Living Church of God Cancels Annual Christmas Weekends in Charlotte and Kansas City

 

Well, the boys in Charlotte actually made a good decision in canceling their upcoming annual Christmas celebrations. Though I doubt it was as much their decision as being forced to by the current COVID State closures sweeping the country the past couple of days. Either that or they had a lapse in faith that God would take care of them during this fun time of the year. After all, hasn't the COG always claimed God protects the church and its activities?

Anyway, good move on their part.

Charlotte and Kansas City Family Weekends Both to Be Rescheduled

We’ve been in regular contact this week with our Charlotte and Kansas City pastors, Messrs. John Strain and Rand Millich, about the planned family weekends scheduled to take place at the end of December. As we have been watching the trend of growing government restrictions on nonworship meetings, some difficult decisions have had to be made.

According to Mr. Strain, “We regret to announce that it is now necessary to cancel the family weekend planned for Charlotte that was scheduled for December 24–26. Current North Carolina statewide government regulations are too restrictive to allow for our planned activities and will affect access to area restaurants. This, as well as the current rate of COVID-19 infections, which is expected to increase in the weeks ahead, make this the prudent decision for the present time. We hope to reschedule this activity in the not-too-distant future.”

Kansas City is in a similar situation, according to Mr. Millich: “As local Health Department guidelines have gotten tighter and more complicated, the reality is that we will simply not be able to conduct the family weekend as planned. A different hall is currently being sought for regular Sabbath services, and it should be large enough to accommodate a few extra visitors. For those

near the Kansas City area, the snow activity should be able to go on as planned. We plan to reschedule the Kansas City family weekend for a later date.”

Thank you to everyone who showed interest in the family weekends. We are certainly disappointed that we are unable to have them at this time, as initially planned, but we hope to reschedule for a future time.

It's THAT Time of Year! Winter Family Weekend

 

It is that time of year as people look forward to Christmas and all of its pleasures. From beautiful music to amazing Christmas light decorations. From delightful and delicious seasonal food and drink to Christmas services where the amazing birth of a child that COG groups like to push to the side is celebrated. Since the day after Halloween, various COG are belching and squawking about how pagan everything is and do their utmost to make everyone around them miserable. But since COG groups are more enlightened than the heathens in the world around them, they look forward to Winter Family Weekends at Christmas time.

Nothing irritates some of these Churches of God more than Christmas does. As they are imploding with schisms and losing disgusted members who are sick of being spiritually abused, they find fault in all the world around them while never keeping their own houses in order.

As the shrinking Church of God movement moves into 2021 and as their congregations are getting older and older some are trying to do what they can to attract the younger crowd and look cool. Having these winter family weekends is more about looking cool to the world around them than it is about ignoring Christmas.  Almost all of them have picked hotels and resorts that are decked out to the nines with Christmas decorations, food and music. Apparently, they assume that all of the COG members attending these locations put on blinders and wear earplugs to drown out any sight and sound of Christmas. They pack turkey ham sandwiches on whole wheat bread and eat carob brownies so as not to look like they are participating in the pagan food around them. God forbid if they took a  sideways glance or ate some Christmas cookies or drank some eggnog or, ghastly days, hummed a Christmas tune.

For all of the years these groups have been doing this it has looked hypocritical but this year with the COVID hysteria it is even more shocking that some still plan on letting family groups gather playing sports and games where the spittle will be flying. One would think that of all years to take the time off and just let families rest at home with loved ones it would be this year. During these COVID times, it surely does not set a good example for the world around them which they seek to impress with their coolness. this is especially true after quire a few COG members caught COVID at COG Feast sites this year. These groups should have learned their lessons but they did not. So far UCG and COGWA have canceled their WFW.

Sheldon Monson's group is doing winter family weekend this year in Murfreesboro, TN at the Embassy Suites while the Living Church of God plans on being in Charlotte where they will restrict their "fun" weekend to members only. God forbid if they were a light to the world around them!

