As LCG Cuts Its Budget For Spreading Its Gospel, COGWA Makes a Big Jump Forward With Its Message

 

While the Living Church of God has had to publicly admit it had to cut back on its ability to preach its gospel message due to an income drop, Church of God a Worldwide Association has just announced they have had a substantial increase in income over the last three years so-much-so that they can now enlarge their media empire with new hires and gospel outreach.

This has to frost the butts of UCG, Gerald Weston, and Bob Thiel as they all languish trying to find money to do their pet projects and spread their so-called gospel messages. 

From a COGWA source:

April 11, 2022
Dear Brethren,

In my most recent member letter, I wrote that it was my last letter prior to the Passover. But today I have such good news to share that I have chosen to write to you once again! Because of the increase in our annual income for the past two fiscal years and now continuing into the third year, we are ready to make a major investment in preaching the gospel. 

 

Last year our increase in income made it possible for us to pay off two mortgages (one in East Texas and the second here in McKinney), thereby saving the Church approximately $230,000 per year. Our 2022 fiscal budget contained a substantial increase—some 30 percent—for Media to preach the gospel. But we weren’t ready in January to decide where those funds should go. We needed a plan, and after several weeks of meetings and many hours of discussion, Clyde Kilough, operation manager for Media, and the Media department have come forward with a series of proposals for investing these additional funds in our public proclamation efforts, beginning immediately.

My purpose for writing another letter prior to the Passover is to share the details of our updated Media plan with all of you. This plan will require some new hires in Media, and locating the right people will take time. But the other items will begin right away (some have actually already been implemented). Attached to this letter is a report from Mr. Kilough giving an overview of what we have planned. I hope you will be as excited as we are when you read the details. 

 

Matthew 24:14 and 28:19-20 describe our mission to take the gospel message, the good news of the Kingdom of God, to a troubled world. In furthering that mission, the Church of God, a Worldwide Association, has made the commitment to advance the preaching of the gospel this fiscal year (2022) by more than 30 percent when compared to last year!

Please be assured that our focus on Media will not distract us from the second part of our mission— caring for the brethren. We have created a new educational program for pastors, we’re restarting the International Leadership Program in May and through our International Fund we are taking care of the congregational needs of brethren around the world. We are committed to preaching the gospel and caring for the brethren and doing both to the best of our ability with the resources that God has provided. We now have the resources to do more in one year than we have done in a decade.

I believe you will agree with me that it is great to have some good news for a change. Trials, suffering, wars and rumors of wars surround us, but they cannot defeat us. Please have a meaningful and inspiring Passover and Days of Unleavened Bread, focusing, once again, on God’s plan of salvation—the creation of His family.

Sincerely, your brother in Christ,
Jim Franks

 

Page 2 

 

Upon learning of the financial boost to our department, a Media team met a number of times to brainstorm the needs and possibilities in three areas: video, editorial and engagement. From an initial list of about 25 projects—far more than what we could possibly do—we narrowed it down to the top 10 priority needs and what is actually manageable with our personnel and budget. 

 

Some of these projects are going to be new, major, highly visible steps for the Church—more on these in a moment. Others are projects unseen by most people, but very important to the work.

1. Engagement. One of our greatest needs is to develop ongoing relationships with our visitors, engaging and encouraging them to use Life, Hope & Truth more thoroughly and frequently. Every month we gain several thousand new leads (those who download materials or subscribe to publications). These leads are very important because they have demonstrated more than casual interest, and they’re likely more interested in receiving other material. We need to reach back to them, which we can do by implementing workflows (a series of automatically triggered emails sent at regular intervals to offer related material) and email campaigns. While cost-effective, it’s labor-intensive and dependent on having personnel dedicated to the tasks. 

 

Another engagement tool we can easily implement is a regular coworker letter from the president, and these will start soon. Our growing number of coworkers are valued members of the Church’s efforts to preach the gospel, and we want them to feel involved and know that their contributions are highly appreciated. 

 

2. Editorial. We’re targeting several major projects in editorial content development. Discern is one of our highest quality products, covering a wide variety of doctrine, prophecy and Christian living subjects. People need Discern, and we want to see greater numbers accessing both the digital and the print versions, so we’re going to increase promotional efforts through investing in advertising and through email and social media campaigns. And, in order to give subscribers more frequent exposure to Discern, we sent out our first online bonus edition in early March. The bonus edition will be sent in the alternating months when we don’t have a print version, so every month subscribers will get either a print or digital Discern. 

 

Life, Hope & Truth currently offers a vast array of content—literally thousands of blogs and articles!—educating people about God’s truth. But many people face a big challenge today in that while they want to follow God, they struggle with serious issues that hold them back. We see a need to help people understand and deal with such issues from a spiritual perspective, so addressing relevant social topics, such as sexuality, addiction and emotional problems, is going to be an area of increased focus. 

 

We are also expanding and developing new blogging strategies to have more consistent writing on topics that are SEO (search engine optimization) driven. This will require a wider pool of skilled writers with different writing styles and expertise, assigning topics for new content rather than relying on volunteer submissions, and also updating and refreshing old content (both blogs and articles) 

 

All of these editorial projects require skilled personnel, and I’m very happy to announce that
we have just hired another full-time writer, which will help us immensely. 

 

Page 3 

 

3. Video. Now—in what will be the biggest steps forward in Media since Life, Hope & Truth was launched—we are going to create a regular LHT program, a regular LHT podcast, and ramp up the assembly of video “shorts.” 

