Let’s set the scene from the United Church of God’s Council of Elders. They’re designing visitor packets, banners, and branded materials to “communicate who we are and what we do.” The top priority that emerges? Keeping the Sabbath and the Holy Days. That’s the thing they want front and center. Then Vik Kubik, bless his heart, has to gently remind everyone: “Hey, maybe we should also mention Jesus Christ and His importance in the plan of salvation.”
It’s the theological equivalent of planning a wedding and putting “We serve brisket on the correct days” on the invitations before remembering to put the groom’s name anywhere.
This isn’t an accident. This is Armstrongism working exactly as designed.
Herbert W. Armstrong built an entire religious system around the idea that mainstream Christianity had the wrong gospel. According to him, they were only preaching “a gospel about Christ” — His birth, death, and resurrection — while the real gospel was the good news of the Kingdom of God: a literal world government that would enforce God’s law on earth. In that framework, Jesus isn’t primarily the Savior you have a personal relationship with right now. He’s the future King who will return to set up that government and make everyone keep the Sabbath and Holy Days properly.
So when you’re designing outreach materials, what naturally comes out first? Not “Come meet Jesus.” It’s “We keep the Sabbath and Holy Days.” Because that’s the distinctive. That’s the sign. That’s how you know you’ve found the “true Church.” Jesus is important, sure — but He’s important because He’s going to make the whole world keep the law the way we already do.
This is why Armstrongism has always had a slightly allergic reaction to centering Jesus too much. If your entire identity is built on being the people who still obey the Old Testament commandments that everyone else supposedly abandoned, then leading with grace, the cross, or a relationship with the risen Christ feels dangerously close to sounding like those lawless Sunday-keeping Protestants, or worse yet, the Catholics. You can’t have visitors thinking this is just another Jesus church. You have to make sure they know this is the Sabbath-and-Holy-Days church that also happens to believe in Jesus.
That’s why the materials were shaping up to lead with the law. And that’s why Kubik had to play the role of the guy who raises his hand and says, “Should we maybe… put the actual Savior in there somewhere?” It’s the same instinct that makes Armstrongist groups spend far more time explaining why Christmas and Easter are pagan than explaining why the empty tomb changes everything.
In Armstrongism, Jesus mostly functions as:
- The one who died so your past sins could be forgiven (after which you’d better start keeping the law perfectly),
- The coming King who will enforce that law worldwide,
- And occasionally the “Lord of the Sabbath” (which conveniently lets them keep talking about the Sabbath).
He is rarely presented as the central, sufficient, personal object of faith and worship in the way evangelical Christianity does it. The focus stays on “God’s way of life” — which, in practice, means the commandments, the calendar, and the government. Jesus becomes the supporting cast in the story of the law being restored.
So when the Council of Elders sits down to create visitor packets and the first thing that comes out is “Sabbath and Holy Days,” they’re not being sloppy. They’re being consistent. The brand is the law. Jesus is the fine print you add when someone points out that maybe the fine print should be mentioned.
It’s almost charming in its predictability. Even when they’re trying to reach new people, the old Armstrongist reflexes kick in: lead with the distinctive commandment-keeping, and if someone notices the Son of God is missing from the brochure, just pencil Him in later.
Classic.
26 comments:
If you UCG ministers on here are this miserable and leak this kind of stuff, why do you stay and preach every Sabbath and then come here and mock the church? I would not want to be in your shoes as you stand before Christ, waiting for His judgment to fall on you.
Then why are YOU coming to this site?
Will Christ punish ministers who want to put Him front and center?
"When the Comforter (the Holy Spirit) has come... it will testify of ME", said the Lord. (Jn 15:26)
Names, names, names? Who are these UCG ministers? If you know something to be fact, give us the proof! Otherwise, you are simply another blind accuser of the brethren, and creating suspicion and paranoia amongst the brethren! Until you prove otherwise, what an ass you are!
Somehow, this conjured up an image of Vick Kubik, Tim Pebworth, and John Elliott standing on the beach in Miami, and John Elliott putting on his mirror shades as the Who's epic song "Won't Get Fooled Again" begins to play! Roger Daltry's scream is heard, and we hear '"Meet the new boss! Same as the Old Boss!"
This blog has gone all bolshy and super confident since John Elliot became President and Pebworth has another term as Chairman.
Posts about UCG white papers, posts about doctrinal commitee and rushing ahead of official UCG announcements to leak alleged plans again and again.
Something to consider.
I agree 10:41. They come here and say anything they want to bad mouth the church and never suffer any ramifications. They're untouchable under this new leadership.
The PLAIN TRUTH About The UCG
The PLAIN TRUTH is that the UCG was so full of evil people doing evil, from top to bottom, that it led to the big UCG-COGWA splinter group split of 2010.
There is enough evil for people to put up with out in the world. There is no need for anyone to go to the UCG to put up with all the evil in it from all the lying fake “christians” in it. That is the real reason why the UCG can only split and splinter and can never grow in size.
The wicked can rant and rave all they want to against this comment, but they cannot make the UCG grow in size.
So 'splain to me how one worships God by rejecting His way of life.
Your guess work doesn't cut it 10:21! Names! Names! Names! Otherwise you are nothing but a false accuser, and a lying sack! Give us names or STFU!