Also joining this COG trend is the Common Faith Network, a loose conglomeration of Churches of God who have made a concerted effort to cooperate and associate with one another. Church of God Cincinnatti and the Common Faith Network is looking to take their WFW to Tanglewood resort in Texas, though they are only currently asking for member's input.  The one advantage of this site is that it could be relatively free from Christmas decorations. This site is also the site this same group used for the Feast this year. Of the many COG sites, this one was apparently run rather well as there are no reported cases of COVID arising from meeting together for the week.

Common Faith Network

COGWA and UCG have canceled their Winter Family Weekends

COGWA

UCG

Sinful UCG Kids Break Sabbath By Playing Corn Hole

A writer sent in the following comments to Apostle Malm the other day concerning the UCG split and complaining about how "liberal" UCG has become.  While many of UCG's ministers are "snakes-in-the-grass" who worked behind the scenes to form UCG while on WCG's payroll, I do have to hand it to them that they have eased up on controlling the lives of members with unnecessary 'sabbath' regulations.

In spite of that, far too many of UCG's leaders are liars and manipulators.  The same applies for many of the UCG ministers who jumped ship to COGWA.  COGWA is in no better shape ethically than UCG is.

Far too many of the splinter group leaders want to bury their members under an incredible amount of useless legalistic rules and regulations that they "claim" God has commanded.

There is absolutely nothing that could ever get me to set foot in a UCG church, but of all the COGlets out there UCG at least as a small ray of light trying to seep into it.

But even more amazing is the absolute venom dripping because UCG kids played a simple game of corn hole.  It's not as if the kids were playing a ruff game of tackle football or soccer, they were tossing bean bags!  

Even worse is that those sinful reprobates in UCG were wishing each other Happy New Year on Facebook. 

Damnable sinners all!  

How stupid can Armstrongites get?

Many of the men who went with UCG came to LCG (then GlobalCG) headquarters to check out whether they wanted to go with them in the 90s.    I did get the distinct impression that if they didn’t get offered a highly esteemed position or enough dollars, they would just continue taking their paychecks from WCG and wait for UCG to form.

The inception of UCG from the get-go was “underground” most of the men took their paychecks from WCG until they were completely formed! Those ministers allowed their assistant pastors to preach unchecked and their flocks were scattered while they preached smooth things and didn’t take a stand! THEY TOOK THEIR PAYCHECKS and waited! That is how UCG formed!

From the perspective of those in GCG in Pasadena at the time, it sure looked like they didn’t want to join with GCG b/c they wanted more money. 

They stayed so long, they were completely suspect doctrinally!! Certainly suspect as to being true shepherds, they let their flocks get totally devoured!

 MANY of the ministers that came with GCG lost everything first, didn’t get promised anything b/c GCG didn’t have a HUGE following…it was a step of faith!! Most of the men had to go and get jobs…they weren’t hired on first thing!

So whatever happens now to UCG seems silly…isn’t UCG reaping what they sowed from their very inception!!?? It makes me sad to see another split…but they had the biggest group and they first set up a doctrinal team to reinvent what they believed, which took years…when they did FINALLY get on the stick and get a program or some work going…you have to admit it’s a total waste of time and money!! They aren’t warning ANYONE, their program is a complete sham!

Of all the churches of God I’m familiar with they are SO LIBERAL! I have seen it all! Basically it’s been some of the most wretched excuses for breaking the Sabbath, they keep it like most people keep Sunday!

In Lafayette they did a bbq ON THE SABBATH while the kids played corn hole…it might as well have been Sunday! SHOCKER, I was aghast! Gary Antion was there as well as Victor Kubik! Mr. Antion’s sermon was on self esteem…most of the material was from secular sources or so it seemed. He had a handout! The sad thing was that he NEVER mentioned our self esteem is from our relationship with God…HWA brought that out years ago! It was VERY much a touchy feel-ly love love sermon!
 
At the Indy church I asked Darris McNeely why they don’t seem to have any urgency in their prophetic magazine….he said because they want the material to be true now and 50 years from now!  One time while he was speaking, he told us of his goal to read a book a week…a secular book…he proceeded to give a sermon on The Count of Monte Cristo, where he talked about treasure without EVER mentioning anything truly spiritual! It would have been so easy, but he started saying things about treasure…what your treasure is, isn’t mine…and talked about his grandma’s treasure box.

