Making the Feast Go Viral in 2021

 

It is Feast of Tabernacles time in COGland right now and people are heading out in all directions to celebrate the best Feast ever! In COG speak, this is a foretaste of a millennial kingdom where everyone will dwell together in peace and harmony. But, this is the Church of God after all, and  in 2021 the church does not dwell together in peace and harmony.

The church today is splint into so many irrelevant factions that they make the splits of Protestantism look halfway sane. Those fine folk at Church of God Network are trying to make the Feast a unified event. In the minds of some COG members this is perfectly fine to them. They will most likely be in a Feast location area that has several groups meeting in various sites. These people happily jump from group to group as they meet up with old friends and pick the speakers they want to listen to.

There are many COG leaders who despise the Feast hopping that goes on and they forbid their members from doing this. Those that are meeting in the same resort and might even be in neighboring rooms are told to not speak to or associate with those poor deceived Laodiceans. 

Dwelling together as one happy family and being unified in spirit in the Church of God is a pipe dream that will never happen when men like Bob Thiel, Dave Pack, and Gerald Flurry are wrecking havoc as they bastardize the word of God to fit their deluded endeavors.

The only time the Church of God will ever be viral is if another tragedy happens and then it will fade into the nothingness it currently dwells when a different news story takes up the screen. In its present alliteration it will NEVER be viral.

Early Christianity: From Sabbath to Sunday: the Armstrongite narrative

Early Christianity: From Sabbath to Sunday

I recently penned a post for Banned by HWA that was published there under the banner “Quietly Dismissing Herbert Armstrong.” In reviewing some of the commentary which the post provoked, I was struck by how some folks have continued to accept Armstrong’s inaccurate/false narrative surrounding the early history of the Christian Church. According to the Pastor General of the old Worldwide Church of God, the First Century Church universally observed the Sabbath. Moreover, he taught that Emperor Constantine (in cooperation with the Roman Church) changed the day of Christian worship from the Sabbath to Sunday.

The reasoning behind this narrative is almost as interesting and entertaining as the narrative itself. It goes something like this: 1) Scripture clearly records that Christ, his apostles, and the early saints continued to observe the Sabbath; 2) The existence of Constantine’s famous decree recognizing Sunday as a day of rest (and, by implication, worship) throughout the territories of the Roman Empire; and 3) The existence of several statements by Roman Catholics claiming responsibility for changing the Christian day of worship. Admittedly, this reasoning appears reasonable at first glance. However, while I wouldn’t dispute any of the three points which they have employed to generate their narrative, we would be remiss not to point out that these folks have ignored/excluded a whole lot of history to arrive at their conclusions about Sabbath to Sunday observance within the early Church.

It still seems foreign and strange to many Christians, but a consensus has developed over time among Biblical scholars that there were two forms of Christianity extant in the First Century (a Gentile and a Jewish variety). Moreover, the evidence for this, both within the New Testament and among other writings from the period, is pretty compelling. In the New Testament, the account we find there of the Jerusalem Council in the fifteenth chapter of Acts (and in Paul’s epistle to the Galatians) makes plain that there were real differences and tensions between the Jewish and Gentile branches of the Church. Likewise, other early Christian writings like the Didache and some of the epistles of Ignatius of Antioch underscore these differences.

When confronted with the evidence of the Jerusalem Council, many Armstrongites insist that the only issue at stake in those discussions was the Jewish ritual of circumcision. Scripture, however, clearly refutes such a notion. Now, in fairness, it is true that the whole controversy began with the insistence of some Jewish Christians that “Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved.” (Acts 15:1) However, when Paul and Barnabas were sent to Jerusalem to resolve the matter, we read: “But there rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees which believed, saying, That it was needful to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses.” (Acts 15:5) In other words, some of the Jewish Christians were insisting that Gentile converts to Christianity had to adopt and abide by the tenets of the Old Covenant outlined in the Torah.

After much discussion of the matter, Peter reminded the assembly that God had prompted him to share the gospel with the Gentiles. (Acts 15:7) A casual reading of this account could easily miss just how important this point was in comprehending the significance of what was happening. Unfortunately, as the first eleven chapters of the book of Acts make plain, the original twelve apostles had not fulfilled Christ’s instructions to take his message to all nations. In short, Peter and the other apostles had focused their evangelistic efforts almost exclusively on their Jewish brethren for the ten or so years following the end of Christ’s earthly ministry. Hence, it should not seem strange or incomprehensible to us that the earliest church was almost entirely Jewish in composition, nature, and ritual. As such, we can see that it was completely natural for these folks to continue to observe rituals that were familiar to them (like circumcision, the Sabbath, the Holy Days, clean and unclean meats, etc.).

It should also be remembered, though, that Gentiles had no such traditions, and that most of them were wholly unfamiliar with Jewish rituals and practices. In the account of the Jerusalem Council in the book of Acts, however, Peter points out that God had also chosen to give the Gentiles his Holy Spirit “even as he did unto us.” (Acts 15:8-9) He went on to point out that the insistence of these Jewish Christians that Gentiles adopt Jewish forms did not make sense in light of this fact. “Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?” he asked. (Acts 15:10) The clear implication being that Christ had fulfilled the requirements of the law on their behalf, because NONE of them (the Jews) had ever been able to do it!