 

As mentioned earlier, LHT is incredibly strong in written content—it provides excellent teaching and witnessing of the gospel through the written word. But we have lacked the same depth of preaching—ministers personally delivering the gospel through strong “evangelizing” on a regular full-length program. We need voices to give the gospel the type of power that can come only through the spoken word. Furthermore, increasing video production will not only bolster LHT’s rankings, but it can be placed on many other video outlets. YouTube, for example, is the second largest search engine in the world, and we need to be available on that— and all other venues possible—in video form. 

 

Podcasts are already extremely popular and are increasingly gathering larger audiences. They reach people on the go, and young people especially really use them. This is another avenue for preaching the gospel through social media outlets, as well as on LHT. 

 

And, while we already have several dozen video “shorts” (3- to 6-minute videos that accompany LHT articles and are posted on the Church’s YouTube channel), we could produce literally hundreds more. These offer quick explanations of various biblical topics—difficult to understand scriptures, biblical terms and definitions, etc.—specific issues people are asking about. 

 

Steadily churning out such new videos will require a lot of planning and hiring several new employees, not only in the areas of technical production but also for presentation. We can only be strong in production if we have more people dedicated to it, both as writers and presenters. Some big decisions lie ahead. How will we determine who, and how many, would be well-suited for presenting the gospel through video? What are the best formats for programs and podcasts? How can we most effectively promote and place these programs? Can the same presenters for video also do the podcasts? What about production for other video formats, such as TikTok? 

 

This is only the briefest overview of the projects at hand. Even with hiring new staff in several positions, these undertakings are ambitious, and they won’t happen overnight. For example, while we have some prospective employees in video, they may not be available immediately. And it will take a while to put the programs together and have the right presenters selected and in place. But it will come! 

 

It is exciting to be laying the groundwork for these major steps forward in preaching the gospel. And we are confident that, just as God has opened the doors financially, He will also provide the personnel and guide our plans. We have a dedicated team here at the office, and we know God’s people will be fully behind our efforts with their prayers and support.

 

Former UCG Member Robert Teitgen Jumps Bail And Has More Felonies Added To His Child Molestation Charges

 

It looks like we have another bail jumping child molester following in Kevin Dean's footsteps. Robert D Teitgen jumped bail and is on the loose. 

Robert David Teitgen, 52, is facing three charges of gross sexual imposition and one charge of luring a minor by a computer. If convicted of gross sexual imposition, the more serious of the charges, he faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $20,000 fine for each of the three charges. He faces an additional maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $20,000 fine if convicted of luring a minor.

According to court documents, Grand Forks police received a follow-up on a Suspected Child Abuse of Neglect report that 12-year-old Jane Doe told her older brother she had been "molested" by Teitgen.

The girl's father told police that he and his son then located sexually inappropriate texts, photos, and videos on Doe's phone. See rest of story here: St. Paul man pleads not guilty to sexually abusing a Grand Forks 12-year-old

And here: Massachusetts man accused of sexually assaulting Grand Forks teen He is the son of the late UCG minister named Herb Teitgen. He is also attended UCG's Ambassador Bible Center and worked briefly for LifeNets.

If you search for Robert Teitgen on ND courts > Grand Forks County,  looks like he jumped bail last month, adding to his felonies.

Also appears that his another trial is set for 5/24/2022.

🎩 tip to a reader here...

UCG New Three Year Plan Is To Speak Truth In Love...

 

Those fun boys in Cincinnati are on a roll!

Presentation of 3-year Strategic Plan Review—John Miller & Brian Shaw 

 

In August 2021, the COE tasked the Strategic Planning and Finance Committee (SPFC) to develop Paul’s appeal to the Ephesians to “speak the truth in love” and incorporate that concept into the major update of the Strategic Plan that was due for the 2022–2023 fiscal year. The SPFC has been working on the updated Strategic Plan for the past two months. The Council presented this updated Strategic Plan to the administration for about three hours. 

 

We value our responsibility to preach the gospel, make disciples and prepare a people. To accomplish that responsibility, we must plumb the depths of the Word of God and live it out in the Spirit of God. In summary—Truth in Love. 

Wut? A COG speaking truth in love? 

Truth in Love is, in essence, who we are and how we do what we do. It is about much more than just “speaking the truth in love.” Ephesians maps out a path that leads to becoming like Him. It provides a framework to organize and focus “The Work” of the Church. 

 

The SPFC took up the challenge, with the approval of the COE, to incorporate these elements into the update of the 2022-2023 Strategic and Operation Plan. This Strategic Plan builds on the work of those who have gone before, but we believe it brings a new level of clarity, detail and focus to outcomes-based planning and makes it Scripture Centric. 

 

We all desire to hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much” (Matthew:25:23, ESV). The Strategic and Operation Plan does not ignore the “small things” (Zechariah:4:10), but keeps the overall Vision and Mission in focus. 

 

We acknowledge that not everything in a work that is both human and divine can be planned, documented and measured. However, we can and should implement, measure, evaluate and continuously improve everything we can with the resources God has so generously supplied. This plan is intended to be a living document that can, and will, be updated each year. 

 

The Council unanimously approved, by consent without resolution, to continue with this Strategic Plan and for the administration to use the framework provided to prepare the Operating Plan and Budget that will be presented to the Council at the February meetings.

As for preaching "truth in love" and how much of an impact thay are making after 25 years of existence, there's this:

Peter Eddington went through some of the following statistics as of November 30 this year: 

 

United News circulation is currently at 18,449, which is 2.8% more than this time last year and just below our all-time high of 18,475 reached for the September 2021 issue. 

 

Our coworker count is now at 8,799 (16% higher than the same time last year) and just below our all-time high from October 2021 of 8,809.

Our donor list now includes 10,599 people—12.9% higher than this time last year. (Our all-time high was 10,834 in June of 2021.)

