw out of the WCG virtually everything that Herbert W. Armstrong had taught, many little people tried to start their own religious business income streams. One of the results of this was massive calendar confusion. Norman S. Edwards, “the leader of the leaderless Independents,” said that he had 150 papers about the calendar on his desk – and they all disagreed with each other!
When anyone mentions Biloxi, I am reminded of the flashing portable sign that read: "Welcome Worldwide Church - we sell liquor here!" Boy did they nail us!
Don’t hold your breath for an answer. Loonie Lonnie is an authority unto himself. He is the judge over all here on Banned. Loonie Lonnie has such superior intelligence that he can discern peoples hearts and motives and can conclude that they’re engulfed in extremism without even knowing anything about them or without ever having met them. Loonie Lonnie is a real bright boy! Richard
Anonymous at Sunday, September 22, 2024 at 10:23:40 PM PDT,
I didn't realize your question was directed at me - I would be happy to answer your question about identifying the authority that prompted my statement. It is Scripture: The Greek word "ekklesia" translated into English as "Church" suggest an assembly of people called out of the world by God (Throughout the New Testament). This is also consistent with Christ's statement about HIS Church (Matthew 16:18), and the statement that it is the Lord who adds folks to the Church (Acts 2:47). The Law of the Central Sanctuary is found in a number of places in Torah: "you must seek only the place he chooses from all your tribes to establish his name as his place of residence, and you must go there." (Deuteronomy 12:5), "Then you must come to the place the Lord your God chooses for his name to reside, bringing everything I am commanding you—your burnt offerings, sacrifices, tithes, the personal offerings you have prepared, and all your choice votive offerings that you devote to him." (Deuteronomy 12:11), "Make sure you do not offer burnt offerings in any place you wish, for you may do so only in the place the Lord chooses in one of your tribal areas—there you may do everything I am commanding you." (Deuteronomy 12:13), "“You must observe the Festival of Shelters for seven days at the end of the harvest season, after the grain has been threshed and the grapes have been pressed. This festival will be a happy time of celebrating with your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, and the Levites, foreigners, orphans, and widows from your towns. For seven days you must celebrate this festival to honor the Lord your God at the place he chooses..." (Deuteronomy 16:13-15), "“Each year every man in Israel must celebrate these three festivals: the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the Festival of Harvest, and the Festival of Shelters. On each of these occasions, all men must appear before the Lord your God at the place he chooses, but they must not appear before the Lord without a gift for him." (Deuteronomy 16:16). In Leviticus, we read these instructions regarding the Feast of Temporary Shelters/Tabernacles/Booths: "On the first day gather branches from magnificent trees—palm fronds, boughs from leafy trees, and willows that grow by the streams. Then celebrate with joy before the Lord your God for seven days." (Leviticus 23:40) and "For seven days you must live outside in little shelters. All native-born Israelites must live in shelters." (Leviticus 23:42) These passages (and others) provide the authority for my statement.
Richard,
You continue to brand yourself as an extremist with your repeated attacks on me. If you would like to demonstrate once and for all that you are not that, I invite you to have a civil conversation with me regarding the now long-ago comments which you've identified as the source of your offense. Once again, I would also like to assure you that I did NOT intend any offense in what I said back then. Before that event, although I sometimes found myself in disagreement with your perspective, I did NOT regard you as an extremist. In fact, for a long time prior to that, I had regarded you as one of the strongest voices against the abuses of Armstrongism. It would delight me to see proof of your reasonableness (we don't have to see everything eye to eye), and you will find me very ready to acknowledge it in you.
You can't fix this, Lonnie! Richard went full blown MAGA and kind of went crazy when his boy lost the 2020 election. Prior to that, he was pretty level-headed and I always looked forward to his posts. Now he imitates 45 with all the ridicule and name-calling.
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