In the account, James agrees with the points that Peter has made. He affirms that it was God who decided to offer salvation to the Gentiles through Christ, and he went on to remind the assembly that this had been prophesied to happen long ago. (Acts 15:13-18) As a consequence of these facts, James concluded: “Wherefore my sentence is, that we trouble not them, which from among the Gentiles are turned to God: But that we write unto them, that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood. For Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every sabbath day.” (Acts 15:19-21) Notice that James specifically delineates only four items from the entire Torah which Gentile Christians should be required to observe and goes on to suggest that Moses already has enough adherents among the Jews!

Moreover, once again, the summary of the account makes plain that the assembly was dealing with a much more comprehensive question regarding the relationship of Gentile Christians to the requirements of the Torah than the simple matter of circumcision. The opening to the letter which the assembly sent to the Gentile Christians informing them of their decision makes this plain. We read: “Forasmuch as we have heard, that certain which went out from us have troubled you with words, subverting your souls, saying, Ye must be circumcised, and keep the law: to whom we gave no such commandment…” (Acts 15:24) And the letter’s conclusion makes plain that the assembly has adopted James’ “sentence” regarding their obligations to the requirements of the Torah. We read: “For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things; That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well. Fare ye well.” (Acts 15:28-29)

Hence, for the author of Acts, the rather substantial question of whether or not Gentile converts would be required to observe the tenets of the Law, was settled amicably and in short order. From Paul’s perspective, however, the question had never been completely and finally resolved – there were still plenty of Jewish Christians out there who believed that their Gentile brethren should be required to follow the same observances which they had followed all of their lives (and which they continued to follow as Christians).

This is made very clear in Paul’s letter to the saints of Galatia. Nevertheless, in comparing Paul’s perspective on what had happened at the Jerusalem Council, it is important to remember the context of Paul’s remarks. In short, Paul was extremely angry that Jewish Christians had had the audacity to contradict his teachings to the Gentiles. He opens the epistle by claiming his incredulity at the thought that any of his Galatian Christian converts would fall for this message (that they were obligated to observe the tenets of the Torah). He wrote: “I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.” (Galatians 1:6-7)

Remember, Paul saw himself as the “Apostle of the Gentiles.” (Romans 11:13) Moreover, he believed that the message which he had brought to the Galatians had been given to him via a special revelation from Jesus Christ, and he made clear that he did not appreciate those Jewish Christians invading his territory and imposing their brand of Christianity on his converts! (Galatians 1:8-12) Paul then proceeded to give the Galatians a brief summary of his personal history in the Jewish faith and his interactions with the pillars of the Jewish Church after his conversion to demonstrate that those contacts had not made any significant contributions to his message. (Galatians 1:13-24) Now, of course, those folks had made significant contributions to Paul’s knowledge about Christ and his teachings (the notion that they didn’t is frankly absurd), but we must remember that when he wrote these things Paul was extremely angry with those Jewish Christians who had interfered with his work among the Galatians.

After he had vented some of his anger and frustration, Paul proceeded to give his account of what had transpired at the Jerusalem Council. He wrote that those “who seemed to be somewhat, (whatsoever they were, it maketh no matter to me: God accepteth no man's person:) for they who seemed to be somewhat in conference added nothing to me: But contrariwise, when they saw that the gospel of the uncircumcision was committed unto me, as the gospel of the circumcision was unto Peter; (For he that wrought effectually in Peter to the apostleship of the circumcision, the same was mighty in me toward the Gentiles:) And when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given unto me, they gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship; that we should go unto the heathen, and they unto the circumcision. Only they would that we should remember the poor; the same which I also was forward to do.” (Galatians 2:6-10)

In this respect, the two accounts (Acts and Galatians) of what happened at the Jerusalem Council are the same: Both accounts suggest that some kind of accommodation between Jewish and Gentile Christians was reached as a consequence of that assembly – to live and let live. In other words, Paul understood that agreement to allow Jewish Christians to continue to observe the tenets of the Mosaic Law and to permit Gentile Christians to ignore them.

For Paul, however, the intrusion of those Jewish Christians among his sheep in Galatia had not only violated the understanding reached at the Jerusalem Council, it had also underscored the flawed premise of the theology of those Jewish Christians. He wrote: 

“Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin? God forbid. For if I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor. For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God. I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless, I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.” (Galatians 2:16-21)

Thus, as Paul’s missionary work among the Gentiles resulted in more and more conversions, we can see that tensions grew between the two branches of the Christian faith. In short, Jewish Christians must have felt the pressure of those greater numbers of Gentile Christians within the Church – that the proportion of Christians observing the tenets of the Mosaic Law continued to shrink. And we have all seen the tensions which America’s changing demographics have produced within our own population – So, it shouldn’t be hard for us to imagine similar group dynamics playing out within the early Church!

Thanks to the writings of the First Century Jewish historian, Josephus, we know that Jerusalem and the Temple were destroyed by the Romans in 70 CE. It would be hard to overestimate the devastating impact which those events would have had on the Jewish portion of the Church. As Jewish Christians continued to observe the tenets of the Mosaic Law and were in the habit of worshipping at the temple and in synagogues, it is highly unlikely that the conquering Romans would have made any distinction between those Christians and their Jewish brethren. In other words, Jewish Christians were scattered and persecuted by the Romans after those events in 70 CE (just like other Jews).