Donors combined with our coworkers is now 19,398 (14% more than same time last year).

Total Beyond Today magazine circulation worldwide is at 327,229 for the Nov.-Dec. 2021 issue—which is 9.2% more than the same time last year and the highest since 2008.
U.S. magazine subscribers are at 279,406 for the Nov.-Dec. 2021 issue. This is 12.3% more than the same time last year and the highest since 2008.

Those people on our U.S. file associated with the Church (teens, members, associated) as of November 30 is 12,112.

United Church of God: Is it possible UCG members can give a well-reasoned and graceful defense of their beliefs?

 

Those fun boys in Cincinnati are wanting their members to talk about their faith with others and not be ashamed of its ties to Armstrongism. They want their members to be able to practice Christian apologetics.

Christian beliefs, lifestyles and values contradict many prominent voices of the modern world. That being so, it’s easy to become defensive or insecure when we hear comments we don’t agree with or that simply mock God or our beliefs. 

 

However, having respectful conversations about our faith with others is an important way we can live out our faith, and it is a discipline we should all try to master. So, if you are new to the apologetics world—or have never even heard of the word—let me introduce you to what it is and how it can look in everyday life!

Apologetics 

 

The word apologetics doesn’t mean to make an apology for your faith when someone doesn’t agree with what you have to say or what you believe. Apologetics means to give a well-reasoned and graceful defense—an answer to something controversial in your conversations with someone else—in a way that makes sense to them and is relevant to their experiences. As Solomon said in the book of Proverbs, “To make an apt answer is a joy to a man, and a word in season, how good it is!” (Proverbs 15:23, English Standard Version).

Their first step is to have members discern how "Christian" or how deep are the beliefs of the person they are talking to.

In order to practice Christian apologetics in conversations with friends, acquaintances or strangers, it’s important that we first understand the depth of another person’s beliefs before we make any kind of defense of our own. We can all do this by asking a question as simple as, “What do you mean when you say . . . ?” Of course, it might be a good time to ask a quick, silent prayer in your head for guidance as well!

In Armstrongite speak, it makes no difference really on how deep of a belief that a non-UCG person has because no matter how deep it is it is all wrong and rooted in paganism. Only enlightened UC G members carry the truth and no matter who well they guard their words, they still think themselves superior to the nonUCG person.

How many UCG members or even COG members ever seek to understand the beliefs of the Christians living around them? Those beliefs are barriers that limit them from seeing the true church that is UCG. They are part of the false church and need to move  in to the light of UCG.

This question, or any question that seeks to understand someone else before we expect them to understand us, is the key to finding out what kind of barriers someone truly has towards God and Christianity. It’s the backbone of effective and meaningful conversations because for some, there are intellectual barriers to God, while others have personal barriers based on their experiences with Christianity, and that’s just not something we can assume on the surface.

 

The article ends with this:

The example before us 

When we look at examples of apologetics in the Bible, we see writers who each understood their audiences’ cultural roots and addressed the barriers in their ideologies. For example, when writing his gospel account, Matthew used genealogy to defend the bloodline of Jesus Christ to the Jews. By contrast, Mark did not include a genealogical introduction to his gospel account in his appeal to a gentile audience. 

 

Likewise, Luke’s writings gave an historical and orderly account of Jesus, which he backed with other eyewitness accounts, just as the Greeks did. But John wrote his gospel account and letters from a theological perspective to address Jesus’ testimonies and ideas that were circulating through his Palestinian-Jewish audience at that time. 

 

Paul preached to citizens of Athens at the Areopagus of their “Unknown God” as the foundation of his witness testimony of Jesus Christ (Acts 17). And Jesus showed Thomas the marks on His hands from the crucifixion when Thomas could not believe based on the reports of others alone (John 20:24-29). 

 

No matter what perspective the audience came from, we see that the ones who preached the gospel before us reached their audience where they were and made a defense for Jesus from there.
Though much of the Western worldview shares its roots in Christianity, our schools, workplaces and institutions are now predominantly secular—or non-believing by nature. So, in our spiritual conversations with others, remember to ask questions and search out the answers to people’s barriers—what it is that holds them back from believing what the Bible says is true. Turn those controversial conversations into meaningful ones. 

 

By doing so, we can demonstrate respect towards their doubts and show love by reaching the hearts and minds of each individual, and effectively use apologetics to make a defense for our faith.

Armstrongism has never used its beliefs as a defense of its faith. It has always used its beliefs as a weapon to destroy and mock those who are outside the bounds of the church or who are atheists.

Stephen Allwine, UCG Elder Who Shot His Wife, Is Back In News Claiming Innocence

 

Fox9 out of Minneapolis, MN had a breaking interview tonight with Stephen Allwine, the United Church of God elder who shot his wife dead, leaving his 5 year old son to find her body.

(FOX 9) - Five years after killing his wife Amy, her enigmatic husband Stephen Allwine claims he was the victim of a high-tech framing. 

 

"When you look at all the scientific evidence when you look at the hard physical evidence, I couldn't have done it if you know me as an individual. I couldn't have done it," Allwine said.

Allwine was convicted of first-degree murder in the November 13, 2016, killing. Prosecutors and police said Allwine tried to hire a hitman on the ‘Dark Net’ to kill his wife, and when that plan turned out to be a ruse, he killed her himself and staged the crime scene to look like a suicide.

In his first interview, Allwine talked to the FOX 9 Investigators in the chapel of Stillwater Prison, where he is serving his life sentence. 

 

Allwine offered no hard evidence proving his innocence, but rather tried to cast doubt on compelling computer forensic evidence found on 64 electronic devices taken from the Allwine home in Cottage Grove.

