"...these men expose themselves as an emperor with no clothes. They are poor. They are blind. They are miserable. And they are naked. "

It would be refreshing for a change if one of these guys actually pointed to Jesus Christ as our leader, rather than constantly pointing to themselves and pointing fingers at others, within their own movement. Frankly, I am tired as others are of the whole everyone else is Laodicean so therefore you should follow me mantra. It smacks of the very attitude God criticizes in that passage. "I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing."(Revelation 3:17) In other words, "I" alone am righteous." "I" alone have complete understanding, the purest doctrines, the most godly "church government" etc. Fill in the blank. The truth is these men expose themselves as an emperor with no clothes. They are poor. They are blind. They are miserable. And they are naked. 

Their focus is on promoting their own name, their own imagined ecclesiastical authority, their own church, in an effort to attract or control their own "members." There is no love for one another in their writings. There is no humility of spirit. There is no thought process that perhaps they don't know as much as they think they might, and maybe they could learn a thing or two from someone else. There is no effort among any to work to come to any unity of the faith, but instead to cast blame, point fingers, and justify one's own position, or church group. 

 
Even efforts to preach a gospel are done almost solely as a "warning" and with the idea of self-promotion or preservation, rather than compassion or care for those who might be reached with such a message. If the motivation is skewed, the message won't be effective. You can scream all day about how you are the best, greatest, most mistreated, most persecuted, most favored by God, whatever. You might even attract a few people with grandiose statements of righteousness, claimed unique prophetic knowledge, etc. but if you aren't truly motivated by a love for God and a love for your fellow humans, your efforts will ultimately come to nothing, because God won't honor them, and unless God is building the house, your efforts are useless. (Psalm 127:1)

Concerned Sister

Making The World Smaller, Poorer and Meaner

 "Fundamentalist zealots always manage to make 

the world smaller, poorer, and meaner." 

 Seth Godin

ht: LCG source

Discerning right from wrong when listening to your minister

Ever since Herbert Armstrong hit the scene and in the subsequent years after his death, the Church of God has been filled with men who claim to have direct access to God, that their words and writings are God-inspired, and that we as members are to heed every word that comes from them as the "truth." The problem lies when men like Pack, Flurry, Thiel, Weinland, and others say things, they expect us to take it all as being true when the vast majority of us know they are liars and blasphemers.

In the churches of God, we have heard over and over that God ordained the ministry and, therefore, they are the only ones who have the ability to interpret scripture. Bible studies held without a minister present are frowned upon, if not outright forbidden. 

 

But what does scripture say? 

 

Scripture says when we’re baptized, all of us whom God has called and chosen have the same two things: God’s spirit and God’s word.

Nothing irritates many of today's COG leaders than the laity sitting around and discussing scriptures. How dare they! They have not been educated at God's College, whatever and wherever that may be, so how can they know the proper meaning of scripture!

One of the amazing things about Judaism is that many of them regularly sit around and discuss and argue scripture. So many in the COG think it is blasphemy to argue over scripture, but if you look at the different COG leaders today, they all do that in their own unique way. The main way is when they each declare that God has delivered to them the CORRECT version of how things should be. That immediately negates every other COG leader out there. Then those offended COG leaders ramp up the discourse and clam revelations and dreams sent by their god to them. It is all one huge mess.

Jesus Christ, in Matthew 11, invites us to learn from Him. Luke tells us that the Bereans poured over the scriptures to compare what they were hearing preached with the word of God to see if the preaching matched what God says. 

 

Paul repeatedly admonishes us to study to show ourselves approved by rightly dividing the word of truth and to prove all things and to work out our salvation (this indicates an intimate relationship with God and Jesus Christ, which is impossible without being in the word of God).

Many COG members, regardless of the group they are in or not in, know far more about scriptures than most of the COG leaders today. There are women in the COG who can up to shame most of the present-day COG leaders, which I think is hilarious! 

The diaspora (this was all the Hebrew Christians, not just some) is admonished in the book of Hebrews that they should be spiritually mature enough to be teachers, but that they are not because they haven’t learned how to discern between right (God’s word) and wrong (everything else) and good (godliness) and evil (worldliness). 

 

Scripture does not say what we often hear in the churches of God. However, this belief among the church of God ministers is (although most of them probably don’t realize it) designed to make the non-ministers dependent on them for everything. 

