What pure, soul-warming comfort it must be to know that out of the billions of Christians who’ve muddled through the last two thousand years, only the supremely enlightened members of the Living Church of God have scored the exclusive gig at Jesus Christ’s right hand when He returns. Yes, they and they alone will be the lucky hall monitors of the Kingdom, enforcing on all of humanity the Old Covenant laws that failed spectacularly at offering salvation the first time.
Who needs that silly New Covenant anyway — the one where God writes His law on actual hearts by the Holy Spirit (Jeremiah 31:31–34; Hebrews 8:8–12), and which is literally dwelling and walking among them? Clearly, just a minor plot twist, these folks have chosen to ignore while cosplaying as modern-day Moses.
Armstrongism has always been hopelessly addicted to rearview-mirror theology, romantically pining for the leeks, garlic, and heavy chains of the old system that kept the plebs in line and fed their delicious sense of specialness. Even now in COGland, hordes of members still get all dewy-eyed, waxing nostalgic about the “glory days” of the Worldwide Church of God, instead of, you know, actually living in the radical grace and freedom purchased by the One who saves them from the very legalistic prison they keep enthusiastically running back into.
And the cherry on top? These folks are being carefully trained to enforce those same old laws in the coming Kingdom. Plenty still drool at the thought of personally wielding “rods of iron” to smack compliance into the masses. Given the sterling track record of how some of their higher-ups have spiritually abused, controlled, shunned, and financially squeezed members for decades, that future “glorious Kingdom” isn’t going to be paradise — it’s going to be a dystopian theocratic hellhole of joyless, fear-driven obedience.
Learn from Today’s Leaders by Doug Winnail drops some heavy biblical warnings about corrupt leaders leading people astray, then applies it to today’s moral mess. Solid observation on the symptoms. The proposed solution, though? “Let’s prepare by doubling down on the exact system the New Testament calls weak, useless, and incapable of producing real righteousness” (Hebrews 7:18–19; Galatians 3:21). Brilliant. Nothing screams “ready for Christ’s return” quite like ignoring the cross so you can play Old Covenant enforcer in the ultimate LARP.
In the end, this mindset reveals the tragic irony at the heart of Armstrongism: a movement that claims to be preparing for the Kingdom of God is actually stuck in spiritual regression, romanticizing the very shadows and external rituals that pointed forward to Christ — yet refusing to embrace the substance once He arrived. Instead of resting in the transforming power of grace, the indwelling Spirit, and a genuine relationship with the Savior, too many remain chained to a system that offers control, superiority, and the illusion of being “special.”
The real tragedy is that while they dream of ruling with rods of iron, they’re missing the far greater invitation: to be ruled by love, led by the Spirit, and freed from the very bondage they’re so eager to impose on others. True preparation for Christ’s return isn’t found in rehearsing Old Covenant checklists or fantasizing about future authoritarian roles — it’s found in living out the New Covenant reality today. Anything less is just spiritual time travel dressed up as prophecy.
The future really is bright… if you’re really, really into living in the past.
Learn from Today’s Leaders: Some of the strongest condemnations in the Bible are directed at the leaders of Israel who “cause My people to err by their lies and by their recklessness” (Jeremiah 23:32; Isaiah 3:12). Few today realize these prophetic warnings are dual and apply to leaders in modern Israelite nations! When teachers, preachers, and politicians in nations that have been given God’s laws so they could be examples to the world turn away from and despise those laws, there are serious consequences. As we witness the results of legalizing drugs, defunding police, rampant fornication and adultery, same-sex “marriages,” etc., we need to connect the dots between cause and effect. When Jesus Christ returns, He is going to need individuals who understand that the real solutions to these problems will involve teaching people how to apply the laws of God (Isaiah 2:2–4; 30:20–21). Are you preparing for that important role?
Have a profitable Sabbath,
Douglas S. Winnail
24 comments:
Any new testament scriptures or words of Jesus Christ found in the gospel's you can offer Dougie? Probably not
The only duality that you'll find is how unLiving is just like unWorldwide. Listen, Dougie, the world doesn't have God's spirit, so quit complaining about their behavior. The world (including yourself with your wife/ex), are going to do what you want whenever they can. Start warning your organization.
Nobody in LCG takes Doug seriously. He's a hypocrite who preaches laws he refuses to obey himself. He's a spiritual lightweight, who is only in his position because he knows too much about LCG's scandals and could ruin the group if he wasn't on their payroll and given lots of ego boosts. And Doug must know a lot about those scandals, because his presence weakens Weston's credibility. As for those little messages that he recycles every week, those only go out as part of Weston's weekly updates because Doug is a jealous man who demands to share the spotlight with Weston even if its means sending out low-effort platitudes that he doesn't even believe or live by himself.