Allwine claims the real killer planted evidence on his electronics to implicate him in the murder. He suggests physical evidence at the crime scene that could exonerate him was ignored or discounted.

It is interesting to note how those involved in the case know he did it, well, except for the UCG members who stand by him tis day.

The sick part of this is that Allwine found killing her less offensive than UCG kicking him out of the church over getting a divorce. Allwine had been found to have had several adulterous relationships after his Ashley Madison accounts were exposed. Not being able to keep his pants zipped and being faithful, he decided to kill her himself after failing to hire a paid killer.

See:  Convicted ‘Dark Net’ killer claims innocence: ‘I couldn’t have done it’

 

UCG Struggling To Retain 18-age Group To Remain In The Church

 

Truly, what does UCG have to offer its young adults?

Youth in the Church—Len Martin
One question that came in last week with the Council workshop was how can we help the youth, especially the 18-age group from leaving the Church. What can we do as a Church? The Council discussed and brainstormed ideas for over an hour. The Chairman remanded to the SPFC to have further study and develop policies on this important subject and emphasized the importance of moving this forward and reporting in December.

UCG having problems with employee retention?

 

Sadly, the Church of God movement has never really valued its employees as it should. The mother church (Worldwide Church of God) treated its lower echelon employees like chattel. Many were the times when employees went in and asked for raises and were told, "We don't owe you anything." These very same men who said this are now sitting in UCG and elsewhere. Employees who had to retire due to age or illness were left high and dry, even after church leaders stood in front of hundreds of employees and said they (the church) would take care of them.

The second area was to look at employee retention. The Council recognizes that although we have limited resources to accomplish all that we want to accomplish, the cost to the organization when we lose valued employees and the subsequent costs to hire and re-train, hinders our ability to “do the work.” The Council would like to explore additional benefit opportunities that could be made available to our employees. Some may not have a cost impact to the organization, unless utilized (such as continuing education or other forms of tuition reimbursement). This point of interest was to see what areas of employee compensation can be used to help benefit the employees and to evaluate salary ranges and other areas to explore to help retain employees. This was remanded to the Strategic Planning and Finance Committee (SPFC).

UCG Unable To Understand its "Essence" And Thus Members Do Not Share The Vision

 

The only "essence" UCG has is that it was formed to keep the elite ministers with a steady paycheck when they jumped ship from the Mother Church, WCG, after they had spent several years publicly supporting the changes.

UCG claims to preach "depth of truth". A truth that is so precious that they present it in "love". Cough, cough.

UCG blames its problems on the "clutter" in their competing market. The truth of the matter is that other churches preach a better truthful and loving message than UCG does. 

The third was in the area of our vision statement. Whereas most members can recite from memory our slogan, “Preach the Gospel, Prepare a People,” which is a shortened version of our mission statement, the Council began discussion on how we can get everyone to similarly focus on our vision. Brian Shaw presented this to the Council during the COE workshop the previous week, so he presented it again for the administration and elders. This process was begun eleven years ago when a project team worked with an outside firm to help us understand UCG’s critical essence. Their work was supposed to be reworked and made our own, but due to other pressing matters it was never completed. The COE now strongly agrees that the essence of what UCG offers is “truth” and especially depth of truth. There was also agreement in how UCG presents the truth, “in love.” He said that Ephesians:4:15 is one of the core verses of our vision statement and sums up where we are all to be and how we conduct ourselves. He then drew a competitive map so all could see that our competing clutter in the market does not speak to those who are seeking “truth in love.” This isn’t just a slogan, a theme or a tagline but a cultural change that will unify us and lead us all to developing the nature of Christ, as Ephesians tells us. The COE wants UCG administration to lead our ministry and membership in “truth in love,” and believes strongly that as this is reflected in our sermons, publications and video services, all those seeking to do the same will want to engage with us. All of the Council was excited to continue to move this forward with more emphasis on this condensed version of our vision statement and each member expressed this to the administration. The Council remanded this to the SPFC for policies that can be given to the administration for implementation.

UCG Ministers Critiquing Each Others Sermons

 

Imagine that, UCG ministers critiquing each other. All of that back-slapping must have been painful.

The Word Fitly Spoken Clubs: From all accounts received, the first round of The Word Fitly Spoken Clubs for all pastors was a great success. For eight weeks, eight ministers met online to critique one another’s sermons. There has been much camaraderie and good will in all groups and many have expressed how helpful it was in becoming more focused in their speaking.

England Ignoring UCG Literature

 

It looks like the folks in England don't care too much about UGG's Beyond Today, a bad imitation of the old Plain Truth.

Prayers for Subscriber Renewal in the British Isles
October 7, 2021
David Fenney, chief executive officer of UCG-British Isles and pastor of the Preston, Sheffield, Ballymena and Stirling congregations, mentions an ongoing challenge with a very low renewal rate for Beyond Today magazine. He wrote: “Recently our subscription level grew to nearly 10,000 copies per issue, but now it is dropping back as subscribers do not renew as the end of their 6-issue subscription approaches. Prayers would be much appreciated that subscribers will be increasingly motivated to renew and that our office personnel can be inspired to enhance our renewal process if and where necessary.”
Thank you in advance for your prayers!
—Peter Eddington, Media and Communications Services

Satan Is Now Using Google To Thwart UCG's Message

 Never has the COG seen as much persecution as it sees today.

This is starting to sound like a broken record in certain COG circles. "We are being picked on because of our powerful message." Ask any person on the street about that powerful message that they are supposedly hearing from various COG's and NO ONE will have any idea who these groups are or what it is they have said.