Hence, it is easy to see how Paul’s version of Christianity would have been in the ascendancy for the last thirty years of the First Century. In other words, by the close of that century, the vast majority of Christians were of the Gentile variety (not observing the tenets of the Mosaic Law). However, while it’s easy to imagine those circumstances, there is other evidence extant that the Gentile branch of Christianity had become the dominant variety by the close of this period. In short, there are other Christian writings from this period which support this narrative of what was happening within the Church. Unfortunately, many lay Christians are not only unfamiliar with the contents of these documents – they are completely unaware of the fact that they even exist!

There is a document known as The Didache (a Greek word for teaching or doctrine) which was probably written late in the First Century and was purported to represent the teachings of Christ’s apostles (see earlychristianwritings.com). The Didache opens with a discussion of the way of life in juxtaposition to the way of death, and it expounds upon Christ’s teaching regarding the two great commandments (love for God and neighbor). The document also discusses the early practices of the Christian Church regarding things like baptism, fasting, prayer, and the Eucharist. Moreover, the document’s commentary about the organization of the Church (or rather the lack of discussion of a well-defined structure/hierarchy) makes plain that it came from this primitive era of Christianity. For our present purposes, however, the most important feature of The Didache is its insistence that Christians assemble on the Lord’s Day (Sunday) for fellowship and worship. In other words, the document takes it for granted that this is the proper day for Christian worship – there is no mention of the Sabbath!

Likewise, we have the writings of Ignatius of Antioch from late in the First Century and early in the Second Century to support this historical narrative about the two versions of Christianity. In his epistle to the saints of Philadelphia, Ignatius wrote: “But if anyone preach the Jewish law unto you, listen not to him. For it is better to hearken to Christian doctrine from a man who has been circumcised, than to Judaism from one uncircumcised. But if either of such persons do not speak concerning Jesus Christ, they are in my judgment but as monuments and sepulchers of the dead, upon which are written only the names of men.” (See earlychristianwritings.com) For Ignatius, any Christians who were teaching the saints that they had to observe the Jewish law were clearly heretics.

In his epistle to the Magnesians, Ignatius wrote: “Be not deceived with strange doctrines, nor with old fables, which are unprofitable. For if we still live according to the Jewish law, we acknowledge that we have not received grace.” Later in the same epistle, he wrote: “It is absurd to profess Christ Jesus, and to Judaize. For Christianity did not embrace Judaism, but Judaism Christianity, that so every tongue which believeth might be gathered together to God.” (See earlychristianwritings.com)

Writing sometime in the middle part of the Second Century, Justin Martyr also provided us with evidence of what was happening within the Church during this early period. In his First Apology, Justin Martyr wrote this about Christian worship in his time: “And on the day called Sunday, all who live in cities or in the country gather together to one place, and the memoirs of the apostles or the writings of the prophets are read, as long as time permits; then, when the reader has ceased, the president verbally instructs, and exhorts to the imitation of these good things. Then we all rise together and pray, and, as we before said, when our prayer is ended, bread and wine and water are brought, and the president in like manner offers prayers and thanksgivings, according to his ability, and the people assent, saying Amen; and there is a distribution to each, and a participation of that over which thanks have been given, and to those who are absent a portion is sent by the deacons. And they who are well to do, and willing, give what each thinks fit; and what is collected is deposited with the president, who succors the orphans and widows and those who, through sickness or any other cause, are in want, and those who are in bonds and the strangers sojourning among us, and in a word takes care of all who are in need. But Sunday is the day on which we all hold our common assembly, because it is the first day on which God, having wrought a change in the darkness and matter, made the world; and Jesus Christ our Savior on the same day rose from the dead.” (See earlychristianwritings.com) In other words, by the middle of the Second Century, it was considered standard practice for Christians to gather for fellowship and worship on Sunday!

As we have seen from both the biblical and the historical narrative, the Armstrongite narrative regarding the history of Sabbath to Sunday observance is false. The reality is that the vast majority of Christians had been observing Sunday for hundreds of years by the time that Constantine made his famous decree. In effect, the emperor was merely offering official recognition of what was already the practice of most of his Christian and pagan subjects. Likewise, the observance of Sunday by most Christians was already well-entrenched by the time that the Roman Church had acquired the power to enforce its authority over other Christians. Hence, the narrative that Constantine and/or the Roman Catholic Church was responsible for the abandonment of the Sabbath and the adoption of Sunday is shown to be a fiction pure and simple!

**Although I do not wish to convey the impression that I agree with all of the conclusions reached by these biblical scholars, I think that the works of folks like Gerd Ludemann, Bart Ehrman and James Tabor offer some interesting and helpful insights into this period of Christian history (Sorry, I'm not in the habit of name dropping, but scholars do offer some helpful insights for those of us who are truly desirous of understanding this critical period).

Lonnie Hendrix

Living Church of God: Sexual harassment victims at HQ told to "let these things go, and move on, to save the church from trouble and hurting the work of God."