 

But we are supposed to be dependent on God and Jesus Christ for everything, not another human being just like ourselves. 

 

Although this may be unconscious, it is a perversion of the word of God.

The belief that COG ministers and leaders are the direct conduit from God in all matters, both spiritual and physical is not only a perversion of the Word of God but utter blasphemy. Look at the perverted things they say and how members suffer under their leadership.

I wonder how many COG members out there actually study the Bible WITHOUT any HWA booklets or writings of any other COG leader? There are Christians in the "world" who are far better versed in the meaning of Scripture than many COG members because they are willing to look at many sources. Sadly though, far too many sit there month after month, year after year waiting for their minister or leader to tell them how things should be.

We, as followers of Jesus Christ, bear responsibility as well. Many of us aren’t abiding in the Vine continually by digging into the word of God and reading it (the words on the page, not the words we think are on the page), thinking about it (as the source against which we compare the words we have heard, not the other way around), learning it, and applying it. 

 

Instead, many of us look to human words (in writing, in sermons, etc.) for knowledge, instead of to God’s words. We are not guiltless in the perversion of the word of God either.

You can read the entire article here which includes two examples of subtle deceptions of a couple of current COG ministers.

Concretized Christianity: “Huh?!?” Things We Hear…

 

The reason why so many COG's still exist

 

COG Bigshots: Dosen't Everybody Want To Be One?

Doesn’t Everyone Want to Be A Big Shot?

By

LonnieHendrix

Within the culture of Armstrongism, all of the men were/are expected to aspire to give a sermonette or attend Ambassador College. After all, the pastors and the leadership in Pasadena were held up to be the epitome of Godly manhood. All of the lesser men within the congregation were encouraged to emulate them or “to covet earnestly the best gifts.”

In the splinter groups, these notions about aspiring to participate in church leadership have taken on even more significance. In short, asking a man to give a sermonette or sermon is seen as a means of keeping people involved/interested/invested in the particular group. By stroking egos and flattering someone with an invitation to speak, it is hoped that they will not wander off or consider joining one of the other splinters.

Of course, these notions and practices are not peculiar to Armstrongism. Flattery and other enticements have been used from time immemorial to keep people engaged. After all, it is heady stuff to be placed in a leadership role – even if it’s only for 30-45 minutes on a Sabbath!

But what about the men in the church who never got wrapped up in this kind of thinking? What about the folks who don’t want to be in charge or speak? What about the men who had absolutely no desire to emulate Herbert or Garner Ted Armstrong? What about the guys who think that church leaders should serve members and exude humility?

“That man is dangerous!” the other men declare. “Everyone wants to be Garner Ted – he must have some kind of agenda!” “If he doesn’t want to deliver a sermonette, he must secretly want to run the whole show!” OR “He must be planning to start his own group or cultivate a following for himself!” They simply cannot understand anyone who is not motivated by the same kinds of things that motivate them.

Throughout my association with Armstrongism, I have never desired to be an apostle, minister or deacon. I have never desired to start a new church or accumulate a following. I have been asked numerous times by others to speak or write. “I will do anything I can to help you, but I have no burning need to speak or put myself forward,” I would always answer.

Sometimes that would evoke a knowing smile, but I remember one time when the pastor who had asked me to speak understood what I meant. He acknowledged what I was saying and then quoted Plato. “Wise men speak because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something.”

Unfortunately, many of the folks within the Armstrong Churches of God want to say something. They like the prestige and respect associated with standing in front of a congregation or being the one that folks turn to for advice. For them it’s not about serving and helping others, it’s more about being the big shot – the top dog. It would almost be funny if it weren’t so very sad/pathetic!

UCG: The Experts On Leadership

UCG is trotting out an article written in 2008 by Scott Ashley concerning biblical leadership and UCG members are sending it to their social media pages as a shining example of what is wrong with leadership in the government, instead of what is wrong in the leadership of their own church.

Well, if God looks at the example that the United Church of God leadership has set, then we are really screwed over!

Ashley writes:

What does God look for in a leader? Does He expect certain standards and behavior in a person chosen for a role of leadership and service to others?

At a time many Americans are asking themselves what behavior they should expect from their president, and the holder of that office is frequently heard quoting the Bible, perhaps we should examine what God expects of a leader.