Got learning to do Doug before teaching how to apply laws, such as learning "third year" does not = "3rd tithe".
As we witness the results of legalizing drugs
Doug isn't much of a historian. From the time of the Pilgrims, through the Harrison Narcotics Tax Act of 1914, drugs such as cocaine, opium derivatives, and marijuana were legal and basically unregulated. America on the whole was a much more moral nation in the years when drug use was not criminalized. This doesn't mean that drug use is good, but it means that Doug's assumptions about "cause and effect" are false. Not only does Doug fail to understand God's law, he doesn't even understand American law.
Cigarettes and Cigars are also drugs but are they illegal. Also alcohol was illegal from 1920 to 1933, but would that been against God's law back then? I mean also look at all the DUI crashes that we've had over the years that have resulted into around 10K deaths per year. It's the wrong use of the thing. These ACOGs hardly say anything about how drugs come into a nation or a community, or like how the British created the opium wars in China centuries ago. Ahistorical
Yes, love to rule with a rod of iron. And use it on those who teach British Israelism lol.
Why is Doug supposedly eating unleavened bread 8 days and observing a non-pilgrimage feast one day and a pilgrimage feast the next day? The law is 7 days and one pilgrimage feast.
One of the most devastating mistakes that a human can make is to single-source one's truths or knowledge to one human, or to one human organization. You have got to have a second opinion, and you must also have a Plan B! This is especially true when you have an organization which equates itself with God and Jesus knocking at your door! Although I wish my parents had been aware of this, I will be eternally grateful for the education, friendships, processes, and circumstances which rescured me from a lifetime of willful ignorance spent in
Armstrongism.
This guy Winnail mentioned, "defunding the police" , it's almost comical. Sounds like he just finished watching Fox News before he wrote this. Who is defunding the police now, I mean now we have Trump, a conservative Senate, House and majority of SCOTUS. We even have ICE now š . Nobody is defunding anybody (except for us citizens).
So Doug, we are preparing to be teachers/rulers with a rod so we can rule like those policemen or ICE guys right. Then we can stop the illegal drug use. Tell us Doug, which drugs will people be able to use? We know you'll want to be one of those good apples Doug.
Armstrongism has always been hopelessly addicted to rearview-mirror theology, romantically pining for the leeks, garlic, and heavy chains of the old system that kept the plebs
Let's get down to the basic facts of things. Armstrong and his ilk and others like them wanted a law bound Mosaic type system as an essential purpose was to impose the tithe burden on believers/ and maintain authoritarian control.
That delivered them a means to spread their alleged 'gospel' (which be far from that we read of in the scriptures) and in the case of many greatly enrich their greedy selves.
The ACOG ministers mentioned HWA's name many more times than God or Jesus. They only mentioned God or Jesus when it would reflect on them.
Law “keeping” will condemn and kill you. How, you ask?
Break even the tiniest most insignificant one from the old covenant, and you are separated from God. You need a sacrifice and you must stand in the line at the temple to get it offered on the altar. Not sure which one you broke, bring a sacrifice. Think you don’t have to keep ALL of it but can cherry pick which ones you want to “keep,” well, then you’ll be measured by the righteous standard of the law. By what measure you measure someone else, it will be measured back to you. Not the standard you bring, the standard you set.
“I keep the law” those other people don’t… you say, well wait a minute, how does the Lord see your law-keeping? If you break the law, and claim you keep the law, won’t you be punished by the law you claim to keep?
If law keeping in its entirety is required, then what are you released from? Certainly not the fear of death or punishment!! If you are responsible for keeping the law, and yet you do not keep the law, but condemn another for breaking a law you don’t keep (think prayer tassels) then won’t you be condemned???
Christ either fulfilled the law and prophets in its entirety, or every single person is still separated from God and we are all to be pitied because not one of us keep the law or can, in fact, keep the law. If righteousness comes through the law, Christ died in vain.
There seems to be renewed interest in the efficacy of psychedelics in the treatment of PTSD, depression, and other disorders of the mind. I find myself wondering if, under professional supervision, (not in self-medication!) they could be effective in curing Armstrongism.
I wonder if he could also be referring to legal drugs as in prescriptions, you know people can get hooked on them as well. However there is no medication that can cure the case of Armstrongism say like that David Pack has.
