South African Elders Tell UCG Where To Stick It!

Tuesday 4 Jan 2011 6:15am

Hello Mr Rhodes,

The 4 elders in South Africa note that on the UCG Home website our names have been removed as contacts for the 4 congregations we serve, and your name appears instead. This has been done without any reference to us, or any accusation being brought against us. We note also that the usual monthly subsidy from the Home Office for South Africa has been withheld with no explanation in spite of emails having been sent to Gerald Seelig and Aaron Dean. The obvious studied silence and intended discourtesy towards us is noted.

You certainly are able to remove our names from the GCE list in the Home Office (which we take as the obvious implication) but you have no authority to remove us as elders or members of the United Church of God, Southern Africa, which is a registered South African corporation completely separate to UCG aIA. Also, we are all members of the South African National Council (SANATCO) and can only be removed if we choose to resign (which we don't intend to) or by a majority decision of SANATCO. Also, the removal of any us from the GCE only becomes reality in South Africa after it is reported to an official meeting of SANATCO and has been approved there by a majority decision. Additionally we fall under South African Labour Laws, with special reference to the clearly enumerated steps in dealing with disputes and terminations.

Following on the foregoing, we will be informing all members of UCG, Southern Africa, of your visit, and that we will be holding services as usual on 8 January and 15 January in our usual 4 cities and venues, but under the auspices of UCG, Southern Africa. , and that those wishing to attend on those dates with you and Vic under the auspices of UCG, aIA, are free to do so and should contact you or your South African organizer for alternative venues and times in the cities concerned.

Sincerely,

Morgen

The love letter from Melvin that sparked it all:

"Dear Morgen, Neville and Neil,
Victor Kubik and I will be visiting South Africa over the next two weekends.
Travel and accommodation have already been arranged.
I will be in Johannesburg for the church service this week and Vic will be in Durban.
The following Sabbath we will be in Cape Town and East London.
We will see you then."

UCG Sells Out to COGaWA Pressure and Reverses Sabbath Paper

UCG honchos in Cincinnati watching their church blow up in their faces and disintegrate to nothing changed their stance on the Sabbath controversy in a blatantly political move.  With close to 160 some ministers and elders jumping ship to Jim Frank's new splinter cult, UCG was set to loose thousands of more members when the Church of God a Worldwide Association holds it's conference in the next week.

In the same hypocritical backstabbing and lying  that went on when UCG split from WCG, COGaWA had the upper hand.  It was the conservatives vs the liberals all over again. The deciding factor on both sides was money.  The COGaWA's had to form a new splinter cult in order to receive income once UCG terminated them.  UCG had to do whatever it took to maintain a steady flow of income into their HQ to maintain their salaries.

Both sides now will continue to keep the members of UCG/COGaWA in bondage to a day no longer required under the New Covenant.  Both sides will continue to rule over and abuse their members with legalistic bullshit.  Neither side has the balls to really sit down and examine Sabbath keeping without using HWA's writings or other COGlet materials spread out in front of them.  But we should never expect such in depth study since COGdoom is intellectually and theologically bankrupt.

So the sheep still continue to suffer because they won't examine things either.  If HWA or a minister said it, so let it be done.

UCG statement:

January 4, 2011

After studying the material that has been provided from a couple in Chile, the Council of Elders, after full review and rendering due diligence, is prepared to issue the following statement in regards to observing the Seventh-day Sabbath and Holy Days in a proper manner to uphold the Fourth Commandment.

The United Church of God, an International Association, has a long-standing teaching on the subject of owner-operated businesses in relation to the observance of the Sabbath and biblical Holy Days. If a business is solely or majority owned by a Church member, then the business should close on the Sabbath and the Holy Days.

There are some exceptions, as Jesus Christ gave Sabbath-keeping principles in Scripture in this regard, which would apply to healthcare and retirement facilities and dealing with dairies and farm animals. But, day-care centers and schools do not fall under these categories. Therefore, the Council of Elders stands by the authority of Scripture in our lives and the consistent position of the Church which requires that such businesses, as long as they are solely or majority owned by a Church member, be closed on the Sabbath and the Holy Days.

We deeply appreciate the sincere request of the members in Chile in asking for the Council of Elders to render a judgment.

Melvin Rhodes—Chairman, on behalf of the Council of Elders

A Messianic Jew Looks at Armstrongism

I received a link a while back from a Messianic Jew who seems to have had a lot of contact with various splinter cult ministurds of Armstrongism--or at least knows a lot about how they operate.
Unfortunately she stills seems to think there was good teachings in some of Armstrongism.

Traits of Cults
Some of her comments were:

Many cults have started with "good" intentions, but with human nature and
Satan at the bottom of them; they usually deteriorate very quickly.

For instance many religionists did start out with high ideals, until the
money started rolling in
"A few of the traits of the cultleaders"
Most cult leaders are people that have inferiority complexes, some of
them, but not all of them being of short stature.

It is interesting to note that almost all the various splinter cults of Armstrongism (including Herb himself) were/are lead by short, over-compensating tyrannical men.
Many of them have come from low backgrounds; with very unloving Fathers,
three dictators that I can recall, were beaten unmercifully by their
fathers... Adolf Hitler, Josef Stalin and Saddam Hussein.

They didn't receive mercy, so they never learned mercy.

Many cult leaders are very intelligent and have a gift for speaking,
unfortunately, most of them do not have a great proclivity for telling
the truth, except when it is to their benefit.

Most cult leaders learn very early, that they are very convincing to
people (Mainly gullible people), so therefore these "leaders" think that
they have found their calling.

The people that they prey on, are usually the old, the weak, the lonely,
the gullible and the mentally unstable, but another group that they prey
upon, is those that have money.
Many Cult Leaders have a "Messianic Complex", and now that they have
followers, they really start believing that they are God's "prophet or
messenger", then they start deluding themselves.

If anyone or anybody affronts them in any way, then they get paranoid,
and they set up an enforcing arm, usually other deluded people; most of
them inherently violent; to police their great "kingdom"

One of the last things these " false messiahs" do, is completely isolate
their followers, and set up spy networks, and if there is any hint that
their converts are trying to "desert", then they get them and even
threaten them with "Hellfire", ex-communication ( hell) or even bodily
harm.

When the cult followers are completely isolated, then they are nominally,
or literally held prisoner.
The Unproved "Petra" doctrine was a way WCG could hold people nominally
captive, by threatening, that they would not get to go there, if they got
out of line.

This doctrine will probably be used against the brethren again, by some
of the COG leaders; at least to get the people's money.
This happens very often in churches, it has even happened in some of the
Churches of God.

There was all kinds of duplicty, there were sexual scandals; money
scandals; varience; power struggles; harangues; false prophecies; spy
networks and every other kind of problem.
Right now, some of these cult leaders have gotten hold on some of God's
people, Gerald Flurry is one of them; he follows most of the classic
traits of having a messianic complex.

He has his Scapegoat (The Laodiceans), and he is into the isolating the
members from everybody else.

David Hulme and Ron Weinland are several of the others, who are trying to
isolate their members (tithe paying dupes) from the other commandment
keeping brethren; and they do this for control, mainly of the tithes;
this though is completely opposite to Christ's outgoing service to all.