Transformed by the 'spirit' in UCG. REALLY?????

United Church of God has a report up about it's recent conference.  Just typical "we are family" and "we all need to get along" stuff.  However, one "keynote speaker" was Ray Wright.

Later in the day there was another keynote address from Ray Wright, pastor of the Dallas, Texas, congregation. He spoke on being “Transformed by the Spirit of God,” showing that God expects a total transformation in us when we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. We become “a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

I am appalled that this man is still being allowed to minister in a Church of God congregation considering his horrible background in Worldwide.  He was kicked out of Worldwide for embezzling money, not once, but TWICE!  He would be sent into exile and then a couple years later he would be back and some moron would allow him access to church money again.  He has been sued multiple times, and may have even spent time in jail, can't remember on that part. At one point in time he and his family were living in Texas over the top of one of his fake businesses that got him into trouble. Several WCG ministers were jailed for money scams involving cars and investments in the late 80's/early 90's.

He and his wife used to cause a stink every Saturday in Pasadena when they would show up for church fashionably late in the middle of the sermonette and saunter in their expensive clothes down the aisle to a front row seat that they EXPECTED to be waiting for them.  They soon became the laughing stock of the church.

But never fear, Wright is the authority on being "transformed by the spirit." He's a "new creation."  This man should NOT be ministering to any congregation, anywhere!

Official Spokesman of the Living Church of God Publishes New Book

Fatima Shock!

Bob Thiel, the Official Spokesperson of the Living Church of God on prophecy and doctrine, has just published another book.  This will most likely join a long line of screeds against the Catholic church that no one ever reads.  His biggest audience will be COGers and anti-Catholic evangelicals who think he knows what he is talking about.

The prophet writes:

For those unfamiliar with Fatima, Fatima was the name of Muhammad’s favorite daughter.  Muslims often name their daughters Fatima (similar to Catholics naming their daughters Mary).  A small town in Portugal was renamed Fatima after a Muslim princess named Fatima converted to Roman Catholicism.  In 1917, three children claimed to have a series of monthly visits from an apparition who finally identified herself with the rosary.  The apparition is known as “Our Lady of Fatima” or “the Virgin of Fatima” (she never referred to herself as Mary).  Hollywood did a movie about this decades ago called The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima (which I have seen).

The apparition, which many in the Catholic world believe was Jesus’ mother Mary, gave various “secrets,” several of which were not written down until after they had apparently been fulfilled.  Many believe that Fatima holds the key to the future and that the forces of evil can be stopped if various portions of the messages of Fatima are heeded.

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Although most non-Catholics do not think that Fatima can affect them, if they live long enough this century, they will find that this is not the case.  Fatima is a much bigger deal than people realize and seems to tie into a variety of prophecies throughout the Bible (e.g. Isaiah 47, Matthew 24, 2 Thessalonians 2, Revelation 17).

The truth about Fatima, the messages of Fatima, the “secrets” of Fatima, the Vatican’s views of Fatima, and how Fatima is expected to impact the future are all covered in detail in Fatima Shock!

Fatima Shock! also, and mainly from Catholic writings, exposes where the “rosary” came from, where many “dogmas of Mary” came from, and explains how Satan has used apparitions in the past to interfere with the Church of God and to promote non-biblical “Christianity.”  Fatima Shock! also explains what appears to be Satan’s plans for apparitions in the future based upon biblical and other prophecies.