 

If there was a "Me Too" movement in the current batch of Churches of God there would be a house cleaning like no other. It would make the 1995 Worldwide Church of God implosion meaningless and trite. There have always been sexual harassment issues in the church due to its stance on the place of women in the hierarchy of the church, marriages, and the family. 

Pre-implosion, Pasadena, Big Sandy, Bricket Wood, and international church office sites had serious issues with this problem, yet it was always swept under the rug so that the church would never be publicly embarrassed. The church has had a long legacy of sexual abuse, harassment, pedophilia, and other issues by leaders and members. Few were ever dealt with but some did make the headlines and brought damning publicity against the church.

The church has always had a sick mentality to let things go quietly so as to not damage church credibility or to bring trouble to the church. God forbid if the institution were to be damaged! Who cares about the people, but the institution MUST be protected at all costs.

At all boils down to fear. Fear of COG leadership, of counteracting church norms, of bringing embarrassment to the church, and of losing one's salvation keeps members blind, deaf, and dumb. This has always been the ideal COG member that the leadership looks to keep under control.

There​ is​ plenty of​ proof, for​ starters how​ about​ one​ of​ the​ female victims at​ lcg hq who told me face to face, while crying, that she was sexually assaulted while working at lcg hq? How about several LU female students who told numerous people that I know well, that they were sexually harassed by the same son of RCM? How about that same RCM son who walked around lcg hq half drunk and smelling like booze? Believe me, there's more, but I think you get the point. There is also my own witness, since I worked there for many years and heard and saw plenty of filthy and evil behavior. One of the women sexually assaulted worked under me, I was her supervisor. Why didn't anybody do anything? Because people working at lcg hq feared RCM and didn't want to be fired and disfellowshipped. The woman who told me personally about being sexually assaulted there, begged me not to do anything about it, she and her husband were both employed at lcg hq for many years, and didn't want to make waves and deal with the situation. There are plenty of people at lcg hq who know exactly what I'm talking about here. A prominent lcg minister there told me that it was best to "let these things go, and move on, to save the church from trouble and hurting the work of God." So basically the usual filth that happens in corporate America, happens at lcg hq just the same. I did my best while working there to protect the women working under me, as their supervisor, from the sexual assaults and harassment. Believe me, I know of plenty more skeletons in lcg's closet, and so do many others. I spent time in many private meetings over the years, with RCM and other top leaders there, and witnessed things that most people in lcg wouldn't believe, or want to believe, as the truth often hurts. There are so many sins and evil behaviours at lcg hq that have been covered up, that it's sickening. I also know that these type of things are not only happening at lcg hq, but also happening at other COG headquarters' as well... been told about it personally by employees and former employees. There's nothing new under the sun!

"Blah, Blah, Blah"

"Blah, Blah, Blah"

Enlightenment is not like a sudden realization of something mysterious. Enlightenment is nothing but awakening from illusions and returning to the reality of life.
--Uchiyama

Enlightenment is the ultimate and final disappointment. Treading the spiritual path is painful. It is a constant unmasking, peeling off layer after layer of masks. 
It involves insult after insult.
--Chogyam Trungpa

 

Waking up is a continuing process. No one wakes up once and for all. There is no limit to wakefulness, just as there is no limit to aliveness....The surprise within the surprise of every new discovery is that there is ever more to be discovered.
--Brother David Steindl-Rast

So what is it about some who have had our common WCG/COG experience, either as minister or member that allowing others to have their own experience is an invitation for derision?  Some who continue to stay, pray, obey and pay seem incapable of allowing those who won't stay, can't pray, obey?-no way, can't pay and won't stay their own experience.  As well, some who can't stay abuse those who have and we can't seem to rest until they utter the words, "you're right, I agree and quit too...thank you."

I'm not speaking of our normal human tendency to want to explain our perspectives newly acquired or held on to firmly as ever, but rather the ratcheting up of what I call "snark" or just simple insults and derision towards those having a different journey or experience.  No two people process the same experience the same way or for the same reasons.  As I tell my massage students, "you can have 100 people go to the same school, sit through the same classes, meet the same people who have the same way of thinking and you will still get 100 different ways of doing massage, and it is ok."

There are certainly many characters in the movie of waking life who experience or manifest more or less stormy weather – more or less anger, more or less depression, more or less compulsive behavior, more or less upset. Such differences may have little to do with enlightenment and everything to do with genetics, neurochemistry, brain function, hormone levels, and conditioning. Some bodyminds have stormier weather just as some cities have stormier weather. It's not personal.

Joan Tolifsen

I doubt anyone can be insulted back into the perspectives of another. Humans just don't work that way.  I doubt name calling or even the glittering generalities we try to apply to very complicated situations change the minds of many on whatever the topic might be. EVERYONE PROCESSES EXPERIENCES DIFFERENTLY and that also is OK.

I had always wished The Plain Truth of the WCG had been called The Present Truth as even the Apostle Paul, who I have issues with, called it.  Plain Truth is seldom plain or permanently true.  Truth is dicey at times if not at most times as it gets filtered through the minds of men.  My mistake was allowing others to filter my own desire to "know" through their perspectives.  Not uncommon. The whole Bible is an effort on the part of many divergent types to coerce the beliefs of others through their real or imagined experiences which they personally view as "The Truth."  