So let us celebrate the festival.........1Cor 5:8 NLT
There is no 10:21 comment on here. Swearing does you no favours, threats and insults either.
the UCG was so full of evil people doing evil, from top to bottom, that it led to the big UCG-COGWA splinter group split of 2010.
The evil people left UCG. Also, the evil people stayed.
You know what I meant!
Rejecting/celebrate:
Galatians 4:21: “Tell me, you who want to be under the Law…”
Armstrongism reinterprets “the Law” to mean pagan practices or wrong attitudes, because if Paul is speaking of the Sinai calendar, then Paul condemns the very system they seek to erect.
Yet, their lies are destroyed by the very same chapter. The clearest proof that Paul is speaking of Sinai in Galatians 4 - not so called pagan 'laws' - is that he explicitly names Mount Sinai in verses 24–25. Paul frames the entire issue as a return to the Sinai covenant, not to paganism.
This alone makes the Armstrongist interpretation impossible. Their interpretation collapses under Galatians 4.Yet, they lkeep insisting otherwise.
Herb's claim that the gospel is the government of God is more clearly expressed with his frequent "government is everything." His ideal society is Borg with Christ being the Borg queen. This fantasy is already on full display in North Korea. Which is why God allows this false-god country to exist.
PS And Galatians 5 only strengthens the point. Paul continues the same argument from chapter 4 , the same vocabulary, contrast, and covenantal framework.
He names circumcision, speaks of being obligated to keep “the whole Law,” and contrasts Sinai with the New Covenant. Nothing in the chapter fits paganism; everything fits the Judaizers’ push toward the Sinai system.
Galatians 5:4-5 makes this unmistakable: “You who are trying to be justified by the Law have fallen from grace… but we eagerly await by the Spirit.”
This is the same contrast Paul has just drawn in Galatians 4 - Hagar vs. Sarah, Sinai vs. promise, flesh vs. Spirit, slavery vs. freedom.
Paul is still talking about covenants, not paganism.
No no-one does 2:39.
I am 10:41 but i'm not 8:44 nor 12:11.
You have repeatedly wriiten articles stating UCG cannot call ourselves Christians because you and your gang say so. Yet do you behave like Christians yourselves ? Do you?
Your latest campaign over several months was calling UCG member females "UCG Hoez" repeatedly, well how did that go ? UCG member females are not whores and UCG members have every right to defend themselves.
The problem is that Christianity is a false religion. The name Christ corresponds to the number of the beast, 666. In Revelation 13:18, John was inspired to write the number of the beast as the Christogram χξϛ, which is the Greek name Christos or the English name Christ. No wonder Jesus rebuked anyone who called Him "Christ" (Luke 9:20-21; Matthew 16:20; Mark 8:30, etc.), for he was not Jesus Christ.
Instead, Jesus gives us a hint of His name in John 5:43: "I am come in my Father's name, and you receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him you will receive."
Jesus came in the Father's name. How?
Matthew 27:17 NRSVUE
So after they had gathered, Pilate said to them, “Whom do you want me to release for you, Jesus Barabbas or Jesus who is called the Christ?”
Barabbas means "son of Abba or son of the Father."
Jesus prayed to Abba, the Father (Mark 14:36), and came in the Father's name. Christianity has been led into a great deception, which Jesus also warned about in Matthew 24:4-5 (KNOX):
"Jesus answered them, 'Take care that you do not allow anyone to deceive you. Many will come making use of my name; they will say, "I am Christ," and many will be deceived by it.'" Come is "epi" in Greek and means "superimpose". Hence, Jesus was warning of people who would come in His name [authority] and superimpose His name to preach that Jesus is Christ, when He is not!
That is exactly what happened to Christianity. They are following the wrong Jesus, and the religion is named after the number of the beast 666, which is Christ (χξϛ)!
There's only one problem here. It's wrong. No scholar has ever connected χξϛ with Χριστός (Christos).
The two are unrelated. The claim is based on a misunderstanding of the Greek alphabet and how ancient numerals worked.
The invention of fringe ideas is almost endless; this one sits firmly in the BI category
That was RSK, 11:18. He's not a UCG minister either. He told us a couple months ago that he was now caring for a person who was totally incapacitated, dementia or something similar. Because he is Black, one of you wonderful Christians called him a pimp, which is why some of us who are no longer part of Armstrongism and therefore not racist, started joking about the hoez. You either didn't get the point, or deliberately doubled down. Don't worry! We all know the ministers wives are not hoez! Prudes, perhaps, but not hoez.
Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia; she corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. Gal 4:25 ESV.
The 2 covenants ....correspond?? A lot to think about. The Old was flesh; the New is Spirit. Covenants.........not the law.
Doesn't say RSK.
5:58 beware your sarcasim doesn't ruin you, if it hasn't already. UCG Members ARE NOT whores either.
Oh, you just take everything to literally and get all offended, don't you, sweetie?
True, 12:40! There have always been participants here who really get into the superstitious aspects of prophecy. It's as if they pull their ideas from the lost apocryphal book of Uranus
You bully UCG members in real life with underhanded manipulation tactics and then put underhanded related remarks on here to mock. Your what they call a "headworker". But it always goes wrong for you.
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