MANY of my friends who are UCG got pregnant with in vitro fertilization. It’s totally WRONG and ungodly!  I could go on, they are NOT the only ones.

On Facebook the last couple of days many of my liberal UCG “friends” are all wishing each other “happy new year!” That shouldn’t surprise me, but it does! Wow, they have really slipped down the slope and they can’t see it!!

COGaWA Conference Updates

Conference Update

January 8, 2011 – Approximately 400 people assembled in the ballroom of the Galt House in Louisville, Kentucky, for the Sabbath service in connection with the organizing conference of the Church of God, a Worldwide Association. Thousands more were connected via webcasts and phone lines.

In addition to the ministers and brethren who registered to attend the January 9-11 conference, brethren from near and far attended this historic occasion. An air of excitement and hope permeated the meeting room as attendees looked forward to a new beginning from which the commission of the Church might be fulfilled.
Giving the first of two split sermons, Richard Pinelli spoke on the work of Elijah that will occur prior to the return of Jesus Christ. Basing his message on the prophetic account in Malachi 4:4-6 and the concept of going in "the spirit and power of Elijah" (Luke 1:17), Mr. Pinelli reminded everyone that there is a great work to be done. After examining how the spirit of Elijah worked in the early Church, he emphasized that there will be a spirit of Elijah throughout the entire Church in the end time as every part of the Body of Christ contributes its part to the Work God is doing and is about to do.

Prior to the second message, Co-conference Coordinator Mark Winner gave the announcements and introduced the special music—a choral piece, "By Faith" by Keith and Kristyn Getty. Janel Johnson directed the 18-voice ensemble composed of ministers and wives. Prior to the performance, permission was sought of the composers and received to include the presentation on the webcast and phone connections. Many were moved by the phrases "we walk by faith and not by sight" and "the power of the gospel shall prevail."

Arnold Hampton then spoke on how we can remain calm in the midst of storms. Mixing humor with graphic descriptions, Mr. Hampton expounded Mark 4:35-41, where Jesus was sleeping on a pillow in the stern of the boat in the midst of a raging tempest that was threatening to capsize the ship. As Mr. Hampton noted, we all face storms in our lives (such as health problems, church problems, unemployment, etc.) but these can all be weathered by faith (verse 40). From the outset of this teaching experience, Jesus had said, "Let us cross over to the other side" (verse 35). It seems that He knew in advance they would make it. If we have faith in God, we, too, will make it through our storms.

After the second split sermon and prior to the closing hymn and prayer, Mike Blackwell, Co-Conference Coordinator, gave special recognition to the brethren in Louisville for their generous hospitality and service. Having hosted a Winter Family Weekend just two weeks ago for approximately 2,000 people, the same members were now providing transportation to and from the airport for conference attendees and providing a hospitality room for breakfasts and evening fellowship. A warm round of applause affirmed this well-deserved commendation.

The sound crew in Louisville reported that there were 1,180 web connections and 107 phone connections to the service by congregations and members around the world. Additionally, there were 346 web connections to the Spanish translation of the service.

The Church of God, a Worldwide Association congregation in Houston, Texas, also had 2,476 connecting to its website as it rebroadcasted the Louisville service. Some people may have connected to view it a second time. Houston's reported breakdown included these numbers of connections and locations: U.S.-2076; Canada-99; Chile-50; Mexico-37; Guatemala-22; Bahamas-19; United Kingdom-15; Singapore-13; Mauritius-13; Philippines-12; Peru-12; Columbia-11; Barbados-11; South Africa-9; Indonesia-7; El Salvador-7; Argentina-7; Germany-5; Sweden-4; New Zealand-4; Bolivia-4; Venezuela-2; Singapore-2; Ecuador-2; Dominica-2; Thailand-1; Trinidad and Tobago-1; Netherlands-1; France-1; Dominican Republic-1; Cayman Islands-1.