We do have to be careful with "God says," "We know...," "Jesus actually said...," As the Apostle Paul said...,"  and so on.  Most can't get their minds around the idea that maybe it is others doing the saying and giving credit to people who never really said that.  Nuther story I suppose.  If we are not careful...

"When we speak to God, it is called prayer.

When God speaks to us, it is called schizophrenia."

One of the interesting things about blog comments is how often remarks have little or nothing to do with the posting.  How rare it is for someone to say, "Interesting, but this is how I view that topic."  It just rarely happens.  How often there is no really intelligent discussion about the topic, but rather charge and counter charge. Snark and counter snark.  

I recall on particular responder from Britain who simply could not function without damning everyone not on his team to hell.  He never met me and we certainly never had lunch together but my insincere and "hireling" self was just worthy of his truly God inspired revelations, which of course, did not go in my favor..  I believe he was a one man church of truth and claimed only his wife and kids as members as they did not go to any real church.  However, that's his journey. That type of person demands others validate it and get more and more strange the more and more they don't.

A couple days ago my counselor, a man who really did make a difference in my own journey out of literalism and into reality popped up behind me at the grocery store.  He was the one who told me years ago,

"Dennis, you outgrow your boxes quickly. We are all born in the box our parents came in and yet few even explore the one they came in.  YOU HAVE TWO CHOICES.  Stay in the box you are hanging out of at the moment and everyone will reward you. They will be happy. They will love you and life can go on for them. YOU, however, will be on anti-depressants the rest of your life.  Or...you can keep going and explore the bigger box you are now actually in.  However...you will go alone."

And that's how it went and goes. I reminded him of what he said and he lit up.  Something had happened to him since I last saw him. He looked rather bad. He did not have the spark that I remembered. I didn't ask, but it was obvious he was also on his own continued journey and perhaps it had gotten difficult.  I did not, however, press him or tell him he looked like hell.  It was just interesting to see his own humanity poking through his well educated and able to inspire others self.   I told him I have quoted him to thousands and that seemed to encourage him.

Sooooooo, just some thoughts.  More "blah, blah" I suppose.   I don't personally have a need to be right.  I don't care if anything I might observe in my own journey helps or is even agreed with. I do need to be free to seek and look.  I will never again allow others to tell me how it all is.  Coming to some interesting conclusions, true or false is my right, and yours. This is my journey.  Others have theirs.  Some do, however, seem unable to share anything deeper than their scorn or snark.   And I suppose that also is their journey. 

I don't expect much to change in blogging or postings on topics that may cause some to think and others to simply react.  But something to think about perhaps that will bring the quality of the opportunity to exchange experiences and even pain up a few notches for the benefit of others who really may need a positive way to process the experiences, all different, we have had with the same religious experience.

PS  Not bothering to check speling, punktuation or tiepoz.  Whyle important...its the thawt that cowntz  :)

I can't do it here because the computer spell checks most words, but I understand that as long as we spell things with the correct first and last letter of a word, the mind recognizes the word and we can read it just fine.  So at least God programmed us to still get the point no matter the mistakes along the way in print or in life. 

DenniscDiehl@aol.com    

Contentious Women in the COG's

I have never understood how women in the COG allowed themselves to be treated like dirt by the 'all knowing' men that surround them.

Women have suffered under HWA, GTA, Meredith, Flurry, and many under their abusive husbands.  I remember many of the single bachelors in Pasadena who had literal lists made up on the qualifications that women needed to have before they dated or married them.  It is no wonder why many of them still are not married to this day.  They were weird!  Just plain weird!

Malm, on his 'Shining Light' blog is continuing his beat down on women.  Not only is his theology way off base, but his understanding of women is made many times in complete ignorance.  Sometimes I have to wonder if he is one of these perpetual bachelors that still has not had a relationship with a woman or if he is one of these bitter angry men who's wives left them when they got sick of the legalistic BS in the COG?

The church is espoused to Jesus Chirst(sic), the “Called Out” and are presently being watched and tested concrning (sic)their suitability to enter a wife type of relationship with our Lord. 

So what kind of wife does our Lord want? 


Brethren, we are all to become good wives for Jesus Christ! So, what is a good wife?

If I were choosing a wife today, I would not be looking first at appearance, or skills, or education, or intelligence.  The very first matter of concern would be: LOYALTY: can she be trusted. Will she be looking at others? Will she say yes I will do that and then not do it?   Will she use the Women’s lib type of self justification and say “I am a woman, I can change my mind whenever I want”?   Or is her word her bond?
Ladies, there is no excuse for mind changing or failing to keep promises or disloyalty.  Think about what you are committing to BEFORE you speak and then be faithful to your word.  To be chosen as a part of the bride of Christ, you men MUST do likewise.