UCG Google Advertising Censorship
October 21, 2021 

 

The Church has a divine commission to preach the gospel of the Kingdom of God to all people. The technology to do this continues to advance as never before. The communication systems available, like the Internet, are so powerful. 

 

But with these advancing technologies comes increased pressure for us to be censored and our message hidden by large, controlling tech companies—like Google, Facebook and YouTube.
For example, Google—who owns YouTube—is already censoring our ability to advertise online. Many of our advertising campaigns are now limited in their distribution—being labeled “religious belief in personalized advertising.” Our ads are approved to run, but to very limited audiences. Our reach and effectiveness are being censored and controlled. As a result, we are presently not fully spending our budgeted online marketing dollars for Google. 

 

We would appreciate your specific prayers for the gospel to have “free course” and be available to all those who use the Internet, not just to limited audiences whom Google selects.
—Peter Eddington, Operation Manager, Media and Communications Services

UCG: Always Finding An Excuse To Look Backward Instead of Forward

 

From Victor Kubik

As disciples of Jesus Christ, we in the Church of God hold the marvelous gift of truth from God Himself. As Jesus declared to His disciples in the first century, “truly, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it” (Matthew 13:17, English Standard Version, emphasis added throughout). 

 

In many respects, the New Testament serves as an illuminating and eloquent commentary on the truth revealed in the Old Testament. Isaiah declares to us that “The LORD was pleased, for his righteousness’ sake, to magnify his law and make it glorious” (Isaiah 42:21, ESV). 

 

That’s exactly what Jesus did in His first-century ministry, as we read in Matthew: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:17-20, ESV). 

 

All Old Testament prophecies and teachings ultimately reflect and point to the coming of Jesus as the Savior of humanity and future King of Kings in the coming Kingdom of God. The apostle John reveals: “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). 

 

Of course, we understand that we as humans cannot keep the law perfectly, nor can we somehow “earn” salvation by keeping it as a service of works. As Paul emphasizes to us: “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9). 

 

Importantly, that does not change what Jesus said about those who try to “relax” the standard of the commandments, including the keeping of the weekly seventh-day Sabbath and the annual Holy Days. The commandments and teachings—embodied by the Word of God—guide our behavior. They tell us how to worship God. They provide incredible insight into both past and future trends. They give us sustaining comfort when we’re in painful trials and tribulations. They show us how to succeed, even in this earthly existence. They guide us on the spiritual pathway to transformation and how to put on the new man (Ephesians 4:24).

UCG Elder Stephen Allwine Loses His Appeal For Being Found Guilty Of Killing His Wife

In November of 2016, United Church of God elder, Stephen Allwine, shot his wife in the head. The serial adulterer and frequent user of the Ashely Madison adultery website then took his young son out to dinner. When they arrived home he let his son go into the house first just so the child could discover his dead mother. Things quickly started to unravel when police pegged him as the prime suspect and searched his many IT devices. They soon discovered his use of the Ashely Madison adultery site and even more sinister his use of the dark web to hire a paid assassin to kill his wife. After paying them money, they refused to do it, so Allwine developed his own strategy. (Those details are included in the links below.)

This week Allwine went on trial for premeditated first-degree murder. The situation laid out by prosecutors was a mix of religious guilt and piety, online double lives and desperate measures. According to the prosecutors, Stephen, an Internet technology specialist, had begun cheating on his wife using the infidelity site, Ashley Madison. But to him, divorce was not an option.

“He was seeing other women but he didn’t want to divorce her because of his position in the church,” Washington County prosecutor Jamie Kreuser told a jury this week, the Star Tribune reported. Washington Post

Needless to say, Allwine was soon arrested and after a lengthy court trial by jury, was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison.

His motive was simple they said, leaving Amy was not an option, not for the church-going, well-respected family man who taught others how to have healthy marriages. Murder, however, was an option, he could play the grieving widower, who would no doubt be encouraged to go on with his life, and find a new wife. The $700,000 life insurance would be the financial security he needed to do so. 

 

Despite the defences best efforts to refute the theory put forward by the prosecution, the jury returned after just 8 hours of deliberation, they found him guilty of murder, and he was sentenced to life in prison. Medium

Allwine went to court recently to have his case overturned. Court documents state the following for refusing his appeal: Minnesota Courts.gov

SYLLABUS

1. Sufficient evidence supports the jury’s verdict that appellant is guilty of first-degree premeditated murder.

2. The district court did not abuse its discretion by denying appellant’s claim of prosecutorial misconduct without an evidentiary hearing because, even if the alleged facts were proven by a preponderance of the evidence, appellant is conclusively entitled to no relief on that claim.

3. Based on the information before the district court when it denied appellant’s claim of ineffective assistance of trial counsel without an evidentiary hearing, the district court did not abuse its discretion because, even if the then-alleged facts were proven by a preponderance of the evidence, appellant is conclusively entitled to no relief on that claim.

4. A motion for reconsideration of a postconviction order that denies relief cannot introduce new evidence.

Affirmed.

MCKEIG, Justice.
After being convicted of first-degree premeditated murder for killing his wife, 

After being convicted of first-degree premeditated murder for killing his wife, appellant Stephen Allwine1 appeals from his conviction and from the district court’s denial of his petition for postconviction relief. Allwine presents four issues on appeal. First, he argues his conviction must be reversed because the evidence presented at trial was insufficient to support the jury’s verdict that he is guilty. Second, he claims his conviction must be reversed, or alternatively, a postconviction evidentiary hearing must be held, because the State committed prosecutorial misconduct. Third, he argues he is entitled to a new trial because his trial counsel provided ineffective assistance of counsel. Last, he contends an evidentiary hearing must be held to review the opinions of two experts to determine if a new trial is warranted. Because we conclude that these claims have no merit, we affirm the judgment of conviction and the decision of the district court that denied postconviction relief.