Pack? Ghastly days, boys! He needs months of marijuana therapy, acid therapy and analysis, and hypnosis! I doubt that even that would cure him of the extremes to which he has taken his Armstrongism! Ain't it awful? He might have been a bronze medalist in the Olympics, but he settled instead for Armstrongism!
Every time the LCG headquarters “minsters” comment on world or political events, it shows how much they tune in to political slop entertainment. They have no discernment or wisdom when it comes to the media they consume. As far as Doug bemoaning fornication and adultery, I believe that to be phony considering how kindly LCG treats old perverts.
Yea, it reveals who and what they consume on the regular. There is no godly wisdom like they pretend. They have bought into the culture war jargons domestically while ignoring the economics of our country.
Armstrong churches: Herbert Armstrong restored truths that had been lost for 1900 years. (that's 100 19-year time cycles, because we all know what the Bible says about 19-year time cycles)
Also Armstrong churches: Jesus said the gates of hell would never prevail against the church. We're the true church, with legitimate authority by continuity of succession from the original apostles.
Profitable Doug wrote:
"Learn from Today’s Leaders: Some of the strongest condemnations in the Bible are directed at the leaders of Israel who “cause My people to err by their lies and by their recklessness” (Jeremiah 23:32; Isaiah 3:12). Few today realize these prophetic warnings are dual and apply to leaders in modern Israelite nations! When teachers, preachers, and politicians in nations that have been given God’s laws so they could be examples to the world turn away from and despise those laws, there are serious consequences. ...we need to connect the dots between cause and effect. ...Are you preparing for that important role?"
******
Perhaps we may ask Doug if he is prepared for this important role?
Doug is always ready to blame/judge human beings for all of the sins and evils, while turning a blind eye to the following verses:
Ephesians 6:12 "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places."
1 John 3:8 "He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil."
When will Doug, writing like a babe living on milk alone without any strong meat, come to understand who the real enemies are, who the real lawbreakers are, the true cause and effect of the sins of humanity (e.g. 1 John 3:12; 8:44; Ephesians 2:2, etc.), and finally acknowledge that God does not, today, impose His laws on humanity, who are incapable of keeping God's laws without God's Spirit (Deuteronomy 29:4) in their lives?
Or, we may consider asking about Doug: when will Doug (and the rest of the babes, the hirings who fled from the former WCG filled with copious amounts of junk food/false prophecies) finally realize and understand that God so loved the humanity of this world that He gave us His Son, who gave His life, to save it, and not condemn it... And subsequently destroy/condemn the real culprits (Hebrews 2:14-15; Matthew 25:41, 46)?
Time will tell...
John
I'd expect Doug is mentioning the news media the general population watch. There isn't much choice.
You are right, 8:41! It gets down to the Armstrong method of "proving all things". HWA used the method normally associated with forensic debate, in which facts are collected which support your side. You also consider the facts supporting the opposing side, but only in a way in which you determine to negate or diffuse them, so that you can win. All of us old timers know that Herbert was intimately familiar with the metrics of debate from reading the story in his autobiography regarding how he assisted Loma's brother (Walter?) in preparing for and winning a state-wide debate back in the day!
This differs from the scientific method, in which you are led by an evidentiary trail, draw a conclusion, and then test and retest that conclusion. We also know of Herbert's fondness for Hislop, and the leaps Hislop made violating the scientific method to come to his conclusions. Many, over the years, have realized that it is unwise to follow a guru or teacher who employs such flawed methodology, and calls it "the truth". Others simply don't think things through so deeply.
BB
Winnail and other ministers in the ACOG should only focus in on themselves and not outsiders, but this is what they do. Paul under inspiration instructed:
1 Corinthians 5:12-13 For what have I to do with judging those also who are outside? Do you not judge those who are inside? But those who are outside God judges. Therefore “put away from yourselves the evil person.”
They can't do it, they are so focused on their interpretation of their "israelite nations" and warning the worlds sins (while ignoring theirs) or instead of their church. They say they are the true church and there is no other (which shows a lack of humility). They like to judge those who are outside as though they have authority, when they actually don't.
I wonder by reducing their magazine subscriptions in half if their message to warn the nations will get out enough? I wonder what magazine the two witnesses were writers in, or is their message validated by their speech?
Tank
I know 7:43, here in my neck of the woods, this just happened. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbfJdKiFLHs
Pack would have been better than Stacy Keach as Sgt. Stedenko in the Cheech Marin & Tommy Chong movies.
Post a Comment