One of the biggest problems is: Emotional Adultery.  Physical adultery is intercourse with another besides our mate, it is sexual disloyalty.  Emotional adultery is being emotionally attached to anyone other than your mate.  How many ladies remain emotionally attached to former friends or parents?  I am not saying don’t have friends or abandon parents; I am talking about putting their opinions and advice above your husbands. About having more respect for them than for your husband; about having more concern for them and putting them above your husbands in your affections and secret desires.  Such emotional adultery can include friends, hobbies, lust to shop and purchase, or anything that you alow (sic) to come between you and your husband  And you men, how many yearn for a former lover or friend, how many put you jobs, or hobbies, friends, or some sport above or much too close to the level of relationship you promised to  have with your wives?  


Brethren, there has been much emotional adultery among the “Called Out”.  You who are frustrated with your wives for admiring others, or spendind (sic) too much time with others and neglecting you, or for spending too much in selfish disregard of the family: look to your own conduct and example!

Hiow (sic) many of you fellows like to be hen pecked by a contentious woman: probably nobody!  You wives consider that and learn to control your tongues; you men learn the same thing and gain mastery over what comes out of your mouths.


You men MUST work at being GOOD WIVES of Christ; then you will better understand  what is acceptable conduct in the eyes of Almighty God.  You wives must also work at being good wives and mothers.

A Problem with Prophecy

By Dennis Diehl

One of the hallmark traits of most Fundamentalist Christians is their obsession with Bible Prophecy. Prophecy has a rather mystical draw to it and implies that the future is not so unknowable after all. Most humans spend their waking time either in the past feeling angry or in speculation of the future feeling anxious. It goes with not having the ability to live the real day one is currently experience. Many Christians have raised knowing the future to an art form and have learned that it is also quit profitable for the church in keeping members in line with fear, anxiety and a perverse kind of hope.


Bible prophecy and making it the center of one's life, reading the newspaper as one would the Bible, is a slippery slope and a very negative way to live one's life.


With enough study, one can learn that there are other explanations for that which many hold so near and dear as predictions of things that will happen "shortly" in the future. No one seems to think that "shortly" for whoever really wrote Revelation has now been over Two Thousand Years! I hate to think what "I'll be back later" would mean!


We have learned to develop the bad habit of reading Paul's predications of "time is short" with the same generous deference to the fact that short for Paul never really quite worked out for him either. We all know the cycle Paul went through of telling the Church to be ready, act as if you had no family and support the Church, to his final realization that "oh well, I fought a good fight, it was fun while it lasted, I was wrong... I still win... see ya."


On the other hand, we have areas of scripture that have always been used as prophecy which, to me, are simply not and never were intended to be by the original authors.


Isaiah 7 is an example of such a use of OT scripture by NT authors. This virgin birth prophecy ranks as one of the most questionable uses of scripture Matthew used to tell his story of Jesus birth. Matthew had a habit of mining the OT for anything that seemed like it fit the story he wanted to tell about Jesus. When one examines the OT context, we have to conclude that, that at least in it's original meaning, it was never meant to have the meaning Matthew assigned it. In fact, in its original context, it has absolutely nothing to do with prophecy but is merely a historical account of events going on at the time. It was never viewed as a prophecy of the birth circumstances of either the Jewish Messiah or Jesus until Matthew mined it for it's story telling value to his perspective. Matthew took the parts that fit his story but left out parts of that same story in Isaiah that obviously made no sense to his perspective on Jesus. If you simply look at Matthew's accounts of Jesus birth story, it is easy to see he cobbled it together in the style of the day from OT scriptures and not real events that he knew of. It is not my point to explain all this here, and I have touched on it in past columns.


Another aspect of "prophecy" we miss is that much of what the COGs use to promote their urgency upon the membership is probably prophecy written after the fact, which makes it really non-prophecy.


Either the book of Daniel was written during the time of the events recorded, 585 BC, or as many scholars now feel, it was written much later in the 160's BC to encourage the Maccabeans in their revolt against Rome. It was written AFTER all the events prophesied took place, which is why Daniel 11 is so specific. Daniel 12 then becomes rather generic because after the rise of Rome, the authors didn't really know the rest of the story much after the specifics of the 160's ended.


The point is that we all know that OUR lives were lived, and many still live their lives out, linking Daniel to Matthew 24, which also was written to address issues now long past from our times.

Again it is not my purpose to prove that to you, but I have accepted that much of what we call history prophesied is really "prophecy" historicized, or the conforming of later writings to fit events as they had already occurred. If the detail of Daniel 11 is the kind of thing that is able to be locked in stone for future fulfillment, then we as humans have no choice in the part we have to play in the game as it is already decided for us evidently down to the details. It's a philosophical problem to me about choices and free will.


Other problem with prophecy is that they simply didn't come true. We all were groomed with the fantastic story of the fall of Tyre and how it would be scraped bare never to be inhabited etc. The problem is it wasn't and the city of Tyre existed in NT times and does to this day. The Tyranians rebuffed Nebuchadnezzar and only succumbed to Alexander the Great, yet still exists. It's a cop out to point out ancient ruins in the water as proof of prophecy fulfilled when the city called Tyre is just over your shoulder. These facts are easily found in a simple search on the topic.