FACTS

Stephen and Amy Allwine married in 1998. Stephen worked in information technology. Amy ran a dog training business from the Allwine family residence. Stephen and Amy had a son, J.A. Stephen and Amy were very involved in their church, which does not condone infidelity or divorce. Stephen was a church elder who gave sermons and counseled others in the congregation. If a church elder is found to have committed adultery, that person could no longer serve as an elder and may be asked to leave the congregation. Beginning in 2014, Stephen engaged in multiple extramarital affairs.

In February 2016, a person using the online screen name “dogdayGod” sent a message to Besa Mafia2 on the dark web,3 seeking to hire a person to kill Amy. Soon after, dogdayGod sent a second message to Besa Mafia requesting that Amy be killed while she was on a business trip in Moline, Illinois. DogdayGod provided Besa Mafia with the address of the hotel where Amy would be staying, a physical description of Amy, a description of Amy’s vehicle, and a photograph of Amy. DogdayGod paid Besa Mafia in Bitcoin4 to kill Amy.

In May 2016, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) learned through an anonymous source that dogdayGod was trying to hire a hitman to kill Amy. An FBI agent and a Cottage Grove police detective notified Amy of the threat against her life. Law enforcement advised Amy to take security precautions and to report any suspicious activity to police. The next month, Amy notified the FBI that she had received two anonymous emails threatening to harm her and her family unless she committed suicide. In response to the threats, the FBI began an investigation. Investigators interviewed Stephen and Amy’s work colleagues, and searched Stephen and Amy’s two HP Notebook laptop computers.5 The investigation did not result in any leads.

November 13, 2016: The Day Amy Allwine Was Killed

Stephen awoke shortly before 6:00 a.m. and went to his basement office to work. Around 12:00 p.m., Stephen went upstairs to have lunch with Amy and J.A. Soon after, Amy told Stephen that she was feeling dizzy, lightheaded, and that she was going to bed to rest. Around 1:00 p.m., C.Z., Amy’s father, arrived at the Allwine residence to finish a home project that he had started a few days earlier. Stephen told C.Z. that Amy was in bed and not feeling well. C.Z. did not see his daughter while he was at the Allwine residence.

Around 2:00 p.m., C.Z. left. Minutes later, Stephen called C.Z. and asked him to return and pick up J.A., so that he could take Amy to the clinic for medical attention. C.Z. returned to the Allwine residence, picked up J.A., and the two left.

Around 5:30 p.m., Stephen arrived at C.Z.’s residence to pick up J.A. C.Z. asked Stephen what he learned about Amy’s illness at the clinic. Stephen told C.Z. that Amy decided not to go to the clinic. Following a brief conversation, Stephen and J.A. left. Stephen and J.A. returned to the Allwine residence at approximately 6:52 p.m. Upon entering their home, J.A. saw his mother lying on the floor with a pool of blood around her head. At approximately 7:00 p.m., Stephen called 911. On the 911 call, Stephen told the emergency dispatcher: “I think my wife shot herself. There’s blood all over.” Minutes later, Cottage Grove police arrived at the Allwine residence. Officers went into the master bedroom and saw Amy lying face up on the floor with her pants unbuttoned and unzipped, her hands at her sides, blood on the floor, and a handgun laying on Amy’s left forearm. Officers discovered Amy suffered a gunshot wound to the right side of her head.

Stephen Allwine’s Trial

Following an investigation, a grand jury indicted Stephen Allwine on the charge of first-degree premeditated murder. Minn. Stat. § 609.185(a)(1) (2020). Allwine retained private defense counsel. On January 23, 2018, the case proceeded to trial. The State presented several witnesses and experts, including law enforcement officials, the medical examiner who conducted the autopsy on Amy’s body, and a computer forensic expert who analyzed over 60 electronic devices that were seized from the Allwine residence—including a MacBook Pro laptop computer with the username “S Allwine” and an iPhone 6S named “S Allwine’s iPhone.”

A retired officer testified that Allwine reported to police that he had been scammed out of $6,000 while trying to purchase Bitcoin in March 2016. Another officer testified that the crime scene was “strange” and not consistent with a suicide. The medical examiner testified that she discovered a nontherapeutic amount of scopolamine6 in Amy’s system. Based on the level of scopolamine, the medical examiner agreed with law enforcement’s assessment that Amy died at 3:15 p.m. or earlier on November 13, 2016. The medical examiner also agreed with law enforcement’s assessment that the evidence was not consistent with a suicide.

The computer forensic expert testified that the user S Allwine downloaded TOR— a web browser needed to access the dark web—on the MacBook Pro laptop computer.7 The expert testified that he found a “note” on the MacBook Pro laptop computer with an email address “sharklasers.com,” which allows users to send anonymous emails. The expert testified that the user S Allwine composed an anonymous email on the MacBook Pro laptop computer. The expert testified that minutes before dogdayGod sent a message to Besa Mafia, requesting that Amy be killed while traveling to Moline, Illinois, the user S Allwine ran a Google search of Moline, Illinois on the MacBook Pro laptop computer. The expert testified that the user S Allwine used the MacBook Pro laptop computer to view Amy’s Facebook account and browsed her photographs the day before dogdayGod sent a photo of Amy to Besa Mafia. The expert testified that dogdayGod sought to buy the drug scopolamine online. Last, the expert testified that the same unique 34-digit alphanumeric code that dogdayGod used to pay Besa Mafia in Bitcoin was found on the MacBook Pro laptop computer with the username S Allwine.