The Bible is clear that God expects one put in a position of responsibility to meet certain qualifications. This is first brought out when God began working with the Israelites after their exodus from Egypt. God was working with a nation of former slaves, shaping and molding them into a new nation. Where would He begin?

One problem quickly became apparent. Since the people brought their questions, problems and disputes to Moses, the decision-making process quickly became a bottleneck and ground to a halt. The solution? Share the load by delegating authority to capable leaders.

By what criteria were leaders to be chosen? Moses was advised to “select from all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness …” (Exodus 18:21).

With a core leadership of able, God-fearing, truthful, unselfish men, the new nation would build a firm foundation. Moses solved his immediate problem and gave his people a sound start on nationhood.

Through the apostle Paul, God enumerated requirements for positions of leadership and service within His Church. Consider the standards, listed below, that Paul gave to his fellow minister Timothy for choosing such leaders:

“… The presiding elder must have an impeccable character. Husband of one wife, he must be temperate, discreet and courteous, hospitable and a good teacher; not a heavy drinker, nor hot-tempered, but gentle and peaceable, not avaricious, a man who manages his own household well and brings his children up to obey him and be well-behaved: how can any man who does not understand how to manage his own household take care of the Church of God? … It is also necessary that he be held in good repute by outsiders, so that he never falls into disrepute and into the devil’s trap.

This certainly does not describe UCG leadership.  From pedophiles, adulterers, inappropriate touching, stalking, and verbal harassment, UCG has led the way on how to NOT do what is right. 

“Similarly, deacons must be respectable, not double tongued, moderate in the amount of wine they drink and with no squalid greed for money … They are first to be examined, and admitted to serve as deacons only if there is nothing against them” (1 Timothy 3:1-10, New Jerusalem Bible).

Many of the leadership in UCG were well know around Pasadena as alcoholics. 

Apparently, we are also to believe that UCG leaders are NOT arrogant, hot-tempered, not heavy drinkers, or filed with avaricious. Seriously?

Titus 1:7-8 adds: “The presiding elder has to be irreproachable since he is God’s representative; never arrogant or hot-tempered, nor a heavy drinker or violent, nor avaricious; but hospitable and a lover of goodness; sensible, upright, devout and self-controlled …” (New Jerusalem Bible).

We should ask ourselves: If these are minimum qualifications for overseers of a small congregation of believers, what should we expect from those who oversee states and nations?

Those who excuse the president’s admitted peccadilloes fail to note that any schoolteacher or principal, university professor or supervisor in private business would likely be immediately fired for such conduct. Military officers would be discharged, court-martialed or imprisoned—and many have been—for actions many are willing to tolerate in the nation’s commander in chief. Many Americans don’t seem to appreciate the irony that they hold the presidency to lower standards than any of these jobs.

Moses and Paul understood that leadership requires moral authority to be credible. If one is to accept advice, decisions and instructions from leaders, one must have confidence in the core values and moral foundation behind their words. GN

Leadership in the church does require a moral authority to be credible. Sadly, the Church of God leaders across the board have failed in this matter abysmally.

Living Church of God Minister Sets The Standard For All Other Ministers

Once more, we have the sterling example of Christian love that the Living Church of God exudes through its ministers. 

Sadly, the bar has always been low, but they keep lowering it.

I attended what I hope was my last WCG-splinter funeral today for my mother-in-law...a faithful, 50+ year member of WCG, then GCG, and for the past 20 years or so, LCG. 

I understand that in the eyes of their "pastor" that my husband and I are the worst possible people on the planet... Former members, apostates, the "fallen away". And it boy, did it show!!!! 

The pastor didn't offer a single word of condolence or comfort to my husband or his brother... The last living members of their immediate family. He didn't speak to my husband, didn't shake his hand and say "I'm so sorry for your loss... Your mother was a lovely woman and so proud of you both." You know, the kind and decent things that people usually say when two men just lost their last surviving parent. 

To be fair, his wife did make an effort to be polite and nice... Which frankly made the fact that her husband utterly ignored the deceased person's two sons even more noticeable. 

My husband, on the other hand, this EX member, the apostate, the fallen one... Went out of his way before we left to walk all the way across the cemetery to thank the two men who were waiting in their pickup truck to place his mother's coffin into the ground. You tell me... What would Jesus do? 

Reprinted from Facebook with permission.