Ezekiel's Failed Prophecies on Tyre and Egypt


Ezekiel made a prophecy that, at the time he wrote, seems most likely to be fulfilled. The prophet was writing, in 587BC, at the time when Nebuchadnezzar was laying siege on Tyre. With such a powerful army like Nebuchadnezzar's, it was not surprising that Ezekiel prophesied the fall of Tyre to the Babylonian king.
Ezekiel 26:7-14: For thus says the Lord: "Behold I will bring upon Tyre from the north Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, king of kings, with horses and chariots, and with horsemen and a hosts of many soldiers. He will slay with the sword your daughters on the mainland; he will set up a siege wall against you. He will direct the shock of his battering rams against your walls, and with his axes he will break down your towers...With the hoofs of his horses he will trample all your streets; he will slay your people with the sword and your mighty pillar will fall to the ground...they will break down your walls and destroy your pleasant houses... I will make you a bare rock...you shall never be rebuilt, for I have spoken," says the Lord God.


The whole passage clearly prophesied the sack and complete destruction of Tyre by Nebuchadnezzar. However, the vivid description of the sack and fall of Tyre never happened. After a siege of thirteen years, until 573BC, Nebuchadnezzar lifted his siege on Tyre and had to arrive at a compromised agreement. Thus Nebuchadnezzar did not destroy Tyre. Tyre was destroyed by Alexander the Great, 240 years later. And furthermore, despite the prophet, the city of Tyre was eventually rebuilt.


When Nebuchadnezzar broke the gates down he found the city almost empty. The majority of the people had moved by ship to an island about one half mile off the coast and fortified the city there. The mainland city was destroyed in 573, but the city of Tyre on the island remained a powerful city for several hundred years.
The implication of this paragraph is clear: that Nebuchadnezzar destroyed a major portion of Tyre. Tyre's main city was always on the island. The part of the city on the mainland is nothing more than a suburb. In other words, Nebuchadnezzar could achieve no more than take over a relatively minor part of the city. Furthermore it is obvious from the passage in Ezekiel that the complete destruction of Tyre by Nebuchadnezzar was prophesized. Ezekiel himself admitted that this prophecy was a mistake!


Ezekiel 29:17-20: ...the Lord God came to me: "Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made his army labor hard against Tyre; every head was made bald and every shoulder was rubbed bare; yet neither he nor his army got anything from Tyre to pay for the labor that he had performed against it... (Website: Rejection of Pascal's Wager)


The prophecies of both Isaiah and Ezekiel against Egypt also fell far short of reality in their "fulfillment."
"The prophet Isaiah, for instance, foretold the drying up of all the waters of the Egypt, and the destruction of all land used for plantation due to this drying up of the River Nile.


Isaiah 19:5-7: And the waters of the Nile will be dried up, and the river will be parched and dry; and its canal will become foul, and the branches of Egypt's Nile will diminish and dry up, reeds and rushes will rot away. There will be bare places by the Nile, on the brink of the Nile, and all that is sown by the Nile will dry up, be driven away, and be no more.


This part of Isaiah, widely accepted by scholars to be written around the eighth century BC, is about 2750 years old. And in all this period of two and three quarters millennia, this prophecy has yet to be fulfilled! Moreover it is clear from the context that Isaiah prophecy was meant for the Egypt of his time. For it was with that Egypt that Isaiah and his people had a grievance against, and the prophecy was a warning to them. Obviously this is a clear example of an unfulfilled prophecy." (Website: Rejection of Pascal's Wager)


I only point these out because so many would NEVER entertain the idea that any prophecy of the Bible didn't come true and will launch any number and kind of apologetic to defend what was said would be from what really occurred in history. Some of you are doing that right now.. :)


The last Pope would be the last Pope and now this Pope will be the last Pope and I expect the next Pope will also be the last Pope.


And now we again live in a time where "prophecy" can manipulate real lives. There are any number of those who just know how it will all be. The kings of all directions are doing this and that..."just read my article and see for yourself." Every world news event , like in the 60's or 70's or 80's, is worthy of note. The last Pope would be the last Pope and now this Pope will be the last Pope and I expect the next Pope will also be the last Pope. Meanwhile we get older but not the wiser for the experience. What we'll end up with is drawing every imagined prophetic event to ourselves in reality as some government leaders even seem to base policy on "what the Bible says." It is very possible to cause things to happen because one expects them to happen. The problem is you end up with all the damage and none of the salvation. In short, an end of the world scenario can be acted out based on false subconscious beliefs and yet still you end up with no Second Coming, World Tomorrow or Kingdom of God. You end up screwed up.


So why might it be better not to LIVE your actual life around the alleged reality and truth of prophecy and the "imminent" return of Jesus which has been imminent now for a couple thousand years?


I've been there, I've done this. I've lived my real life ahead of my actual life while it quietly slipped by. I've made life decisions in the past based on a preoccupation with the future. I've also let a lot of precious life time go by thinking about things that proved to be untrue and teaching things that weren't. I thought they were, but when one realizes they aren't, it would be hoped one would stop that. I did.


I've been there, I've done this. I've lived my real life ahead of my actual life while it quietly slipped by. I've made life decisions in the past based on a preoccupation with the future. I've also let a lot of precious life time go by thinking about things that proved to be untrue and teaching things that weren't.