The defense argued that Stephen could not have murdered Amy because he was not home at the time Amy was murdered. The defense presented several witnesses8 who all testified to either seeing Amy sometime in the afternoon in her driveway or to hearing an anonymous vehicle speed off quickly around the Allwine residence. On January 31, 2018, the jury found Stephen Allwine guilty of first-degree premeditated murder. The district court sentenced him to life without the possibility of release.

To this day there are many in the United Church of God who give Allwine undying support and believe he is totally innocent. Some even went on to brag what a wonderful opportunity he now had to be able to preach the gospel to his fellow inmates.

Nothing is shocking in the Church of God movement anymore.

A few links to the story:

Preacher Murders Wife and Has Son Find Her Body: What happens when the ones we love and trust, turn out to be the ones we should fear?

A church elder’s Ashley Madison affairs led him to the dark Web — and murder, police say

Preacher Tried to Hire a Hitman on the Dark Web to Kill His Wife

Man on trial ‘for killing wife, staging it like a suicide’

Stephen Allwine sentenced to life in prison for wife's murder

UCG: 55% of Murfreesboeo, TN Congregation Is Currently Affected By COVID

 

From COG NEWS:

United Church of God 

From Fred Kellers, elder, Murfreesboro, Tennessee congregation: 

 

Gary Petty reports: “I was finally sent home from the hospital today. A number of the nurses and doctors told me that I was a ‘blessed man’ because my COVID could have been much worse than it was. It has been a difficult illness and I am still very weak.” Gary’s wife, Kim, also had COVID-19 but was not as seriously ill. She is also doing better. 

 

Regarding the other members of the Murfreesboro congregation, the status changes daily but most are at varying degrees of recovery from ages 22–84. We have 25 affected that we know of. It’s been difficult to find out exactly who is sick. Those who were hit harder are farther behind in recovery. One member in her early 50s was hit hard; her mother also had a tough time. Leo and Barb Sancho are in their 80s and having a tough time. One member, Don Smith, did not survive; he was about 83 – but a pretty robust 83. Another member age 83 recovered well and was canning tomatoes a week later; he was vaccinated, but whether that helped or not, time will tell. We think that in total about 55% of the members in the congregation have been affected. 

 

Thank you for your prayers for the Pettys and our precious little congregation.

UCG Struggles With COVID As It Prepares For Feast

Below is the latest letter to UCG members regarding COVID, the Feast, and about showing love to one another in the church.

The facts are plain. A fresh surge of coronavirus infections—driven by the Delta variant—has created a new set of challenges for much of the world. Its impact has been felt keenly within the Church of God community. Many of you know that Beyond Today TV host Gary Petty and his wife, Kim, both came down recently with the virus, as did a number of members in the Tennessee congregations they serve. Mr. Petty’s case grew severe, and he had to be hospitalized. 

 

Thankfully, he is scheduled to be released soon, but will require time to fully recover at home. As he told me by phone, his personal experience with COVID-19 confirms that it is “a bad disease.” None of us want to experience it. Other groups within the Church of God community report several cases—mild and severe alike—among members and ministers. This virus respects no human.

Like the Living Church of God, UCG is sending their children off to summer camps, even after one of its camps had some serious issues with children being infected. 

There are some issues that we need to consider over the coming weeks. I believe that God helped us all get through a successful camp season for our church youth. With the exception of one camp where there were many who came down with the virus, we mostly were spared. In addition to God’s amazing protection, no small measure of thanks goes to the intensive planning and execution of safety measures.

Kubik goes on to talk about members getting vaccinated and members who chose not to get vaccinated. Neither he claims is wrong, IF they have a good attitude.

What I am about to write about is a delicate and solemn subject, but one that we must face head on, especially as we near the Fall Festival season. I write here of the issue of COVID-19 precautions and safety measures, and yes, that includes the available vaccines. 

 

As well documented in our doctrinal study paper (streaming.ucg.org/files/papers/UCG-papers-Divine-Healing.pdf), the United Church of God believes in and teaches divine healing. The paper rightly states that “We will never understand in this life every step in the process which leads to the healing of our illnesses. We must rely on the clear scriptural statements for our doctrine . . . We believe that divine healing is a promise from God and we claim that promise through faith.” 

 

We also understand and positively teach that seeking medical treatment—including the administration of vaccines—represents a personal choice. We positively teach that it is not a sin to seek such services. 

 

During this year and a half of pandemic, we have all faced various trials and tests. We have watched and personally experienced the intense polarization of America and the politicization of virtually the entire spectrum of COVID-19 issues. When it comes to our members, our relationships, and our choices, what are we to do? 

 

Our direction is crystal clear! We read it every Passover evening, and it should be front and center in our everyday lives. Here’s what our Savior and coming King Jesus Christ proclaims to each one of us: “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:34-35, emphasis added throughout). 

 

In the Church, the issue is not about vaccines or whether or not someone wears a mask or takes other precautions. The issue is about attitude. 

 

We are to show love and respect. We are to love our neighbor as ourselves (Mark 12:31).

Throughout the COG movement right now there are bitter camps of pro-vaccination and anti-vaccination. The ant-vax COG members are adamant that those who get vaccinated are without faith and fail to trust God to keep them free of the pandemic and its variants or heal them if they get sick. This has been a COG tradition handed down for decades to the erroneous and at times dangerous attitude to avoid doctors and medical assistance. Certain COG movements look down upon anyone that has been to see a doctor and especially those who have gotten the vaccinations.