Basing a life on what may or may not happen in the future, and Bible types did it all the time and were wrong too, is to miss the present. And whether one admits it or not , the present is all we ever actually really have to work with. Your kids really are their ages they are NOW and one does not postpone making memories with them now because the future is a more serious consideration. They will NEVER again be kids, and you and I will never again be any younger. For Paul, to live might be loss and to die gain, but that theological rhetoric and let's face it, Paul never, from what we can note, ever had to enjoy his children, mate or life in the now. He was in the imminent future right up until it bit him in the bum. He may have had the power to have a wife, great word there, "power", but I bet he was basically not one the women would flock to to begin with.


If you are still in a COG, does your Sabbath experience, weekends that your kids also have to call their free time, only consist for them of coming, sitting and going? How often we forget that the parents generally got to make their life decisions but then deny them to their children. I know, "raise up your child in the way he should go.." Problem I have is with the "should go."


I'm amazed after all these decades the COG still can't figure out whether to eat out on the Sabbath! Do you really believe some Deity cares! Do you really think there are angels taking names!


I used to take my kids to the local zoo on Sabbaths after church. This was in the 1970's. I have never regretted spending MANY a Friday night with them when little swimming at the YMCA and stopping at Dunkin Donuts on the way home. That ritual of the "now" is far more remembered than any sermon I may have given that day. But for some, depending on their prophecy laden pastor, life is just one big "around the corner", "just a little longer" and never ending "gun lap." I had kidded for years that we have been in the gun lap so often, we run the risk of running out of bullets. Little did I know that was a prophecy that would come true!


Prophecy means little to me at this point in my life. It may mean a lot to some of you depending on who is feeding the need to know what I don't think we can know in this world. We can hid behind the idea that we know God is doing this or that, but that's pretty iffy knowing.


Whatever your position, at least know that even the Bible got it wrong at times, not matter what your pastor says or how your church motivates you with prophecy to live on the edge of your chair, just a bit ahead of the now, in somewhat a fearful or at least anxious, "what's going to happen" state. Isaiah was wrong, Ezekiel was wrong, Paul was wrong and yes, even Jesus was mistaken in his own perceptions of his own experience. That's another story.


If we can be wise enough to see that even Bible prophecies indeed have failed, that some prophecies are not really prophecies , and that reading the newspaper as if it were the Bible come to life is not wise, we might actually have a life in the now we can say was a real life. A life lived in anticipation of some alleged future is not a real life. It's disillusionment in the making.


I'm going to go out on my own limb of prophecy here. I predict that all the leaders of any COG who promote prophecy first and have not really ever given a sermon using the ideas in this article, will live out their lives and come to the same conclusions Paul did. They kept a Faith and now it's time to pass on.


I predict that Churches like PCG and RCG will pass from the scene when their me only leadership does. One can only get so much mileage out of playing the sermons on world events by those who died years ago. Yet I guess we do that when repeating Paul's admonitions of the shortness of time forgetting it is long since past when he felt it would end. We do it when we say "Behold I come quickly" when that quickly was over 2000 years ago.


I predict that WCG (soon to be GIF it seems we can predict) will become a meaningless footnote to the Christian experience. I mean why belong to something in California that is everywhere you live? What holds scattered groups together is being special and having special insights into "The Middle East, What Next." And "Will You Be in the Place of Safety." Don't get me started!


I predict more people will avail themselves of the Internet to do their own studies and come to their own conclusions. I always had to ask a pastor because somehow I thought he must know. After all, he was an "expert" on the Bible. Now you can ask lots of pastors and scholars and even those who used to be and no longer can abide it. I predict the era of Guru's will end for those who learn to think and search a matter out from many and not just one source. I would hope that people in congregations dominated by one grand idea spoken by one grand human being will finally wake up and not care if asking a question or questioning a sermon or concept gets them kicked out. Being kicked out, terminated, fired, marginalized or blocked at the door can be the greatest freedom you'll ever experience if you ever choose to reclaim your own brain and perspectives. Remember...ANY TIME you are listening to another human being tell you how it is, and your get that little "uh oh" in the tummy....listen to it! It's the truth trying to have a chat with you.


I predict many will keep on believing the unbelievable because that's what humans do to keep fear and uncertainty at bay. I do it, you do it.


I predict that very few people give a rats... bum... about what I think!


Don't live in anticipation of possible future. We can't know and no one has ever gotten it right. All prophecies about the Second Coming of Jesus have failed to date 100% ! Don't miss your NOW for that idea that just around the corner, me and mine will be justified in forgetting to enjoy the one life we know we NOW have on this planet. It's a dangerous world to be sure, this does not mean it is the result of prophets who themselves missed their own marks way back.


A life based on Prophecy as interpreted by someone who thinks they know and enforced upon one as fact , just wait and see, is going to be a stressed one at best. You are also going to have to give up a few bucks hard earned to keep the mythology and the grand poopa in prediction mode. Remember there is Addiction to Predictions. Don't allow yourself to wake up decades older with grown kids having regrets you didn't go to the zoo or stop at Dunkin Donuts in their jammies on the way home....even on the Sabbath.


Dennis Diehl
SCMassageTherapy@aol.com

Dennis Diehl is a former Pastor and currently has a successful Therapeutic Massage practice in Greenville, SC.