Kubik then goes on to say this:

Apart from those who are licensed physicians or other medical professionals within the United Church of God, we recognize that we are not medical experts. As a spiritual assembly, we do not offer medical advice or diagnostic suggestions.

But here is an important point: Since we arrange and oversee the meeting together of many thousands of members in public areas on a continuing basis, we do hold a very strong interest in positive public health and public safety. Even outside of COVID-19 issues, we must regularly plan for and attend to many issues in the realm of public health. Many biblical passages direct us to be good stewards, which includes creating safe places for worship and fellowship.

As UCG prepares to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles next month, they are making COVID plans. With widespread issues with the Delta variant hitting some states and cities really hard, UCG faces the fact they may need to cancel services in some areas.

We are but weeks away from the Festival season. In America, two of our Feast sites are in Florida, currently the state with the highest number of new COVID-19 infections and related hospitalizations. Some cities—like New York City—have already adopted a vaccine mandate and are now requiring proof of vaccination to enter restaurants, gyms, and other gathering places. Unless the surge abates, we may face changes in how we conduct the Feast. For example, we may need to suspend in-person meetings in favor of off-site webcasting if COVID-19 case(s) are widespread at or near a site, but almost a certainty if that infection is confirmed among attendees (hence the extreme need for everyone to take precautions). 

 

We are carefully monitoring the developing situations around all of our Feast sites and all of our church congregations.

Kubik ends with this:

My message and my request are this: please pray fervently for God’s protection, God’s wisdom, and God’s direction. As Paul directs us, “Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2, New Living Translation). Be tolerant and supportive of each other, including the posting of messages on social media. Please pray for our older members and those with various conditions, as they may be more vulnerable to COVID-19 infection. 

 

In summary, now is a critical time. Now is the time to really show love for one another. Now is the time for understanding, of appreciating the spiritual and physical challenges that we face. Now is the time for action, of taking precautions and promoting safety for all, even if it is inconvenient. Let us come together, let us speak together, let us worship together “with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:2-3 ESV).

It will be interesting to see how forthright COG groups will be after the Feast and if they will warn members about COVID infections as a result of Feast attendance.

A Company Of Nations?

 

A Company of Nations

One of the linchpins of Herbert Armstrong's identification of the United States and Great Britain as the modern manifestations of Israel is found in the thirty-fifth chapter of the book of Genesis. The "prooftext" reads as follows: "And God said unto him, I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall come out of thy loins..." (Genesis 35:11, KJV) For Armstrong, "a nation" implied the single greatest nation in the history of the earth (the United States), and "a company of nations" suggested a great commonwealth of nations led by Great Britain. For him and his followers, those promises could never have been fulfilled by any other nations in the history of the world!

Indeed, this verse continues to be the foundational "prooftext" for the Armstrong Churches of God up to the present day. In their article Does the United States Appear in Bible Prophecy?, the United Church of God underscores the fact that: "God specifically told Jacob that through him would come 'a nation and a company of nations' (Genesis 35:11)." They go on to point out that "The promise of national expansion beyond Canaan into a great nation and company of nations was never fulfilled in biblical times by the Israelites." According to the article, this promise devolved onto the two sons of Joseph: Ephraim and Manasseh; and they go on to reference the forty-eighth chapter of Genesis (verse 19) to prove it. They conclude: "Descended from Ephraim was the group of nations that formed out of the greatest empire the world has ever seen, the British Empire...Out of this power came the British-descended countries of the Commonwealth of Nations—Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand." What of Manasseh? They conclude: "From Manasseh came the great single nation. Its people dwelt with the Ephraimites in Great Britain until it was time for their separation through westward colonization and a war for independence—the American Revolution, by which came the formation of the United States."

For the sake of this argument, we will overlook the license which they employ in their interpretation of greatness, and their complete dismissal of the fact that God's promises to the patriarchs were clearly tied to a particular piece of real estate in the Middle East (see Genesis 15). Instead, we will focus on those all important phrases in United's principal prooftexts (Genesis 35:11 and 48:19): "a company of nations" and "a multitude of nations" respectively.

First, it should be noted that these promises are directly/purposefully associated in Scripture with God's promises to make Abraham "fruitful" and to "multiply" him. In other words, whatever these promises entail, they are intimately connected to God's promise to make Abraham's descendants like the stars in the sky or the sands on the seashore in numbers.

Now, according to Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, the Hebrew word translated into English as "company" is "qahel" - meaning "assembly, company, congregation, convocation" (especially in a religious context). In similar fashion, the same source informs us that the Hebrew word translated into English as "multitude" is "melo" - meaning "fulness, handful, mass, multitude." In both cases, the English word "nations" is a translation of a Hebrew word that means nations or peoples (especially Gentile ones). Hence, to suggest that the original Hebrew predicts a "commonwealth of nations" frankly stretches linguistic credibility to the breaking point!

In fact, the sense of the original Hebrew wording suggests an assembly of folks from all of the kindreds of the earth. In other words, the language used in these passages once again points to these promises finding their ultimate fulfillment in and through the Messiah (tying it back into the promise that all of the nations of the earth would be blessed through Abraham). Indeed, the English word "commonwealth" suggests a republic or a collection of republics - a much more narrowly defined connotation than that implied by the original Hebrew in these verses.

Is it possible then that these verses refer to Israel and all of the other peoples of the earth who will be saved through Jesus Christ? In fact, isn't that interpretation much more plausible than suggesting that the United States and British Commonwealth are the modern manifestations of Manasseh and Ephraim (especially in light of all of the historical, linguistic, archaeological and genetic evidence which refutes such a conclusion)? Don't we really have to stretch the language in these verses (and their context) to make them identify the U.S. and Britain as Israel?

Lonnie Hendrix